*4.5 stars rounded up*

The Last One follows Caz as she boards a cruise ship to New York with her boyfriend. Everything is going great until she wakes up all alone on the ship. There are no other passengers or crew members. Where did everyone go and how is she going to survive alone? From there, things take a wild turn and the rest of the story unfolds crazily.

I enjoyed this book! It was a unique story. The synopsis did not hint at the actual stuff going on. I was shocked in many different parts of the book and the ending left me with my jaw hanging open! I can't talk too much about this book without spoiling it. I recommend it if you like locked-room mysteries.

I will say that the book did seem a bit too long. I don't think it needed to be over 400 pages. I think if this book was 100 pages left, it would've been a 5 star for me.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Atria books for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

OK, what?! This book was insanity and suspense the whole way through! There was a point where I was actually getting scared and unsure if this was the book for me, but then literally the next page flipped the whole story upside down and I was hooked. I don't want to give much away, but things in Caz's situation just keep getting worse.. And worse.. And worse. I found that even though there were a couple of characters I really didn't like, I still was rooting for everyone! This book really made me think about things like consent, social media influence, bystander apathy, and how we realize what is truly important to us when pushed to extremes. I have mixed feelings about the ending! But let me say this- The Last One will be released on August 8, and it would be great if we could arrange a sequel to be released on August 9 😂

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5

So grateful for this ARC provided to me by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Gosh this was a lot to process and to long in my opinion. I did some skimming of the descriptions and the flashbacks that were just randomly scattered throughout the book way to many times referencing Caroline’s dads gambling past or her mothers illness. These occurred way to often for me and confusing to be just in the middle of a chapter, glad I wasn’t listening to the audio for this reason.

So Caroline and her boyfriend are on board an oceanic cruise liner, after the first night she wakes up and there are only 4 people left on board with no explanation as to why. A severely twisted “game” unfolds that they did not willingly want to participate in. The game is over the top to say the least—hard to wrap your head around the tasks/events at times. Writing builds tension well, lots of things occurring, the characters flip/flop often which kinda prevents you relating to them much. Without giving away to much, the storyline is not like anything I’ve read and definitely would not want to experience in real life, almost makes it hard to imagine.

I debated on 2 or 4 stars because I truthfully didn’t “enjoy” this wild ride, it did take a crazy imagination to write this story—and that I respect, but feel several things could have been better, it did invoke lord of different emotions while reading—-overall I probably wouldn’t recommend this book to just anyone though.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Will Dean takes you on a devilish cruise of epic proportions in The Last One. Caz Ripley is in for a trip that will leave her questioning everything and just as fearful and confused.

Carolina ‘Caz’ Ripley boards a majestic cruise ship in Southampton to experience a once-in-a-lifetime excursion with her beau Pete. After an evening of living it up on the open ocean, Ripley awakes to an empty bed, Pete nowhere to be found. Exiting her room to try and track him down, she immediately realizes that there is more amiss than she originally thought. Traversing every deck and location possible, she continues to come up empty until she’s rewarded with a random noise that leads to a gentleman who is also on his own.

What is he doing by himself? Is there anyone else still on the ship? More importantly, where did everyone else go? Why is there no one driving the ship? These are all questions you’re going to ask yourself and most likely the book itself. I found myself more than once, attempting to speak to Dean through the pages and ask him what the heck he was thinking.

Will Dean delivers an alluring and mind-altering adventure that will leave you exhausted. This is one of the most exhilarating adventures I’ve been on in some time, as you have no idea how Dean keeps one-upping himself. His creativity and unique storytelling ability cleverly come to a crescendo when he’s ready. There’s no divulging the ending quickly, he continually leaves fragments that will and will not help you with your sleuthing skills as you work your way to the ending.

This is an extremely detailed adventure that you don’t want to miss. In the game of life, you only get one chance, no mulligans. Will Caz Ripley survive hers and what will come from her nightmare journey?

Wow! I loved this book so much!!!! So freaking fantastic!! A total page turner!! I can't recommend this enough! And that ending!!! I honestly thought it was pure genius!!! 👏 👏 👏 I will be very disappointed if there is not a sequel.

