I really wanted to love this book.
I absolutely adored the cover and synopsis had me really curious.

I couldn’t finish this book.

The term POTUS was used about 10x and I was only 33% in on this book.

If I wanted to read something that just trashed our president I would go on the news or Facebook. Also just pointing out I’m not a fan of the president either but I don’t really want to hear about it in a YA novel.

Mother do you think they’ll drop the bomb?

-Pink Floyd

“Preparedness is the root of prepping.”

Sisters Honey, Birdie and Blue know they’re weird. Unlike regular teenagers who worry about school dances, dating and shopping, the Juniper sisters are more versed in survival skills and tactical combat. For years they have been moving around with their mother Alice, never without their EDC bags or each other. But after settling in Washington and working and training along fellow doomsday preppers on a secret compound in the outskirts of town, things for the Juniper sisters are getting…strange. After a mission set by the compound leader goes wrong, one of the boys from the compound is forced to go out on his own as punishment. But what really happened that day on the mission is the real question, and why the mission was ordered in the first place. Suddenly life isn’t all government conspiracies and stock-piling food. While trying to keep their prepper identities secret, they soon realize the truth is much more toxic than they ever expected.

“‘Why did we ever come here?’

‘To find our way home,’ Blue says.”

I think this is my new favorite book of 2020. I mean sure, nothing can really beat the gut-punch and epic fantastical emotion show that was HOEAB, but for me…Last Girls comes damn close.

Maybe it’s just the conspirator in me, or the slight hope for an apocalypse so I can run around the world mostly scared, yet completely badass in my combat boots, unpractical black jeans, ripped shirts and unnaturally large knives strapped to my legs. But in truth, it’s probably the fact that I am a sucker for badass females that can take care of themselves – ESPECIALLY in the woods with a bow or a rifle. And that is exactly what the Juniper sisters are. BAD. ASS. They’re fiesty, they’re sharp and witty, they are experts in weaponry and hunting and can lay you on your back in .25 seconds. They are teenagers who posses the innocence of young women, but also carry a wisdom and complete sense of comfort as to who they are. They are thoughtful, tactful and at ease in their bodies. I adore them.

“We can handle them.

My sisters and I can handle anything.”

The girls live on a compound with a bunch of other preppers. Men and women, boys and girls. The compound is separated into two two sections: The Burrow, where the men reside with the weapons and artillery, and The Nest, where the women reside and grow food for the compound and tend to the animals. Every day the girls are required to take care of the animals that are used for food, to train with the rest of the compound, and to remember the most vital rule of all:

“The first rule of prep club is you don’t talk about prep club.”

The compound is ultra strict about keeping the prepper business on the DL, and anyone caught violating their rules or putting their fellow preppers at risk are swiftly dealt with and banished. This lifestyle is all the juniper sisters have ever known, and it’s almost like they were made for it. So even though they are always labeled the Weird Sisters at whatever school they end up attending, they also are quite aware that if a disaster ever hit, they would definitely be the last ones standing.

“If I be waspish, best beware my sting.”

Honey is the oldest Juniper sister and tasked with the responsibility of keeping her sisters in line and ensuring they always stay together. She is compassionate and strong, fierce yet approachable, thoughtful and definitely acts as the mother hen. The story is told by her and seen through her eyes, which I think was the perfect choice for a voice for this story. She is the balance of her two sisters. A piece of Blue’s calm and a piece of Birdie’s brash nature. She is the glue and the rational authority for her sisters, always thinking ahead and making sure they are safe.

“…a look that rides the line between aloof and ready for battle.”

Now Birdie…she’s my girl. I connected with her SO much, even though she’s still a bit of a mystery. She has the Fury/Amren vibes of cool and carefree murder in her eyes, and a sassy mouth like Aelin and Bryce. She fully lives up to her name in the sense that she flies out the door on a whim, doing what she pleases and when. She acts before thinking and refuses to be told what to do, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t an excellent prepper. Because she is. She is just as dedicated to her lifestyle as her sisters, but she likes to bend the rules more. She is the strength and unwavering determination of the sisters.

