readingwithhippos's review against another edition
2.0
I just wanted more here--more development of the apocalyptic back story, and more resolution by the end. This kinda felt like watching one episode of a TV show.
jam_scot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mauvenotebook's review against another edition
It was just dull. The zombies were hardly present, and I just didn't like the MC
storiesandshoes_nic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
bookmadlibrarian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
mehsi's review against another edition
3.0
Welcome to an Ireland in the future, filled with zombies.
I was very much excited when I saw that my library added this one to their limited collection of English. A horror/zombie book? Sign me up.
So this was a pretty interesting zombie book focusing more on atmosphere than creepy stuff. Sure, there are zombie encounters, but mostly it just focuses on the world, how desolate it is. How there is danger everywhere. Which I just love. Often in zombies it is all about the action, about putting as much gore into it as one can do. But in this one it is about a girl, the world changed, and how she is trying to find her way.
I loved that we see the now, the girl with the wheelbarrow and all that happens after, but that we also see how she came to be where she is now. How her childhood was, how her training started, how things started to spiral into chaos and bleakness. While the Now parts were definitely my favourite, I still appreciated the Then parts as they gave more insight in the character we are following through this desolate and rotten land.
I found it freaking scary that the zombies could talk, or at least in the beginning. We see how Maeve turns into a zombie and talks to Orpen. Really, a zombie is already a big fat NOPE NOPE NOPPPPPEEE and then this one can talk? Lure you in? Charm its way into your juicy meats? Eh, no. But well done to the author, that was exceptionally done.
I loved seeing various signs and marks left by other people over the years (and maybe even some from the beginning that were left), OK it was at times heartbreaking especially the warnings.
The zombies, or Skrake were really well described. They brought chills to me. I wouldn't want to encounter that.
The ending had me feeling mixed. On the one side, yay for Orpen. On the other hand... does she really want to go to the place her mom and Maeve ran from? Knowing what C told her?
However I had several issues. Like with how Orpen just had Maeve around, bitten and dead, in a wheelbarrow for a long time and later we learn that something else happened as well. I would think that being in the zombie apocalypse for so long would have people know what to do with a zombie relative or friend. You don't take them home or carry them around. You help them. Because from all the books I read about zombie changing and what you become when you have changed... it hurts like a fucker. Your body dies, then resurrects into something it is not. I get she wanted to find a cure, but this isn't just about Maeve. This is about someone else as well.
Then there is the fact she had SO MUCH training yet she doesn't seem to know how to kill a zombie immediately. It is first wrestling and struggling, then she stabs it somewhere, another stab, another stab, more wrestling and then finally she remembers to stab it in the head. I would think that the first thing you learn in ANY training in a zombie apocalypse is how to dispatch a freaking zombie the fastest way. Not just have a lovely wrestling match with it.... Also that she kept talking how she had training and blabla but in the mean time when it came to zombies she was just as bad as the three people she was with.
Also I was confused for a long time on the Phoenix City. I know of a Phoenix City (or something thereabout) but that is in the US, not in Ireland. Later on we learn that it is Dublin called that.
Orpen acted more like a kid rather than a teen. I thought for most book she was around 10, but instead, she is probably more like 15-16-ish. I guess partially this has to do with her being on a secluded island with no one around, but I wonder if that is really all to it.
Who the FUCK makes a freaking pyre of FIRE in a zombie apocalypse. Dear C, you are on the run from stuff, from people who are hunting for you, and you make a fire? So you can maybe find your groupmembers again? Hello. Zombies?? They love fire and light and such. *rolls eyes*
All in all though I did enjoy reading this one. It was different from many zombie books and while I do love action-paced zombie books, this one is a nice fresh breath in my Halloween reading. Still scary, but also not too scary.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I was very much excited when I saw that my library added this one to their limited collection of English. A horror/zombie book? Sign me up.
So this was a pretty interesting zombie book focusing more on atmosphere than creepy stuff. Sure, there are zombie encounters, but mostly it just focuses on the world, how desolate it is. How there is danger everywhere. Which I just love. Often in zombies it is all about the action, about putting as much gore into it as one can do. But in this one it is about a girl, the world changed, and how she is trying to find her way.
I loved that we see the now, the girl with the wheelbarrow and all that happens after, but that we also see how she came to be where she is now. How her childhood was, how her training started, how things started to spiral into chaos and bleakness. While the Now parts were definitely my favourite, I still appreciated the Then parts as they gave more insight in the character we are following through this desolate and rotten land.
