3.5 ⭐️’s
Eight years ago, Lucy’s young brother was killed in a flood while on a camp out when a dam burst in an unprecedented rain storm. Many in the town have still not recovered from that devastating flood, but Lucy has stayed strong throughout for her mother. When her stepbrother doesn’t show up for a very important high school game, panic sets in, especially when his car is found covered in blood! Located near where the dam burst, the search is on, but Martin isn’t the only one missing, an officer is also missing along with the sister of Lucy’s ex boyfriend. Is it possible that the dam incident is connected. Martin was questioning what really happened the day the dam burst and suspects his dad of wrong doing, especially after he benefited so much from building the new hydro electric plant. When all things point to Lucy’s ex, Neil, being involved, she doesn’t believe it for an instant, but as more and more evidence is presented, it’s hard not to doubt. As Lucy digs deeper, it becomes harder and harder to know who to trust, but if Neil didn’t kill Martin and Duece. who did? This was a very good YA book with a host of suspects and a well rounded plot. This book was equally entertaining as either a read or a listen. The narrator voiced Lucy perfectly! While everyone was searching for answers in the book, the perp was an easy spot for me, but didn’t take away from the overall story. Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this book.

Last Girl Breathing is a complex story about a warrior heroine haunted by past and present events. This YA thriller keeps the reader on edge with flashbacks, twists, and turns until the shocking ending.

Lucy tries to keep her family together after the death of her younger brother, Clay, who drowned in a flood eight years ago. She feels guilty for not saving him. In addition to dealing with graduation and training for the Olympics, Lucy becomes involved in the sudden disappearance of her stepbrother and friend. The evidence points to her ex-boyfriend, but as she uncovers many secrets, her life is in danger.

Sabotage, blackmail, a disappearance, and a killer on the loose add to the suspense and mystery of this novel. I enjoyed this YA thriller; however, there were many characters to keep track of, and the plot was hard to follow with the blending of the flashbacks. I thank NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Last Girl Breathing. #NetGalley #LastGirlBreathing #YA #Thrillers

Wow, I was not ready for that, but I am so glad that I experienced it. This author has to be on your TBR when you are in the market to read a YA thriller. Characters that jump off the page and captivate your mind and heart. The storyline was smooth and had you pacing the floors, wishing you could read faster. I couldn't put it down until the last page turned and then I wanted to read it slower so it could last. Bravo, bravo.

I have not read a young adult book in such a long time. This was a very refreshing and spooky read! I give this one a 9/10!

"Last Girl Breathing" is full of suspense. It takes place in a small town where everyone is at risk and nothing is as it seems. Great character development that kept me guessing and intrigued. Recommended for teen/YA's as well as adults who love YA thrillers. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book is the epitome of "lightning never strikes the same place twice"--which is a false statement, and instead of lightning, it's tragedy.
8 years ago, the town of Grand Junction suffered a tragedy-a dam broke and killed fourteen boy scouts and one other boy, Lucy Michaels' younger brother. Now, Lucy is 17, her mother is remarried and she has a stepbrother. But when her stepbrother and another friend turn up murdered, and all the evidence points to Lucy's ex-boyfriend, she starts to uncover a conspiracy that could change the entire perspective of the dam flooding and consequential rebuilding. Some people will kill to protect their secrets, and Lucy may be next.

Ow. Pain. Sad. This was more gut-wrenching than "We Were Kings." It takes place in three parts, with the second part being almost negligible, but it can be divided into the Before Before, the Before, and the After.

The Before Before: details the day of the flood and how Lucy came to lose her brother. She blames herself, while others find her to be a hero. Barack Obama makes an appearance????? I'm surprised you can include a living person in a book but okay.

The Before: Martin (Lucy's stepbrother) and Deuce start as teens reported missing who are found to be dead. The initial evidence points directly to Neil, Lucy's ex-boyfriend. Martin was investigating the flooding of the dam before he died, but Lucy didn't believe him. Now, with her (semi) ex=boyfriend's future on the line, she starts to look into it more fervently.

The After: I can't get into too much here because of spoilers, but Lucy is older and working for a freelance private investigator. She's done her best to put the past behind her, but with new evidence resurfacing, Lucy ends up more dedicated than ever to finding the truth.

