Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

This began as a slow read for me but the last 40% was amazing! Completely worth every moment. The fact that this is all rooted in a sad portion of American history eerily similar to Naziism, or maybe theirs is similar to ours? Amazing read! Broke my heart in places. Filled me with hope in the end.

Leah is a true, small town North Carolina girl. A teenager in 1935, she's content with the simple life she shares with her father and his employers, whose land they live and work on.

Tragically, her world is rocked when her father passes in a working accident. Now an orphan, Leah is sent to live with a foster family in another part of the State. Away from her beloved ocean and her childhood best friend, her neighbour Jesse, she doesn't know what to expect of her future.

Sadly, tragedy follows Leah and she is met with the horrors facing those seen as 'lesser' in a society heading towards WWII. Will Leah find her way back to the place and people she calls home? Or will the horror she experiences consume her?

Full disclosure, this book WRECKED me. It covers extremely heavy themes and I cried several times when reading what Leah went through. Worse is knowing that this really was occurring at the time and many people deemed as different in any way met the same fate.

As much as I've been emotionally rocked, I'm so thankful that I read this book as I believe it is so important to learn from the horrors and mistakes of the past. To know that this is based on the experiences of the Author's Great Aunt makes me even more appreciative of the sensitivity of the topics covered.

Thank you to Author Meagan Church, Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark Publishing for providing this free ARC of the book, in exchange for an honest review. If you're wanting to read too (which I highly encourage) the book publishes in the 28th of February 2023!

**TRIGGER WARNINGS: death, eugenics, child cruelty, infertility

A bit sappy and predictable, but many readers will enjoy this story that is apparently based on the author's own aunt's experience. It sheds light on the truly horrid plight of orphans and that period in American history when Eugenics was used as a tool for a "more superior human race." It's a story that needs to be told and hopefully this novel will inspire readers to dig deeper and learn more.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. Book groups reading popular fiction will no doubt select it to read and, hopefully, discuss.

This was a powerful book⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It’s a story of such enormous loss and triumph. You will definitely feel for the main character and shake your head as you hope for Leah to have a happy ending to her story. I recommend the read👏🏻.

Leah Payne dreams of living on the beach one day. At fourteen, her life is simple and happy but is suddenly turned upside down when she is orphaned.

After her father dies in an accident, Leah is separated for her friend, Jesse, and the only home she’s known in coastal, NC. She’s sent to live with a family of strangers by child services. The family is well off and Leah hopes she will have a real family with them. Unfortunately, it’s not meant to be.

Leah is expected to be a helpmate in the home. She makes friends with the other children, but Mrs. Griffin doesn’t like Leah much. Why? As she longs to return to her childhood home and Jesse, Mrs. Griffin has other plans for Leah. Will she be reunited with her childhood friend?

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sad, hopeless and depressing. The story spends too long at the Griffin’s leading up to the event. I wanted to know more about Leah’s healing when she was reunited with people who loved her.

Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

In 1935, 14-year-old Leah who is white and whose mother died in childbirth, deals with the sudden death of her father. She is sent to live with strangers outside of Charlotte, NC. Instead of being taken is as part of the family, she is expected to work for the family. Her longing for a neighbor boy she left behind plays a central role in the book. There is a thread about eugenics that probably was the most significant historical part of this historical fiction book but it felt a bit disjointed. Overall I felt like the pace of the book was a bit off so I wasn't as immersed as I wanted to be in Leah's story.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars. A novel based on the authors great-aunt. Leah, a poor 14yo girl sent to a foster family after her father passes from a freak accident. This book fell a bit flat, as it seemed there was no plot for about 70%, and when the twist came, I felt it was an odd plot point. Overall, the pacing and writing style wasn’t my cup of tea, but I would still recommend to a friend, if it was a fit.

What a lovely novel, filled with despair and yet hope. A meditation on what family means. Leah is an amazing character, filled with strength and love. The story is set in 1935, when eugenics was an approved population control method. There are several twists and turns to the story, but Leah's relationship with nature anchors her world.

"Some folks will do anything to control the wild spirit of a Carolina girl...

