Title: The Last One
Author: Rachel Howzell Hall
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Romantasy
Publisher: Red Tower Books
Date published: December 3, 2024
A complimentary physical copy was kindly provided by Kaye Publicity and Red Tower Books in exchange for an honest review.
Thrown into a desolate land of sickness and unnatural beasts, Kai wakes in the woods with no idea who she is or how she got there. All she knows is that if she cannot reach the Sea of Devour, even this hellscape will get worse. But when she sees the village blacksmith fight invaders with unspeakable skill, she decides to accept his offer of help.
Too bad he’s as skilled at annoying her as he is at fighting.
As she searches for answers, Kai only finds more questions, especially regarding the blacksmith who can ignite her body like a flame, then douse it with ice in the next breath.
And no one is what—or who—they appear to be in the kingdom of Vinevridth, including the man whose secrets might be as deadly as the land itself.
⤖ My Review ⬻
I really wanted to like The Last One—it was one of my most-anticipated reads. I was drawn in by the moth design on the cover. And in the hardcover deluxe version, the book has mushrooms stencilled on the sprayed edges (I love it! So pretty). Right from the start, the aesthetic of the book was incredibly appealing, and I was eager to dive into the story based on the synopsis.
Diving into the book, I was startled to find the writing to be quite choppy—The Last One is told from the main character, Kai’s point of view, however, and she was just waking up from being unconscious, so I figured maybe this was to represent how she feels disoriented and afraid. I thought this was an intentional stylistic choice, but as I continued reading, the choppiness continued—Kai’s thoughts, descriptions. The dialogue was a bit better, though sometimes characters would act abrasively for no reason that I could tell, which caused some frustration on my part.
Needless to say, I felt quite disoriented while reading The Last One, but I was curious to see where the story was going, so I continued on. (I also never leave a book that I’ve agreed to review unfinished!) There was a unique atmosphere to the book that made me want to push forward, and I did appreciate the mystery that was woven through Kai’s journey.
There was an interesting twist in The Last One, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to entice me to continue with the series. Still, I’m glad I gave this book a chance, even if it wasn’t quite the reading experience I had been hoping for.
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
⤖ Let's Chat ⬻
Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
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I DNFd this, unfortunately. The writing was very choppy, and I found it was a weird mix of fantasy with contemporary language that didn’t work for me at all.
Ok I’m glad it wasn’t just me but I’m also sad that you also had a negative experience *sigh*