I really enjoyed this book. I liked that the main character, Lucy, was training for a different Olympic sport than most books use. It added a nice twist to the storyline. I thought it was well written, the pace was great, and I liked the characters. I'll be looking for more books from this author to read.

This book left me guessing until the end on who was behind all of the chaos! It's been eight years since Lucy's brother was lost in a flood when the dam burst. Now she's preparing for a shot at the Olympic air rifle team. But when her stepbrother goes missing just before he's about to reveal a big secret to Lucy, suddenly the whole town is searching, and the secrets are going to come out eventually.

The book was a quick read for me because of the authors writing style. I like the suspense that grips the reader till the end.

Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, narcissistic parent, descriptive kissing between two 12-year-olds, imprisonment, malice, codependent relationship, murder with a firearm, blackmail, coercion, suicide. #NETGALLEY #LastGirlBreathing

Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, narcissistic parent, descriptive kissing between two 12-year-olds, imprisonment, malice, codependent relationship, murder with a firearm, blackmail, coercion, suicide.

Phew, the Last Girl Breathing was a roller coaster ride of a book. I was skeptical about reading this because YA books, especially thrillers, have been subpar lately. I believe that Stevens did a wonderful job setting up the characterization and setting in the book. I enjoyed the story's premise and kept reading because I just had to know what would happen.

Lucy was in a flood at the local dam with friends and family eight years before the current story. When the dam lets go during a large amount of rainfall, Lucy loses her little brother Clay in the washout. The story touches on the stressful areas of grief within the town of Grand Junction for Lucy and her family and friends.

In the current timeline, we find that Lucy is now seventeen and an Olympic hopeful in sharpshooting. She has a new stepfather and stepbrother, and as readers, we soon find that her stepbrother is missing. The police gather people to begin searching when they find that not only Lucy's stepbrother is missing, but also a new deputy and a second teenager. The story began to move quickly, and I found myself engrossed in it and could not put it down. Lucy is a strong protagonist, and the story surrounds her past and present throughout the book. There are a few things that I found slightly cringy, but all in all, the story was good. 4/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thought this was an entertaining YA murder mystery. Lucy was a very likeable main character who did a really good job of leading us through the mystery to the eventual solution. Set in a rural location near a wildlife preserve, it is the perfect place for the suspense that is created in the story. The secondary characters were interesting and varied and the plot twisted enough to keep it very interesting. I think YA readers who are fans of the murder mystery genre, will enjoy this one.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

This book is a mystery/thriller about a dam break in a small town and the secrets behind it. At the beginning it switched from past to present and I was a bit confused but by the middle of the book it came together. I was kept guessing until the end and wanted to find out everything that had happened. The relationships in the book were somewhat complicated and had depth to them. Overall, I liked this book and would give it 3.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Nice Fast pace and plot for teen audience. Writing a bit clipped and time lines a bit jumbled .
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens
Publisher Thomas Nelson
Genre Murder Mystery YA
Release Date November 07, 2023


Characters: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Suspense: 4/5
Overall Enjoyment: 4/5

*My Thoughts*
I have just recently started reading Books geared to the YA readers and found that I really enjoy the ones that do not contain writing that is juvenile, which I have found is only a few. So if the blurb looks good, I am ready to read it.
I started reading this book and really like Stevens ability to tell a story and keep the readers engaged and entertained the whole time. The story has a great build up of the characters as well as the suspense. The setting and her descriptive nature was so very well developed that I honestly felt as though I was in the book myself. Grief is the main focus with the characters and the way that the author weaves that into the story is perfect. Not overly done but it allows the reader to understand the and feel the intensity of how grief can overwhelm people.The other great part is that you may or may not have a clue who the culprit is but that does not change how the story is exposed to you, the reader. I truly could feel the emotions that the author set out for the reader and I so wanted Lucy to make all of her dreams come true.

*Premise*

Eight years ago in the town of Grand Junction, Lucy lost her brother Clay when a dam broke due to very heavy rainfall. Lucy continues to feel as though she is to blame. She was responsible for watching him. Now at seventeen Lucy has aspirations of going to the Olympics on the rifle team as she is a skilled air rifle shooter and most of all graduating from high school. However, tragedy strikes again and poor Lucy is thrust right back into the center of it. Two of her best friends were found murdered in the exact same place that her brother died and the prime suspect is none other than Lucy’s ex boyfriend. Yet Lucy has no idea if she can believe that. So she sets off to investigate the matter herself. Lucy is very strong willed, smart, confident and persistent. It all pays off for her because during her snooping she finds that not everyone is telling the truth and and they have some secrets to hide. Can Lucy figure out who killed her friends and can she do it before someone else is killed?


4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

I couldn't put this book down. Seriously, I had to sneakily read it during work because I was so invested. Great characters, great plot, great ending.

This book grabbed me from the very first page. As I read on, the author kept me wanting more of the why’s and how’s of the story. It is the kind of book you can finish in one sitting, and want to.

I recieved the book 3 days back and i started reading it immediately because i love the synopsis. The book is a quick read for me because of the writing style. I like the suspense which grips the reader till the end. What i was confused about is the collision of past and present which at the beginning create some problem for me to understand the character. Remaining books is fanatically written.

