A review by joshuanimmo
The Last One by Will Dean

3.0

I went into this knowing the premise - a woman wakes up on a cruise ship and finds she's the only person on the ship. Definitely interesting, but I wondered how that could carry any entire 400+ novel. Well, within the first few chapters the whole premise changes; our narrator Caz isn't the only person on the cruise ship, but one of four. My interest was piqued again, but when the whole point of the novel, the big twist was revealed, it was a little disappointing. A reality show? There were more questions than answers, and with the explanation given, I still found myself thinking, "Huh?" And then, when all is said and done, and the book is wrapping up, the final gut punch twist at the end didn't excite me or reinvested, instead I thought, "Really? Again? Why?"

Despite the strange narrative, I did find the book overall enjoyable. Quick, fast paced chapters made it easy to read and I found myself devoting large chunks of time towards reading. The characters were unique, and despite a slightly convoluted narrative, rarely did I find myself not believing their reactions or motivations.