My Last Innocent Year” is a fantastic debut novel by Daisy Alpert Florin. We meet Isabel (Izzy) who is in her final year at Wilder College, a prestigious college in New Hampshire. She lost her mother, who was a painter, to cancer, and her father owns a Jewish appetizer store in New York City and has very little money. About to embark on “the real world,” an acquaintance forces her to have sex—whether the fact was rape is something the novel dances around. Still raw from the experience, she enters into a relationship with her Fiction Workshop (and married) professor. But can he be the one to save her or will Izzy learn to save herself?

The author does an awesome job of capturing a young woman struggling to find herself. Izzy, for the most part, was a likeable character (though I may have related because I was also a fiction writer who faced the conclusion of the end of college without any idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up.) The scenes describing the workshopping process—and having your work dissected—brought back a few nightmares, especially when Professor Connelly (Randy) used his love of Izzy’s work as a way to seduce her. I found Randy (a disenfranchised poet) somewhat suspect—he should have known better to enter into a relationship with a fragile student who was reeling from a negative sexual encounter. Also, I liked the author’s use of the setting of a smaller Eastern college. Because the plot was set in the late nineties, the reader (almost heavy-handedly) references the impact of Bill Clinton’s inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky, yet expects readers to make their own conclusions. There are moments in the novel where the author (in her fictional present) reflects back to her past. I would have preferred the author to have stayed in her moments of vulnerability.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to give this novel an early read.

I’m always drawn to this type of story about a young woman in college, because I think that is a pivotal journey and find these to be transformative years. Usually I end up disappointed because the main character is not developed convincingly or is represented as a woman without any power or control of her life. Isabel, however, was complex yet relatable. I was glad that even though some of her decisions were questionable, she ended up claiming her power back. She did not play the role of victim. Enjoyed it!

2.5 STARS

My Last Innocent Year is a novel with very triggering content and I feel like this novel lacks proper storytelling and character opinions and feelings. I found the relationships to be very superficial and most of the character storylines to be uninteresting. This book had potential to be great, but it was just not my cup of tea.

Something kept me reading this one, even though it was disturbing at times. I wanted a bit more of the character's feelings, but maybe that was the point. I found the MC a bit frustrating because I didn't always understand her. I think I just wanted more of the character's emotions, thoughts, and feelings in response to the many traumatizing events that take place in this book.

The book was lacking in plot, which is fine, but that means I need more character and relationship development to enjoy and I just didn't feel like I got that.

My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin is a coming-of-age novel that tackles the difficulties of growing up and a young woman's task of finding her place in society. Wonderfully written, readers will find themselves on a journey with Isabel, a college student tasked with fitting in as a minority and coming from a life she feels has betrayed her.

The historical context of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal provided a nice backdrop for Isabel's own affair, and how that shaped her young mind (just as what happened to Lewinsky). This was a subtle touch, and the presidential affair was not heavily mentioned, but I think that was nice; this story was about Isabel and her experiences. Nonetheless, the comparison shed light on how quickly a young woman can be defined by experience with a man, whether she knows it or not.

This book also explored the tumult of friendship - how it can leave one wondering where loyalties lie and just what should reasonably expected out of friendship.

While fiction, the novel implicitly shares invaluable lessons applicable to all ages and, all women. I am rating 4 - 4.5 stars because I do not see myself rereading at this time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt for this advanced copy.

MY LAST INNOCENT YEAR is a novel about a girl, Isabel, who has an affair with her writing professor (a has-been, briefly famous poet) after having an ambiguous sexual encounter with another Jewish classmate in her final year of college. Meanwhile, the head of the english department and her husband (also a member of the English department) are undergoing a messy divorce.

This book hopes to tackle questions of consent (whether a college student and a professor can have a consensual relationship), jewishness (Isabel's father owns an appetizing store in the LES of Manhattan, but is not particularly devout), and trauma (Isabel's mother died after a prolonged bout with cancer), In it's main relationship the most obvious comparison novel is MY DARK VANESSA, and the relationships are, at least superficially, similar.

But MY LAST INNOCENT YEAR suffers from a timidity problem. While MY DARK VANESSA takes place in a high school classroom, MY LAST INNOCENT YEAR occurs in a senior year application-based seminar at an elite liberal arts institution, and yet the literary repartee is scant and unconvincing. Though they have sex, any exploration of it is entirely absent, the physical relationship between the two almost completely undescribed. More troublingly, however, refusal to answer the questions it brings up, with prose I often found overblown, cliched, and saccharine. The Jewish storyline is interesting, but it doesn't feel vital to the story the way I wish it was; there are so many ideas about Jewishness and her relationship with Lev that could have been explored moreso than just ancestors "leaving Russia" and Lev vaguely "serving in the army". Another tic: Florin uses prolepsis an awful lot, but it doesn't have much use in the end.

If you're looking for the collegiate answer to MY DARK VANESSA, unfortunately, this novel isn't it.

This book’s about a young woman, Daisy, in her last year at college in the 90s.

I loved it book and enjoyed reading it. It went by quickly.
Loved the gender, class, religion and mental health components.
I think the only thing that was missing, for me, was a race component. This wasn’t a very diverse cast of characters. Perhaps that was intentional as the school is based in the North East at a private university.

I also loved the consent component. I liked that this was set concurrently with the Lewinsky drama of the 90s. I thought the scene in the bar with Daisy’s frat friends seemed particularly real and believable. What’s interesting is that the professor is clearly an absolute psycho perv. But because Daisy refers to him with such admiration and desire, I didn’t pick up on that until the end.

Lastly, I normally hate reading about hard things (rape) but this was handled so nicely.

