Claudie Arseneault's Reviews > The Last 8

tw suicide and suicide ideation, family deaths, mass extinction

I wanted to love this book. It sounded like good tropy alien fun with a bi aro latina MC and a large crew. I watched each character art & portrait being revealed on twitter with growing excitement, and I started the day it released (I very rarely do that). So I really wish the set-up wasn't my favourite part of it. It's not awful, it just… didn't get me on board, I guess? None of the twists surprised me, I found myself disliking important narrative choices, and it went all in on one of my biggest DNA pet peeve, so that didn't help. I'm certain half the things I didn't like would excite others, though. This book and I just weren't meant for each other.

That said, overall, I rather like the aro rep (and if you know me, you know that's why I picked it up first and foremost). I think it's a great example of how you can thread the line with the "harmful tropes" and give us full, deep characters. Clover is prickly, self-describes as cold, often struggles to make friends with others and puts pragmatism over emotions -- and yes, I do think that for aro readers who have been pigeonholed into 'cold assholes' because of their orientation and despite who they really are, this might be a struggle. We all bring our baggage to a story, and that's okay. But it's not on Clover and Laura Pohl, or on any aromantic character, to represent all of us, and Clover has enough layers and internal contradictions not to feel like a cardboard stereotype of what people think aromantic means. And I love that her story arc is in many ways the reverse of the exile one--from being alone to finding her community. THE LAST 8 has a lot of those good found family feels, especially in the last third. There IS, however, one important aro scene slightly after midpoint that concludes with a … really unfortunate line. I'm absolutely convinced it's accidental, but it pays to be prepared, because it can easily be read as (view spoiler)["my lack of desire for romantic relationships and survivor's guilt at my ex boyfriend's death makes me a horrible human being" There is basically no way to be sure what that 'horrible human being' line was supposed to refer to, and those are the two main elements of the conversation she's referring. (hide spoiler)] So that hurt, but it's one line in an entire book, and Clover is imo a good aro protagonist.

One final, happier note: I LOVE SPUTNIK WITH ALL MY HEART. We all need more good doggos in our lives <3