This novel is like a wrestling match. In the first chapter it doesn't just pull you in, it grabs you by the throat and throws you to the mat! As you read on you are tossed around the ring as you strive to keep up with all the twists and turns. When you near the final countdown and are thinking you have it figured out, a knockout punch is waiting. Psychological thriller set in a unique venue. The name of Amy Gentry will be listed with the likes of Clive Barker.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry. I unfortunately didn't finish this book, which is odd for me. I rarely don't finish what I'm reading, so it was quite a letdown. I still can't pinpoint why I couldn't get into this book, it just didn't do it for me. I have heard great things about Gentry's work, so that made me extra disappointed! I'm still thankful that I was given a chance to read this copy, but unfortunately it was not for me!

My review has been posted directly to goodreads. Please refer to the link below to see my review of this book on goodreads.com.

A very timely thriller about two women’s quest for revenge on the men who have assaulted or wronged them. While I am all for female empowerment, this one missed the mark for me. I felt like it was such an important topic with the #MeToo movement, but I had a very hard time connecting with the characters. I actually guessed the twist about 40% in. I didn’t love it, but I also didn’t hate it; it was just ok for me.

Thanks to Amy Gentry, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Gentry and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this ARC.

I loved "Good As Gone", so I was super excited to read "Last Woman Standing". I enjoyed this book, and read it in a few days. It had a twist I didn't see coming. I was hooked by the time I was about 25% into this story. A definite must read.

What an excellent blend of humor and suspense and it completely WORKED! I loved this book and haven't read one like this in, well...ever I guess? Tremendous read!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this was not my cup of tea. I did not find myself identifying with the main characters. I liked that Dana was a stand up comedian, because I haven't read a book with that perspective before but her comedy fell flat for me. I didn't buy in to how quickly Dana & Amanda bonded and started plotting together. "Strangers on a Train" by Patricia Highsmith used the premise of strangers meeting and plotting revenge for each other but Highsmith did it much better in my opinion.

Tried to give this book a chance, it just wasn't happening. Did enjoy the character of Dana Diaz, but the story was just slow going and not very exciting.

Last Woman Standing starts as though it's an updated version of Strangers on a Train, but it turns out to be just a jumping off point for a novel about one woman's attempt to get much-desired revenge. The main character is Dana Diaz, a struggling stand-up comic in Austin, Texas. We meet Dana as she's having a bad night at a comedy club. Coming off her set, she meets the one audience member who actually seemed to appreciate her set, a woman named Amanda. Amanda has just relocated from LA and is an actress/disgraced computer programmer. The two women bond quickly over many, many drinks. When they meet again after another of Dana's sets, Dana shares with Amanda a story about a man in the industry who had sexually harassed her and is now judging a comedy competition she's currently in. Amanda quickly assures she'll "take care" of him. She does, but now wants Dana to return the favor. Things spiral out of control from there.

This is obviously a very timely novel in terms of female empowerment, but I honestly didn't love it. The last 10% of the book, in particular, lost me. I found Dana really passive. First she lets Amanda control her, and in escaping her, she falls back in with her childhood friend and former comedy writing partner, who also controls her. The ending was violent and rushed, and I didn't like the way things ended up for either Dana or Amanda. I found it completely unsatisfying. I think Amy Gentry is a talented writer, but Last Woman Standing is just not a stand-out performance. Three stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved Good As Gone so I was so excited to get to read Amy Gentry's new book. I love her writing style and how she portrays her characters.

Dana Diaz is a hispanic tiny woman trying to make it in the men's world of stand-up comedy. After fleeing sexual harassment in Los Angeles, Dana moves to Austin to try to get her comedy career going. After bombing another show, Dana meets Amanda, who also fled from Los Angeles, to get away from an abusive boyfriend. Their friendship quickly escalates and they develop a hit list of the men who have harmed them. Little does Dana know, one of Amanda's names is Dana's lifelong best friend and ex-writing partner, When Dana tries to separate herself from Amanda and the things they did together, the story gets darker and twisted.

Definitely not as good as Good As Gone but still a great suspense thriller with a killer ending.

Thank you so much to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.

This novel was amazing!! Wow.. this was my first time reading an Amy Gentry novel and I am so impressed. The way she writes is outstanding. Every page captures your attention and engrosses you into the story line. I loved it!

I think the overall premise of the book was interesting, but was not executed well. It seemed liked the chapters went around in circles and never really got where they needed to go. I liked the character of Dana, however there were a lot of things that were too outlandish to be believable. This book fell flat for me. Thanks for the ARC, Netgalley.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of LAST WOMAN STANDING by Amy Gentry in exchange for my honest review.***

3 STARS

Amy Gentry’s debut AS GOOD AS GONE was a five star read, so I was excited to have the opportunity to review LAST WOMAN STANDING, a modern retelling of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.

I had a difficult time connecting to narrator Dana. The story opens during her standup routine, which I didn’t find funny. Other than Joan Rivers and political comedians, standup isn’t my thing. I prefer satire. Then she met Amanda in the audience, a woman who gave off such troubled vibe I would have gone running. I don’t necessarily need to identify with characters to champion their journey or to enjoy books, but I do need to feel more than apathy.