I found it freaking scary that the zombies could talk, or at least in the beginning. We see how Maeve turns into a zombie and talks to Orpen. Really, a zombie is already a big fat NOPE NOPE NOPPPPPEEE and then this one can talk? Lure you in? Charm its way into your juicy meats? Eh, no. But well done to the author, that was exceptionally done.
I loved seeing various signs and marks left by other people over the years (and maybe even some from the beginning that were left), OK it was at times heartbreaking especially the warnings.
The zombies, or Skrake were really well described. They brought chills to me. I wouldn't want to encounter that.
The ending had me feeling mixed. On the one side, yay for Orpen. On the other hand... does she really want to go to the place her mom and Maeve ran from? Knowing what C told her?
However I had several issues. Like with how Orpen just had Maeve around, bitten and dead, in a wheelbarrow for a long time and later we learn that something else happened as well. I would think that being in the zombie apocalypse for so long would have people know what to do with a zombie relative or friend. You don't take them home or carry them around. You help them. Because from all the books I read about zombie changing and what you become when you have changed... it hurts like a fucker. Your body dies, then resurrects into something it is not. I get she wanted to find a cure, but this isn't just about Maeve. This is about someone else as well.
Then there is the fact she had SO MUCH training yet she doesn't seem to know how to kill a zombie immediately. It is first wrestling and struggling, then she stabs it somewhere, another stab, another stab, more wrestling and then finally she remembers to stab it in the head. I would think that the first thing you learn in ANY training in a zombie apocalypse is how to dispatch a freaking zombie the fastest way. Not just have a lovely wrestling match with it.... Also that she kept talking how she had training and blabla but in the mean time when it came to zombies she was just as bad as the three people she was with.
Also I was confused for a long time on the Phoenix City. I know of a Phoenix City (or something thereabout) but that is in the US, not in Ireland. Later on we learn that it is Dublin called that.
Orpen acted more like a kid rather than a teen. I thought for most book she was around 10, but instead, she is probably more like 15-16-ish. I guess partially this has to do with her being on a secluded island with no one around, but I wonder if that is really all to it.
Who the FUCK makes a freaking pyre of FIRE in a zombie apocalypse. Dear C, you are on the run from stuff, from people who are hunting for you, and you make a fire? So you can maybe find your groupmembers again? Hello. Zombies?? They love fire and light and such. *rolls eyes*
All in all though I did enjoy reading this one. It was different from many zombie books and while I do love action-paced zombie books, this one is a nice fresh breath in my Halloween reading. Still scary, but also not too scary.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
sharonleavy's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
3.75
Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff is a dystopian horror novel set in Ireland.
Ireland, as we know it, has been destroyed. The country is now divided largely into two groups - the Banshees and the Skrake. The Skrake were once human, but now they're harbingers of death. If you're bitten by a Skrake, it's game over. You become one of them, and you die.
The Banshees were supposed to be protectors - but Orpen hasn't seen much evidence of this. Having grown up on the safety of Slanbeg Island off the West coast, she has largely avoided contact with anyone apart from her mother and her mother's partner Maeve. But now, things on Slanbeg have gone very, very wrong - and Orpen has to find a way to safety....before the Skrake find her.
This is a very engaging, fast-paced read, one I devoured (sorry) right after watching The Last of Us, so I think if you're a fan of that you'll enjoy this - it took a little while to get a handle on what was happening, but everything was explained and set up nicely for the next book.
Ireland, as we know it, has been destroyed. The country is now divided largely into two groups - the Banshees and the Skrake. The Skrake were once human, but now they're harbingers of death. If you're bitten by a Skrake, it's game over. You become one of them, and you die.
The Banshees were supposed to be protectors - but Orpen hasn't seen much evidence of this. Having grown up on the safety of Slanbeg Island off the West coast, she has largely avoided contact with anyone apart from her mother and her mother's partner Maeve. But now, things on Slanbeg have gone very, very wrong - and Orpen has to find a way to safety....before the Skrake find her.
This is a very engaging, fast-paced read, one I devoured (sorry) right after watching The Last of Us, so I think if you're a fan of that you'll enjoy this - it took a little while to get a handle on what was happening, but everything was explained and set up nicely for the next book.
joshgauthier's review against another edition
4.0
Stark, sparse, brutal, and bleak, Last Ones Left Alive is a post-apocalyptic novel that nevertheless believes in hope, in beauty, and in goodness--however small these things may appear in the moment. Consistently dark and often unsettling, Davis-Goff's characters find themselves trapped between isolation and trust, between desperation and survival. After the end of the world, there are few choices for how to respond, and this book brings to life richly-detailed characters in the midst of a world undone as they face the tension between what they strive for and the pull of circumstances trying to tear them away.
