Last Girls is a breath of fresh air for YA thrillers/mysteries. I was surprised at the twists in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well, this book was a sad DNF more me. It just wasnt what i expected, unfortunately. As others have said the same thing, it might have been a problem with marketing not targeting the right readers or pushing good expectations of the book.

- this review is several years late past the book's release (due to the many issues of 2020). But thanks a million to the publishers and netgalley for an early copy of this book.

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't want to review a book that I didn't finish.

I love the trope of people training and prepping for doomsday. I loved the sisters in this and their dynamic. This was action packed and excited and I couldn’t put it down.

I loved reading LAST GIRLS! Sisterhood is at the heart of this thriller, and I loved each of the Juniper sisters (Honey, Birdie, and Blue) so much. Honey is the oldest and our main POV—her protectiveness for her younger sisters was one of my favorite parts of the story.

The book mostly follows the sisters as they navigate the secret compound they’re living on with other doomsday preppers, but there is another POV that makes an occasional appearance and I was anxious to see how both storylines would connect. It’s a suspenseful read, and it was interesting seeing all of the survival skills. I also adored the love interest, Remy, who had the best lines and was so supportive.

Thank you Macmillan Tor-Forge for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Last Girls
By: Demetra Brodsky


REVIEW ☆☆☆☆

Last Girls was different than I expected. I wanted more of an apocalyptic scenario than was given, and the blurb seemed misleading in that way. Regardless, the story is an emotionally complex tale of three sisters and the strange and unusual life they lead. With some drama, tension and surprises I was interested in the outcome for these girls. It's a good fit for ya readers in my opinion.

2 stars. I was so excited about this one and I'm so disappointed. The marketing is what really hurt this novel. Review to come.

Due to being a high school teacher, I have been falling behind on reviews. Here are my initial thoughts.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great Read for Feminist! I loved it. It was a fantastic read.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I struggled to connect with the characters in this book and just couldn't get into it. I ended up not finishing, which is rare for me. I'm not saying it's a bad book, but it wasn't the right read for me at the right time.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of Last Girls in exchange for an honest review!

Last Girls, for me, is one of those books where it's perfectly fine -- interesting concept (Doomsday Preppers?!@! Sign me up) & there's nothing wrong with the characters, but -- there was nothing that really gripped me. I doubt this book will be memorable, but in general, it was a pretty decent read.

I'm sorry this review isn't too helpful, I just don't have much of an opinion -- it was simply an average read for me.

This book was so much different than I thought it was going to be. I was NOT disappointed, just wasn't what I thought. I loved all three of the sisters, I loved the "holy hell" twist at the end, I loved reading about them having every day carry bags and bug out bags. Reading about other preppers is always fun. The writing was well done, the characters grew, and I felt so much emotions from this book.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Tor Teen (Macmillan-Tor/Forge) for providing me with the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A book about doomsday preppers? Count me in! I am a sucker for anything cult-like, especially ones that are focused on strong women. Brodsky does a great job developing the Juniper sisters and their unique voices and demonstrating the power of their sisterhood and how it is essential to their survival.

While the reveals were predictable to me, I enjoyed the writing style and I was invested in the characters, who at times functioned more as architypes for me which tied into the book's connection to the power of art and creativity.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it's a different take on the YA thriller genre that's been taking over recently. Definitely one to have on your radar and I can't wait to go back and read the author's debut novel.

Okay so I was really excited about this book. I love prepper/bunker books and thought this was going to be an apocalyptic type story. It was more of a school shooting conspiracy story. Not what I expected and not my favorite.

This was superb!
This was a book I didn't know that I needed, and I enjoyed every single moment of it. This is one I feel like I need to reread again just to absorb and savour every moment of it.
This definitely won't be the last book from this author that I read.

A beautiful book on sisterhood and survival. This book does go into some tough topics that one may expect with cults, but I enjoyed the book and seeing how sisters Honey, Birdie and Blue Juniper navigated life as doomsday prepares

This was a pleasant surprise. I am not a fan of thrillers or big on contemporary stories, but the writing in this story gripped me from beginning to end. The atmosphere of the story was well written that I felt like I was with the girls. I loved the characters and how different they were from one another. Honey, Blue, and Birdie Juniper are all sisters that live on a compound in Washington state. They are doomsday preppers which means they are strange compared to others. I never felt like one sister flowed into another. They were all distinctly written with opposite and yet complimentary attitudes.