“A calm blue sea with hair to match…”

Blue is also my favorite! So yeah, okay…I love them all. But Blue is perfection! She is the youngest Juniper and is an enigma of cool, calm and collected at all times. She is unwavering in her thoughtfulness and passive nature, and is always spouting odd prophecy-like sentences that even make her sisters look at her strangely. But of course, that was why I was obsessed with her. Well, and the cobalt blue hair. Blue is so sweet and loving, definitely the heart of the sisters.

“So foul and fair a day I have not seen.”

But this story has so much MORE of an underlying purpose weaved within it, but I of course can’t say a damn thing about it because OHMYGAH, it’s so good. By the end of the book I had tears forming, and when Birdie flies at someone near the end…well. I just about broke down and started happy weeping. How this tale comes together is really crafty and sly, and I loved how slowly everything was revealed. It broke me a little, in a good way, and I am still oohing and ahhing about the beauty of it all. And to make the story EVEN BETTER, the writing in it was fantastic! The sarcastic jokes, ironic Hunger Games references and witty banter between Honey and her classmate Remy was so enjoyable. I was highlighting SO MUCH while reading because I couldn’t get enough of these personalities.

There are a few romantic notions in this tale, but I really liked that it didn’t encompass the story or overpower the real plot. It added to the characters by bringing a necessary softness and realistic nature to them. It helped make the girls feel like actual teenagers, rather than gun-toting soldiers looking for a fight.

Overall, I loved this book. I want it to become a movie, I want to play Birdie, no I cannot act, but I have that “f**k you” look ready and the hair to match, so bring it on. Read this book. Get into the culty/Dooms Day/Apocalypse/prepper lifestyle with me and let’s go be weird together.

Currently taking applications for my other Juniper sisters.

WOW! This was HIGHLY enjoyable and addicting to read! A mix of thriller and young adult fiction, Last Girls gave me everything I wanted in a doomsday prepper book.

I also realized shortly after starting this book that I’m definitely a Birdie! A good mixture of stubborn and hopeless romantic.

Brodsky’s writing was so detailed and effortless. It was super obvious so much research was put into this book on the prepper culture. I was super impressed. I learned so much from this book because of it.

When I requested Last Girls on NetGalley, I had little to no idea what it was about. I just knew that the cover enticed me and that it was about sisters and survival. Little did I know that it will become one of my favorites this 2020!

Last Girls is a wonderfully written story that will take you for a thrilling ride, keep you on your toes, and surprise you until the end. It's brilliant!

My thoughts on Last Girls

First of all, let me just say that all throughout the book, I kept thinking, "This would look so good as a movie!" or "Damn, I want to see this as a movie.". Now that I think about it, I believe it's because Last Girls has a unique and palpable suspense that will have the readers (or the viewers!) hold their breaths or clutch the armrest or send their minds reeling. From start to finish, the author managed to project that same suspense and tension onto me as the reader. 

The characters were amazing, and not just the Juniper sisters, but the minor characters as well! Honey, Birdie, and Blue are tight knit; these sisters would do everything to stay together. I loved Honey's protectiveness and determination, Birdie's passion and spontaneity were something to behold, and Blue's clairvoyance and calmness completed their dynamic relationship. As for the minor characters, Remy was just the sweetest, Ansel was a good guy caught up in a messy situation, and Toby's determination added to the heartfelt touch of the story. 

The plot was easy to follow, and it was also mysterious, suspenseful, and exciting! The Juniper sisters and their mother are preppers—people who are actively preparing for the end of the world every day. They just didn't expect that the real and immediate danger would come from within their compound, and that's where it gets interesting. I loved all the foreshadowing, tiny revelations, and little mysteries in this book! The author did such a good job with them, and I was always thinking about all those tiny details or I kept going back to certain parts of the book to confirm my suspicions and theories. I was so invested in them and it blew my mind every time I come across a plot twist or revelation. 

I also loved the writing style of this book and the way the story was told. The story was mostly told in Honey's perspective, but there were also a few chapters featuring Toby. At first, you might get confused and it may take a little while to build up, but the two perspectives will connect and the story line will have a whole new meaning. Best of all is that, at the core of Last Girls is the importance of family and sticking together no matter what. I loved that.

