Ara . . . I made a mistake, we all did . . . go back to the beginning . . . it’s not too late.
As the only female to survive the devastating virus, Ara hasn’t seen another human in months―not since her father disappeared. The plague has swept away humanity, and Ara’s world is desolate, haunted by the ghosts of her former life. Her mother. Her sister.
Kaden and his crew live by a code: stay alert, stay alive. When they catch Ara stealing from them, they are furious―and confused. She is the first girl they have seen in three years. And while Kaden knows taking her captive is wrong, he tells himself he’s doing it to protect her.
But with Ara determined to follow through on her father’s mission―Go back to the beginning. End the plague―Kaden becomes mesmerized by Ara’s will and beauty. He knows he will do anything to help her, even if it tears their worlds apart.
H.J.Nelson began writing on the online platform Wattpad in 2015. Her story The Last She was one of the most read Science Fiction stories in 2016 and 2017, garnering over 12 million reads, with the television rights optioned by Sony Pictures in 2020. The Last She was named one of Goodreads Most Anticipated YA Reads in December 2021. H.J. Nelson has also written for brands like General Electric, National Geographic and Writers Digest.
Book 2 in The Last She series, THE LAST CITY, will be published February 14th, 2023. Preorder your copy now!
When not writing, Nelson has lived on a boat in the British Virgin Isles, worked in two zoos and ridden an elephant through the jungles of Laos— though she considers raising two daughters her most dangerous adventure yet. You can sign up for her newsletter at hjnelsonauthor.com, or find her on Instagram at @h.j.nelson.
FIRST OF ALL: If you liked this book, this is not a personal attack on you, it's just that I hated the book, you can enjoy a book that other people hate, or the other way around, so please don't get offended!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!
This book is absolutely the worst one I've ever read. So, to start off with, I saw this book on wattpad, and it was constantly coming back in my recommendations, and it had like so many reads, and a lot of my friends were like "OMG, you should totally read it". And I just thought that it was gonna be amazing. It turned out as a catastrophe.
The main character is just a fucking brat. She just doesn't think at all, literally. And she suddenly has this special "attraction" or "bond" with Kaden, after their fucking first meeting, like, are you for real... So Kaden belongs to this group of men that found Ara (our female main character), and then they take Ara to the clan, and Ara, who is the last woman on the planet, tries to escape several times, but like, I don't even get or she just got caught of that she couldn't leave Kaden because she has this "bond" with him that comes out of the middle of nowhere, like, what? And suddenly they get attacked by zombie dogs or something, and for some reason she and Kaden get separated from the group...... after that, they meet up with the group again and they head for the clan, and when they are there she meets Gabriel, and the clan and he find out that she's a girl. So, I'm gonna be very honest here; not only does she make fucking dumb decisions, she just doesn't think about how this Gabriel and the clan are going to affect her life, like, are you serious? And of course, we fall into this love triangle with Gabriel, Kaden, and Ara. Gabriel is just a pedophile, but I will come back to that later. Kaden is not a single hair better than Gabriel, and Ara is just this typical cheerleader-like girl who would've been popular in highschool with the perfect boyfriend. So, Ara goes on this trip with Kaden, and two others, and then, BOOM, Gabriel comes along, in all of a sudden, and Ara just lets him, belike.... how the f can you even trust them, like how, you are living in an Apocalypse, and you're probably the last woman on earth, and you just go WITH A RANDOM SQUAD THAT YOU JUST MET BECAUSE YOU HAVE A RANDOM CONNECTION WITH THIS GUY AND NOW YOU DON'T WANNA LEAVE HIM ANYMORE, SO YOU JUST GO, BECAUSE YEAH, WHY SHOULDN'T YOU GO WITH A GROUP OF MEN, AS THE ONLY GIRL ON THE ENTIRE PLANET. I'm sorry, I got a bit wandered off there. Anyway, so, I believe they go to this flat or something, and they meet this retarded guy, who kinda sorta lost his memory or something?..... And then Ara suddenly finds out that she and her dead sister were test subjects but she of course doesn't remember ANYTHING from that. Yeah that was just really weird.
