I loved the author's other books, but this one fell flat for me and I couldn't believe it. I will try any future ones and look forward to it.

I want to start off by thanking Netgalley for this arc. This book blew my mind, and took a turn I was not expecting. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I thoroughly enjoyed my first Will Dean book. I will say the ending fell a little flat for me, so I did deduct a star. However, still a solid 4/5 for me and will be recommending this to my friends.

I absolutely loved Will Dean’s “First Born” which I characterized as a psychological thriller. “The Last One” is in the domestic thriller/mystery category, too, but I had moments of wondering if it was really a horror novel. Every description and review will mention that reluctant passenger Caz Ripley gets on a luxury cruise liner with her boyfriend and then wakes up to find herself utterly alone, one thousand passengers and crew have gone “poof!”. After that point, it’s hard to write more without creating spoilers. But my first impression truly was that this was a “left behind” situation — you’re dead, Caz, and you can’t see all the living people aboard. Deal with it for the next 448 pages while we discover your probably mysterious backstory. But that wouldn’t be the engrossing, intense, suspenseful, nerve-racking, scary book that this turns out to be. Long books need to be eye-opening page-turners and have bizarre twists, and “The Last One” fits that description.

One note: if you find a box that’s marked “Do Not Open the Box”… do you open it? Plus, trigger warning: abandoning 13 dogs onboard (also without water and food) almost did me in (I walk out of movies if a dog dies).

And that’s all I can say without spoilers — but you need to read this to find out why other reviews are sidestepping the plot, too. And there’s an ending that will knock your socks off. 5 stars!

Thank you to Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Frankie does have equally rare hazel eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO we’re in the middle zone of the ocean, so no landscaping errors were expected. Caz does yearn for the sight of a rose bush.

Interesting premise - Caz wakes up on a luxury cruise to find everyone gone, food locked up, and no clue as to where the boat is headed. I love a good locked room myself and this definitely kept me engaged. I did feel like it got a bit silly at the end but still a fun read! Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

I wanted to love this. I was interested in the premise but this just fell flat for me. It was not at all what I expected and it just didn’t work.

WOW!! I have read many "locked door" type novels and this story is an elevated version that I could not put down. Each new chapter leads to more questions, not answers all building to an unforgettable ending. I can only hope their is a sequel on the horizon. I read this through so quickly so eager to find out what was happening next!!

Intriguing, tense, nail-biting, dramatic and unpredictable....I couldn't put this book down. I was initially very impressed with this book. I haven't read a book involving a cruise ship of people that disappear and you have to figure out what happened. I would have given this book 5 stars but the ending fell flat for me. Even still, it's a great book and highly recommend. The book will be released August 8, 2023! Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for sending me this ARC for review.

Preposterous. The author was asking me to stretch my imagination too far. I found myself skimming through some of the pages, because the plot twists were too unbelievable. I did end up finishing The Last One, but felt I had wasted my time with what I consider a very silly novel.

This book was a wild ride. You must be able to suspend disbelief if you want to enjoy this thriller.

The tension starts immediately. I felt every bit of the claustrophobia from this locked room premise. Then the story I thought I was going to read morphed into something completely different. But hey I’m flexible, let’s take this new theme for a spin and just enjoy.

Outlandish but entertaining and the pages kept flipping. Then the last page happened and now I’m just mad.

Thank you to Atria Books for this early Netgalley e-copy of The Last One by Will Dean.

For Caz, this Atlantic crossing aboard the luxurious RMS Atlantica is supposed to be a breeze. With her new boyfriend Pete along for the journey, it may even be romantic. Everything is going swell… that is, until Caz awakens the next morning aboard and finds Pete gone, along with (seemingly) every other passenger on the ship.

This is one of those books where everything that can go wrong will, and where every chapter ends with an almost irritating cliffhanger (which is immediately resolved in the first few sentences of the next). It also reads a lot like the author made it up as he went along, with easily noticeable inconsistencies from chapter to chapter. There are plenty of plot twists, none of which make any sense. I understand that this is fiction, but this was really pushing it.

Overall, this is another one of those books that had a promising concept, but that failed to deliver by going completely off the rails.

I also noticed a number of typos throughout the e-copy, which I hope will be fixed before publication.

☆ - NOT FOR ME

CW: descriptions of drug use; suicidal ideation and the performance of.

An unbelievable story at the beginning made me wonder if I should keep reading. Absolutely YES! The Last One is an exciting, survival saga filled with ingenuity and perseverance as flawed characters work together to overcome an unseen enemy. Better yet, the title only makes full sense until the very last words.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was creepy and atmospheric. It was a bit long but I enjoyed it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: The Last One x Will Dean
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Goodreads Rating: 4.02/5
My rating: 5/5 ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️
Read this if you liked: Squid Game and The Hunger Games, modern edition

💀 💀
“I wish you fair winds and calm seas.” THIS BOOK WAS INSANE. When I first started, I was like ok… How are we going to have 400 pages about someone stranded on a boat? I was so wrong! I read it in one sitting and stayed up until 2am because I had to know what happened. And THAT ENDING!!! I knew it was coming and still audibly gasped. The character development was fantastic and I honestly felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions (shock, rage, hopeful, surprised etc) that didn’t stop until the end. This is a book I feel everyone needs to add to their TBR it was just that good. I promise it’s one you will have lots to discuss for your book club!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Atria/Emily Bestler Books, Will Dean and Netgally for this ARC of The last one.