For me, this story had a slow beginning. I struggled at getting familiar with the story and its characters, specially Birdie and Blue as I couldn’t tell them apart during the first chapters. The one thing that caught my interest and kept me reading during these first chapters was the situation in the school, when you can actually get a reaction from Honey and start to know her a little better for who she is: someone who’s always trying to protect her sisters, always vigilant and ready for whatever comes her way. However, we see these things take a toll on her and make her more of a mother than a sister to Birdie and Blue.

I wish this story could have a faster pacing, as I struggled to keep going at some points because apparently, during the first half of the book almost nothing of relevance happened. Last Girls doesn’t have much shocking events or surprising twist and turns, it slowly builds up to the bigger picture at the end, and that might be why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

The characters were all very diverse (personality wise), and my favorite one was Honey. It felt like a very realistic character, this girl that’s so invested on taking care of her sisters and, in her words, being the three big Rs (Ready, Reactive and Responsive), that she loses herself a little in the process, and slowly tries to reconnect with her passion for art. I liked her interactions with Rémy, and his character was also very likeable. Birdie and Blue were also very interesting to read, and Achy the falcon was such a good addition to the mix.

This story has two points of view, both of them very important in order to understand the story better. Toby’s chapters intrigued me a lot, the whole time I was wondering, what’s the importance of these chapters when they don’t seem to have anything to do with Honey’s chapters? But that’s what kept me going, and making theories in my head. This was a key factor in the story and a big part of the book’s magic resides in the dual pov, those two sides of the coin to help you understand it all at the end.

Now, before reading this, I have never read about about preppers in my life. I got to say Last Girls included in it’s narration and dialogues many acronyms that got me struggling a bit. I learned some of them along the way, but some of the longer ones I just couldn’t remember what they actually meant. They added a lot to the story’s worldbuilding and helped to get a realistic potray of the life of the preppers, but I couldn’t help to be a bit overwhelmed by it.

The ending was my favorite part of the book. It made me realise that throughout the way, little things added up to make a whole bigger picture that left me very surprised. I was not expecting that ending, and the dirty secrets uncovered by the sisters, Rémy and Bucky. It made me notice all the little things I didn’t pay attention to while reading the book. By the last page, there were no loose ends and everything was perfectly wrapped up.

Last Girls speaks about family bonds, reconnecting with your past, fighting for the truth and for getting back what you lost. It’s about taking a closer look at the things in your life you’re so certain of. It won’t leave you indifferent. Even when I had my issues with some aspects in the story I already mentioned, I think it’s worth giving it a try.

REVIEW POSTED ON MY BLOG, BELLEROSEREADS, ON MAY 12TH 2020.

The first half of this book felt a bit slow, but the second half definitely made up for it. There was plenty of action and some shocking plot twists. The Juniper sisters were interesting characters and I really liked Remy. The best part of this book was the ending, I loved the way the truth came out and how certain characters got what was coming to them. One issue I had with this book was all of the acronyms, there were so many and I couldn't remember what most of them meant, which made things a little bit confusing at times.

Keeping politics out of things I enjoy (tv, reading, music) is getting harder and harder to do.

I can usually handle one or two political opinions but it felt like every chapter we were getting something from Honey about how she hated the POTUS, I get it.

I'm sorry, this wasn't for me.

Let me just tell you that I struggled reading this book because it's quite confusing. But don't get me wrong, this book left me on the edge of my bed while reading it.  But I actually pushed through because I see potential of this book and it so different from my normal contemporary reads.
The writing style of the author is not hard to understand, she made it easier to read the book.  I just struggled to understand the entire world because this is a new concept for me but at the end of the day, I enjoyed it and I appreciate this book more than anything else.
For the characters, I enjoyed them so much. I love how different each sisters are from each other, as well as Toby.  So at first I was confused how Toby is related to the three sisters because he is not part of the Burrow, so that part was confusing at first. I like the representation of different characters and personalities of the three sisters, made me loved them so much.
As for the world building, I actually enjoyed it.  I like the entire concept and made me curious about Doomsday Preppers, to be really honest.  I didn't believe that these types of people do exist and that they really have that thoughts against the government.  I couldn't blame them, to be really honest, because we really don't know what's true now, especially at this time of a pandemic.