So there was this point in the book were I thought Ara was finally making the right decision: she decided to flee. But YKNOW, she goes to this flat and suddenly there is another group of survivors. May I remind you that Ara hadn't like, met ANY survivors for like THREE YEARS, and now she suddenly finds all these survivors and just falls in love with random dudes... yeah that's not stupid at all or somethin'. And then it turns out Gabriel had been following Ara the whole time, but then this random group of survivors meets him, and shoot Gabriel through the head. So this group goes looking for Ara, and Ara goes to Gabriel, and SURPRISE, Gabriel is alive. I mean.... for real? OK, so may I just say something. This guy who shot him held the gun straight at Gabriel's head. Like, the gun touched his head. And then y'all are telling me this guy MISSED it? If you are holding a GUN at someone's HEAD, and it literally touches the headskin, that bullet ain't gonna miss anything, like SERIOUSLY, how dumb are you... So Gabriel turns out to be basically a liar the whole time, 'cause he KIDNAPS Ara to his secret underground house or something like that, (that just happens to exist out of the blue but alright) And guess what? Ara is not the only woman left on Earth, OMG I'm so surprised! I TOTALLY didn't predict ANY of that! (I hope y'all understand the sarcasm) And this woman just happens to be his sister or something, while we all thought his family was dead and he'd lost everything... yeah, okay, right. So Gabriel holds Ara in that underground basement, basically as a PRISONER, and just randomly kisses her, and even though Ara admits that she didn't like the kiss, she just lets him do it and kisses him even BACK. What the heck... And then they accidentally made out or something, yeah I'm not following it anymore.... So, after a lot of scenes where Gabriel was hanging out the pedo, and kissing with Ara, Ara finally decides to escape, by punching Alison (I don't remember her name, I'm sorry if I got her name wrong, but this is Gabriel's sister) and pretending that Alison fell into this dangerous waterfall or something, and of course, Gabriel and his two followers run off to it, and Ara tries to escape, and ironically fails. So I believe Gabriel was mad at her or something, but I WAS JUST SO PISSED. Like WTH DO YOU EXPECT FROM SOMEONE WHEN YOU KEEP THEM AS YOUR PRISONER, UNDERGROUND, AND NEVER LETTING THEM SEE THE SUN, AND KISSING THEM AGAINST THEIR WILL, AND YOU LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING AND PRETENDED YOU WERE THE VICTIM. Yeah, that's like, not creepy at all...
And then all this shit happened with Kaden, who was captured by the same group of survivors that shot (and "acidentally missed") Gabriel, and everything just wents down, and then the two groups get this... war? Like, literally a war? Because, that's like, totally what you're gonna do when you're almost all that's left of the human race, yup, you're just gonna murder each other out, by a fucking war, riding on horses with guns, because WHY THE HECK NOT. And then Kaden and Ara meet again, and then they suddenly make out or something, and the next day Kaden (the war was kinda sorta still going on) learns her to ride a horse, because, why wouldn't you learn your girlfriend that under those circumstances, I mean EVERYBODY would do that, right? So at this point, I just gave up on the book, like, it just drove me insane. I literally got headaches and I TRULY tried to finish it, but there were like A THOUSAND chapters left. Yeah, not gonna happen, unless I want to be the main guest at my own funeral...
So, what just really drove me insane, was how the book was written, and how the characters are just so weird, and make those fucking STUPID decisions, that don't add ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING, to the whole freaking book, which was like, more than 80 chapters. And this stunt didn't just happen once or twice: it just happened all the time, every chapter, every page, every word. It just drove me insane, I don't have another word for it, I'm sorry. What I also hated is that things were just so messy, like, something would just happen, and it wouldn't make any sense at all (aka Riverdale and the Last She), or something would just be totally fake, and Gabriel would suddenly have a sister, and all that shit, and Ara is making out with him, while he is the one WHO FREAKING KIDNAPPED HER IN THE FIRST PLACE. So this is definitely my number 1 worst book I've ever read.
