Haunting and lyrical, "My Last Innocent Year" by Daisy Alpern Florin is an unforgettable novel. The protagonist, who is Jewish, experiences the cultural shock of moving from a largely Jewish community to suburban, college campus. The college campus is filled with students of many religious identities, though mainly Christian students attend, bringing the protagonist a sense of isolation. When she is left traumatized by another Jewish student, it is the attention from her professor that brings her the most comfort.

Daisy Alpern Florin's "My Last Innocent Year" was a great book and I cannot recommend it enough.

Coming of age story set in 1998 at the prestigious Wilder College in New Hampshire. Jewish student Isabel Rosen is navigating young adult life, culture shock from her new environment along with the drama that comes with it from friends, mentors and those in power positions. Where, that's a lot, and that's how I felt a good part of this book.

After a non-consensual sexual encounter, she struggles. Then she gets involved with someone from the college and struggles. It's what you would expect from a college campus story. These are pivotal years and the book depicts that happening during this time frame and Isabel's regrets.

Needed more emotional content and connection, I never felt I was connecting with these characters at any level and that made it hard to really get into this story in the way that this reader likes to immerse herself. So this debut is an "okay" for me, and I will be on the lookout for this author's future stories.

3.5 stars

A haunting coming-of-age story written as a stream of consciousness. I thought about this story for a while after I finished reading it.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

this one unfortunately wasn't for me. I was initially really excited to read this but as I made my way through the book/story, it just felt very disconnected from the MC/narrator. it seemed like this was supposed to be a form of stream of consciousness type of storytelling but that made the story even less enjoyable to read.

A lovely coming of age story with beautiful but accessible writing. I liked the retrospective writing style a lot.

“my last innocent year” parades itself as a feminist tale, but that could not be further from the truth. isabel rosen is a jewish college student about to graduate from an ivy league school with a degree in literature and writing. after a sexual assault takes place, her life somewhat spirals out of control. but not really.

this is so anti-feminist and supports the idea that victims of rape and sexual assault are lying. i get that this is set in the late 90’s, but you’ve got to be kidding me. isabel was brutalized and we have the author here telling us that she was “never the victim.” that power dynamics don’t matter in a sexual relationship! that power imbalances are always okay between professor and student if the student likes it. the ending is incredibly rushed and haphazardly thrown together. obviously written in response to the me too movement, this novel fails at being anything more than a “don’t believe victims” tale.

don’t read this if you are a victim of sexual assault, violence, or rape.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book compelling; it explored questions around consent, agency, and power in a thoughtful and memorable way. I felt absorbed by Isabel's world and her relationships - always vivid, never clear-cut. And I loved Alpert Florin's writing - clear, crisp, evocative. I was surprised and impressed to learn that this is her debut novel! At times, it reminded me of Win Me Something by Kyle Lucia Wu, one of my favorite books of 2020 - also a debut, also focused on one formative year in a young woman's life.

If you like character-driven novels with a subtlety and depth to them, My Last Innocent Year might be for you. 4 to 4.5 stars. Thanks to Henry Holt & NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

starting off, this book is written beautifully. i would consider it to be pretty “stream of consciousness” style writing, which i’m personally a fan of. it did feel like the plot was trying to carry a bit too much. there are several different threads that tie together as the story, which is difficult when each thread holds enough weight to exist on it’s own. overall, a little crowded but a beautiful read!

thank you to henry & hold and netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Story: It is 1998 and Isabel Rosen is a student at Wilder, a prestigious New Hampshire college. She lives with her father on the Lower East Side, where they run appetizing store, which specializes in Jewish cuisine. Isabel is in her last year at college when she has a nonconsensual sexual encounter with a friend — and ends up having an affair with her writing professor.

My Story: I graduated from college in 1999, and I love coming-of-age stories and debuts. While the topics here sound like familiar ground you may have read before, the writing in this book is excellent and to-the-point. While the story may sound familiar, this is a different take that is worth the read.

Thank you to @henryholt and @netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

this is definitely a strong entry in a slew of professor-student relationship litfic books released over the past year or so. Florin makes Isabel really come alive as she goes through this college coming-of-age story in the late ‘90s. I flew through this one even though it’s a bit more vibes over plot than I usually enjoy

Just not my cup of tea. The writing was quite good but the plot was too impersonal. I just didn’t have the emotional investment I did with other books with similar plots.

I really liked the writing style of this one. The plot felt like it meandered, and despite the sensitive topic, I didn’t feel emotionally invested.

3.5 A DEBUT new author that has a solid hit on her hands.

A coming of age story, follows Isabel on her journey of self-discovery as she figures out what it means to be an artist, an adult, and more specifically, what it means to be a woman. Dealing with a creative mother that plays on the edge of mental illness. A jewish father that turns her world upside down only to realize how she should have had her eyes opened a little bit more.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Excuse me while I recover from a book hangover. This is a powerful yet very tender coming-of-age story set in late 1990’s academia.

