I loved this book. This book scared the absolute bejeezus out of me. These things can coexist, right? See, what we have here is a post-COVID pandemic that does not play nicely. In fact, it kills everyone it comes into contact with in six days. (As such, it's called 6DM, or "six days max".) 6DM seemed to have originated in Kansas, and while other countries tried to get their shit together way better than happened with COVID, it just didn't work out. It so completely, eerily realistic that it truly haunted me.

We follow the journey of a woman, who watches as everyone she's known and loved dies. The entire city around her, falling victim to 6DM. Only... she is still somehow inexplicably alive. She waits for the symptoms to come, and they just never do. But this isn't a story of a plucky, strong woman who sets out to survive. This woman is all of us. She falls apart. She mourns. She drinks and does drugs to numb the pain and terror. She gives up for awhile, even contemplates suicide. But eventually, her survival instincts win out, and she is forced to face her new reality- all while recounting her messy past.

This is the kind of book that pulls you in wholly, and makes you question what you'd do in the main character's situation. It's beyond thought provoking, and quite chilling in the idea that this could be any of us, just by some random chance. The main character also struggles with mental health, both in the past and present, and I thought the author handled it brilliantly. Because even at the end of the world, mental illness doesn't cut you a break, and we see this woman go through the wringer in more ways than one.

Bottom Line: If I could have made a list of all the things that I'd want an apocalypse novel to include, this book would check off every single box.

Last One at the Party is a is a wonderful and incredibly rich sci-fi fantasy novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so imaginative and detailed that the information of the world building/plot never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind. I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

Wow. At times I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish this one, but even when it was super hard to read I couldn't put it down.

As the blurb reads, our main character is the only survivor of a fast-moving and hugely deadly global pandemic - not exactly a reassuring read, but her realistic and bumbling survival methods were very relatable to me, and her flashbacks to her life before and realization of how unhappy she was and how she had completely lost her true self, were very well done. I didn't love the ending, but the fact that I was completely unable to stop reading before I reached it meant I couldn't justify less than 5 stars.

I can’t say I exactly enjoyed this book as much as it succumbed me and I couldn’t stop reading it. After the recent covid pandemic, this book was frightening and way too realistic. The author wrote it extremely well and I cannot praise her enough for that!

*Thank you to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I’m just going to come out and say that this is by far one of the best books that I have ever read in my entire life. It was EXTREMELY hard for me to put down, and now that it’s over I have a serious book hangover and all I want to do is re read it, not pick up a new book. This book made me laugh, cry, hope, and cringe in terror, and yet I craved more. I could have easily & happily read another 100-500 pages of this story, and I hope with all of my heart that there is a sequel someday. I seriously have a physical & emotional need to know more about our protagonist and her life once the story ends. And you better believe that I will be buying a copy of my own once it’s available.
Some might say that reading about the effects of a global pandemic whilst in the middle of one is eerie, but it didn’t hinder my reading process. I actually found it quite interesting to see how another pandemic is handled after Covid-19. I’ve also read so many books and seen so many movies where the protagonist is resourceful and has had some background with weapons/survival tactics. This is one of the few books that bucks this trend and shows us a real, oft bumbling person who is “figuring it out as it goes”, and I loved the book even more for this realism. I’ll be honest, I’m a woman who has little to no knowledge of survival skills, and it was refreshing to read about how someone like me figured things out through trial and error. Although, unlike the protagonist I would be raiding more bookstores than high end closets!
The author deserves much praise for her debut novel. Not only because of the story, but her writing style as well. It’s utterly captivating. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!
I could write a novella about my love for this book, so before this gets any longer I will say that you absolutely MUST check out this book!

Book Review for Last One At The Party
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!