I have received this ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
The Last She was beyond addicting. Right from the very beginning, I had endless questions. Mostly because things just weren't making sense in my mind and everyone was suspicious to me as well. In it, you will meet Ara, Kaden and Sam. Kaden and Sam are brothers and Ara is just a girl who stumbled into their little camp.
Little did they know that all their lives were going to be different after this.
I'll admit that I instantly fell in love with Ara and Kaden. There was just something about them - call it a spark.. or fake flirting - but things just clicked between them. It was really adorable, and super awkward, when she tried to flirt with him in the beginning. Then it became really cute when things stopped being fake.
Now of course this had drama and betrayal throughout the book. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat because certain people just needed to go. I'll admit that I was annoyed when certain people just wouldn't die and I was super sad when others did.
Heck, I'm still not even sure how to digest and comprehend the ending of this. It was a complete mindfuck to my brain and I'm currently freaking out over it. I seriously need this to be a series or something because I can't and wont accept this being a standalone. Ever.
Once I start a good book, it's almost impossible for me to put it down. Once I opened this book, I read it for 6 hours straight and didn't stop until I was about to fall asleep. It is so refreshing to read a book where each and every character feels like a real person, every single scene was so vivid and realistic as I read. This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster, my feelings towards the characters were constantly shifting and changing. One chapter I was (without giving any spoilers) swooning over one of her love interests, and the next I was mentally cursing him. Every character had many great traits, but they also all had flaws. I always love a book where you can sympathize with the antagonist and I felt that when reading this book. The "bad guy" wasn't completely bad, he still had likable traits, making it impossible for me to completely hate him. I'm not very good at writing book reviews and I don't do it very often, but I would highly recommend this book, you will not regret reading it.
Another find by Wattpad but I actually waited until a more traditional edition existed under the Wattpad publication thingy. I shouldn't have.
The concept here sounded like pure unadulterated bliss to me. The execution was poor, and I'm being generous. The story had so many opportunities for landing a commentary on society, gender, sex, and your assigned place in the world. But ok, it wasn't that serious. I can get behind that. So the "mission"? Sounded like fun too. Being the last woman on the planet after an illness that decimated the female population and you get told that the answer to the mystery lies at the beginning of the story truly sounds like a magnificent plot. Missed a chance there too.
Halfway through I was just confused. Nothing made sense. Everything went too fast and too slow at the same time. I didn't much care for Kaden nor for Ara. I just didn't give a fuck anymore. I started skimming and the ending just left me more perplexed. Is this standalone or will there be a series? Don't know, don't care.
Read The Last She for the second time and it was still fun to read! The scenes are described so well and realistic that it makes you feel like you’re there. There was a good amount of action and surprises and I never felt that the story was predictable.
The sequel ‘The Last City’ took a completely different turn, with new characters and a new setting. It took some adjusting but I absolutely loved the concept of the new storyline and the characters. There were again many plot twists and shocking moments making it the ultimate page-turner. The story was so well thought out that I want to read it all over again.
I’ve never read a story on wattpad more deserving to be published than this one and I truly hope that it ends up in stores one day.
Before I get into my review, can we talk about how fierce this cover is?
Ara is the last woman alive after an apocalypse that turned humans and animals rabid with the desire to kill. She's managed to survive with the help of her father, but when they are separated, and Ara begins to fears the worst, she is left to navigate the world alone with his last message- "Go back to the beginning."
This message fuels her desire for answers as she begins the journey home. Along the way, she is kidnapped by a group of male survivors and forced to return to their base.
This book had tons of potential but I struggled through most of it as there were some blinding gaps in the writing. First of all, the relationship dynamic between Kayden and Ara was lacking and literally, the only thing sustaining me throughout this book was the hint of a love triangle.
I think my main issue stems from the author's inability to properly articulate the motives of not only the main characters but also the supporting characters, which leaves readers stumped as to the logic being implied.