Lucy is great. Very flawed, homegirl needs some therapy, but she's smart, resourceful, and dedicated, not to mention loyal. I ached for her throughout the book and especially at the end. I liked seeing her grow and change throughout the novel, it felt like keeping in touch with someone you know, but like reaaallllllly closely considering we're in her head the entire time.

Now for some complaints:
There's a weird section where Astrid fervently discusses what "...The Supreme Court is doing to "ruin her life"..." (reminder that this is from an uncorrected e-arc copy). and then proceeds to "...make wild, psychotic suggestions about what should happen to certain politicians who disagree with her beliefs." This isn't cool. This takes place in 2023ish, and the only major Supreme Court ruling as of late has been the overturning of Roe v. Wade. That's a valid thing to be upset/angry/impassioned about. It's really weird to have subliminal messaging about how teenage girls are blowing the LITERAL repeal of their rights to bodily autonomy out of proportion. And to then suggest she's making deranged statements about what should happen to politicians? I don't think I've ever seen a democrat/leftist/liberal suggest anything other than the removal of certain politicians/justices from office due to not upholding their job/duties. This book takes place in Kentucky, but the fact that this is just a throwaway statement made my blood boil. Reducing a very hot-button, nuanced issue down to "angry teenage [social justice warrior] (my take)" is really problematic.

Why are we supporting the TERF Queen J.K. Rowling in the year of our Lord 2023?? Harry Potter makes multiple appearances in the book, and I'm so, so tired of dealing with her and her books. Major yikes.

I would give this a four, but I'm sticking to my guns (pun intended) and giving this a three.

Last Girl Breathing is about a town struck by tragedy that has come back to haunt them.

This book really showcased complicated family dynamics after tragedy strikes. I really related to Lucy being the person who always has to be strong for everyone around her. The cast of characters of this book was vast, well developed, and so well intertwined that it made it hard to figure out who might be guilty of what because everyone was guilty of something.

I thought the story was really well thought out and unique. It set the stage perfectly for a small town murder investigation and cast suspicion on everyone. The corporate negligence plot line gave me Stranger Things vibes so I was super into it.

There were two things about this book that I didn't particularly like and that caused me to drop my rating of it by a star.

First, this book is three parts but they have odd spacing and I felt have a part two that was only a few paragraphs long was unnecessary and ruined the pacing of the book for me. The part three time jump also threw me off, but I think it was because part two really killed the tension and took me out of the story. I just wish it had been structured a little differently to keep me completely immersed in the story.

Second, I know this book is set in small town Kentucky and all, but the way literally everyone was alluding to Lucy being romantically involved with her step brother to the point that her ex was jealous absolutely blew my mind. It was so casual coming from adults and there was no acknowledgement of that being weird. I really hated that, especially in a young adult book. It just gave me the creeps.

All in all, aside from those two things, I enjoyed the book. It was heart breaking and tense. Watching Lucy relive the worst day of her life and work to bring justice for all the people she lost was captivating. I could have done without all of the stepbrother stuff though.

This is one of those books that after finishing, I still can't quite decide how I feel about it...

It took a little bit of time for me to get into the story. I think in part, I just couldn't connect with the characters as well and that kept me from engaging with the story right away. About 30% or so in, it picked up for me more. The characters were complex and well-written, though I still found I didn't quite connect as much as I would have liked... perhaps this in part because this is a YA book and I'm obviously not the target age group. (Though in many ways, this really didn't read like a YA book to me.) I'm not sure. The plot was great and kept me wondering what was going to happen next--- it's most certainly a page turner with lots of twists and turns I didn't see coming. I think I've gotten a little too used to reading romances with their guaranteed happy ending, so I will say that the ending disappointed me a bit... but that was definitely a me thing. It was actually very well written, just not how I'd hoped things would go. There were many things I really loved about this book and several lines that really stuck out to me that were really thought provoking... but I just didn't enjoy it quite as much as I wished I would have. That said, if you enjoy YA suspense, this is definitely worth checking out for yourself.

While this is from a Christian publisher, there was just a handful of minor language used. It does also deal with some heavier topics like abuse, murder and suicide, so may not be ideal for more sensitive readers.