Demetra has a way with the writing that makes you visually picture each character and the setting. I felt like I was a doomsday prepper with the girls. This book didn't leave me empty. It filled me up and made me excited for more from the author. For someone who doesn't care much for thrillers I was excited to have stepped out and read this beauty. Definitely will be re-reading this in October!!

Ok, this was a genuinely weird reading experience for me.
What intrigued my about this book was the premise of sisterhood. It immediately screamed those girls against the world. I had never read anything about preppers, I've never met one nor had I ever really any interest in it. It always seemed really strange and inherently American to me. But I thought it might make for an interesting story.
I was kind of preparing for a post- or peri-apocalyptic scenario. But damn, I wasnt prepared for how boring this book would be.

Without exaggerating it I kind of wanted to dnf this book at about 10%. The writing style was so descriptive, but not in a good way. There was such a huge info-dump, in the very beginning. So many prepper terms that were abbreviated. Like Shit-Hits-The-Fan became SHTF and then you're just supposed to memorize all this unfamiliar terms. At some point my brain just skipped them entirely to be honest.

While I did like the stisters in general, they just felt so flat. Everything just felt weird to me and I was just not getting into this book. It's a wonder I made it to 50% without dnfing it (although I started to skip everything but the dialogue at some point). But then lo and behold, at about 60% in things started to actually happen.
From the beginning I was anticipating something big to happen, they weren't preppers for no reason right? Right? But up to 60% nothing legitimately happend. It was a constand to and fro. Sure there were a few, let's call them misterys, popping up here and there but they weren't really enough wo warrant a big story, you know?

I wish the first 60% were more like the last 40%. I even read the whole chapters and not just the dialogues anymore. Things finally started to fall into places, feel cohesive. I just wish the author wouldn't have waited until the ending to do that.

I will read anything that Demetra Brodsky writes and this didn't disappoint. I love that I learned something from this book. Brodsky did a great job of creating mystery throughout the whole entire book which made it hard to put down. I loved reading about these three sisters.

This one isn’t my usual type of read. One of my goals this year for reading (and in general) is to challenge myself, get out of my comfort zone. So when I saw the synopsis for Last Girls I was intrigued and decided to give it a shot. HOLY FORKING SHIRTBALLS GUYS!!!! I didn’t know what to expect from this book when I started it but it gave me one of the biggest roller coaster ride of the year. From the very first chapter, it grabbed my attention and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Last Girls is the story of the Juniper sisters that live in a prepper compound. It is told in the POV of the eldest of three sisters, Honey Juniper. You will find a couple of chapters in between in another POV. I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t talk about them except to tell you I really enjoyed them and thought they brought so much more to the book. Back to the sisters. Honey was an amazing character. Being the eldest she is always looking out for her siblings. No matter what happens she will always put their well-being first. As we read more about their story you start to see what brought this behaviour on and just how deep their bond is. Along with her sisters Blue and Birdie, Honey is the weird kid at her school. I mean living in a compound and prepping for doomsday will probably do the trick for that. But even if she seems to fully adhere to the prepper ways you could see the duality in Honey between maintaining the safety of the compound and her wish to fit in at school. Though the Juniper sisters are sometimes isolated in their own community not having been brought up there but coming in as outsiders. This was my first book and contact really with the prepper mentality. The way the community is explained it sounded almost more like a cult to me then anything. I guess it probably is in a way. I don’t know how close the book is to reality but oh my gosh my brain can’t wrap itself around some things. But Last Girls wasn’t just a book about preppers and when shit will hits the fan, for me it had also a lot of heart. The unconditional love that the sisters have for each other transpires through the story. It’s the kind of book that you didn’t expect to hit you in the feels but when it does you can’t help but love it so much more. It is so hard to talk about this book without giving anything away. There were so many twists and turns. Some of the twists I saw coming and some I didn’t but it didn’t matter if some parts were predictable because it was so captivating. If you liked books like The Serpent King and Scream All Night I think you will enjoy this one too. It was such a surprise for me but I am so happy I took the journey.