3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for this slow-burn mystery about a girl whose world is shattered when her best friend is found dead of an apparent suicide

This book had so much promise. I was drawn to the plot immediately - Avery Greer, a townie girl with a troubled past is essentially taken in by Sadie Loman, the daughter of an affluent vacation family in Maine. The girls are inseparable for decades. Avery becomes enmeshed within the Loman family and their business, overseeing their properties in town. All is perfect in Avery's world until the summer Sadie dies. Even though her death was ruled a suicide, Avery feels the suspicion and blame cast on her. Avery is determined to find out what happened to her best friend. Was Sadie's life as picture perfect as it seemed? What secrets was she harboring that drove her to suicide?

Told in alternating timelines between the past and present, we put the pieces together surrounding Sadie's death with Avery. While The Last House Guest was filled with mystery, secrets, lies and deceit, it left me wanting. It just never had that "wow" factor for me. The story was good but I never really felt connected with the characters. They were almost too cliche - the poor girl with the troubled past, the rebellious rich girl, the rich playboy, the domineering, callous matriarch and the money hungry patriarch. The whole thing had a Lifetime movie vibe that I just didn't fully buy into. It's not one that stands out from the crowd. I didn't hate it, I just wasn't love it either.