Much like Court Stevens other books, this was an excellent young adult thriller, suspenseful every step of the way. The main character, Lucy Michaels, is appealing as the protagonist. She is unflinchingly persistent in her quest to arrive at the truth of more than one mystery. As she tries to find the answers to what happened when her young brother died from their local dam breaking and washing him away as well as life as she knew it, the bodies pile up and the mysteries keep coming.
The book has a great pace and good characters that you will love and hate, including Lucy's mother for her weakness following the tragedy and her reliance on Lucy to be the strong one. This is definitely a page turner, one that I will highly recommend.

The premise sounded interesting, but the book missed the mark in execution for me. The storyline felt disjointed/all over the place. I did like the main character, who was believable. Some parts were a bit uncomfortable too read due to overdetailing, such as the relationship between one of the main characters and her stepbrother. It was awkward and unnecessary. It turned me off, in fact. Though it was a small part of the story, it made it hard for me to get back into things after reading it.

3.5 stars

Fast-paced and engrossing, this is a YA thriller at its best. While I found the whole book was written really well, I thought that the scenes of the first tragedy were particularly exhilarating, and I found myself holding my breath throughout.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review. This was my first Court Sevens book but it won't be my last.

"Last Girl Breathing" is a standalone ya mystery thriller written by Court Stevens.

The story follows 17-year-old Lucy Michaels, a resident of the small town of Grand Junction, Kentucky. A seemingly peaceful place marked by a profound tragedy. For eight years earlier, following heavy rains, the dam broke, destroying the landscape and killing people. Clay, Lucy's five-year-old brother, was one of the victims. Lucy was with him that terrible night at the time of the accident. She should have protected him, kept him safe, but instead the flood swept him away. Lucy has always felt guilty about what happened. That fateful day, the town and all its residents, changed forever. Now, eight years later, everyone is moving on. Or at least trying to. Lucy is focused on two things: making the U.S. Olympic air rifle team and protecting everyone in her life from any kind of trauma. However, life has other plans for her, and with graduation and the Olympics on the horizon, her world is shaken again when a new tragedy strikes Grand Junction, and once again Lucy ends up right in the middle of it. Two of her closest friends have been killed in the nature preserve adjacent to town, on the same plot of land where her little brother died, and suspicion begins to be aimed everywhere in the community. The main suspect? Lucy's ex-boyfriend, who has just returned to town. Lucy begins to investigate and soon begins to uncover long-buried secrets in the community, leading to unpredictable developments.

Wow!!! I absolutely loved this read! Compelling, engaging and enthralling, it kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end. I started with high expectations, intrigued by the premise and was not disappointed at all.

I found the author's style bewitching and captivating, able to pull me into the vortex of the narrative. The fast pace, combined with the presence of short chapters, made it difficult for me to put the book down.

The setting won me over. Grand Junction is a small town in Kentucky, where civilization and nature sit side by side. Located next to a nature preserve, renowned for hunting and also home to marshland, it is sadly known for the dam collapse eight years earlier. In my opinion Court Stevens has succeeded in creating a vivid and evocative location, rendering the sense of community and the various interactions within it very well.

The plot gets off to a fast start, drawing the reader directly into the mystery. I admit that I spotted the solution in advance, but that did not stop me from enjoying the whole thing. I found the mystery component really well done, executed in a coherent and believable way. I was able to feel the suspense, the doubt and the danger increasing more and more over the course of the book. Yes, I guessed the solution, but some of the twists and turns along the way I didn't expect at all and I was blown away. In a good way. Despite the rapid narration, the book takes its time to analyze everything, without rushing and leaving nothing to chance, arriving at an epilogue that satisfied me. I add that I particularly appreciated the alternation between past and present, with mostly scenes from now alternating with shorter scenes from the fateful day of the dam break, eight years earlier.

Lucy, the protagonist and only first-person pov, is a character I liked very much. Lucy is a seventeen-year-old girl, a skilled air rifle shooter who aims to make the U.S. Olympic team and graduate from high school. Lucy is a rescuer in her soul, someone who seeks to help and support everyone she knows. Determined, logical and strong-willed, she is actually deeply scarred by the death of her little brother, Clay, in the dam break eight years earlier. Lucy in fact was with Clay at the time of the flood and failed to protect him, failed to bring him to safety. She feels guilty, she can't forgive herself, and it continues to eat away at her inside, day after day, even though on the outside she tries to appear strong. I think Lucy is a wonderful character with incredible characterization. She is a girl so full of emotions, dreams, fears, remorse and flaws! I couldn't help but suffer and rejoice for her. I loved the descriptions of deep affection between her and her little brother, and I was moved several times when reading about Lucy's pain, her remorse in that sense.
More generally, I enjoyed all the secondary characters. Who more and who less, they seemed to me well-drawn in their merits and their flaws. For many I even felt a sense of emotional involvement, just to make it clear how intense they seemed to me. I enjoyed a lot the bonds present between the characters, they seemed deep and I confess that I got quite emotional at certain moments.

