When Bernie Raleigh's grandfather dies, he inherits his vast fortune. Leaving his satisfying life as a librarian behind, Bernie returns to the life he left twenty years earlier. Meda Amos is one of the domestics in Bernie's newly-inherited mansion. A beautiful face marred only by a few facial scars, she is a constant distraction for Bernie. Both Bernie and Meda have troubled pasts. Both are limited by those past events in the present. Yet as they come to know each other these two may be able to More...

2.5 stars. This is the second time in less than 24 hours where I'm going to have to use the terms quiet and anti-climactic in a review. There's no doubt that I should consider digging deep into my mental thesaurus to come up with different terms but I'm going to reserve the effort for a book I'd rather gush about.

Even though this was a much easier read than Lies of Locke Lamora, I don't think I can award bonus points for being able to get through the book quickly. The style of writing was not to More...

Last Will is one of the most charming and uplifting book I've read in recent years - last year's Lover's dictionary and 2010 Thera are other similar books I greatly enjoyed - while staying very grounded in "reality", though of course both main characters (Bernie and Meda) who alternate first person narration (with few interludes from Bernie's aunt who sort of functions as an outside/back story pov) are quite unlikely themselves, but the skill of the author is such that both just stand out, take More...

3.5 Stars

"What a cunt," Ray said, louder, emboldened by his friends' laughter. Meda didn't pause and my gut churned to hear him reduce her to the thing he'd done to her. The truth is that every fistfight I ever had, most of them with Robby, ended with me getting the worst of it. I was not prepared to take on five guys. I wasn't afraid. It's not like my nose was ever going to be straight again, but it seemed futile. I think even by the kindest of standards I was something of a weakling, but I ha

More...

I don't recall how this book came to my attention. Stairway Press is the tiniest of indie publishers and the only unfortunate result of that is a possible lack of publicity. Because this is a great novel that falls just enough off the beaten track of current fiction to make it refreshingly unique.

Bernie Raleigh is a 30-year-old man to whom nothing good has ever happened. He is the grandson and sole heir of the richest man in Oklahoma City. Kidnapped when he was almost 10 by a local psychopath h More...

I have a love-hate relationship with books about broken people. Sometimes, I'm in the mood and enjoy reading about people who can't get out of their own way to discover happiness. And then there are times when I just do not have the patience to read about people who need fixing. I've got enough problems.

So after I started Bryn Greenwood's Last Will and discovered that it is about not one, but TWO broken people, I realized I had to suck it up and get past my initial bad mood. I'd just finished wi More...

3 1/2 stars for me, but I rounded up.

When Bernie's grandfather dies Bernie finds himself to be the sole heir of an insurmountable fortune. Bernie is not happy about this. In fact, it is a huge disruption and inconvenience in his normally quiet and unobtrusive life. When he's forced to his grandfather's home to take care of settling the estate, Bernie becomes enamored with Meda, one of the house keepers who tends to the huge mansion.

Both Bernie and Meda have troubled pasts. Meda, who is describ More...

This review has some spoilery read at your own risk.
I thought the writing style of the book was good although it had, kind of, a depressing tone to it. My favorite thing about the book was the dry humor. I'm not even sure if parts were supposed to be funny, but I found myself laughing through the first 60% or so. I liked the character of Bernie as he provided the most insightful view of not only what was going on in the story but I enjoyed his inner monologue and observations.

When I was a kid, More...

It's different then what I usually pick up, I'll tell you.
But it's a good read, I'm sure of.
It's honest and direct as the characters think their thoughts and put their feelings out in the open. I enjoyed reading the authors' words as they went along, not sure what would happen next.

The prose is awesome. The characters are believable and believably damaged. Their families are believable and believably dysfunctional. Their communities are believable and the evil they do and tolerate is believably infuriating.

Their story is not for me. Which is about me and my non-transparent eyeball, not the story, so there’s that. This story felt like a jewel box depiction of ordinary lives that, in Neil Gaiman’s arresting phrase, are like every other, unlike every other. I have a great de More...

Last Will is a stealth book. There are no explosions or car chases, no over the top confrontations, no murders. It doesn't need any of these things to totally suck the reader in. I was quietly and totally sucked into the story and the character interaction all the way to the very satisfying and uplifting ending. Bryn Greenwood is an amazing writer. She has the ability to convey so much with some of the most concise and precise writing I've ever seen. Last Will is the literary equivalent of an in More...

If you're looking for unique characters that will stick with you long after the last page is turned, you've come to the right book.

My advice to readers is this: stick with it. You'll be rewarded. Last Will is intriguing and a little puzzling at the start, but if you don't connect with the characters immediately (which I didn't), rest assured that you will. I was a good halfway through the book before Bernie and Meda really became clear to me as people. I think the author is intentional about mak More...

http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
This book came so highly recommended by the publisher (I know, why would he lie?) so I was all set to love it. About a quarter of the way in I thought, "Gee, when does the good part start?" but I thought maybe I just had unreasonable expectations based on the letter of introduction the book got (seriously, he said he looooooovedit...again, why would he lie?). So I decided to lower my expectations.

Then about half way in I thought, "This is boring. Why am I More...

"When you get to the point where you know the worst thing about someone you love, you know the truth about yourself," words spoken by one of the main characters in Bryn Greenwood's LAST WILL that summarize the novel better than any words I can summon myself. Bryn Greenwood writes about the wounds that define us, and the possibilities and limits of recovery, with precision, humor and an unsentimental clarity of vision. I can't wait for the next book from this fresh, original voice!

this novel was such a treat to read.

it is a quiet book, action wise,
but so very powerful emotionally. it
truly resonates.

beautifully written from the point of
view of our hero, heroine and the hero's
aunt, greenwood reveals each character
unflinchingly, precisely and with truth.
each narrator is "broken" in his or her
own way, yet still survivors, and ultimately,
Last Will was so uplifting for me. a
true pleasure to read and such a strong
debut. i love both bernie and meda, our
hero and heroine.

highly re More...

This book was written by a grad school classmate of mine, and I suppose I was predisposed toward liking it for that reason, but I truly adored it. The main characters are damaged people trying to find a path leading to a loving relationship. The sources of their problems are revealed gradually and in devastatingly offhand ways. You cringe for them and admire them and wish for their success. The minor characters illuminate the main characters beautifully. The book reminds me of Ann Patchett's ear More...

I wanted more for Bernie in the ending...I needed a great epilog or something to know he was going to be ok.

A riveting, compassionate, twisty, humane book. Librarian Bernie Raleigh, kidnapped for ransom as a child, inherits his grandfather's immense fortune and must come to terms with the wealth and the wounds that they caused him. He encounters Meda Amos, one-time beauty queen, current housekeeper and single mother, who has psychic and physical scars of her own, but might be his best chance of navigating the new role Bernie never sought but finds himself living.

Just don't think I can do this. To be fair, I want to think about the review before I write it. Just did not like this at all. It never engaged this reader.

Nope .. not thinking this will be a happy read.

ARC 06/05/2012.

Review available at The US Review of Books: http://www.theusreview.com/reviews/La...