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A review by megstro
The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian
5.0
I received a free advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, Netgalley!
I am always struck--sometimes pleasantly, sometimes not--by books whose contents don't really match the synopsis. This book is sort of one of those examples, but in this case, that's totally okay with me. I liked the synopsis, and I liked what the book ended up being. The book, really, is about fighting: to save a town, to save a friendship, to save the bonds that are broken when the community is lost. While most of the fighting to save the town is left to Keeley's dad and most of the fun-planning is left to Keeley's boyfriend, that's not to say that Keeley herself has an easy time of things. One thing I really liked about this book is that Keeley makes some pretty terrible choices and does some pretty terrible things. That might sound funny, but I like getting mad at my protagonists. It's all too often that I read otherwise really good books with obnoxiously faultless protagonists. Keeley isn't faultless, and I like that a lot. Another thing I liked, though it made me uncomfortable, is the timeliness of this book. As the world becomes wetter, how many more difficult decisions are we going to have to make? Will there be any instances in which a town is sacrificed for the good of the other, more prosperous towns downriver? I don't know if the author intended this at all when she set out to write this book, but it's definitely something that struck me. And as someone with a legal background, I knew the answer to a painful question posed in the book: can citizens do anything when the government wants to take their town? Nope. No, they can't.
I can say that this is a book that's going to stick with me. I look forward to recommending it to people when it's officially released.
I am always struck--sometimes pleasantly, sometimes not--by books whose contents don't really match the synopsis. This book is sort of one of those examples, but in this case, that's totally okay with me. I liked the synopsis, and I liked what the book ended up being. The book, really, is about fighting: to save a town, to save a friendship, to save the bonds that are broken when the community is lost. While most of the fighting to save the town is left to Keeley's dad and most of the fun-planning is left to Keeley's boyfriend, that's not to say that Keeley herself has an easy time of things. One thing I really liked about this book is that Keeley makes some pretty terrible choices and does some pretty terrible things. That might sound funny, but I like getting mad at my protagonists. It's all too often that I read otherwise really good books with obnoxiously faultless protagonists. Keeley isn't faultless, and I like that a lot. Another thing I liked, though it made me uncomfortable, is the timeliness of this book. As the world becomes wetter, how many more difficult decisions are we going to have to make? Will there be any instances in which a town is sacrificed for the good of the other, more prosperous towns downriver? I don't know if the author intended this at all when she set out to write this book, but it's definitely something that struck me. And as someone with a legal background, I knew the answer to a painful question posed in the book: can citizens do anything when the government wants to take their town? Nope. No, they can't.
I can say that this is a book that's going to stick with me. I look forward to recommending it to people when it's officially released.