Let's look at this scenario: Ara is the last woman alive and she goes into an encampment with men who haven't seen a woman in years. There is not one lustful look or lewd comment being made and that astounded me.
I appreciated the attempts at mystery with Ara's role but it was a bit obvious that she is special because of her survival so pretending otherwise is silly.
I feel the need to say again that there is potential within the story but the character development, plot, and intent need to be ironed out.
Thank you to Watpad books for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Last She piqued my interest as it was described as The 100 meets The Hunger Games. I think the author did a good job of including lots of action, and you never quite knew what was coming. However, I found the characters to be lacking depth, and I struggled to connect with them or care what their fate was.
I also found the pacing a little off, especially in regards to Ara and Kaden’s relationship. It felt as though they inexplicably went from hating each other to being willing to die for each other.
I think a second book would definitely have the potential to answer a lot of the questions i’m left with, but without it this just wasn’t a satisfying read to me.
I seriously didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I did. But I don’t know, people almost dying for three hundred pages and some getting brutally murdered left and right, makes my heart sing.
I loved this YA dystopian book! It is an apocalyptic story that reminded me a little of The Walking Dead without the zombies. It had everything you could want: enemies to lovers, betrayal, action/adventure, suspense, & survival.
Ara is the last girl alive after a plague wipes out all the women in the world. She relies on her survival skills to get by until she is caught. Now she has more than just the environment to survive as men try to figure out what to do with her.
It was well written and I totally agree that it was one of Wattpad’s best books! I devoured it in a day. I will be reading to sequel for sure!
I didn't particularly care too much for this book, I found it a bit confusing and it didn't hold my interest for long. It took me a while to get through it and I often had to go back and reread things to make sure I hadn't missed anything. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I could see other people really enjoying it. The premise was interesting and the writing wasn't terrible. ARC recieved from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was so fantastically refreshing. I found myself falling in love with this story in only a matter of a couple of days. I love it so much and am extremely excited to continue this amazing duology!
I don't know why I didn't like this book. The story was ok, the narration was ok, but it just care for it. To be honest it was free in the audible plus catalog and I found the title interesting but the story ....eh. It's hit or miss whether a book from the audible plus catalog is going to be good. It wasn't terrible and I did listen to the whole thing. There are books I have stopped listening too because I couldn't get into it at all. This wasn't one of them.
The Last She is pretty much my jam. We've got an apocalypse plague, some survivors surviving, some traipsing around, and some mysteriousness. What's not to love!? When we meet Ara, she's just trying to survive after losing everything and everyone to a devastating plague. She also knows that historically, females do not survive this illness. Yet, here she is. She is also smart enough to know that she probably doesn't want to be found, with everyone thinking she's the last (or certainly among the last) females in existence.
But despite her best efforts, she's discovered. And although she tries to pretend she's a boy, it doesn't work for long. What ensues is some high stakes, high octane survival, with an added mystery thrown in. Once its clear that Kaden and his cohorts (at least, the ones he trusts) are among the good guys, the enemies become clearer. Kaden's group is split into factions, and of course, one group isn't exactly planning to respect Ara or her uterus.
And while they're trying to remain safe, Ara has a bit of a side project: her father has left her instructions to basically save the world. Ara has no idea what that will entail, but she's determined to figure it out. Kaden, for his part, finds himself willing to follow her to the ends of the earth to do it.
I really enjoyed the characters. Ara was a tough cookie, and was going to try to survive at any cost, which I obviously respected. Kaden had a found family (and some actual family, even) that he was determined to keep safe as well. I loved how Ara bonded with them, too. It was great getting to not only get to know the characters, but to see their relationships develop.
The whole book is just so readable, frankly. The pacing is great, there are plenty of twists and turns, and I simply could not put it down!
Bottom Line: I'm going to need the sequel. Like, immediately.
This book surprised me in a great way! It starts off right into the middle of things and the backstory fills in as you go. I love dystopian books, especially with plagues or viruses. This is one I haven't read before, most (or maybe all but one) of the women on Earth have been killed by the virus.