Honey, Blue, and Birdie haven’t had a choice but to live in The Nest and although they feel like weirds among their peers at school, they are tightly bonded to each other. They have been brought up to follow strict rules and guidelines, to not trust Outsiders, and know how to survive in all kinds of situations (without the constant use of technology, and while also not knowing the full truth about their past).
They are strong despite the trauma they’ve been through. They are connected despite the distance they must maintain from others around them. They are smart beyond their years despite everything that is missing from their lives.
It’s a story that unfolds as thriller, a mystery about a prepper community that gradually appears to be a dangerous group with some dark plans, but this is decidedly a contemporary novel with superb character development. The entire story also wouldn’t be complete without a family secret and the ending encapsulates some of my most positive feelings about ‘Last Girls’; nothing cheesy, just full-on satisfied it ends that way.
Author Demetra really allows the reader to get to know her characters and writes her contemporary ‘worlds’ with the detail of a fantasy novel (I love the way she uses actual survivalist terminology for chapter names); these give the story so much more depth. Getting lost in the woods of the Pacific Northwest is one thing (I don’t think I’d advise it). But getting lost in this book for a weekend is immersive and wonderful.

A book about doomsday preppers?!?! Sign me up!! That's why I was BEYOND excited when I was able to join in on the blog tour not long ago.


This book met my expectations and then some. There was a strong sense of familial love--which I'm a sucker for. Almost more than romance. There was action, excitement and more importantly--three incredibly well-written strong characters that I fell in love with.


They were each unique and brought their own personality into the story. I loved it!



This review will be posted on the given link on 5/10/20

I've never read anything to do with Doomsday preppers, so it was very interesting to read of that lifestyle, from their supplies, to their habits and training (especially since the main character and her sisters live in a prepper compound in Washington), to the way they think, and to things they say, borrowing a bunch from military slang. I thought that was a fun bit, to have the acronyms/slang as the title of each chapter. If you've read the author's previous book, Dive Smack, she does something similar there with diving terms for each chapter title.

The book follows the POV of Honey Juniper, the oldest of the Juniper sisters. She has a middle sister named Birdie and the youngest sister is named Blue. They live with their mother, who was previously a nurse, in a prepper compound that is under the leadership of Dieter Ackerman. The men and women live in separate areas in this compound and have different duties- the men are in an area called the Burrow and practice things like combat training and weaponry, while the women live in an area called the Nest and do things like farming, raising animals, and making things. They do interact with the outside world to trade, and the children go to regular school as well. However, their compound has pretty strict rules, including no telling regular people, whom they call "Outsiders," where they really live and what they do.

The story didn't got the way I thought it was going to go when I first started. It's a bit of a thriller, with a tiny part of a mystery, all mixed with contemporary with parapsychological elements as you try to figure out what's really going on that's putting the group's dynamics in flux, the weird actions of certain people, and the secrecy. While that's going on in Washington, there's a few chapters throughout the book following someone named Toby who lives in San Diego, and you try to figure out the connection between his life and the main story going on with the Junipers. There's clues scattered throughout and the connections + bigger picture are slowly revealed. It is not unpredictable, but it's one of those books where the reader knows what's happening before the characters figure it out, and I liked the way everything pieced together and was resolved at the end. Also, there’s a Dive Smack reference in the book, which was a delightful detail.

I liked Honey- she's very protective of her sisters, puts them above everyone else, is prepared, artistic, and in charge. Birdie is the hot-tempered, reckless, and fierce one, and can be troublesome. She's probably the most likely to shank someone on impulse. My favorite sister was Blue, the youngest, who is the calm lover of animals. She has a pet peregrine falcon à la My Side of the Mountain, and is the weirdest one out of them, with her mysterious prophetic statements that she interjects constantly into conversations. All three sisters are trained as preppers and haven't really had a real, typical childhood because of that. They've moved around a lot and are always on alert, having that lifestyle forced on them by their mother. Asides from being prepared for any situation, the three are surprisingly artistic (Honey paints, Birdie draws comics, and Blue embroiders), and throughout it all, they have each other's backs. I loved the strong sisterhood aspect of this book and the relationship between them- it features front and center in the story.