Suspenseful and seriously addicting. It has short cliffhanger chapters and the story was so engrossing, it was very hard to put down. The pages were flying by. I almost felt like I was running on adrenaline while reading. Like a frantic kind of energy, reading more than I intended to because I HAD to know what happened next! I actually caught myself gasping at one point, which may be a first for me.

My best advice is to go into this without reading too many reviews or you'll run the risk of finding out too early what happened to all the passengers on the ship. You DO NOT want any spoilers on this one. It's a wild ride and so worth it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC.

What in the world did I just read??
Thank you, Atria Books, for the gifted copy of The Last One {partner}

Genre: Mystery
Trope: Locked Room
Format: 📖
Pub Date: 8.8.2023
Star Rating: ☆☆☆

Alright, so in full transparency, I am still unsure about what I read and whether or not it was worth it, but here are my thoughts on this twisty, locked-room mystery set on the high seas.

The first 25-30% of The Last One was pure thriller perfection. It had me on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, trying to figure out what was happening. Was Cat the only passenger left on the ship? How did she sleep through all of the other passengers disappearing? Also, what will the author do with the rest of this book (because there was a chunk left)? But, I was fascinated by the story. So, I kept going.

Then there was a twist - and wait... what? This makes no sense. So, what I’m understanding is this is all... wow! Okay, well, let’s see where it goes. I adjusted and fell back into step with the story, eager to learn more.

Another twist? Well, this is twistier than the new Twister movie - but wait, again. Excuse me? Unfortunately, I didn’t quite recover with this twist because it was just too much for me. It was utterly unbelievable, and I felt bamboozled.

Then, that ending - does this mean there will be a second book? Or is the ending more depressing? I don’t know.

For me, The Last One had a lot of potential, but it just flopped. The author took on one too many outrageous turns that left me unable to follow the story. It’s one of those I truly wanted to love, but it didn’t do anything for me. Was it memorable? Absolutely.

I recommend reading The Last One if you enjoyed reading The Family Game by Catherine Steadman.

I don’t even know how to describe this book. Thriller? Horror? It’s definitely claustrophobic and terrifying. Imagine going to sleep on a luxury passenger ship and waking up alone with all of the food and water missing. Slowly you find other passengers, but who can you trust? This book was horrifying and propulsive, and I read it in one sitting without stop. I’m gonna go take a Xanax now, so I can calm down.

I have to be frank with you all. I almost DNFed this multiple times. Ultimately I was glad I didn’t, but this was a rough one to get through.

My main issue with the book is the dialogue was so, so terrible. It felt contrived and extremely fake. Literally, no people talk the way these characters do, and I wish the author had found a more natural way to convey the information to the reader.

That being said, it wasn’t all bad. The premise of this is very unique, and I not only genuinely had no idea where this was going, I really wanted to find out, so I’m glad I pushed through. I think the ending wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped it would be, but the final scene was delightful and the journey to get there was interesting.

Also Dean did a great job of conveying tension with the way he laid this out. I was physically anxious a lot of the time I was reading this, which made me even more invested in finding out what was going on.

So overall, I do think this was worth the read, if you ignore the atrocity of the dialogue. Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this. The Last One is coming out August 8th!

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Will Dean for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Will Dean's last book First Born so I had high hopes for this one and this one did not disappoint! I highly recommend going into this one blind and I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil anything but this one kept me on the edge of my seat THE ENTIRE way through! There were so many twists that I didn't see coming which I absolutely love, but while I wasn't crazy about the ending, I'm still giving this one 4 stars because the rest of the book was so wonderfully done!

Cannot wait for his next one!!

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Caz is finally getting away for her first oversees cruise vacation with her boyfriend Pete. On her their first night away they have the time of their lives making friends, exploring the ship, and just enjoying life. The next morning Caz wakes up and Pete is gone, in fact everyone is gone and the ship is deserted. This is not the vacation she ever imagined. This is just the beginning of the twists and turns this book will take you through. Get ready to have a mind blowing experience in this mystery read.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
This book was a trip. Completely mind blowing and fast paced. I was fully invested for most of it…then I got to the end and it just didn’t do it for me. I’ve been debating between rating this 3.5 stars or 4 stars. I think I’m going to go with 4⭐️ because although I didn’t love the ending, there were so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and this book really kept me on my toes. I highly recommend going in blind for this one. I’ve kept my review pretty vague because anything else I say would totally be a spoiler.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Fast paced page turners
💫Lots of twists and turns
💫Mystery on cruise ship
💫Short chapters

