The Last Resort Review

The Last Resort : The Claiming Review

Book: The Last Resort : The Claiming
Author: Jasmine Warga
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Year: 2026
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Synopsis : “For the first time, Teddy is actually excited for the school year to start. His new neighbors, Lila and Caleb, are transferring to his school, which means he’ll finally have real friends! But Teddy has a secret he’s desperate to protect – one that explains why none of his classmates have spoken to him in years…
And that’s not all. Despite having sent the Fire Maiden back through the portal, strange things keep happening at the Castle Hill Inn. Teddy’s nightmares are back in a big way, and after getting stuck in the portal herself, Lila seems to be…flickering?! Almost as if something, or someone, is trying to summon her from our world to the next.
Teddy will do anything to protect his friends, but he’s terrified of repeating the worst mistake of his life. Yet Teddy might be the key to uncovering the Fire Maiden’s evil plans, and in order to stop her, he’ll have to face his greatest fears – the ones he’s spent his whole life running from.”

Review : I only just reviewed book one in this series a few months ago (here), so I was pleasantly surprised to see book 2 following so quickly behind. You may remember that I speculated there might be a second book based on the way book 1 wrapped up and here it is! There will most certainly be a book 3, given The Claiming did not completely conclude – though, there wasn’t a cliffhanger, so it’s still easy to read without moving on to book 3 if you don’t want to wait. This book was written by a different author than the first and honestly? It shows. Book 1 was so cute, a little scary, and perfectly spooky and while this book certainly did it’s best, it brought glaring differences and more than one problematic storyline to the table. I’m not sure why the authors changed and I don’t currently see a point to doing that beyond changing the entire tone of the book, which I’m positive was not intentional.

Caleb, Lila’s brother, who we were introduced to in Book 1, has an entirely new personality and tone of voice in this book, so much so that I wondered about the change before I realized the author was different. It’s a strange choice to make such a broad change between two books, particularly when they’ve only released within a few months of each other. If I’d have had time to forget the tone, perhaps it wouldn’t have been such a glaring difference or made such an impact on me, but a 4th grader going from a typical scared younger brother to someone who says phrases like “statistical anomaly” is a bizarre shift.

The storyline picks up where book 1 left off, with ghostly mysteries happening in the Castle Hill Inn, Lila and Caleb’s new home now that their Grandpa Clem has died. Unlike the first book, though, The Claiming features Lila’s next-door neighbor, Teddy, as the main character and narrator. I enjoyed this perspective shift and feel it helped round the story out in a way that has kept things from getting stale or too much the same from book 1. Ultimately, the plot was enjoyable and quick moving and left me flipping pages to see what would happen next.

Unfortunately, however, this book does not seem suitable for kids and I’m actually shocked that Scholastic felt okay with the content of two problematic scenes. If I were a parent, I would be keeping this book out of the hands of my kids for two reasons : First, a scene where Teddy and Lila meet up with a complete and total stranger, a person they met on an online message board who now just so happens to live in the same town they live in (though Teddy has been messaging with this person for a few years and had no idea). This feels deeply problematic and upsetting, especially given the way that particular storyline played out. **Spoilers Ahead** Rather than having any kind of parental guidance, Teddy and Lila actually do choose to meet up with their “friend” from an online message board, a complete stranger who’s spent years messaging with Teddy without letting him know they live in the same small town. Second, the same online “friend” encourages Teddy to sneak out of his house at 1am…and Teddy goes along with what he suggests, sneaking out and facing no consequences for his actions. In fact, the storyline doesn’t even pick back up after Teddy sneaks out and meets up with this person, it jumps straight into the next scene. This book is geared toward kids, at least as young as 4th grade and as old as middle school and is actively encouraging kids to meet up with strangers from the internet and sneak out of the house by way of example. How is this okay??

While I enjoyed book 1, book 2 took a staggering and dramatic turn for the worse and I’m disappointed to see the change. I can only assume it happened because of the author swap and while I left book 1 hopeful for a followup, I’m leaving book 2 hoping parents find this review and opt out of this book for their kids.

