3.5⭐️ I really liked the plot and premise of this book. It kept me hooked for the whole time. The very end made for a huge plot twist for myself. However, I did not really connect with the main character and her story line.

We meet Caz (short for Caroline) as she boards her first-ever cruise ship with her boyfriend, bound for New York. They have a wonderful first night aboard and Caz just can’t believe how lucky she is to be on this cruise.

The next morning is an entirely different story as she wakes up to discover that she is alone, totally alone, on the ship. There are no other passengers, no crew, only herself on board steaming across the Atlantic Ocean.

We eventually learn more but I can’t say more without giving away the plot. As the mystery unfolds there are some clever moments, but I never really connected to the characters. I wanted to know how it ended, but it seemed long and unrealistic.

The very end of the book bumped it up to a 3-star read for me. I have given other Will Dean books high ratings, but this one ended up falling a bit short for me.

4.5 ⭐️ Holy cow, what did I just read?!? I don’t recall why I had put this book on my TBR list, I probably saw it hyped up on a bookish podcast. Not the typical book I’d pick, but the synopsis sounded tempting, and just a few pages in I couldn’t stop. The chapters are short, and—without fail—the last sentence leaves you wanting to read the next chapter IMMEDIATELY. I was hooked, and even though one main character was on the annoying side this book ended up being a complete page turner. The descriptions particularly of the ship were so good, I could easily picture all locations and scenarios. Well done! Mostly thriller, it definitely had some horror aspects to it.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for letting me read and rate this book ahead of its publication date (August 8, 2023).

Trigger warnings: suicide, gambling, depression

The Last One had SO much potential. The premise was intriguing and it had me hooked from the start, eagerly awaiting the reveal of the central mystery. It was well-paced and it kept me guessing right up until the very end. However, the book ultimately fell short for me due to its disappointing ending. It’s clear from the reviews that the ending is very polarizing, but this was firmly in the “didn’t work for me” category.

*A huge thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.*

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to received this book for an honest review.

I have mix feelings about this book. I started it with excitement and was hooked but then I found the book boring. I couldn't continue. I tried but I felt like it dragged on.

Sadly, to say I did not finish.

I am just going to start off by saying that this book just got me out of a thriller slump. It is unlike any thriller I have ever read and broke the mold in the best possible way. It was intense and stressful in exactly the way I want a thriller to be stressful.

We are following Caroline as she and her boyfriend, Pete, cross the Atlantic on what should be a relaxing trip on a beautiful ship. The morning after their arrival Caroline wakes up to discover Pete is no longer next to her. As she steps out of her cabin and into the ship she realizes it’s not just Pete who is missing, but every passenger and crew member has vanished. From there you will just have to read it yourself because there is a twist every few pages and I don’t want to give any away. In the end, just when you think you have reached a resolution, the author throws in one last curveball that made my stomach drop.

I would definitely say that while I would absolutely recommend this book, it is certainly not for the faint of heart. It has somehow beautifully woven together the feel of a traditional thriller with strong dystopian vibes. I am quite shocked my watch never warned me that my heartrate spiked while I was reading it. I cannot wait for this book to come out because I need to talk to people who read it.

I enjoyed The Last One, but it was drastically different than I was expecting going into it!

Caz (Caroline) is the sole person left aboard a ship floating, seemingly with no control, in the middle of who knows where... except that's not at all what is actually going on, and I can't say literally anything else about the plot without spoiling the book. Just go into it knowing it will absolutely not be what you're expecting (at first, anyway) and even what you think on day one of Caz being alone isn't going to be what you expect!

Instead of a locked-room type thriller or even a dystopian/sci-fi twist, this reads more along the lines of a survival of the fittest type scenario. I didn't *love* this, albeit unexpected, twist. I would've loved some sort of eery and potentially unexplainable addition to the story, especially with the somewhat similar documented, unsolved situations as mentioned by Frannie.
I was thrown off for sure, but after a certain point, most of the book became quite predictable. It was also quite long for the content... the beginning is very slow and it takes quite some time to get to the information you want, as well as the action. It was a bit hard at times to focus my attention. This didn't stop me from wanting to finish, though.

Overall, The Last One was well written with fabulous world-building and the characters were quite diverse from one another. The only negative about the characters is that they
were, at least from my own point of view, quite unrelatable and a tad unrealistic. I was slightly
annoyed at the constant talk of Caz's family. It was very repetitive and honestly, boring.

I can definitely say without question that I was straight terrified at the idea of being "lost" at sea on a giant ocean liner, not knowing where I'm headed, and ALONE. I was freaking out inside at the beginning, so many scenarios running through my head. I now have even less of a desire to ever board a cruise ship or any other large floating vessel, so thank you to the author for that! Definitely give this one a read if you enjoy a good mystery, and it doesn't hurt if you're already terrified of the open ocean!

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

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“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.