**I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All opinions are my own.

Maybe I've read way too many mysteries and thrillers in my lifetime, but I was able to spot the culprit from the very beginning.

But the worst of it is that Court Stevens created such likeable, true to life, (mostly) decent characters, that all of the various tragedies and injustices woven into this tensely atmospheric novel gave me a perpetually uneasy feeling - as if the events in this story were happening to people close to me, that I cared about.

I suppose that this is the mark of great storytelling. You may not always like what you are reading, and may have to cringe a time or two, but you are riveted nonetheless. I dare you not to grow to love Martin, or Neil - and Lucy is a true champion in so many ways..

I won't drop any spoilers. I'm just going to encourage you to read this well written tangled web of misdirection, lies and murder. (I felt compelled to deduct one star from my rating because Dana's character (the private investigator) did not ring true for me, but every other main character in this story lived and breathed and seemed so real to me. ) My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Highly recommended!

Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens is one of those books that make you rush through chores so you can be free to read the next chapters and find out what will happen next. I really enjoyed way the story moved along. Many of the characters seemed to be capable of being the guilty party in the story, and I singled out several before settling on the one I thought most guilty. Some of the characters introduced part way through the book turned out to be main characters of the entire story. There was a little too much loss in the book to come away with a satisfied feeling for the story, but all in all I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to students for sure.

For a young adult thriller, I was expecting something a bit more fast-paced, exciting, and a lot more tension! I had high hopes for this and it just didn’t live up to my expectations.

I thought there was too much telling/exposition, especially for the context of our main character Lucy’s relationships with all of the deceased. I felt like the middle part (40-70%) dragged on a lot, and I was quite literally waiting for something to happen or information to reveal itself, as most YA thrillers do. Some characters, like the private detective Dana, completely disappeared for a bit, and played a much smaller role than I would think? Ultimately, I just struggled a lot with the pacing of this.

Overall, once I got to the resolution/reveal at the very end, I felt this was entertaining enough but there were too many Harry Potter references (why?! JKR is a TERF, & there are so many other fantasy legacies one can add in!)

cw: murder, violence, child death, grief, injury, blackmail, corruption, too many Harry Potter references

I read a book by this author last year and I really enjoyed it! I was happy to see she wrote another and was excited to be able to read it early.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Lucy Michael. She has had a rough family life since her youngest brother died in a tragic accident. No one has forgotten the dam broke and she can’t let go of the memory of her brother, especially her mother who she feels she has to protect. It’s sad that she had to step into the role of a parent for her own mother. She already didn’t have a father figure until she gained a stepdad. There is a lot that she deals with throughout the book on all fronts like the murder of her stepbrother. She couldn’t catch a break. Lucy is definitely a strong character and has the guts to face the truth no matter the cost.

I don’t think the other characters were as strong in development, but since this is a mystery/thriller I didn’t mind. I liked the investigator Danna (not sure how you spell it since I listened to the audiobook). She was very sweet and wanted to help Lucy in any way. She basically took her under her wing.

The cool thing about this book and the reason I connected to it so well is that I don’t live far from where this author grew up. She does use names of towns/cities that I go to and so it was easy to get swept into the story!

There is a lot that happens in the plot and it is split into three parts. I liked this way of telling the story because we get the aftermath of the murder investigation and what all of the characters were doing after everything settled. Obviously, some have skeletons in their closets that eventually come to haunt them. Small towns can never keep secrets for long. i didn’t guess who had done everything and the plot twists definitely left me in a shock!

Overall, this was an enjoyable mystery! It wraps up well and gave me a nice break from my fantasty binge.

Great story by Court Stevens. “Last Girl Breathing” has the action to keep you reading into the night. I like a book that doesn't drag. The different twists and turns keep you guessing throughout. The characters are believable. Definitely a must-read. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this e-ARC this is my personal opinion.

First of all, I really love this cover. The font and spooky yellow letters are often used, so that didn't blow me away, but for some reason the art style of the submerged trees really itches my brain. The story was just as good. I was super engaged through the whole thing. I read it in one day because I didn't put it down. I guess I shouldn't recommend it to you if you have a to-do list today, because you won't get anything done besides devouring this book.

