My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal explores the life and death of Cassidy Haines and her journey to uncover the truth about what happened to her.

What if your last kiss was with the wrong boy?

Cassidy has been in love with the same boy for three years. She and Ethan were the perfect couple, at least for a while. But at her seventeenth birthday party, she kissed someone other than her boyfriend. The only problem is that she can’t remember who it was.

Cassidy died that night, but she doesn’t know how. Trapped as a ghost, she struggles to figure out how her life ended. If she can remember who she kissed, then maybe she can remember how she ended up in the morgue. And maybe along the way she can prove that her death wasn’t a suicide like everyone thought.

Unfortunately for Cassidy, the truth isn’t easy, and she’ll have to face the consequences of the choices she made while she was still alive. And even in death that will be difficult to do.

‘My Last Kiss’ review

My Last Kiss begins at the end. Cassidy’s life has faded completely, but she hasn’t moved on to whatever comes next. The story progresses from Cassidy coming to terms with her death, facing the mistakes she made, and finally becoming determined to solve the mystery surrounding her so-called suicide.

One of the most striking parts of the book is the way in which Cassidy’s ghostly form interacts with the people and objects around her. There are no hard and fast rules for how she can control her new self, but that only adds to the mystery and the conflict of the book.

Her death is the focal point of the story, and though it’ll keep you guessing until the very end, the characters are what keep you working toward the finish. No one is perfect, least of all Cassidy, but each has their own set of goals and motivations. Though at times it is difficult to sympathize with the narrator and her friends, their realistic portrayals will have you understanding how they all ended up where they are at the end of the novel.

As Neal’s first novel, My Last Kiss truly knocks it out of the park. The book will be available on June 10. You can pick it up on Amazon or add it to your Goodreads list.