Irish writers consistently use language to remarkable effect, layering richness and character into every page. Davis-Goff's novel is no exception. The story is striking and powerful, and her skillful delivery draws the reader in to a novel that is simple in detail, yet bursting with humanity, pain, and the simple belief that good can outlast even the end of the world.
Irish writers consistently use language to remarkable effect, layering richness and character into every page. Davis-Goff's novel is no exception. The story is striking and powerful, and her skillful delivery draws the reader in to a novel that is simple in detail, yet bursting with humanity, pain, and the simple belief that good can outlast even the end of the world.
sineadcstories's review against another edition
5.0
Set in Ireland during a zombie apocalypse, what could possibly go wrong? Small, trapped environment and seemingly no hope left of civilisation? This book will make you realise how small this island is, which is an interesting, claustrophobic take of the traditional zombie narrative. The protagonist, Orpen, retakes the same steps, recognises old markings, and knows that if she heads east she will eventually hit Dublin.
It's funny reading an apocalyptic book set in Ireland. It makes you wonder, "what would I do?"
Orpen has grown up on a small island off the coast of Ireland with only her Mam and Maeve, who occasionally venture to the main island in search of more. When Mam dies and Maeve is bit by a skrake, Orpen has to make a decision: stay or go? With Maeve in a wheelbarrow and a dog called Danger by her side, Orpen is about to find out what waits for her in Ireland.
Sarah Davis-Goff brings a lot of concepts into this; city vs country, feminism, childhood vs adulthood, and a bit of good old-fashioned gore.
Sometimes it did feel as though the book involves a lot of back and forth, and the conclusion doesn't come across as wholely satisfying to me because of this. There is no clear goal in sight. There is no obvious reach towards something. So when it resolves the way it does, it makes sense but doesn't leave the reader with an overwhelming sense of triumph. It could do with a few more chapters.
There is also an exaggerated use of Irishisms (so it is, coddle, and all, etc) that it's as though Davis-Goff is constsntly trying to remind the reader that this book is Irish. It took me away from the narrative and I rolled my eyes whenever I saw another "so it is." I think the use of Irish place names and a subtle use of language would have been suffice.
I had heard so much about the book and the writer and the political intricacies of the book that I was surprised to see apocalyptic tropes; pregnancy, sacrifice, unexpected romance (without trying to give anything away.)
But, you know what? If it wasn't heralded as literary fiction, maybe I wouldn't be surprised by the use of these tropes? Marketing is important.
These are all minor things that took me away from the narrative. On the whole, I think this is a gripping story, told in simple and accessible language and with just enough emotional connection to Orpen. This book has moments that will break your heart, leave you cringing of horror in your seat, and turning the pages faster and faster to see what happens.
I look forward to seeing what lies next for Davis Goff.
It's funny reading an apocalyptic book set in Ireland. It makes you wonder, "what would I do?"
Orpen has grown up on a small island off the coast of Ireland with only her Mam and Maeve, who occasionally venture to the main island in search of more. When Mam dies and Maeve is bit by a skrake, Orpen has to make a decision: stay or go? With Maeve in a wheelbarrow and a dog called Danger by her side, Orpen is about to find out what waits for her in Ireland.
Sarah Davis-Goff brings a lot of concepts into this; city vs country, feminism, childhood vs adulthood, and a bit of good old-fashioned gore.
Sometimes it did feel as though the book involves a lot of back and forth, and the conclusion doesn't come across as wholely satisfying to me because of this. There is no clear goal in sight. There is no obvious reach towards something. So when it resolves the way it does, it makes sense but doesn't leave the reader with an overwhelming sense of triumph. It could do with a few more chapters.
There is also an exaggerated use of Irishisms (so it is, coddle, and all, etc) that it's as though Davis-Goff is constsntly trying to remind the reader that this book is Irish. It took me away from the narrative and I rolled my eyes whenever I saw another "so it is." I think the use of Irish place names and a subtle use of language would have been suffice.
I had heard so much about the book and the writer and the political intricacies of the book that I was surprised to see apocalyptic tropes; pregnancy, sacrifice, unexpected romance (without trying to give anything away.)
But, you know what? If it wasn't heralded as literary fiction, maybe I wouldn't be surprised by the use of these tropes? Marketing is important.
These are all minor things that took me away from the narrative. On the whole, I think this is a gripping story, told in simple and accessible language and with just enough emotional connection to Orpen. This book has moments that will break your heart, leave you cringing of horror in your seat, and turning the pages faster and faster to see what happens.
I look forward to seeing what lies next for Davis Goff.
kateryderbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0