I was not emotionally or mentally prepared for this book. It broke me in two which means it was well written and well intended. I am grateful to Daisy Alpert Florin for this book.

A coming of age novel about Isabel navigating her last semester as a literary major while beginning the transition to adulthood. Much of the novel is spent on her relationship with her writing professor who uses his position of power to begin a secret sexual relationship. Isabel is haunted by this relationship well into her adult life.

The setting of this novel is winter in New Hampshire, mostly February/March those dreary months where you're stuck between winter and spring. This lends a sort of dark academia theme to the novel which I always thought is ironic that these dark/heavy theme academia books are always set in New England. I live in NH and currently experiencing the fickle weather of March so I particularly leaned into those feelings.

I enjoyed learning more about Jewish and college life in the late 90s with the political under current in the background.

There's a lot happening in this novel which is typical in a college setting. Isabel deals with her own sexuality, grieving the lose of her mother, and transitioning into adulthood. Around her, others are dealing with mental health, domestic violence.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by the author.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher.

My Last Innocent Year reads like a memoir as Isabel remembers events from her senior year at Wilder, a private (fictional) college in New Hampshire in the late 90s. Cleverly woven into the story is the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, and we see the in-time reactions of the college students to the hearings as well as a more mature Isabel's musings on the events with 25+ years of hindsight.

She brings that same hindsight and compassion to her recollections of her senior year, where she had a very ambiguous sexual encounter with a classmate and later a relationship with a professor that was inappropriate for so many reasons while seeming inevitable. The prose is straightforward yet lyrical, the honesty in the writing pulled me in.

The older Isabel treats her younger self with understanding and tenderness. It feels like she's giving her younger self a warm hug. Not judgemental, not harsh, some regret.

The book resonates. Isabel's recollections mirror those of many who've waded through contradictory, ambivalent relationships in their college-age years. This is a brave, relatable story.

My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company Publishing for the ARC.

I love a good campus novel and this did not disappoint - a perfect blend of drama and substance. Romance and personal growth. Independence and not moving an inch without consulting with roommates. College!

I was really drawn to this cover, it is so beautiful! Set in a New England College, Isabel has suffered from a non consensual event during winter break which leads her to an affair with a married man. Lots of dark themes throughout the book.

After a murky sexual encounter with a classmate has campus-wide repercussions, Isabel's senior year at the elite Wilder College becomes even further complicated by an affair with a married professor. I think I'm the target audience for this book, and it was still a miss for me. The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal lurks in the background of this campus novel, but the prose veers too often into soft porn for any social critique to be effectively incisive. I also felt that the characters really did bring all the misfortune upon themselves, which obscures what I understood to be the author's project.

While in some ways I feel like this is a book I've already read, this is story that needs to be told over...and over... and over again. Florin does it in her own unique ways and this is a very impressive debut. Women, take care while reading.

*Thank you Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for the copy of this book for review*

Set during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Isabel is a senior at Wilder College and navigating the transition into adulthood. After an unpleasant sexual encounter, her outlook on relationships are drastically changed. Soon she encounters her new professor and so begins their affair.

I definitely got "My Dark Vanessa" vibes, however, this book failed to grip me emotionally. While I sort of understanding the author's choice of ambiguity, the "nonconsensual" encounter that is the turning point for Isabel was weak - even she believes that the encounter was consensual but she just didn't enjoy the experience with the person. As for the affair with her older professor, it happened way later in the book and did not have the impact I expected. Overall, I was a bit disappointed since I expected a more emotional read considering the main topics addressed. However, I did enjoy the aspect of the main character's experience as a poor Jewish girl in college among wealthy peers.

Set in 1998 as this story begins, this is the story of a young woman, Isabel that takes place, for the most part, at Wilder College in New Hampshire.

’It’s hard to say how I ended up in Zev Neman’s dorm room the night before winter break. It was a bitter night—December in New Hampshire—and on our way back from the library we’d been arguing…’

Their difference of opinions leads to him inviting her to his room, and her not saying ‘no’.

Isabel’s childhood was marred by the loss of her mother when she was young, and that seems to lead to her naïveté as to how to navigate the situation.

’So I guess that’s how I ended up in Zav Neman’s room: he invited me and I didn’t say no.’

Once inside his room, she takes in the view from the window, the bed that’s been made, the room clean. Nothing like the other boys rooms she’d been to in the last almost four years since she’d been at Wilder.

’I wanted to skip this part, the part where you wondered when the thing you’d come to a boy’s bedroom to do would start happening, when you could stop making small talk that only revealed all the ways this boy, any boy, would never understand you. To pass beyond language straight into touch.’

’I’d wandered into this encounter the way you wander into a dark room: with one hand outstretched, feeling your way as you go, unable to see what’s on the walls or how exactly you might get out.’

