My thoughts on The Last Time We Saw Her by Jaclyn Goldis, which include protected spoilers and questions. Is this friend group suspense story set in the Azores for you?
Table of Contents
Jen’s Quick Take on The Last Time We Saw Her by Jaclyn Goldis
- My favorite book by Jaclyn Goldis is still The Safari, which I think checks so many reader boxes: wedding mystery, White Lotus vibes, and Succession vibes
- For me, The Last Time We Saw Her falls into the friendship thriller bucket. A group of former teen campers gathers after ten years to remember their missing friend, a girl who vanished on a Jewish heritage trip to the Azores.
- The Last Time We Saw Her is of fans of There Should Have Been Eight, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and even I Have Some Questions for You.
- There’s also a podcast/documentary angle that isn’t a huge part of the plot.
- The book has a past/present timeline and lots of POVs, making it harder to follow at times. If the audiobook doesn’t have a full cast, you might get confused, so drop your questions in the comments!
- Publication date: June 16, 2026 by Atria/Emily Bestler. Thanks so much to them for my advance copy!
Character List for The Last Time We Saw Her
The Five Campers:
- Sydney Azulay: Teen It Girl, missing for 10 years
- Olivia “Liv”Azulay: Syd’s sister; 10 years later she’s a YA writer whose series was inspired by the treasure hunting
- Lexa Levin da Costa: Teenage Syd’s minion. Now married to Sydney’s teenage boyfriend, Eli
- Reuben Bensabat: São Miguel native; was dating Lexa 10 years ago
- Eli da Costa:
Camp Counselors:
- Jules Silva: now a documentary filmmaker hoping her film on Syd will make her career
- Aiden Jacobs: now a marine biologist
Other Characters:
- Maria: Jules’s documentary assistant
- Cass Bensabat: Reuben’s younger sister; now an Olympic-level gymnast
- Fortuna Sousa: Witness in Syd’s disappearance
- Daniella Bensabat Azulay: married Syd and Liv’s father Isaac after their mother took her own life. Mom to Reuben and Cass.
- David de Costa: Eli’s father
- Isaac Azulay: Syd and Liv’s father
Spoilers for The Last Time We Saw Her
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