There's a tiny bit of romance with a romantic interest for Honey with an Outsider classmate named Rémy Lamar, who is persistent and charming. There's also some romance between Birdie and her prepper boyfriend Daniel, but their relationship isn't really gone into besides their connection playing into the mystery of the plot. There's a couple of Honey's classmates that are featured more, like Shawna and Brian, whom I liked even though their parts are brief. Ansel and Annalise Ackerman (son and daughter of Dieter), also play important parts in the book. I liked Ansel, he tried to be kind despite the restrictions and loyalties placed on him, but his sister Annalise was straight up unpleasant and power-hungry.

Even though I liked the story overall, there were a couple of things I didn't quite like/ wasn't really feeling, one of those being the romance/ relationship between Rémy and Honey- it was minor and sweet, but I didn't connect to it or feel like it was necessary? I ended up loving the parts with Toby, and I felt sorry for him and his mother and what they had to go through, being haunted by the what-ifs and constant hoping without concrete proof. I loved the closure that was given in the end and how everything wrapped up well.

This. BOOK. I went into Last Girls thinking it was going to be difficult to read since it’s about doomsday preppers and we’re going through the hell that is the pandemic right now, but I was so wrong. Because of the depth of the characters and the pacing, I loved reading this story. It’s suspenseful and thrilling, but also…fun? Does that say something bad about me? Lol

Last Girls follows the Juniper sisters, Honey, Birdie, and Blue. Honey is the oldest and the mama bear/protector of the siblings. Birdie is the rebel. She’s the one breaking the rules, sneaking out at night, and punching first and asking questions later. Blue is the youngest and kind of psychic. All the sisters also use some form of art to express themselves. Honey paints and writes, Birdie draws, and Blue embroiders.

The girls live on a doomsday prepper compound with their mother. On the compound, they train in combat, learn how to use weapons, grow their own food, and discover remedies for different ailments. They know everything it takes to survive the apocalypse.

It’s only when they go to school that they are considered “the weirds.” And it’s at school where their troubles and their journey to discovering who they really are begins.

Who are they, you ask?? YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOK. IT’S TOO GOOD TO GIVE SPOILERS HERE!

Ok, lets talk characters. The Juniper sisters are a goddamn delight! They fight for each other like their life depends on it and often, it does! I also loved how distinct they are. You will not be confusing one sister for another. They are so unique and yet bonded completely. But don’t let that fool you! They totally fight with each other too.

I also REALLY like Remy. He’s a friend (and possibly more) of Honey and he doesn’t let her close herself off from him. He keeps asking her questions and talking to her in art class and complimenting her and she does not know what to do with that. He’s also not put off or too weirded out by Honey’s way of life. He is wonderful!

There’s also a character named Toby and I can’t say who he is, but I really like how his life is compared/contrasted to the Junipers’. He’s also just such a decent, determined, caring dude. It’s impossible not to like him.

Last Girls by Demetra Brodsky may not seem like the book we all need right now given the topic, but it totally is. It’s thrilling and has it’s dark moments, but overall, it’s a story of strength, family, and never giving up on those you care about. PLEASE pick up a copy of this. If you like YA thrillers, you need Last Girls

I am giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I want to thank NetGalley and Tor Teen for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot, especially its great originality and the incredible perspective that the author chose to explore, atmospheric and suspenseful. It took me a bit, in the beginning, to get fully into it, especially since the main character didn't click with me and I ended up having certain problems with her attitude, I feel that it's simply not my type of character, even so, I enjoyed most of the aspects of the book and it's a stand-alone that I would definitely recommend, for its survival and sisterhood side.


In Last Girls, we follow the Juniper sisters: Blue, Birdie, and Honey, who live in a doomsday preppers community, where they've been trained to survive any possible destruction or "end of the world" as we know it. One day, a danger awakens from within and Honey must put everything they learned to the test to keep her and her sisters safe.


I really enjoyed the plot itself, in fact, since I knew what it was about I had an interest in reading it, it's a YA suspense/thriller that has all the condiments to keep you hooked from the first moment since jumps quickly into the action. I like how the author handles intense moments and the action too because I felt that it was also like watching a movie, which I really liked. I don't want to dig too deep into the plot itself because I think exploring it yourself is part of the fun, it has unexpected twists that genuinely blew me away, and it takes interesting paths to follow.

