Thank you so much Head of Zeus for inviting me to read the arc of The Last whale by Chris Vick in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

The Last Whale is a top MG / low YA story that tells the story of three generations of the Kristensen family, from whale hunters to missionaries to save the great whales and our planet. We meet Abi as a fierce teenage activist, as she is obliged to spend the summer with her family at her grandmother’s home on an island off the Norwegian coast. Abi along with the AI ‘Moonlight’ that she has ‘borrowed’ with the hope of organising a global protest, but on the island Abi learns more about her family’s history and inspired by her great-grandfather’s rejection of whaling and recording of whale songs, she learns more about whales, their songs and criticality to Earth’s future.

This book is written in such a way that it is perfectly toned to early teen awareness, understanding and experience of the world today. It’s definitely not a read for the beach, but what it does is deliver a well crafted story across the generations from Abi’s great-grandfather through to Abi’s daughter Tonje and her daughter.

A multi-generational story that carries a key message about our environment, the impact of humankind and how there is still hope for the future, that even in the depths of despair, hope and possibility are there.

Vick is brutally honest and factual regarding our negative impact on the environment and doesn’t shy away from politics and business as drivers for the delay in our response to the message, but he also delivers an engaging and captivating story that immerses you, and had you teetering on the edge, hoping and wanting a positive outcome. This is definitely an environmental call to arms that 12+ will embrace and empathise with…a great read with a powerful core message that should not be ignored.