Book Review: The Last Flight | Julie Clark

“People will believe whatever you want them to, as long as you don’t hesitate.”

Without question one of the best books I’ve read in 2020, The Last Flight by Julie Clark is compelling, thrilling, thought-provoking, and has some truly amazing characters. This is the sort of book that will appeal to fans of so many different genre—I’m not even sure what genre I think it is. Don’t skip it!

About the Book

Two women. Two Flights. One last chance to disappear.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he’s not above using his staff to track Claire’s every move, making sure she’s living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn’t know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets — Claire taking Eva’s flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it’s no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva’s identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

Reflection

A story of two women who couldn’t be more different, and yet who find themselves looking for an escape at exactly the same time.

“If we don’t tell our own stories, we’ll never take control of the narrative.”

Claire Cook is a woman who everyone knows, married into a political dynasty and with a life that appears picture perfect. In just one week her husband will announce is Senatorial campaign. But before then, Claire will disappear, shedding the abusive life she has become accustomed to.

“All choices had consequences. It was what you did with those consequences that mattered.”

Just when Claire learns that everything might be lost, she meets a woman at an airport bar named Eva who may be as desperate as she is. Eva is the sort of woman no one knows—she blends into the background. And yet at this exact moment in time, she might be the key to saving Claire. In a moment with little hesitation, the two women trade plane tickets and slip away out of the public eye.

 “Identity is a strange thing. Are we who we say we are, or do we become the person others see? Do they define us by what we choose to show them, or what they see despite our best attempts to conceal it?”

Each woman has a past that doesn’t want her to escape. And that past will do anything to reclaim them.

The way this story unfolds is a masterpiece. We learn more about each woman, both before they disappear and afterwards. I really grew to enjoy both characters in completely different ways. These women are both broken, but for different reasons. One was left abandoned in the shadows, and the other was in the spotlight. Both have been abused while others look away. Both have made mistakes, but the story to me is about whether you can change your fate, whether you can truly escape it.

“You know, life is long. Lot’s of things can go wrong and still end up all right.”

Honestly I want to gush about this book for pages and pages! But I really don’t want to spoil it—it is so good!!! We chose this for our book club read and the discussions were so rich. I love the writing, the characters, and the way she structured the story. The ending is one I’m still thinking about months later—which is a compliment to the author!!! Truly fantastic!

Thank you to Sourcebook Landmark for my copy! I loved it so much I bought  finished one! Opinions are my own.