Exploring also the doomsday preppers lifestyle was very interesting, especially because I didn't really know much about it, rather than having seen this dynamic in some movies, so I really liked that it was the focus of the story, it makes it unique and quite peculiar, to distinguish it from other books of the genre. In addition to touching on these topics, the book covers a large range of situations, it talks about family, friendship, love, and personal grown, it also touches on topics such as terrorism and conspiracies. Overall, I really enjoyed each one of these aspects, which is great.


On the other hand, I had a difficult time with the characters, especially with Honey, who has a very distinctive personality, is somewhat abrupt, terribly honest and can also be very hurtful with others, but behind all that, I must admit that there's an artist sensitive soul inside her and a protective sister that I liked to see. On the other hand, I loved the character of Blue, it was my favorite, for some reason the smallest of the Junipers touched my heart with her personality so mature for her age and was the only one whom I could really connect with. Then we have Birdie and she's the trouble-maker type, and impulsive, and I feel pretty unbiased about the character.
But the magic happens when they're all together because I completely LOVED their sisterhood, the way they protect each other, the concern and love is remarkable, and it made me feel so good to read a sister dynamic like this one, simply I loved it. We have more secondary characters but honestly, I don't feel that any of them has a great impact other than being there as a love interest, and I'm sorry to say that, but it's something that almost always happens to me, and that's that I didn't enjoy the romance as I expected, it seemed to me that it developed hastily.


The writing style is wonderful, I ended up super committed to it, but I confess that at first, I found it somewhat difficult to follow. Even so, I would be interested in reading more of the author, even more, if she continues writing about this type of plot, so exciting and intriguing.

This is a super personal opinion that didn't prevent my enjoyment of this story at all, but I do think it would have been more beneficial and accurate to follow a single plotline or at least two at most. The author expands this story too much, so we have many sub-plots ramifications that can be somewhat distracting from the main topic and can even make reading somewhat dense. Especially when you start reading it's a confusing structure, for me, it was super enjoyable, though and I would recommend it.


It's a brilliant point of view on survival, resilience, intelligence, challenges, and family bonds. I think that it also explores the human being very well, and how sometimes we react to being placed in extreme and unexpected situations. Although the characters can be a challenge to follow, they have varied personalities, and each one represents a possible outcome or reaction, which I appreciate and understand 100% what the author wanted to convey with this book. I'm thrilled to see that it has such positive reviews so far; I think it deserves it!

I truly hate to DNF an advanced reader copy, but I am not into this book one bit and would rather not continue just to give it a bad or mediocre rating. I made it to 24% and I found it incredibly boring; nothing is really happening and I haven't even figured out what the plot is supposed to be.

The story features three sisters, living in a prepper compound with strict rules yet still attending public school. When the leader assigns a couple of the teens a "mission" at the school, one of them is caught for what they play off as a bad prank, but the damage is done and they immediately gain media attention.

I honestly found the writing difficult to follow. There were chapters with what seemed like time jumps, and people mentioned as if I was supposed to know who they were, that I now suspect were narrated by someone who was not Honey, our MC. I'd like to say that maybe I was just too checked out to make sense of what I was reading, but I saw other reviewers with similar issues. I didn't care for any of the characters, and agree with the people who said they were the manic pixie dream girl type.

My major issue, and why I would give this book 1.5 out of 5 stars if I was to rate what I read so far, was the frequent political opinions. I get enough forced political viewpoints in real life (seriously, can't even watch a cute video of a dog getting a bath on facebook without people bashing their opposed political party for literally no reason) and if I'm reading for enjoyment it's the last thing I want to see. I did a kindle search for "POTUS" after noticing it several times, and it showed up 10 times, and that's only the statements that specifically used that term. I'm sure many of the stellar reviews for this book come from people who appreciate the author's heavy-handed liberalism, but I personally grew tired of sighing every time it appeared on the page. I also thought it was weird, considering the majority of survivalists would consider themselves libertarian more than anything else...

*Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for providing this ARC for review*

💙

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*

I read 15% of this book and gave up, I felt it was putting me in a reading slump.
So I decided to stop reading here, I admit I was even liking the book but the premise of the book was not what I expected, I thought it would be 3 sisters struggling to survive at the end of the world and based in the little I read and saw from others reviews is not quite that so I decided to stop here.