From her childhood, she’s been drawn to art, to the artistic lifestyle. Her mother had been an artist. She has wanted to be a writer since she was very young, and is taking a writing seminar by R.H. Connelly. Connelly’s debut book was greeted with enthusiasm, but he now seems to have left writing behind for teaching, and writing for the newspaper. His marriage is shakey, but she is smitten, imagining a future with this man who has a wife and child.

This is a story that weaves in and out of lives, the tangled webs of lies and false promises, words unsaid, deceit and broken hearts, but it is also a story of hope after heartbreak, and hope for the future. She comes to realize that what she once believed in as real was just fairy dust, a fantasy.


Published: 14 Feb 2023


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Henry Holt & Company / Henry Holt and Co.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- tw/ rape

- this is a hard dnf. as a survivor of sexual assault, reading on page descriptions of rape always put me off. you don’t have to convey the act itself in detail, since assault is such a tender issue to discuss. you can just fade to black or hint at it, and it’ll still have the horror of what you want to convey. the details of the rapists genitals and the way he chose to assault the main character made me repulsed, and this was on the first few pages. it was not necessary to delve into this much detail when you first open the book. and the fact that there’s a student teacher relationship later on puts me off further. this was not for me. authors, please just don’t write graphic rape scenes. you don’t need it. the horror of the act can speak for itself in a few implicit words.

This is a book I will be thinking about for awhile, unpacking it and reflecting. I enjoy books that take place on college campuses and reading about other student experiences because I really enjoyed my own college experience. Our main character of course had a very different experience than me but one thing I could relate to was this whole process of coming into your own and developing and maintaining a reputation for yourself.

I always enjoy campus novels and coming-of-age stories, and MY LAST INNOCENT YEAR is a true standout for me in both areas—touching, deeply felt, and memorable, staying with the reader long after they've turned the final page. The book takes place in 1998 and follows Isabel Rosen, a senior at Wilder College, a small, prestigious college in New Hampshire, over the course of her final semester there, and her journey to growing up, finding herself, and wrestling with self-worth.

I absolutely loved Florin's writing style—it drew me in right away, and there are quotes/snippets that I reread several times and am still thinking about because they were just so beautifully put! The retrospective form of narration was similarly well-done, and gave readers a clear picture of how Isabel's formative and often painful experiences during her college years had shaped her and still affected her in the present day. I also enjoyed the Jewish representation and the depictions of campus life. MY LAST INNOCENT YEAR is not always an easy read due to the heavy topics that are covered, so do be mindful of that/check trigger warnings. But, if you love character-driven books, coming-of-age stories, and/or campus novels, I would highly recommend this one! I look forward to seeing what Daisy Alpert Florin writes next. Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley & Henry Holt & Co. for the ARC of My Last Innocent Year!

A fast-paced, coming-of-age story, My Last Innocent Year follow Isabel on her journey through senior year at university. I enjoy Daisy Alpert Florin's writing and felt connected to Isabel's struggle in trying to discover herself. With her older self narrating, the reader has a more reflective insight on past Isabel's actions and naivete; while many parts were sometimes hard to read, it was a great reminder of how we live and learn from the younger, dumber versions of ourselves.

My Last Innocent Year is out now.

Genre: Literary Fiction/Coming-of-Age
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pub. Date: Feburary 14, 2023

Daisy Alpert Florin’s debut novel, “My Last Innocent Year,” is a coming-of-age novel set on a college campus pre the #MeToo era. It’s been a long time since I read a coming-of-age novel that I enjoyed. I often find them sappy, but not this one. Florin’s portrayal of New England student life includes shady college town bars, English department parties, and skinny-dipping, which reads like a stream of consciousness, accurately capturing the confusion and instability of college life. “In sophomore year at a St. Parick’s day party…He had shamrocks painted on his face; as we fucked the green paint dripped down his cheeks. There wasn’t much to say about it…except we decided never to do it again and that somehow we managed to stay friends.”

The story is set against the backdrop of President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. Our protagonist, Isabel Rosen, faces more challenges than most. She is a lower-middle-class Jewish student on a scholarship at the prestigious Wilder College, which strongly resembles the real-life Dartmouth College, filled with wealthy Christians. Besides her Saint Patrick’s sexual experiment, Isabel is the least promiscuous of her college girlfriends. She is majoring in English Lit, and her goal is to become a writer. Throughout the novel, Florin's character exhibits profound, interceptive ideas. In the library, “I weaved my way slowly through the shelves, rubbing my fingers along the spines, pulling out books at random. I loved the way each writer burrowed deep into his or her matter, no matter how obscure, and yet taken together, the books here felt larger than the world.”