Advice : As an adult, I enjoyed the story, the ghosts, and the little twists and turns throughout. I would never, however, allow a kid to read this book and I hope you do your due diligence before checking this out from the library or purchasing it for your kids.

The Last Resort Review

Book: The Last Resort
Author: Erin Entrada Kelly
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Year: 2025
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis : “Just before her Grandpa Clem’s funeral, twelve-year-old Lila makes a shocking discovery. He didn’t die of natural causes – he was murdered. Possibly by someone who wanted to control his inn…and its secret portal to the afterlife. Now, a girl who’s vowed to become “less dramatic” must uncover her grandpa’s killer AND stop the ghosts desperate to make it back to our world.”

Review : The Last Resort is a super fun and enjoyable mid-grade read (grades 3-7) about the power of friendship, family, and finding places where you can be yourself. Lila, a twelve year old whose so-called best friends have described as “too much” and “overly dramatic” and, worst of all, “immature”, is ready for summer vacation so she can work on being as calm as a rock, as cool as ice, and as mature as her two besties think they are as they all head toward seventh grade next year. Her friends have stopped hanging out with her and have begun to hang out without her, she doesn’t have much time to regain their friendships. So when a relative she’s never met, Grandpa Clem, passes away unexpectedly and her family decides to travel out of state for his funeral, Lila is distraught. With the backdrop of frenemies / bullies who find Lila to be too much, we delve into Grandpa Clem’s world of ghosts, crystals, and portals to the world beyond the veil – a less than perfect scenario for a pre-teen who’s trying to be a lot less.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was cute and fun and had some twists and turns that, while I saw coming, didn’t fully take shape until they’d arrived. It doesn’t talk down to the reader or assume the reader’s too young to understand new concepts and it presents unknowns and uncertainties in a way that makes it a true learning experience. I’m always pleased to find a middle grade read that doesn’t feel incredibly dumbed down for a kid to read and The Last Resort really held up. It did include some scary imagery, so I think this might be a proceed with caution book if you or your reader are a bit antsy when it comes to large spiders, the idea of death, or ghostly apparitions – but all in all I found it to be a safe and spooky walk on the paranormal side, perfect for fall! In the finished copy of the book, there will be ghostly illustrations who will come to life on the page via a QR code, which is such a fun addition to an already ghostly book, I think it’ll help bring the book to life in a way that’ll keep the reader thinking about it for a while.

While at Grandpa Clem’s inn, Lila meets a neighbor who’s her age, a boy named Teddy. It’s through Teddy’s friendship that Lila finds her place with someone who doesn’t view her as too much, who lets her be exactly who she is, and who doesn’t dismiss her as being an overly dramatic person. It’s an important lesson without being preachy, that bullies have no place in our lives, and that shrinking ourselves down to fit into the box of other people’s expectations makes us a shell of ourselves. In a world where even adults struggle with this concept, and even the concept of not being bullies to other adults, I found this messaging to be a refreshing change of pace from what we see day-to-day. Ultimately, Lila’s friendships are the cornerstone for this book, not the ghosts!

Finally, I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5 because I felt the ending was too abrupt and lacked the closure I wanted from it. It didn’t need to be drawn out or even significantly longer than it already is, but it would have benefitted from a little more than it received. I think the door was left open for further books down the road, and I’m not ashamed to tell you that this adult will absolutely be reading whatever Kelly comes up with next if she decides to continue this book into a series!

Advice : If you have enjoyed any iterations of Disney’s Haunted Mansion (including the ride), I think you’d enjoy The Last Resort! As advised above, if you or your reader have any squeamishness around spiders, near death experiences, dogs, crows, the threat of death, or ghosts, this might be one you approach cautiously. I think it’s the perfect amount of spooky and calm – a great way to dip the toes into a paranormal subject without diving in head first and scaring the bajeesus out of yourself.