If I told you the world would end tomorrow, would you be prepared?

Birdie, Honey, and Blue - aka the Juniper Sister Weirdos - have been raised their whole lives to be prepared for the end of the world. They live in a compound in the Washington wilderness just like the doomsday preppers on that old Nat Geo show.

I really loved this book. It’s so much more than the initial premise and I love the bond between the sisters and the twists kept me going.

I was really excited for this one and it definitely lived up to my expectations.

During these times it's always necessary to be: Responsible, Reactive, and Ready. One might never know when Doomsday's bell will ring across the world and the society that we've come to built our temples on will shake on their foundations and fall from their established state of reverence.


The Juniper sisters, Honey, Birdie, and Blue live their lives preparing for the end of times and never leave their home without their every day carries (EDC). Their mother insists on them becoming doomsday preppers that are able to survive without technology, hunt, and survive the situations that might arise during the end of days. They are labeled as 'weirdos' at school and live with a community of doomsday preppers who are absolutely engaged in their activities for preparation.


I found myself wholeheartedly immersed with author Demetra Brodky's narrative because the realism of her writing resonates with the timing of our current global crisis. Rather than reading as fiction, Last Girls became a realistic journal of three sisters undergoing their individual journeys and then joining forces to protect their family when their safe, doomsday community takes a shocking dose of reality and hypothetical situations into a survival guide.


Brodky had such an innate connection with her characters that enabled her to translate Honey, Birdie, and Blue's characters so beautifully across the pages. I especially liked how Brodky paced the story and filled it with unforeseeable twists and blank spaces that, once pieced together, made for a jaw-dropping ending.


Are you ready to meet the Last Girls?


They're waiting for you.

From the very first chapter I knew I would love Honey. I adored reading from her perspective. She is as layered and complex as her artwork. I formed an attachment with this trio right from the start and it felt like I was right there with them, prepping for the end of the world as we know it. Each sister is so distinct from the others. Their personalities stand out so clearly and it makes this book such a treat to read!

Demetra Brodsky's writing is striking and it didn't take any effort at all to work my way through the book since I was so invested. The book had the perfect pace and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, wondering what would happen next.

I must confess, I didn't know all that much about doomsday preppers and their lifestyle before reading this book but their practices hit close to home during this pandemic.

All in all, I would definitely recommend reading this book, whether you enjoy thrillers or not. Each person will find a piece of themselves in this narrative and in these characters.

Read my full review at mousethatreads.com

I have experience reading survival based fiction which is what drew me into this title. Three sisters, Honey, Birdie, and Blue Juniper are trying to balance being modern day teenagers with growin up on a prepper compound. Honey, the eldest, feels responsible for her sisters and is trying to navigate being one of the “weirds” at school with standing in as a second parent at home and keeping survival tactics, strategies, and gear organized while avoiding drawing attention to herself.

The first half of this book felt promising. I liked getting to know Honey and her world. I am familiar with doomsday prepping and survival but this book does a good job of explaining how things work at the compound and is full of acronyms for those that are curious about prepping. There was a good balance of being a teen with being a survivalist and I was really curious about where the story is going.

The second half sort of stalled for me in the middle but picked up at the end. There’s a secondary story with a character named Toby and I was curious about his world but knew how his story would fit in pretty early on. I really liked this side of the story but was hoping for a few more twists, whereas it felt a little convenient and wrapped up too quickly.

I wanted to like this story but overall gave it 3 stars because some of the rule breaking felt odd to me. Things slowly built to the ending but the end felt fast and ended a bit too cleanly. There were some very memorable moments, and Blue’s one-liner quotes were great. This is a good YA story for teens interested in prepping and surviving with a contemporary setting.

Demetra Brodsky's debut, Dive Smack, was my favorite book of 2018 and she's back with her sophomore story that completely enraptured me. Told in parallel stories that converge in a way that will make you gasp aloud as they converge, Last Girls is a story perfect for the current world as it explores hope, connection, and the things we hold onto when times are difficult. I won't soon forget the Juniper Sisters!