This story benefits from the author's willingness to address young women’s sexuality without passing judgment. Isabel has had two sexual encounters throughout her time in college, and they forever alter the way she remembers those years. First, Florin tackles the confusion between miscommunication and date rape. Afterward, the boy asks her, “then why did you come to my dorm room?” She "honestly doesn't know," thus she is unable to respond, showing her lack of experience in what to do when “maybe he was a little too rough.” The other happens when an older man seduces her in a Bill and Monica scenario. In her senior year, she began an “affair” with her thesis adviser, a handsome, married creative writing professor. In both experiences, we see the complex power dynamics in sexual relationships.

At graduation, Isabel wonders when a girl becomes a woman. Did it happen “when I confessed my relationship with the professor?” “Is it happening right now, in front of Fayerweather Hall as the sun rose higher into the sky?” There is beautiful prose throughout the novel. However, the tail end of the story during Isabel’s post-college years. Here the writing feels rushed and clumped together, losing its tone of introspection. Still, this is a poignant coming-of-age story that I recommend to adults and young people as well.

An excellent campus novel with a terrific protagonist, whose voice is both unusual and endearing.

I really enjoy a campus novel, but some are better than others from a quality perspective, and this is one of the better offerings from the genre that I’ve recently encountered.

A lovably human and nuanced protagonist is just the start of the good things this book has to offer, along with a sharp and more intricate look at power dynamics and student-teacher relationships. In short, you’ve seen the bones of this plot many times before, but this is a far smarter and more poignantly detailed version of it.

The sense of place here is fantastic, as is this 90s cultural nostalgia that creates a tremendous sense of time and place for the novel.

This book is so beautifully written, engaging, and beautiful. I read reviews prior to reading and really didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did. The writing style of Florin is gorgeous and deliberate. Many reviews comment about Isabel not dealing with her trauma and I disagree. I think she explores and processes it through her writing. I think it’s a great depiction of human exploration especially given the time period the novel is written. I truly enjoyed the setting and how these events touch Isabel even into her adulthood. It’s a homage to how we age and how youth makes us who we are. Some lessons were implicit while others explicit, my only wish is that the incident with Zev would have been explicitly discussed a bit more.

Truly beautiful.

Okay, so I finally got around to reading this book after initially deciding not to give feedback on it. When I first started reading it, I was not in the right emotional and mental state to read something with this sort of content. See content warnings below. However, this was a lot better the second time around!

I enjoyed some parts of this book, like the atmosphere and the social commentary. It was dark but with intention. I could tell that the depictions of complex issues and topics were necessary to reflect and comment on society rather than solely for shock value. It did feel slow in some parts, though, and I felt like this would've been better as a short story or novella because it dragged on.

It was mysterious and emotional while touching on grave topics. If I could describe this book in one word, it would be complicated. Although I wasn't a fan of any of the characters, it felt like that was the author's intention. Everyone had something that made them unlikeable, making the characters more realistic. Because of this, it also made the story feel like an authentic depiction of the horrible events, the aftermath, and life in general.

I finished it and enjoyed some parts of it, but this is not a book I would ever read again because it's not a story I'd be able to read often.

CW: r*pe, sexual assault, misogyny, death, sexism, sexual violence, abuse.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My last innocent year 🎨

My thoughts on this one are all over the place! I liked it but I felt letdown because it had so much more potential.

1998: Wilder College
Isabel finds herself in several unhealthy relationships. Amongst these, is a relationship with her professor who sees potential in her. Weaves in themes of grief/loss, consensual sexual encounters, boundaries, coming of age, gender norms & semitism.

I loved the authors writing style & am curious to see how she develops as an author. This is her debut novel. Although the plot is well exhausted, I found myself engrossed in the books rhythmic feel. It is very unique the way she chose to write this more literary than dark academia (IMP) focusing on the MCs stream of consciousness. Also this cover is just A+ for me!

My hiccup with the novel is that I felt like it took on too much at once, such important themes were glazed over. The author chose nuances in the story to Monica Lewinsky which I seen so much potential with to take further but doesn’t!

I did enjoy this one, will read another by the author, just wanted more. Definitely a “cover made me do it” read! You can’t judge a book by its cover is BS IMO, good covers are important to the storyline.. I’m rambling.

Ty for the advanced readers copy of this one,

3⭐️

This book was a wonderful, beautiful, painful read. I was immediately hooked in the story of Isabel, a college age student navigating through the “finding yourself” years, My Last Innocent Year will really make you think—and before I proceed, I do want to make clear that there are many trigger warnings in this book (rape & abuse) and potentially in this review. This book had a theme on the spectrum of consent. What does consent look like? This book beautifully (and again, painfully), explores this, and allows the reader to think through different perspectives.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book—BUT do go into it aware of the trigger warnings. It’s understandably not for everyone. ♥️

Captivating so enjoyed the writing & story.
Honestly surprised this book hasn't received more widespread attention.
Look forward to reading future books by the author.

With great thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for this e-ARC!