Billed as a coming of age story set in the late 1990's amid the breaking of the Clinton sex scandal, My Last Innocent Year is an unexpected meditation on that murky time period between childhood and full-blown adulthood, on the choices we make during that liminal state and the unexpected impact those choices have on the rest of our lives, and on the different ways we view ourselves and our choices in that time when we look back on them as a much older person.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

THANK YOU NETGALLEY for giving me the chance to read this.
i? honestly do not know where to begin. It started out kind of boring for me (mostly because I'm reading instead of studying so i wanted something that made me forget that.) But anyway, as it went on, it kept getting so much more interesting and i think it's definitely worth a read (and a reread sometime in the future). here's to writers honestly, you guys deserve the world(s) <3

I found the book to be one of the best “coming of age” stories I’ve read in a long time. While it does not follow the main character, Izzy’s, full life per se, we are taken through her final year of college where she goes from kid to adult. The way the author described the emotions of a woman going through that specific time in her life was so spot on, even though this book was placed in the late 90s. While Izzy’s affair with her professor is a main storyline, I found there was so much more going on that made this story so well-rounded. I was a very big fan of this book!

If you enjoyed Writers & Lovers by Lily King you will enjoy this novel.

NetGalley ARC - thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really adored this book. The writing is beautiful and smart, the voice is compelling, and the story is both familiar and unique. I don't tend to love stories about cishet people "coming of age" in academia, but this one really surprised me. The narrator's distance from her peers because of her class and religion felt meaningful and well-illustrated, and the dark look into the lives of faculty on the campus added a nice dimensionality I think is often lost in campus "love" stories, especially between students and professors. Overall I was really impressed with this strong, quiet voice, and would recommend this read to everyone.

Thank you to @netgalley & @henryholtbooks for the e-ARC. Opinions are all my own. Look for this one on pub date February 14, 2023.

My Last Innocent Year — This story has a hazy sort of tinge to one woman’s retelling of her college years in the late 90’s. There’s flashbacks and flash forwards to days in her childhood, born to Jewish parents who met at and owned an appetizing store in New York. Her mother, an eccentric artist battles cancer while Isabel is still a young girl. “Marry a man who understands you” she chides. When she finds Wilder University in New Hampshire, she carefully selects the college as the place she can reinvent herself from the low-income city girl she’s always been.
When she arrives, she passively accepts the less-than relationships and friends she stumbles into.

Themes include:
- Jewish family representation
- 90’s/Clinton/Lewinsky-era New Hampshire university
- Childhood nostalgia with New York as home
- Non-consensual sexual encounters and imbalances of power
- Writing/poetry/books/language
- What makes a girl a woman?
- What tales do we tell ourselves in order to survive?

For fans of: Vladimir, My Dark Vanessa, What We Do We Do in the Dark, Stand by Me (film)

TW: rape, victim shaming, cancer, death of a parent, domestic abuse, kidnapping

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for a review.

The cover is amazing however the story didn't hold my attention like I wish it would.

This book reminded me of "My Dark Vanessa" but overall happier and with a happy ending. Overall I enjoyed this book, and despite me having some moments of feeling like the plot was underdeveloped I recommend this book.

3.5 stars

I gobbled this up in one day. It was just the sort of book I was in the mood for after reading a bunch of thrillers / unreliable narrator-type books - I wanted something more grounded and realistic - this fit the bill.

Anything set on a college campus is catnip for me. The narrator is in the last semester of her senior year, taking a writing seminar and getting involved in a relationship with her older, married professor, while she also works through her feelings about the somewhat recent death of her mother and her friendships.

I loved how this book captured a snapshot of that one semester but the author gave little comments along they way about things that happened later in the narrator's life (or even other characters' lives). Well-written and engaging throughout - can't wait to see what comes next from this author.

NetGalley ARC - It was hard not to devour this book. It kept me up at night and I couldn't seem to put it down. I did have to take breaks because the content is upsetting. It has several dark themes that remind me of the book, My Dark Vanessa. It really forces readers to think critically about consent and its complexities. The main character is very relatable for to women who have experienced their 20s. I plan to add it to my public library's collection.

3.5-4 stars. I was interested in the time period in which the story was set--late 1990s, around the time of the Clinton sex scandal, the students of a private college campus in New Hampshire dealing with that moment in history and the school's own misogynistic past. I enjoyed watching the power dynamics filter through the main character, Isabel Rosen, from her freshman year until her senior year (which makes up the bulk of the novel). There probably could have been more depth to Isabel's defining encounters/relationships. The one that is most pivotal at the beginning of the book I had almost forgotten about by the time that character pops up again. Still, the novel does a good job of showing how life altering these experiences were for Isabel as she's looking back at it years later as a slightly older woman.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a story about Isabel Rogen and her final semester at a prestigious college. It reads like a coming of age story but (obviously) explores some darker themes (such as rape). I enjoy the writing—it was rhythmic and sensible, not jarring. The pace of the story was on the slower side, and I found myself not very emotionally invested. However, I did read the book fast and I appreciated the read, it was the kind of book I was looking for. It just didn’t live up to my expectations and didn’t pack as much of a punch as I had hoped.

The sad-girl story of the summer!

This cover was screaming at me - it's beautiful!

The book tells the story of Izzy at her final year of university.

Fans of My Dark Vanessa will enjoy this one. Be mindful of triggers, this is a deep story with heavy topics.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Men are bad and do bad things.
Women do bad things to survive a man’s world.
The 90s were a very unique time to go to college.

As you expect, but well crafted.

Four 3rd wave stars

This book reminded me of My Dark Vanessa, but with a bit of a happier ending. I was happy to see that Isabel was able to look back on the affair for what it was and didn’t romanticize it. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read, despite feeling like there were some underdeveloped plot points. I flew through this book and looked forward to picking it back up.