Ultimately I found it a wonderful ya mystery and I can't help but recommend it if you are a fan of the genre!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Last Girl Breathing, by Court Stevens.
3.5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️

TRIGGER WARNINGS-
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.
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Death, kidnapping, abuse, murder,

Eight years ago seventeen year old Lucy's younger brother, Clay died in a flood of water during heavy rains that aided in causing the dam to brake. Now Lucy's hoping to make the Olympic air rifle team when another tragedy hits her small home town- two of her loved ones are found dead and the number one suspect is her ex-boyfriend. As secrets start to come to light Lucy starts to see that not everyone is as innocent as they claimed to be.

The book launches right into the story/plot with very little to no background right away. You do learn the main back story as you read. The book goes between what happened before the damn brake to current time. I found the beginning to be a bit slow and drawn out but it did pick up and drew you in once it gets to part three. It definitely kept you guessing and had a lot of good twist, and turns.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for giving me an E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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3

I'm breaking this review down into mini sections because different aspects of the story were 5 stars for me while others were 3 stars, so to do this review justice...stick around ;)

Plot: 5/5
I made the mistake of reading this book at night before I went to bed, and man, did I get spooked easily by the slightest noise, hahaha. It was thrilling. Suspenseful. My eyes bugged out a handful of times. Got chills. Was devastated and awed by how the author even thought of such a nail-biting plot like this. The plot was so good--no complaints here.

Characters: 4/5
The MC in this story, Lucy, is a really well-developed character. She feels grief. She has to be stronger for others so they can be broken. She's by no means perfect, which makes her all the more real and relatable. I really enjoyed having the story narrated solely through her POV. The character's mom was a little *too* emotionally dependent on her daughter, which made her not my favorite. Everyone else was great, though!

Themes: 5/5
This story, in many ways, reminds me of Caroline George's "The Summer We Forgot" with its YA themes of teenage love, broken relationships and trust, learning how to heal, etc. I really loved the themes in this book--they were deep and relevant and important.

Content: 3/5
Here's where I have some issues with the book...I was a little over halfway done with the book, no issues whatsoever, and then bam...two things made me mad, haha. I'll try and make this as non-spoilery as possible.
1. A couple page scene about two characters, who were twelve (or thirteen, I believe) having their first kiss + moments leading up to it/during it/after it. Way too descriptive for my liking. Started reading it and ended up skim reading because I didn't feel comfortable with that, especially given the character's ages.
2. Sooo...basically, to summarize this second complaint, there was a weird relationship thing going on between one of the main characters and her stepbrother. I actually had to stop and go back for a second and make sure that he was actually her stepbrother because...y'all, it got weird for a hot minute. Ended up skim reading this because it just felt so weird and totally unnecessary to the story and made me drop my rating from 5 stars to 3 :(

If you're wanting to read this book but skip those scenes, let me assure you that they're just sections of one chapter and not scenes that are carried out throughout the entire book (towards the 60% mark, I believe).

Besides those two things...this book was good. And I wish I could give it a higher rating, but the content concerns I had kept me from doing so. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of Last Girl Breathing. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love mysteries. They’re arguably my favorite type of book. I love looking for clues and guessing whodunnit. One of my biggest pet peeves in a mystery novel, however, is when the main sleuth is constantly jumping from suspect to suspect with very little proof.

I actually liked Lucy, and I enjoyed almost all of Last Girl Breathing. I think it was a strong mystery, and a very strong contemporary lit about a small town that sucks you in and keeps you down. I do think the mystery could’ve used a little help - no spoilers, but I wasn’t fully satisfied in the end with how everything unfolded.

I also wasn’t fully invested in the hunting/outsoorsy/gun aspect of this book, but I’m not typically into those things in real life, so I just couldn’t relate to a lot of it.

I would, however, recommend this book. I felt a strong connection to Lucy’s need to constantly fix and take care of everyone around her, and did like a majority of the story. I would recommend this to anyone who likes foggy outdoorsy mysteries.

Wow! If you love suspense books, Court Stevens is a queen of suspense. This book keeps you guessing until the end! Definitely worth reading, even through the sadness and tragedy.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance ecopy of this book!! All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Last Girl Breathing
By Court Stevens
Pub Date Nov. 7, 2023
Thomas Nelson
Thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a great YA mystery,
This is a new author for me but it kept me guessing and flipping the pages, I had a slight problem with keeping up with which kids belonged with which parents throughout the book,
Nods to environmentalism, gun rights and rural culture.
4 stars

Court Stevens never fails to keep me interested in her books. They are ones that you need to pay attention to as you read, otherwise you will end up with the wrong person guilty. Several times.
Last Girl Breathing starts with the murder of two of the towns beloved sons. Lucy is thrust into the middle of the crime because one is her brother and the other one of her friends. Who has the talent to kill them both?
As the crime unfolds, Stevens continues to hand your clues, you have to shift through them to figure out the answers. It makes for a fun read.
If you haven't read any of Stevens other books, this is a great place to start, just be forward you are in for a bumpy ride.