Isabel is a college senior at a small liberal arts college who has a non-consensual sexual encounter with a fellow student. That acts as the catalyst for her affair with her (married) professor.

"I felt stuck between two paths, one leading toward a future I could understand, the other leading—where? Nowhere good."

So much to unpack in this compelling novel! Set during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the author never paints Isabel as a victim, but instead as a young woman with agency and a burgeoning spirit. I loved the Jewish representation, and the pitch-perfect depiction of life at a small college.

The author treats Isabel with care and infuses her with intelligence. Her affair with Professor Connelly builds slowly, and because the characters are all strongly written, I felt a true sense of dread - along with Isabel's growing dread - when certain beliefs turned out to be wrong.

"I could feel something fracturing, like the first time you ask your parents a question they can’t answer or the first time they don’t catch you in a lie. The moment you recognize your separateness."

One of my favorite books of the year. Thanks to Henry Holt Books for the free copy! All opinions are my own.

Memorable Quote:

"Everything looked different, clearer, like I’d never worn glasses and someone had handed me a pair. Connelly looked different, too. I realized I hadn’t understood his purpose—why I’d met him, why he was here—but now it all fell into place. Of course I’d met him. Of course he’d kissed me. Of course, of course, of course."

I’m not really sure how to describe what I loved about this book. But something about it really touched the emotions in me and made it probably my favorite read of February, if not a close second.
This book is more character driven than plot driven. But also not quite that either? In another review I saw someone write “it’s like your mom wrote you a really long letter on her life lessons” and I feel like that is an accurate description.
Maybe just some parts of Isabel’s story resonated with me. I think some of the internal thoughts she had were thoughts that have floated through my head.
I also felt like the writing in this book was really very pretty; and pretty philosophical and a bit poetic . It made me think while I read it. And there are many passages that I’ve highlighted.
This is was an arc that just made me want to go out and buy a physical copy of it, and not very often do I feel that intensity.

i loved this book from minute one. beautifully written, riveting, extremely nuanced and endlessly interesting. i had a good gut feeling about this one and it paid off!

gorgeous cover, also. that doesn't hurt.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin follows Isabel in her senior year at Wilder College. She's still processing her mother's death and has an upsetting sexual encounter. Unsure of her experience but distraught by how she feels, she falls into a relationship with a professor. Along the way, she's faced with the idea of growing up, finding herself, and figuring out her own self-worth.

Overall, I really liked this book. It had a real sense of place, and the characters felt like real people. Isabel's journey to understanding consent, and how it can become complicated, was really emotional and well done. I enjoyed Florin's writing, and I'll definitely be looking out for more of their writing.

Isabel doesn’t really ever consent to anything in her life and tends to live in secrecy, so it is no shock when a teacher propositions her in a way that makes it appear like she is in control. He coaxes her to provide him with consent, not realizing that he still holds the power in the “relationship”. He gets to choose where it happens, when it happens, and when it ends just by giving Isabel enough false hope to continue their relationship in secrecy. A few situations led up to this - Nev, another Jewish student, engages in nonconsensual sex with her and her best friend fills in the gaps of her story resulting in spray painting the word “Rapist” across his door. While this is happening, she is grappling with the fact that her thesis advisor might be abusing his wife (the head of the English department) amidst their ongoing divorce and custody battle. More and more people keep coming to Isabel with information about their lives or others that isn’t really her business and she just soaks it up in silence. No one stops to think about what she wants, and honestly neither does she. Throughout this novel, we see Isabel as a person we may have known, heard about, or been ourselves at some point in our lives. Trying to go with the flow until everything comes crashing down and we can finally make a decision we know is the right one.

Also, as someone who hates reading about English majors, I didn’t have a problem with this novel!

Isabel is a senior English major at an elite liberal arts college where she has always felt out of place. Having lost her mother the year before going to college, she is still struggling to find her voice and discover who she is. When she falls into an affair with her glamorous seminar professor, she’s forced to question what makes somebody an adult and what are the rules of being a grown-up.
At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to love this book. The deeper I got, however, the more I enjoyed the setting (1998) and settled into the story. The book calls into question things like class, religion, consent, and friendship and I thought the author did a great job of portraying this sticky time in life.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

3.0 Stars rounded up

A coming of age story set in the late 90’s. The story of Jewish girl Isabel trying to find herself at a prestigious college in NYC. Struggling to fit it she has a questionable consensual encounter, cries rape then retracts it then moves on to have an affair with her professor. While the writing was good…. It was difficult to follow the plot… if there was one. I had a hard time liking the characters let alone relating to them. While the topics were of interest there was just something missing. This one was definitely not for me. If campus/coming of age stories are your jam then check this one out.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC. This is my honest review.