The Last Girl
3.7/5 This book is a but difficult for me to review since I have been on a run of reading mediocre books so I am worried that I am elevating my rating just based on contrast. However, opposing this positivity is that The Last Girl treads territory not directly comparable to, but similar to, the world of The Handmaid's Tale and that makes me probably rate this a bit below where it may stand. Hopefully, the two opposing forces balance out. The Last Girl is set in a post-apocalyptic world – this particular apocalypse created by some unknown factor that causes the birth of girls to be very rare and eventually fairly unlikely. We never do find out much about what is happening outside a compound where our heroine lives supervised at all times by her cleric – read handler – and under the eye of ever-present cameras and creepy guards. The only thing Zoey, and the other 5 girls currently housed in the facility, can look forward to is “induction”. Induction occurs when a girl turns 18 and after a short ceremony is released from the facility and into the arms of her waiting parents whom she was taken from at birth. Not surprisingly, Zoey starts thinking that this induction seems a bit off – though not for the obvious reason that anything described as an induction cannot be terrific – and starts rebelling. In the process she, and we, find out the secret that lies behind her captivity. (You will probably have a good inkling about the nature of the secret from about page 10, but it was well-executed anyway). I read in other reviews that this is actually a young adult novel and that does help me a bit in figuring out where I want to rank this on the continuum of reading awesomeness. A bit light on detail for an “adult” book, the themes introduced and the general story-line are good and for a YA audience the sort of obviousness and superficiality present in The Last Girl are probably excusable. Though I hate excusing novels because of their genre – why do young adults need a special set of books? – this is no less developed than something like The Hunger Games and on that set of metrics, it is fairly good. Also working in its favor is that I found Zoey engaging, the description of the girls' confinement nicely done, and the 1984-esque punishments for getting out of line creative. However, if this is not meant to be a young adult novel -- and it appears it may not be -- do know that the level of this novel is akin to what one would expect from the young adult genre, so do not go in expecting this is the 2017 Pulitzer winner for fiction and know my review was ultimately based on treating this as something for teenagers. I also want to give Hart some points for providing what I think was the exact right amount of detail regarding the apocalypse for this type of novel – clearly meant to be the first in a series (I am going to guess trilogy by its subtitle: “Part One of the Dominion Trilogy”). We know something is going on out there in the world, but what it is and who is good and bad are all still only suggested – this will work well when this story is continued in future books. There is a lot of room for development and a good premise to build on. Purchase or pitch? Borrow. You can also read this review, and leave comments if so inclined, at Goodreads. Many thanks to Joe Hart, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for trading this book for an honest review.