Ara is alone and trying to find her father when she's captured by a band of men. As she stays with them, she begins to make friends with a couple guys including the handsome cowboy Kaden and his younger brother Sam. I really liked Kaden, he's an example of a great guy and I was rooting for him and Ara to get together.
The story is a ride and has a lot of ups and downs. There's no shortage of action and I read this all in one shot. I really hope there's a sequel because I need to know what's going to happen!
I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Wattpad Books and Edelweiss for the copy.
In this post apocalyptic the women are all but extinct. Ara is one of the few remaining females alive, or possibly the last. I liked the premise of this story, the plot overall was good. But the characters fell flat for me, and their relationships seemed forced. It felt like they were trying to keep it a secret that Ara was special, but it was completely obvious. And also basically the plot to I am Legend and the last of us. I appreciated how the author made the MC into a badass that could take care of and protect herself. And I like the cover.
3.5 Stars ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review I struggle with rating this one mostly because there was so much left unanswered and I did not realize this was going to be part of a series rather than a standalone. Throughout the story I wanted more background on the world they are now in, I wanted to know what happened. As the characters themselves do not know and want answers, everything brought along more questions.
I felt the writing was a bit choppy at times. Ara occasionally has flashbacks and they blended together with the current timeline making things very confusing. Also the ARC edition I read was formatted very badly and it made for interesting reading, though I imagine much of this will be fixed in the final copy.
I think I expected a bit more action and a bit more of a bad@$$ heroine as she's been on her own for awhile now and is the only known female in existence. Also things progressed rather slowly over time which was annoying when I just wanted things to keep moving and for things to be discovered and solved.
As someone who loves apocalypse reads-for whatever reason this book was just OK. I stayed up most of the night reading and found it was hard to stop but the end just didn't win me over. With the book clearly being incomplete I'm left floundering over what's next and why there was so much left unresolved. I honestly can't even say I'd want to read the next one as it appears the drama and hellishness will only be worse the next time around.
This has so much potential, especially when you just start reading the book.
However, I don't know what happened.Just more situations transpired that didn't need to happen, and it felt a lot like YA, and I don't know. It just wasn't an enjoyable read.
I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by Wattpad Books.
You had me at, "The 100 meets The Hunger Games in this post-apocalyptic romantic adventure about the last woman on Earth." This is everything I could've asked for in a book and more, truly. The Last She was instantly addicting and I had trouble putting it down.
Ara is the only woman who survived a deadly virus and she hasn't seen another person in months, ever since her father disappeared. While attempting to survive on her own, Ara gets caught stealing from Kaden and his group. Surprised to find that their thief is a girl and the first one they've seen in three years they take her captive, but Ara, who was taught to not trust men, is determined to escape and follow through on her dad's mission–to go back to beginning.
Every character felt incredibly realistic, whether I loved or hated them, which was refreshing; the plot is quick paced; the concept is captivating for any dystopian lover; and it's the perfect mix of action and romance. I also enjoyed the change in perspectives as it helped move the story along, never making the reader feel stuck in one place or mind too long.
My main advice would be for the author to develop the main romantic relationship more so it does not appear like instant puppy love. These two characters come to the realization of their feelings for each other rather fast and we miss seeing it all. This is common in young adult stories and is a personal pet peeve of mine. I could've done without the epilogue as well, I don't think it was necessary.
I would recommend The Last She in a heartbeat and I can't wait to explore a sequel.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad books for an advanced copy of this to review. Unfortunately, this book just missed the mark for me. As someone who reads a fair amount of dystopia and did my MA thesis on gender portrayals in YA dystopian lit, this book had so much potential! Set in a not-so-distant future, there were so many possibilities to talk about the nuances of gender and how that might be affected in a world where basically all the women have disappeared. Unfortunately, these conversations didn't really happen and the book took a totally different turn.
