Laura Dave continues Hannah Hall’s pulse-pounding journey in the riveting and deeply moving sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling blockbuster and Apple TV+ show, The Last Thing He Told Me.

Five years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey, have settled into a new life in Southern California. Together, they’ve forged a relationship with Bailey’s grandfather, Nicholas, and are putting the past behind them.

But when Owen shows up at Hannah’s new exhibition, she knows that she and Bailey are in danger again.

Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them. As a thrilling drama unfolds, Hannah risks everything to get Bailey to safety—and finds there just might be a way back to Owen and their long-awaited second chance.

A gripping, rich, and deeply moving novel about the power of forgiveness, The First Time I Saw Him picks up right where the epilogue for the “genuinely moving” (The New York Times) The Last Thing He Told Me left off, giving listeners the eagerly awaited and absolutely exhilarating sequel to Dave’s global blockbuster.

After really enjoying The Last Thing He Told Me, I was excited to pick up this sequel and finally find out what happened next, especially after the way the first book ended. Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations. While I did enjoy certain aspects of the story and liked spending more time with these characters, overall, this was a pretty forgettable read for me. There is some strong language, including a few f-bombs, but thankfully, there is no spice.

The story picks up five years after the events of the first book. Hannah and Bailey have managed to build a relatively normal life together in Southern California, and Bailey is now 22. One of my favorite parts of this book was seeing how much their relationship has grown. Hannah is no longer simply Bailey’s stepmother. They have truly become a family, with Bailey even calling Hannah Mom. They have also formed a close relationship with Bailey’s grandfather, Nicholas Bell, despite everything that happened in the past.

I really appreciated seeing this side of Hannah and Bailey’s relationship. After everything they went through in the first book, it was nice seeing how deeply they now care for and trust each other. I actually found myself appreciating both characters even more this time around.

Of course, their peaceful life cannot last forever.

When Owen unexpectedly appears at one of Hannah’s exhibitions, she immediately realizes something is wrong. His appearance is brief, but it is enough to warn her that the danger they have spent years preparing for has finally arrived. Hannah and Bailey are forced to put their carefully planned escape into action, even though Hannah had always hoped they would never actually have to use it.

Meanwhile, Owen has not simply disappeared for the past five years. He has been watching his family from a distance and working behind the scenes on a plan of his own. He wants to finally bring everything full circle and find a way back to Hannah and Bailey without continuing to put them in danger.

We also learn much more about Nicholas, including how he originally became involved with the Organization and his complicated friendship with Frank Campano Pointe II, the head of the crime syndicate. The story also fills in some of the missing pieces surrounding Owen and what happened after he left Hannah and Bailey.

This sequel feels much more like a cat-and-mouse thriller as Hannah and Bailey find themselves on the run once again. There are plenty of secrets, hidden motives, dangerous people, and twists along the way. Unfortunately, none of it was particularly exciting for me.

The story constantly moves between the present and different events from the past, filling in the history surrounding Nicholas, Owen, and the crime family. While I understand why those chapters were included, they made the story feel incredibly choppy. Every time I started getting interested in what was happening in the present, we would jump somewhere else. Instead of building suspense, it often slowed everything down.

I also struggled with how repetitive the story became. There was a lot of filler, and almost every thought or situation seemed to be filled with an exaggerated sense of urgency, angst, or drama, even when what was happening was fairly mundane. After a while, it became exhausting rather than suspenseful.

There are plenty of twists and turns, but unfortunately, none of the reveals really wowed me. I kept waiting for that moment when everything would click into place and completely pull me into the story, but it never happened. My mind wandered quite a bit while listening to the audiobook, and eventually, I increased the listening speed because I mostly wanted to get through it and find out how everything would end.

That was probably my biggest disappointment. The first book had an emotional depth and sense of intrigue that kept me invested in Hannah and Bailey’s story. This sequel never recreated that feeling. At times, it seemed like there was not quite enough story here to fill an entire novel, so the main idea was stretched out with flashbacks, repetition, and unnecessary filler.

That being said, I did not completely dislike it. I enjoyed being reunited with Hannah and Bailey, loved seeing how their mother-daughter relationship had developed, and appreciated finally getting answers about Owen, Nicholas, and everything that happened after the first book. There was enough here to keep this at a three-star read for me, but it was definitely more of an okay reading experience than a memorable one.

If you loved the first book and really want to know what happens to Hannah, Bailey, and Owen, I still think this sequel is worth picking up for the closure. Just know that it has a very different feel from the first book. For me, it lacked the emotional depth, suspense, and intrigue that made the original story so compelling.

I am glad I continued with these characters and finally learned how their story ends, but ultimately, this book felt like a promising idea stretched too thin. It was not a terrible sequel, but it was not the satisfying conclusion I had hoped for either. In the end, it was simply an okay read.