The Last Note

by Joseph J. Miccolis

Some things are easy for parents to tell their children, other things are not. To speak the words, it's about the right time. To write the words, it might be the last time.

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[J.R. Rioux · Rating 5 out of 5]

The scene set-up is phenomenal from word one, translating to excellent visuals for the reader. You can feel the weight on the family with what they are suffering with, the characters revealing themselves bit by bit, largely by action rather than words. The conversations are interesting and it's well thought-out. It will grip your emotions and tug on your heartstrings very early in, the emotion continue to flow and shift as the story goes along. There's a lot of heart within this story, a lot of inner strength displayed. Well worth reading.

[Jay Kottaram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found The Last Note to be a read that was at times dark, at times fun and joyful, and something that ultimately made me think about the purpose of life, what finding joy and making something of yourself means.

Ultimately, any negatives the author had in his writing are ultimately minor, and don't much take away from the power of the story. If I could give this piece a review of 4.5 out of 5 stars, I would. Alas, I am new to Goodreads, and so I do not know if such a thing is possible. So, 5 Stars.

I'd like to start out with 2 issues I had though, and those are:
1) Dialogue, for the first two sections at least.
2) Show vs. Tell.

Some of the dialogue seemed rather strange for teenagers to be saying. I was last a teenager roughly 5 years ago, and I remember how my friends and I would talk. I would suggest there to be more contractions, and a sort of *truncated* speech. By that I mean that as a teenager, I would try to get the same amount of meaning across in fewer words and sounds.

In terms of the Show vs. Tell, at the beginning some of the depictions of life in the Brone family could be better shown rather than told, but the author gets way, way better at this when the story moves forward.

Now my main likes:

1) explores the duality of leading the life of misery (w/ Dad) vs. the life of youthful joy (Carolina on her own/with others)
2) depicts well the progression of a woman being done with your BS.
By this, I mean: when you do bullshit as a man and hurt a woman important and close to you, at first she'll fight you. And how hard she fights is directly proportional to how fresh the bullshit is, how much she wants to hold onto you, and how much she loves you. When you keep doing it, and dig into your heels, she fights less and less, and eventually just lets you do what you whatever, because she's moved on. This is a true aspect of life that Joseph gets down *superbly*, and he SHOWS it over the course of The Last Note rather than tells it.
3) explores two different approaches to loss: to move on, and to let yourself sink.
4) explores the depths of severe depression stemming from loss of a loved one.
I have to say, this is something I relate to greatly. I myself am diagnosed with bipolar disorder, aka manic depression. I've dealt with my own depression stemming from loss, where I would prefer to just rot, and Joseph gets this down with stunning mastery.
5) Depiction of Carolina as a young girl forced to grow up into a woman before an ideal time.
Essentially, Carolina is forced to grow up due to her father's behavior, and she acts the part. She holds herself in a dignified way a bit beyond a normal teenager, she hides her feelings often, and she acts perfectly for the role of living two lives.
5) The ending. While this review is hidden to prevent it being spoiled, I'm not going to actually say what happens at the end. BUT, read past this sentence with caution and consideration.

The ending is built up to slowly throughout the course of the piece. When looking back, it seems inevitable, but for some reason I, as a reader, held out some hope it wouldn't happen like that. It is, however, a perfectly fitting ending, and shows that Joseph built this story like one would build a figurine boat out of toothpicks inside a glass bottle: with care, consideration, and craft.

My rating is 5/5 Stars, if you can read this story, you should, whether as a writer yourself or as a regular reader.

[Jon McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

You get hooked about the 2nd paragraph.
The setting & the people of the story
As you read the story it slowly creeps in that the wife & mother to 3 children has passed away and & the husband & father has a problem dealing with the passing of his wife.
Not ashamed to say it is a tear jerker for sure.
Well worth the read

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful, descriptive, outstanding, emotional read! This is definitely a book that will make you feel! There are different ways for a family to deal with grief and those are shown. I teared up at the end. Bring tissues!! A MUST read. You will not be disappointed.