Additionally, there are a lot of plot holes and inconsistencies that took me somewhat out of the story. I think a finer attention to detail in the editing process was needed. While there is going to be a second book in the series, I think there are still way too many questions that need to be answered moving forward.
There is a dual perspective here, and I think it helped in builidng this apocalyptic world, for the most part. The voices are strong, and there is some decent chemistry between the main two characters. That's where the strengths lie for this book, but unfortunatley everything else missed the mark for me.
The Last She is basically this dystopian novel about a world were woman become extinct due to a plague, and only men survive. This idea/concept for a dystopian world has definitely been used for many movies/books before, and also judging by the title "The Last She", you pretty much get the concept from the very beginning.
Anyway, didn't really love it. It had a lot of potential, but overall was a little bad. First of all (And I can't believe I'm saying this) but there was too much romance and drama. No offence, but I didn't really care about Kaden x Ara romance, and I felt like the book stuck to the romance/drama idea rather than the dystopian part. We start off with this mystery vibe about "going back to the beginning" and how the main character lost her sister but has a lot of family shit to figure out, but pretty much 90% of the novel is drama between 'Clans' (aka groups of men that live together) and Ara. Which yes, makes sense as she's the last girl alive, but also really unnecessary to have 500 pages on that. I felt like author could've focused a lot more on the dystopian part--the plague, who died, medical shit, etc etc.
Also, it just wasn't original enough. This idea's been used before, so pretty much starting off I was a little spectacle. Ara was a stupid name (short for 'Arabella' but overtime I read 'Ara' I kept pronouncing it "AIR-RAH" not how it's supposed to ("ARE-RAH"). Kaden was also an overused typical hot boy name. Some character's didn't act their age--there was a 13 year old boy who acted like he was 17 or 18, I actually believed that.
Ara is the last female alive. A horrible virus has killed billions worldwide, with the death toll for women and girls much higher. On her own, Ara must survive in a world where being a female puts a target on her back. She survives on her own for years. She is careful and cunning, until she gets caught. She is captured by Kaden, who takes her back to his group of men, under the guise of protecting her. Ara knows she needs to escape if she wants to live free and not be treated like a precious commodity.
This is a very interesting concept and was an entertaining book. It was post-apocalyptic/dystopian with a little dash of romance. I didn't fully feel invested in Ara and Kaden's relationship so there were times it fell a little flat and I wish it had been fleshed out more. It felt a little rushed, maybe a touch of Stockholm Syndrome at play, and just felt a little insta-love at points.
There were times where the writing was a little clunky and the main character didn't make sense with her words vs. actions at times. The plot twist was good, if a little predictable. There was an opportunity for a sequel so I would love to see where the storyline goes.
I enjoyed the story here, but there were so many times I had to suspend disbelief that I found myself coming out of the book. A world populated by men who have not seen a woman in years and the first one they do is strikingly beautiful? I know what my first thought was -- and I'll bet you're thinking the same as you're reading this. But no - instead, there's a mad, post-apocalyptic scramble to marry this girl and make an honest woman out of her. There's an elephant up in this room, and not a damn person is talking about it.
WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS! i got approved for this netgalley ebook, very fast read, and easy to follow and kept me interested. i like the concept of the book, thats what initially drew me in to request it, the description sounds interesting to me " THE 100 meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this post-apocalyptic romantic adventure about the last woman on Earth seeking to discover the truth of her existence after a mysterious plague wipes out the female population and she is taken captive by a clan of men risen from the ruins." (i love surival/ apocalyptic stories)this book is told in 2 points of view, ara and kaden. i like ara she was smart, strong.brave. at first i liked kaden too, but then idk i felt like he could be a bad guy, and with gabriel i wasnt sure about him bc kaden didnt like him but i kinda started to like gabriel until somethin happened that made me realised yep hes the bad guy. and then i started liking kaden more too and wanted him with ara. there were a few scenes where bad intense stuff happens and one of them gets hurts and i was hoping they wouldnt die (poor kaden he gets bit by those infected dogs at the mall, i thought he was gonna die) and then with the leader of the horde too thought he would die. i also liked kaden brother sam and isacc and liam. idk why but i kinda imagined isaac as morgan from twd xD theres also flashbacks/memories in some of the chapters. also that scene in the lab im curious about that i feel like idk emma (aras sister) and ara play a bigger part in the infection that happened to the world. also poor doggy loki :c and the horse red :c also when they in the lil boat going to the hospital it was creppy bc there was somethin big under the water :o :C also gabriels sister is alive whatt lol the scenes with ara is stuck in the bunker with addison etc all i could think was poor ara, addison was soo annoying but poor girl she lived there since it all started and shes a kid. the herd was massive im glad the leader ended up dying thanks to isaac (he literally saved everyone) we dont know what happened to gabriel and addison etc after the fire in the comunity and gabriel bein tranquilazed (i wonder if he died in the fire, but if so poor addison would be all alone) during the battle when sam comes back that was a bad idea (but at least they waited for isaac and kaden at the church for a bit) i didnt want sam/isaac and red to die so im glad that at the epilogue we discover that sam is alive and was saved by a man in a bunker but now sam is alone and still a bti weak and where will he go and how will he find kaden and ara. and kaden and ara dont know that sam is alive too. i hope they find each other. ara reaches her familys home and finds a cat :3 (waiit the cat doesnt go with them :o) she finds a map and a note from her dad behind a picture telling her to go north (like someone from the community said they were gonna head north bc they heard theres survivors there and women etc) kaden and ara go. but tis gonna be dangerous for ara bc women are sold there etc :c so theres gonna be a sequel which i want to read!!! i overall really enjoyed this book and characters and plot and cant wait for the sequel!
Knew nothing about this before buying it when I saw it in the new releases.The Last She takes place after a virus wipes out most of the human race and nearly every woman, transforming animals into wild beasts and for the main character Ava being the last woman is extremely dangerous.
The Last She is a distopion novel that does come across as very Young Adult but at the same time tries to have some adult themes, it is as if the author couldnt decide between the two.
To me the author does seem to borrow alot of ideas from The Road and The Last of Us just no where near as good. The plot follows Ava returning to her home town 3 years after the outbreak following a clue that her father left behind in the hope of a cure. She unfortunately enters a territory ran by different clans and when she is captured things change.
Now the plot dosent actually go anywhere with regards to the main premise of the book. The author seems to apparently abandon the main story half way through and the action focuses more on Ava and her two potential love interests.
Character development goes nowhere, its very much starts with Ava being a strong female lead then for no reason develops feelings for one of the love interests for no other reason then his appearance. Characters are very stale unoriginal and have paper-thin personalities. Some of the decisions made throughout this are just head scratching and very inconstant.
In my opinion this book must have been heavily edited and cut short or the author had intended this to be the start of a series but it dosent really stand out or have enough going on for that to happen. One thing the author either dosent understand how to do or really struggled with was managing to put across the passage of time to the reader as this does time jump a few months or so but it is so poorly done and makes the character development just eye-rolling bad. The mutated creatures of this world do come across as interesting but again goes no where.
Overall this book took me a day to read and I did find my interest wavering after the midway point(about the same-time as the time jump). I think if the main plot about the curse was fleshed out more and it was double the page length then the final book managed to be you might have had a good book as the originally premise is a sound idea just not executed very well. Unfortunately this book goes no where and will leave you feeling very disappointed.
I read this book because I missed reading dystopian novels and felt like The Last She would fit the bill perfectly!
The plot was full of tropes and predictable. The action was lackluster and the world building left a lot to be desired.
The main character, Ara, was a badass and it wasn’t just because of some innate ability which I appreciated. The romance kinda fell flat past the initial meeting in the mall. However, Isaac stole the show and I feel like we all took him for granted. I also liked the complex morality of the characters as they navigate their new world and some of the parallels to current society.
All in all, this books is worth the read if you are just looking to read something that isn’t time consuming or super engaging of your mind. Thank you to Wattpad and NetGalley!!!!