IT’S HERE! The World You Loved by Brennan LaFaro! The conclusion to the Slattery Falls series is here! And my goodness, this one really dials up the intensity. Everything is on the line this time. But will everyone make it out okay?
As this is the very exciting conclusion to the trilogy, I will tread very lightly with my notes below so you can all rest assured I won’t spoil anything. If you’ve read the book and would like to discuss, feel free to reach out!
NOTE: Please be warned that there are spoilers for the second book in the series in this review.
Let’s dive in!
My Thoughts on The World You Loved by Brennan LaFaro
At the very end of the last book, we saw Elsie call Officer Robin to discover that it wasn’t just a few hours that had passed while they were in the other world. It was eleven years. The first scene in The World You Loved jumps right back into that phone call.
On the way back to Robin’s house after Robin had gone to Slattery Falls to pick Travis and Elsie up when they popped back into the world, Elsie informs Robin and Travis that unfortunately, Weeks hasn’t let go of Elsie just yet. Rather than keeping anything to herself, she reveals that he has given her five days to make an impossible decision.
The reunion with their daughter is bittersweet as Travis and Elsie have missed a huge part of her childhood and are now parents to a teenager. While the group would have loved to relax and spend time catching up after they were reunited, the clock is already ticking.
Luckily, while Travis and Elsie were in the other world, Robin, Penny, and April spent their time continuing to research. Getting Elsie and Travis caught up on everything, they share notes, stories, and videos. But they soon realize that they need to go back to Slattery Falls…
One of the many things that Brennan does that I absolutely love, is that he provides readers with a recap at the start of the book to get readers back up to speed. The Story So Far… recap here does an excellent job with that! Highlighting all of the terror and situations they found themselves in, this snapshot will have readers wanting to go back to experience the first two books all over again!
In the first few chapters, my stomach was in knots for poor Travis and Elsie. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to learn that the world has moved forward eleven years. My heart broke for them realizing how much time they had missed with their daughter, April. And April’s initial reaction to seeing her parents for the first time was so touching it made me cry! I enjoyed seeing that she was no-nonsense just like her mom, and creative, like her dad!
I loved how awkward Travis and Elsie were with April at first. That gap alone is a doozy to wrap their minds around, but on top of that, they also had no idea how to parent their daughter as a teenager. I loved seeing how they handled the situation and how much trust they put in her, clearly seeing how capable and grown up she was immediately.
The whole group worked so well together. I was so confident with them. But queue the viral TikTok song… “And nothing can go wrong! On no, it all went wrong!“
I was so invested in seeing what was going to happen next, and how the whole storyline would come to an end, that I couldn’t put this one down.
The World You Loved is a novel that is heartfelt and uplifting, but also tense and terrifying in a way that only Brennan LaFaro can do. You’ll be on the edge of your seat rooting for these characters to take down Weeks once and for all.
My Favorite Passages from The World You Loved
Isolation amplified every noise in the night, no matter how small. The creak of a building settling became a green-eyed deviant emerging into the night. The hum of a soft breeze transformed into conspiratorial whispers, interlopers ready to pounce. The night air reeked of paranoia and I bought into it. The way Travis’ eyes darted back and forth–prey exposed in an open field–told me he felt the same way.
My stomach dropped so hard I expected it to crash through the car’s floor and splatter all over Route 91.
Travis gazed at me from behind a steaming mug, a genuine smile on his face. The kind of absent grin you get when you stare at someone you love and lose yourself a little.
The surrounding woods kept their secrets well, remaining as wholesome and unthreatening as the path that led us to that point. The previous doorway in the woods only appeared after a catastrophic supernatural storm that poured not one drop of rain, but made the wind howl like a banshee with its shoes tied too tight.
There’s not much dependable about this kind of house, but creaky steps are something to hang your hat on.
Their glowing number pulsed a bright white, so clean, so pure, it made fresh New England snow look dingy.
My Final Thoughts on The World You Loved
This was such a great conclusion to the series. I told Brennan that it feels like he had planned all of this out at the start because everything flowed so well, and the connections between the books were done so perfectly. He stated that he was writing by the seat of his pants. This is wildly impressive to me. As a reader, I had a few instances where it felt like puzzle pieces had been put together made me want to shout out of excitement with the connection!
Needless to say, if you haven’t yet picked up any of the books in the series, now’s the time! You can read all three back to back and experience the chilling story from start to finish.
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