🛳️𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🛳️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Will Dean for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

When Caroline and Pete go on a long awaited cruise she is so excited she owns a café and it is her first time away not to mention Pete is the first person she has been close to since the tragedy with her father. When she wakes up the first morning of the cruise he is gone and she eventually finds she is left on a big cruise ship with an American man name Smith an Asian American named Danny and a fellow Britt named Franny, Who is a student. Let me just say they said this book was like a locked room mystery but a cruise ship is bigger than most small towns with great restaurants casinos shows ET see I also want to say I did not like Caroline who went by Cass I was so over listening to the tragedy about her dad I was over how self-important she thought she was I mean she was worried her 50 year old sister and her elderly mom wasn’t going to make it without her and her mom was in a care home with professionals all around. Not to mention this book would’ve been half the length if the author would’ve taken out all of her moaning and groaning about everything mentioned above. Now having said that I couldn’t stop reading this book and although there were times during Carolinas inner dialogue that I did flip a page or two and usually when I do that I don’t read the book more than three stars but this book was so good besides all that I gave it for. I really thought Smith was going to be the enemy of the four people left but he turned out to be my favorite character. He kept talking about how he paid for the diamond level service how he was going to soon the tourism company and kept demanding things and I really thought he would be the least dependable person on board but turned out to be just as reliable as the rest. I also want to say the white evil dog broke my heart because I kept thinking if someone paid for him to go on a cruise they must really love him and where were they now? They have a lot of great West in this book and OMG the ballroom was the best! Especially since just having heard about the red room I think welding deathly plotted the book I just think the narrative needs a little cleaning up because he definitely got the point across about Caroline and her issue with her dad. I gave this book 4 stars in it deserves everyone of them and has the potential to get an even higher rating if when they make the movie they leave out 50% of said narrative. The twist or phenomenal and I didn’t read first born by this author but I am definitely downloading it as soon as I post this review because everyone says it’s way better than The Last One by Will Dean and this one was so close to phenomenal I can’t even imagine how great that one can be. I love this book and highly recommend it if you love a great intellectual game of cat and mouse then you definitely need to read this book. I want to think atria books and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

What in the actual world. That ending. THAT ENDING! My mind is blown.

THE LAST ONE is a wild, unpredictable ride. Caz is on a cruise with her boyfriend, but when she wakes up after her first night on board, everyone is gone. Like, there are no other passengers or crew or even a captain on board. The Atlantica is just cruising along in the Atlantic Ocean with Caz as its lone passenger.

I don’t want to say anything else because it will ruin the surprises.

THE LAST ONE is definitely a mystery. It’s a thriller, too, but I was really creeped out in some parts, so it has some definite horror elements.

I didn’t expect the twists in this book. At all. The ending gave me full body chills. And it brought a three-star book up to four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of THE LAST ONE and the opportunity to give my honest opinion.

Will Dean returns following First Born with his latest, THE LAST ONE —a mind-bending locked-in thriller when a woman finds herself trapped on an exclusive cruiser liner and everyone goes missing.

Caz and Pete are on vacation, the exclusive cruise liner, RMS Atlantica. Everything goes well on the first night, and they enjoy themselves; however, the following day, Pete is missing along with the other passengers.

She is shocked and fearful when she discovers all the cabin doors are open and horrified there are no passengers or crew. What comes next is a terrifying journey.

Three other passengers turn up: Smith, Daniel, and Frannie, and we do not learn much about them.

Will Caz make it out alive and solve the mystery?

While many may enjoy this one for entertainment alone, for me, not so much—The setting was good; however, I found it to be too over the top with two crazy twists.

THE LAST ONE reminds me of a TV series (which I do not care for) —one I will not name, which would be a plot spoiler. Yes, there are twists and turns, a maze of danger, madness, intrigue, mystery, and misdirection, with feelings of claustrophobia and fear, grappling for survival and a way out. However, I prefer my thrillers to be more believable. I was not invested in any of the characters and felt the book was too long.