For fourteen-year-old Leah Payne, life in her beloved coastal Carolina town is as simple as it is free. Devoted to her lumberjack father and running through the wilds where the forest meets the shore, Leah's country life is as natural as the Loblolly pines that rise to greet the Southern sky.

When an accident takes her father's life, Leah is wrenched from her small community and cast into a family of strangers with a terrible secret. Separated from her only home, Leah is kept apart from the family and forced to act as a helpmate for the well-to-do household. When a moment of violence and prejudice thrusts Leah into the center of the state's shameful darkness, she must fight for her own future against a world that doesn't always value the wild spirit of a Carolina girl."

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

What an emotional, heart-wrenching novel! Leah's story is one of sorrow, for sure, but also one of determination, love for family, defining what (who) family is, and a reminder of how far things have come. Leah lives a simple life with her father, yet after he tragically passes away, is sent to live with another family and become their helpmate. She is not treated well to say the least, and her story becomes intertwined with our country's history of the eugenics movement. Though the book was a bit slow at times, the writing was wonderful and the characterizations of Leah and the other children were captivating. I would definitely read more by Meagan Church in the future!

Also, I appreciated the author's note which shared about a dear family member's story as the inspiration for the novel. The author also shared about current day connections to eugenics/sterilizations in government and politics... even in my home city of Nashville. Appalling!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this one but the pacing and writing style just wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s more telling than showing and not much happening in the plot so sadly I DNFd at 40% but I’ll be recommending to my audience and hopefully it works for others!

This heartbreaking story is set in my hometown of Matthews, NC. While the author seems to have done a little bit of research on the history of this town, she missed the mark for the time period. In the 1930s, Matthews was not the bustling suburb of Charlotte, NC that it is now. The 1930 census had the population of Matthews at 454 people. The main source of income for families during this time period was farming, specifically cotton, and was still considered a rural area. There was the small downtown area that housed several gin businesses for the cotton, a livery, Renfrow's Store, and the Matthews Drug Company. The Matthews Drug Company is what the author got correct about the town's history. The town cemetery that becomes the main character's refuge does not back up to the railroad tracks. Also, while Matthews does have a yearly festival, which is currently called Matthews Alive, the festival did not exist in the 1930s. It began as the Stumptown Festival in the 1970s as a way to earn money for the town to restore historical buildings. I wish that the author had done more research into Matthews, or set the book in another area that she knew the history of better.

While this story was a slow burn start for me. When it picked up. IT PICKED UP, and I was hooked. The authors writing was wonderful. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions she put forward for us readers to truly see what was happening. One of the big concepts in this story is eugenics and the role it has played in history for sterilizing marginalized groups of people that didn’t fit society’s superior guidelines. I love Leah, and my heart was in deep for her through this story.

So this also reminded me a bit of the book I read Children on the Hill which also had to do with eugenics. So The Last Carolina Girl is a heartbreaking but also necessary shed of light into this part of history. I would definitely recommend.
I will post to social media within the week.

THE LAST CAROLINA GIRL by Meagan Church is an historical novel set in the 1930s. 14 year old Leah lives with her father, a handyman, who teaches her to love nature especially the sea. Her life is upended when he dies. Leah situation goes from bad to worse when she is sent to live with a family she doesn’t know. She is used as a servant and no longer allowed to attend school. Leah’s heartbreaking story sheds light on a shameful period in US history, eugenics programs that allowed the forced sterilization of girls and women deemed socially, mentally or physically deficient. Leah’s hardships had me crying. Her fortitude had me cheering for her. I will not soon forget this admirable character.

This book was a pleasant surprise! I haven’t seen it anywhere on Booksta yet and I went into it blind, so I had no idea what to expect. The beginning was a little slow for me, but it didn’t take long to become totally invested.

There’s a focus on eugenics, which is the practices of sterilizing certain people with the hopes of breeding superior generations and doing away with “inferior” qualities. I’ve learned about this in university classes I’ve taken and I have always found it to be an interesting (and horrifying) topic. So I was especially invested in that storyline. I do wish that there was a much bigger focus, but what was covered was wonderfully done.