LAST WOMAN STANDING is a good story with an important message, particularly in the #MeToo movement. If we count childhood, I’ll bet most people who have been wronged have had revenge fantasies, so on some level Dana and Amanda are partially relatable. The trusting a stranger and acting on those fantasies is the stuff of thrillers and will find an audience clamoring for more.

One of my favorite aspects of Gentry’s writing is that she finishes stories. I liked the wrap up of LAST WOMAN STANDING.

Suspense and thriller lovers, LAST WOMAN STANDING is worth checking out.

Very very topical! I liked that it took what could have been a cliched story and made it fresh. Having the main character be a stand up comedian was a nice touch, that is something you do not see often.

I really enjoyed this book. It was both funny and very scary. It’s about a stand up comic who develops a new character with a totally different personality. White an unusual book but also very exciting! Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Last Woman Standing.

I liked Good as Gone so I was interested to read Last Woman Standing. It had a plot similar to the thrilling classic Strangers on a Train with modern touches, which I am all for.

Unfortunately, the novel lacked the inherent creepiness and suspensefulness of the film.

What I did like:

A woman of color named Dana Diaz trying to make it in the cutthroat business of stand-up comedy. She's tough, sassy and determined to achieve success despite the obstacles in her way; crude and crass jokes about her voluptuous body, her tiny stature, the fact that she's, you know, a WOMAN.

I liked the author's acknowledgement of the #MeToo movement in the story; the inherent difficulties all women face, not just in the entertainment or IT industry but in all walks of life, in all industries, even from partners and lovers.

I especially liked how modern technology, social media, and advances in modern technology have given rise to all dangerous methods of bullying and violence, in the form of scum hiding behind their computer screens. There is truly no escaping the vitriol and hate spewed at women (and men) in all kinds of ways.

What I did not like:

I dislike comedy. I barely watch sit-coms and comedic movies and I hate hate HATE stand-up. It reminds me of when I was in college and the reps from comedy clubs would go around colleges trying to sell $5 tickets to us poor undergrads so they could fill seats. I had better things to do with my 5 bucks but that's just me.

I didn't really like Dana. There was something...passive about her. She spends a lot of time talking about how much she liked Jason and how much she missed him and how their relationship was over and she couldn't go back to see him.

I get it; Jason is her BFF, they've been friends for a LONG TIME. They have history. I'm not belittling their friendship. But her constant reminiscences became repetitive and she sounded incredibly dependent on him for...well, everything. Emotional support, for friendship, for creativity.

It's ironic that Dana describes herself as a woman with few, if any, female friends and has difficulty maintaining them in a story about abusive men and how they try to take away our voices, yet Dana is a stand-up comedian who puts herself out onstage with bravery and stamina yet can't stop talking about Jason?

Am I terrible for saying that I preferred Amanda? Well, I did. I don't condone violence but I could understand and empathize with her anger, her aggression, her need to lash out and take vengeance. Sometimes, we feel so powerless, vulnerable and lost that anger is a preferable way to emote than shame and embarrassment.

The plot quickly became complicated with the inclusion of Jason, Dana's BFF, writing partner and not so secret crush. There is a twist I saw coming, mostly because I read so many thrillers and mysteries my educated guesses are right 99% of the time.

I would have preferred if the plot remained around Dana and Amanda instead of pulling a man, once again, into the story.

There was potential in Amanda and Dana's "friendship," their relationship could have been developed such as how they could have enabled one another, or Dana slowly coming to her senses (or not) about what she was doing, or pulling others into their Lady Vengeance act.

There was a serious lack of suspense, though there are shocking acts of violence and not just against the women. There were no gasps of shock as revelations are revealed or eyes widening as clues are found.

Everyone gets their comeuppance in the end but I felt female empowerment could have been seriously strengthened, if not improved upon, if the focus was on Dana and Amanda.

I was such a huge fan of Good as Gone, so I was very excited to get to read this ARC of Amy Gentry's new book! I really love her writing style.

As a hispanic woman trying to make it in the stand-up comedy scene, Dana has experienced the typical Los Angeles sexual harassment from men that are higher up than her. When she meets Amanda, a mysterious woman who seems down on her luck after getting fired from her job at a popular app company, their friendship quickly escalates into developing a hit list of the men who have harmed them. Unbeknownst to Dana, one of Amanda's names is Dana's lifelong best friend and ex-writing partner, Jason. While Dana tries to flee Amanda and the things they've done together, the story gets more twisted and dark. I did not see the ending coming!

I feel like this would be a fun beach read, and it's very fitting for the current #MeToo climate.

This book started off good. Amy Gentry writes very smoothly and I felt the story line flowed right away , I liked Dana Diaz, the main character who is a short, Latina comic trying to make it in Austin, TX. She is having a hard time on stage one evening and connects with the one woman, Amanda, who seemed to really like her jokes from deep within the audience. The story takes off from there with the women (mostly Amanda) plotting to destroy men from their past that had hurt them-physically and/or mentally. There were some twists and turns in the book but I feel like some other reviewers that Dana's personality changed a lot the last 1/3 of the book or so. There were some very unbelievable situations and the ending just left me feeling a little unsatisfied. However, I still would recommend the book. 3 and 1/2 stars rounded up because the writing was better then the way the story ended.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this thriller. It was a very different premise from any of the hundreds of thrillers that I've previously read and you really got to know the characters. Well done.

Wow - very creepy and not what I was expecting, but in a good way! The characters were well defined, and the twist in the middle was totally unexpected!