One place you will never find me is on a cruise ship, even before this book. While I did not enjoy this one as much as First Born, I look forward to his next one.

Thanks to Atria Books for a gifted ARC via NetGalley for an honest opinion.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pub Date: Aug 8, 2023

The last one by will dean is a very intriguing set up that sets it apart from the field. Caz and her boyfriend Peter are vacationing on a cruise ship across the Atlantic when she wakes up one day to find herself completely alone on the ship. Where is everyone else and why was caz chosen to remain on board? That set up hooked me up, but I wouldn’t consider this a “locked room”thriller. Once the reader finds out what is going on on the ship, the genre slightly shifts (I don’t want to give too much away). I was slightly disappointed about halfway through as the intriguing premise begins to become bogged down and starts to drag a bit. Overall, an enjoyable read but definitely not what I expected and not as fast paced as I hoped it to be.
However, fans of dean will enjoy this no doubt and he will garner new fans I’m sure.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I had a very hard time getting into this "locked room thriller" I have decided that locked room thrillers are not my thing. That being said this book had an interesting plot but I felt it dragged out.

That ending, wow! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Will Dean for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review. As mentioned, what an incredible ending. I mean from the very beginning I was hooked. This is my 2nd Will Dean novel and not disappointed at all. The story follows Caroline (Caz), an introvert middle-aged woman, who goes on vacation with her boyfriend, Pete. This said vacation is on a ocean liner (said to be twice as big as the Titanic) crossing the Atlantic. Getting the vibes?
Everything is going great until the next day Caz wakes up alone...entirely. MIND BLOWN!

Now, I try to put myself in her shoes and honestly, I would've died from the initial shock of, well, everything! But then again, we don't know what we're capable of until we're put in extreme situations. All in all, I had fun, I had small heart skips, I was entertained. Dare I say a sequel? We can only dream and wait. 4.5 stars for me! Thank you, Will.

The intriguing premise was sadly undercut by the lackluster reveal, which felt like a cheap trick. No spoilers but I found it horribly disappointing.

This was a highly entertaining novel. I loved all the twists and turns, but it's definitely not for everyone. If you don't enjoy horror/psychological thrillers, look away now.

[My only real annoyance with this novel is that it was really long. Most of the time, I expect thrillers to be quick reads, but this one took me several days to finish. At the same time, I felt like I couldn't flip the pages fast enough. I wasn't a huge fan of the first ending, but the second ending was an absolute cliffhanger and I hope there's a sequel because I need answers (hide spoiler)]

Review will be posted on Instagram (@ellie.reads.a.lot) by publication date

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria publishing for this advance copy of The Last One by Will Dean in exchange for my honest review.

WOW this one was a trip! Such a unique premise - Caz is aboard a luxury cruise liner with her boyfriend when all of a sudden, she wakes up and there is no one on the ship. While this premise is unique, this happens in the first 30 pages of the book, and what spirals from there is WILD. I honestly don’t want to say too much more because this one took off on a totally random direction. My one very minor critique is that this book is long - a bit too long IMO. There’s quite a few introspective sections into Caz’s inner monologue, and while that’s important for the story, I’m not sure it really needed to be done as much as it was. Also, I’m struggling to find the connection with all the dogs on board (for my animal lovers that worry about this stuff, yes, the dogs are all fine and nothing bad happens to them!) - I *think* it might have represented that there was some sort of “life” on the ship alone with humans, but I’m not totally sure. Overall, still enjoyed this one immensely and was super engaged the whole time.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC - The Last One by Will Dean is out next Tuesday, 8/8/23!

This was a page turner for me. I read it in 2 days and every chapter kept me coming back because I just needed to understand what was happening and why it was happening. The short chapters were a gigantic plus for me too. It was such a unique storyline and I loved the idea of it.

However, once we figure out what’s happening it was all so disappointing for me. I also couldn’t form any emotional attachment to any of the characters and the book was entirely too long - it could have been at least 100 pages shorter. I also don’t understand why the author had to go there with that very last line. I wish he would have ended it when he should have ended it.

I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this one if you decide to pick it up. It is a ride!

Read if you enjoy:
📺 Reality TV
😬 Fast paced, nail biting situations
🙁 Unreliable narrators
👍🏻 Short chapters