This book was previously published as ‘Everything You Want Me To Be’, I overlooked it as I didn’t like the cover and never even read the blurb. When it was re-titled with a new cover, it grabbed my attention and immediately became a book I wanted to read.
Book Description:
Everyone thought they knew Hattie Hoffman. When she was murdered, they found out just how wrong they were.
Seventeen-year-old Hattie Hoffman is a talented actress, loved by everyone in her Minnesotan hometown. So when she’s found stabbed to death on the opening night of her school play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of the community.
Local sheriff Del Goodman, a good friend of Hattie’s dad, vows to find her killer, but the investigation yields more secrets than answers; it turns out Hattie played as many parts offstage as on. Told from three perspectives: Del’s, Hattie’s high school English teacher and Hattie herself, The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman tells the story of the real Hattie, and what happened that final year of school when she dreamed of leaving her small town behind . . .
Wonderfully evocative of its Midwestern setting and with a cast of unforgettable characters, this is a book about manipulation of relationships and identity, about the line between innocence and culpability, about the hope love offers and the tragedies that occur when it spins out of control.
My Thoughts:
The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman carries that small-town vibe that creates an intimate read, with not many characters, this novel allows you to get up close and personal with the characters. As for the narrators, I really liked Del, the typical, small town sheriff who knows the victim and her family, and feels an added pressure to solve the case because of this fact.
I enjoyed the majority of this novel and throughout I couldn’t be sure who murdered Hattie, which is always what you want in a mystery novel. I had hoped the investigation itself would have a bigger role in the novel but that’s a personal preference – The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman is a character-driven novel, each narrator builds up a picture of the real Hattie and explains the events that led to her death.
Towards the end of the novel, I began to lose interest and when the reveal came as to who killed Hattie, I wasn’t invested in who the guilty party was. Mainly because over the course of the story, I didn’t like the way Hattie was portrayed. Yes, she may have done wrong but at the end of the day she was still a young girl, and for the type of story this was I grew to dislike the manipulative picture that was portrayed of Hattie. The more this portrayal continued, the more I saw a girl who was maybe in need support and a closer look at why she did certain things.
At the beginning of this novel, I didn’t care much for Hattie but as the novel progressed, I ended up liking her, which is likely why I struggled with the portrayal of her character, especially towards the end of the novel. The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman does what it says, it explores themes of “manipulation of relationships and identity,” so I can’t be mad at that, it’s just the way things work out sometimes, that as twists are revealed and the plots progress, they don’t go the way you imagined. Many reviewers delight in the manipulative picture of Hattie but what can I say, I had a soft spot for her, to act wholly the way she did, I believe she has some inner issues going on rather than she’s just self-obsessed.
If you enjoy character-driven, small town mysteries, this may be the book for you.
This book is available to buy from: Amazon UK
Keeper of Pages 
Great review!
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Thank you 😊
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I loved this one and was convinced it would end up in my top 10 of the year but it’s since been passed by by other ones.
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That’s understandable, you read like 10 books a week haha, I don’t envy you having to narrow it down to just 10!
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Maybe I should go for 20. 🤔😂
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Now now, it’s top ten, don’t go changing the rules. Although between you and me (and anyone else who sees this comment), I’m going to do a long list post so I can feature all the books that just missed out! You’re welcome to use that idea too 😉
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I like how in your brain that’s not considered cheating 😂
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It’s totally not, it’s just like the Man Booker prize – a long list and a short list 😂😂
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😂😂! Well, in that case, of course I’ll borrow that idea 😏
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This is new to me….going to check it out!!
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I hope you enjoy it, if you choose to read it 🙂
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Great review! I hadn’t heard of this book before now!
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Thanks 😊
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I had the exact same reaction to the other cover and title.
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Right – one of the rare occasions where a revamp was necessary! I didn’t even realise they were the same book at first!
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Great review Janel! I haven’t read this myself but it does seem strange that you started feeling empathy for the main character since the purpose of it was making the reader dislike her. 😀
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It is strange so, I do wonder if that was the authors intention?? Either way I just didn’t enjoy reading about the way she was portrayed, I think because it was so close-mind, which may very well be the authors intention but it didn’t really work for me.
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I was thinking the same thing as Your response to Nikola – was it the authors intention to change how you felt about the character? I often find out that I change my opinion of characters throughout books but where I struggle is where someone is portrayed as bad in some way when actually they are vulnerable or troubled. It can put me off the book.
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That’s exactly it with this one, portrayed as manipulative/bad but I felt she was both vulnerable and troubled and it did put me off. Even if it was the authors intention to make the reader feel sympathetic towards Hattie, I still didn’t like the portrayal and it did put be off.
I often change my opinion only characters throughout books, sometimes several times, but this one just didn’t sit right with me…
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I didn’t enjoy this one that much, I thought it was a bit sexist and I HATED the ending when the cop said that she was to blame because they couldn’t control themselves or something like that (typical abuser defender)… UGH anyway XD The book wasn’t bad, I just had a lot of issues with it!
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I agree with all that you said!
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