Reviews

The Last Human by Lee Bacon

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rosierazor's review against another edition

4.0

My 10-year-old daughter read this, and loved it. She put it on top of my TBR pile. She knows I like this sort of stuff. It was a great read. A good tale about friendship. Read it!

sab_reads14's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

paragraph's review

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adventurous funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

raven_'s review against another edition

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3.0

This was so wholesome ❤ and gives of Eden (Netflix anime) vibes.

britterization's review against another edition

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5.0

Very improbably, I'm on a roll with MG fiction right now! This was a great way to follow up All the Impossible Things as its not quite as tear-jerky, but still brings the feels. On we go.

The book is set in a future version of earth in which robots have wiped out humans...so they think. XR-95 is pretty confused when he finds a human during the course of his work, installing solar panels. The young girl, Emma, convinces XR and his solar panel installation team of 3 to help her as she tries to find safety.

Wow! I love evil AI as a trope (especially as its legitimate thing to fear in the future - the Global Catastrophic Institute has some fascinating/terrifying reading if you're up for it), and it was done so well and so gently here! This book was awesome. It was kind of the The Good Place for a middle school audience. It makes you think about humanity, and whether its intrinsically good, bad or somewhere in between. It makes you think about what humans owe to each other. About robots and what they owe to each other. What humans and robots owe each other. The meaning of friendship. The meaning of family. About doing what is right despite the personal cost. It's a really thought provoking book, and a lot of middle school kids are starting to ask themselves those big questions, and this book approaches them in a really open-ended and safe and yes, entertaining, way.

In the acknowledgements, the author mentions that the book has been optioned by Miller & Lord (they of the Lego Movie and Into the Spiderverse fame), and I think they'll nail it. I want to watch this movie tomorrow.

Clearly, I loved this book. Hand it to any middle schooler in your life. 5 stars.