Eight years ago, Lucy Michaels' hometown experienced an unprecedented disaster because of weather conditions. Due to the incessant rain, a dam broke, and a number of people lost their lives. While Lucy was part of the rescue effort, she was unable to help her own younger brother, Clay, who was among those lost.

Now, quite some time later, Lucy has rebuilt her life into something that she is reasonably happy with. Living in a family that includes her stepfather and stepbrother, she is preparing to graduate high school and participate in the Olympics.

But when her stepbrother goes missing, and a murder investigation results, long-buried secrets begin to emerge in their small Kentucky town. More murders take place, and it all strikes too close to home for Lucy.

After she decides to investigate matters for herself, and starts making the connections, Lucy realises that what is happening here is linked to earlier events. But who is responsible for this mayhem - and why are they doing it?

This is a fast-paced and engaging story, with relatable protagonist in Lucy. Two things that the writer did particularly well was to deliver some atmospheric story telling based on the small town setting, and to examine the nature of grief with sensitivity in a way that rings true.

The story does come with a few trigger warnings, including narcissistic personalities, gun use and child abuse. Those things aside, the plot twists keep things entertaining, and this is an easy read. It gets 3.5 stars from me.

This was such a good book! It had me from page one! I read it in one day and couldn’t put it down! I would definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this book.

I put off reading this book because of the high emotional reviews, but I wish I had read it earlier. Yes, it is full of emotional scenes, but I really, really loved this book.

It is a great mystery story with many twists and turns. The author has great characters, settings, and plot. I love the suspense, mystery, and the past and present collision.

Highly recommend. Thank you Entangled for another great mystery thriller!

"When you're first in love, you don't care if people change. They still fit you. But then little changes add up, and it's like weight gain; one day you go to put on your size fours and discover you're a six. That's shocking when it happens because you're sure you had on those same jeans the day before."

Lucy lives in a small town that was rocked by tragedy. During a torrential downpour, a dam broke and killed her little brother, who was out on a camping trip at the time. Lucy has dealt with the trauma by becoming a 'helper,' taking care of her mother who is fragile and only semi-functional. In a dramatic twist, Lucy's mother remarried to the person whose business built the dam and has become the largest company in town. Lucy is also a riflewoman. Her big goal is to go to the Paris Olympics in 2024. I think that is pretty badass.

This book felt long, even though it's not particularly long. The story took a while to unfold, and the three parts didn't weave together that well for me. Despite a lot of drama and terribly sad things, I never connected with any of the characters and didn't have much emotional response to the events. Toward the end, I started skimming a bit to get ahead--I wanted to know what happened, but I didn't feel the need to read every detail to get there. Maybe some of this will be solved in the final edit?

Overall, this book was just okay for me. I rate it 2.5 stars, but the fact that I was able to finish it and had some curiosity for the story helped me to round up instead of down.

"I am the Guy Fieri of crappy hotels. I actively choose the dumps and dives. The places that need pain and smell of smoke, that sell by the hour and hide their crimes in thin, cheap bedspreads. I don't know why exactly. I leave them feeling worse about the world, but a little better about myself."

Stevens' knack for writing mystery & suspense is ever-growing. On the heels of "We Were Kings" comes "Last Girl Breathing", a striking continuation down the road of suspicion and murder in Stevens' list of titles.

Lucy Michaels has big dreams of achieving olympic success on the U.S. air rifle team. But she is also haunted by the tragic loss of her younger brother Clay in a town tragedy that occurred years before. Many lives were lost when that dam broke. And now another tragedy is striking her home town and Lucy feels a personal responsibility to solve the case before more people she loves are lost in the crossfire.

I received a copy of the novel-in-progress from Court Stevens in January 2023 and a NetGalley arc a handful of months later. I have become an avid fan of Court's work. I count her as a friend, but I also admire her as an artist. This review is given with an eye towards the quality of the work and with gratefulness for the ability to access stories before they are out there in the wider world. Thank you to NetGalley and to Court for the arc.

The story was really meh. It wasn't doing anything for me. I wasn't thrilled to keep on reading. And the characters and their relationships were complicated