There was also somewhat of a focus on a childhood friendship turned romance, and you know I can’t resist that childhood friends to lovers trope.

I don’t want to say too much else for the sake of spoilers. BUT I will add that Mrs. Griffin infuriated me more than any character has in a very long time. She was written very well but couldn’t there have been a scene where a character screamed in her face or told her off or something?? There was no justice.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for my gifted copy.

This book is astonishingly beautiful. It sweeps you up with gorgeous descriptions and a main character you want to cherish and love. While the entire world seems to be beating her down. Leah has had pain in her life since her first breath was taken. Her mom passing away during childbirth. Her father is a gentle giant who works as a lumberjack. Their life is simple, but Leah knows love. During a horrific ice storm her father is torn away from her, leaving her on her own as an orphan at the tender age of 14. She knows she belongs in their tiny home. The state has other ideas for her. Sending her away into the unknow, Leah hopes another family will be waiting for her to bring her a bit of happiness. Instead, she is a helpmate, sleeping in a tiny room off the porch. The mother is hiding her own secrets and is determined to make Leah's life miserable. As Leah feels a storm churning, she has no idea what awaits her.

This book had me sobbing as I read about Leah and her sheer determination to make it back to her home and to the family, she calls her own. I wanted to take Leah in and take care of her. I am dismayed at how horrible a young child was treated because her parents were taken too soon. This book brings to light our dark history of eugenics, that touched so many young women. Meagan Church does an astounding job bringing this story to life, and the descriptions and details will touch your heart. Thank you to Meagan Church and Sourcebooks for this emotional tale.

For Leah Payne, life is simple: she goes to school and she enjoys her time at home with her father. A lumberjack by trade, when her father is killed in an accident, she is uprooted from everything she knows. Just fourteen years old, she is forced to live with a foster family, The Griffins. The lady of the house, Mrs. Griffin, is cold, mean and demanding. While serving as the family’s helpmate, she is introduced to a doctor studying eugenics. What happens next is truly horrifying and evil.

I picked up this book because I had seen it compared to Where the Crawdads Sing, which I loved. Though quite different, it still had the same type of imagery, of nature and enjoying the little things in life. My heart broke for Leah as she tried to navigate a life away from all she knew, with someone who hated her just for existing. In a historical aspect, I had no idea that there was such a eugenics movement in the United States. It was disgusting and frightening to read Leah’s story, and even more so to learn part of it was based on true events. The author provided a note at the end, explaining her inspiration for writing this book. It’s not an easy story to read, but it’s important that it be told. This one will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley, Meagan Church and Sourcebooks for the ARC! “The Last Carolina Girl” will be released March 7.

Leah’s Dad dies and having no other family, she’s sent to be a helpmate at the Griffin’s house. This wasn’t what she thought was going to happen.
I enjoyed the story but it was so sad. The way they treated her and what was done was just awful. I couldn’t put this book down even tho it really made me mad.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

It's just Leah and her dad after her mom dies. In a freak accident, Leah's dad dies. She is forced to leave everything she knows behind to go to a foster home. Leah is treated like a servant and nothing more. Leah is an amazing girl. Her story is heartbreaking but she is hopeful life will get better. I really enjoyed this book and Leah. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

this book touts that it's for people who were fans of Where the Crawdads Sing. That is significantly misleading. Yes, it takes place in the south. Yes, there is something unexpected in the end. That's about it.

It moved slowly and just overall made me very uncomfortable. It's hard to put into words without ruining the story, but proceed with caution. You'll pick up on it pretty quickly, but it's still terrible.

For the record, this was a 2.5 star read that I rounded up to 3 stars.

I thought the character development was great but the pacing was a bit choppy. A lot of went on in this book was unfamiliar to me (eugenics in the United States), but I thought the author did an excellent job describing it all. The descriptions of North Carolina were vivid, and as someone who has never been to that region of the States, I appreciated it. This was an emotional read - Leah goes through SO much heartbreak and trauma at such a young age - so be prepared!