A review by betweentheshelves
The Last She by H.J. Nelson

adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad books for an advanced copy of this to review. Unfortunately, this book just missed the mark for me. As someone who reads a fair amount of dystopia and did my MA thesis on gender portrayals in YA dystopian lit, this book had so much potential! Set in a not-so-distant future, there were so many possibilities to talk about the nuances of gender and how that might be affected in a world where basically all the women have disappeared. Unfortunately, these conversations didn't really happen and the book took a totally different turn.

Additionally, there are a lot of plot holes and inconsistencies that took me somewhat out of the story. I think a finer attention to detail in the editing process was needed. While there is going to be a second book in the series, I think there are still way too many questions that need to be answered moving forward.

There is a dual perspective here, and I think it helped in builidng this apocalyptic world, for the most part. The voices are strong, and there is some decent chemistry between the main two characters. That's where the strengths lie for this book, but unfortunatley everything else missed the mark for me. 
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