This closed room thriller was super fast paced and leaving you wanting more to know more. I did connect with the characters which made me want to know what happened and what would be their end. I could not put this down and just could not take this as a slow ride.

Once you know what’s going on, the book takes you in a whole other direction.

The only part of this book that I didn’t care for was the ending but it was not enough to say don’t read this book cause I will tell you READ THIS BOOK!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Pace: 4
Plot development: 5
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC.

The story was amazing, the characters and emotions were raw and I was immersed from the beginning.
The chapters are quick so it makes it near impossible to put down because you get desperate to find out what's next because each chapter ends with a cliffhanger.
This was honestly for me one of the best books this year, that its .... until the END.

I just wanted to throw my kindle after I read that last chapter, it changed from something amazing to something unbelievably frustrating. It just didn't make sense AT ALL. Everything was already explained so it made no sense for that to continue.

4 out 5 because 95% of the book was amazing but that ending just ruined it.

I first wanted to read this book when I was planning on going on my own first cruise. What a great read - about a cruise while actually *on* a cruise. I'm so glad that I didn't get it in time! I'm not going to give any spoilers but even the summary tells that this is about waking up to find that all other passengers and crew have disappeared. I just didn't expect that to happen right away. It did have me guessing some. There were many times that I was going to put the book away but I did want to find out if I had guessed correctly as to what happened. There were also quite a few times that I might have talked out loud to the characters (they should've listed to my advice!!). It is a quick read because the chapters are so short. It is a great quick summer read....especially if you want to go on a cruise :)

Thanks so much for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. It was a ton of fun! The following review will appear on episode 17 of the podcast. This episode will drop on Monday, July 17. The review will also appear on the website when the episode drops (link attached) and I will add it to Goodreads and share a post on Instagram. I loved this one so much I also plan to give it a shout out the week before and on publication day. Below is the text of the review:
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This is going to be a tough one to review because so much craziness happens in this book, and I don’t want to give it away. There are so many twists and turns and I don’t want to ruin the fun, so bear with me.

First of all, you need to go into this one willing to suspend disbelief. It’s imperative that you let go of that annoying little voice that insists you stay grounded in reality. You’ll enjoy this so much more if you do.

The basic premise is Caroline (Caz) and her newish boyfriend Peter have boarded a state-of-the-art luxury liner in England. They are making a cross-Atlantic trek to the US for some much needed R&R. They have a lovely first night together on the ship, but then the next day, Caz awakens to find that Peter is not in bed. She gets dressed and steps out to go look for him and finds that the halls are empty. No one is in any of the dining rooms and the decks are empty - to make matters worse - no one is steering the ship. She is alone in the middle of the friggin Atlantic ocean hurtling toward God knows where.

Can you imagine? For someone like me who is terrified of getting on a cruise ship, this was my worst nightmare realized. Being lost at sea - be it on a raft or a luxury liner is NOT something I have on my bucket list. Between Jaws and Titanic I am forever afraid of the ocean. There are far too many nibbley, bitey, chompy things that you have to worry about on top of the big fear - drowning. Then again, I don’t know what’s worse - drowning or being nibbled to death; neither sounds fun.

Anyway, Caz soon finds three other people on the ship, and none of them know WTF is happening. How could hundreds of passengers vanish? Why can’t they stop the ship? Where are they? Everything they try to contact help goes awry and when the power goes out and their access to the food supply is lost, they know their days are numbered.

That’s all I’m going to say about the plot because this is definitely one that needs to be read. The book is filled with all kinds of crazy twists and turns and I found myself gasping frequently. Once I started, I couldn’t put this one down. I’m glad I chose this as a vacation read because waiting to finish work so I could get back to it would have been torture. I can also say that the end made me scream “Holy Sh*t” so loud I’m sure I woke my neighbors.

Poor Caz is put through the ringer. I’ve read books where the author puts their main character through some stuff, but this one pretty much takes the cake. If you prefer a more character-driven novel, this probably isn’t for you. I cared for the characters well enough, but what kept me reading was the crazy plot twists and a need to find out how (or if) these people would ever get off this damn boat. The chapters are short (which I loved) and the action is non-stop. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a fun, fast-paced thriller. Buckle up and dive in and then thank me later.

This was my first read by Will Dean. The summary sounded super interesting and I was curious how it could play out. I was so surprised by many of the twists and turns this book took. I read it in a couple nights, which is much quicker than normal for me. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. The story was high energy and fast paced. I really enjoyed it. I can see this being a made for streaming movie some time soon. Thanks to the publisher and net galley for the advanced copy.

Easily one of my top ten books for 2023! A lot of times thrillers can have similar vibes/story lines but this one was so different! Caroline(Caz) decides to embark on a cruise with her significant other and wakes up to find everyone is gone. After a little while she ends up finding 3 others on the ship with her and what follows is a series of events that will have you on the edge of your seat. I do wish the ending would have been different but overall this was a 5 star read and I’ll definitely be checking out other books by this author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.