When I first read about Last Girls, I thought I’d hit the proverbial book jackpot; a story about sisterhood and doomsday preppers? Pinch me!

But whilst this was a pretty solid story, it just didn’t do it for me. I’m not too sure what it was that didn’t click for me here, but I couldn’t care about it enough to make it a proper good read. The characters in Last Girls felt a bit too… different? As if the author was trying really, really hard to let you know that they’re Different and Special, and their Special Differences put them at such a distance from the reader that it felt difficult to connect.

I did enjoy some aspects of the story; I grew to really like Birdie, one of the sisters, and felt for her through the novel. Her two sisters, including the narrator, Honey, still felt too far-off, however. Birdie’s subplots were by far the most interesting, and arguably, the most resolved. Around a third of the way in, I realised that Demetra Brodsky was writing from the perspective of possibly the most boring character in the universe and that I would’ve enjoyed the book a lot more had it been told from a different perspective.

In case you can’t tell, Birdie is what saved this story for me. Birdie, and the third act, which was jam-packed and could’ve benefited from being longer (and the first and second acts being shorter), but was still very redeemable.

Just a final note about how Last Girls, like a lot of YA contemporary at the minute, makes a lot of snide remarks about The State Of It All. Whilst I agree that the world is, in fact, in a complete and utter state at the minute, I feel like these references and (warranted) digs at, ahem, certain people in positions of power, unnecessarily date the book and bring me out of the characters’ reality. There’s a right and a wrong way for social commentary in fiction, and shoehorning it in is not the way to do it.

Last Girls was an okay read. If you’re into cults and doomsday preppers and LOUA (Lots of Unnecessary Acronyms), but not too bothered about three-dimensional characters, you might enjoy it more than I did.

Last Girls by Demetra Brodsky is about three sisters referred to as the Juniper Sister Weirdos. These sisters are Blue, Birdie, and Honey and they don't live the same life that you or I do. They live with doomsday folk that prepare for the worst on a compound in the Washington wilderness. People on the outside have no idea. Instead of living a life where they hang out with friends, these girls learn to hunt and live without technology. They are prepared to survive.

I thought this book was very interesting. It definitely brought something new to the YA community. I don't think we talk too much or even hear a lot about people that prep for the end of the world. This is definitely a book that is hard to put down because you want to know what happens next. That is also how most thrillers go. This book definitely takes you on a roller coaster.

his book really hits close to home, especially around this time with the pandemic going on right now. It's such an interesting premise of a book and there were definitely twists that I never saw coming.

We follow the Juniper sisters: Honey, Blue, and Birdie, who just about year or so moved to a compound for preppers in Washington with their mother. We start off with something happening at their high school and the aftermath of that.

We not only get the POV of Honey dealing with things going on with the compound and school. We also get a POV (which is distinct and shown by different type of pages and chapter titles.) A boy name Toby who's a street artist and his lives with his mother who was a famous painter.

I really loved ever character in here, including their dumb decisions that they made. Watching them grow as characters and changing their views on things.

This wasn't quite a five star read because I really didn't understand the point of the letters to Bucky and somethings being unrealistic and convenient for the girls.

This had me on the edge of my seat and had my heart racing through out; it was definitely a page turner. The ending was very sweet and put a smile on my face. Last Girls left me in a good book hangover, I'm looking forward to reading more from Demetra.

I wasn't sure what this book was going to be, but it turned out to be stranger than I thought. With a mix of literary references, ESP, political criticisms (including touching on BLM, quite self-aware) and survivalist themes, this book was really well-written. I didn't love every character. But I didn't have to. They were extremely flawed and screwed up, but painted so fully I could believe they were real people. In the end, this story about family and never giving up was actually quite sweet (like honey).

Last Girls is a novel idea breathed intensely into the YA genre. An unexpected narrative penned in Brodsky’s witty, matter-of-fact prose and executed with purpose, this story seeps into your bones like the cold rain of the Pacific North West and refuses to let go even after the last page.

It was so difficult for me to put this book down. Once you realize that things really aren’t adding up, you just have to know how it ends. This book was filled of twists and turns, love and loss, trust and friendship and terrible betrayal. I adored this book

This is a story with a really interesting premise and I enjoyed the speculative twist.

The way the two separate story lines tied together was really obvious and I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be. There were also parts of the story that were not well explained at all.

Overall a story with an interesting premise that lacked a little bit on the execution for me.

Three sisters are being raised in a doomsday coalition but not all is as it seems. I mean, in general the thought of a doomsday cult thing doesn't seem right to begin with but there is even more under the surface. Drugging, assault, murder and maybe even some abduction. This book is a plethora of events and I adored it.

Word of advice for when you read any of Demetra Brodsky's books, never take anything at face value. Her books are like onions, lots of layers.

As a side note, have you ever read a book where you spent nearly the entire time thinking that a character was a boy/girl only to have reality come crashing down right before the book ends when something happens to show that said character is really the opposite gender? No? Just me? Yup, I thought so.
RATING
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/5 stars

Trigger warnings: school lock-down/perceived attack on school grounds, commune living
Representation:

I have mixed feelings about this book and we are going to sort through them. But first, please stop comparing this to Wilder Girls. Yes - this is another female-cast, survivalist book. but that's all the similarities. While Last Girls has some merit, it is not the masterpiece Wilder Girls was.

Last Girls is the story of three sisters who live in a prepper commune. Their days revolve around school and preparing for the eventual end-of-days. I have seen a lot of reviews talk about this being a fast-paced book, however for me it really wasn't.

For a book that begins with a school lock-down, the first half of this book was incredibly slow in my opinion. It took me a while to get engaged enough to really want to continue.

Despite the issues with pacing, there were a lot of things that I really enjoyed in this book. I love how family-centered the entire story was. Not just with the main trio of sisters, but the way is was instilled throughout the entire plot.

I also really enjoyed the aspect of piecing together the two sides of the story. The books is broken into two main perspectives, one is the Juniper sisters, and the other is the seemingly unrelated Toby. Brodsky did incredibly well with how she slowly blended these two halves together.

The relationships between the characters were weaved really well, the sense of family was truly a highlight. However, when it came to the individual characters they lacked development and emotional connection with the reader. This, paired with the inconsistent pacing lowered my feelings for the book overall.

Y’all.

Y’ALL.

Y’ALL.

THIS BOOK. Holy smokes this book. This action packed, edge of my seat, wild thriller of a ride was exactly what I needed to read. I live for survival stories and this will now forever be in my Top 5 Favorites. Not only is this a survival story, it centers around Doomsday Preppers, a topic I have not ever read about in books (especially YA) before. I could not get enough of it. If these seem like your cup of tea, then I highly recommend this book to you.

While the main focus/topic of the story would appear to be TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It), there is so much more going on, something deeper and intensely important: family. Bear with me, I know it sounds cheesy but it’s true. The Juniper sisters, Blue, Birdie, and Honey, have a bond that defies reason. These three are so fluid with each other – they know what the others are thinking and automatically know what they are supposed to do. It’s like poetry in motion.

As if talking about doomsday prepping, EDC (Every Day Carry) bags, end of the world, and secret compounds isn’t enough, this story really holds so much suspense and mystery. There is more to the Juniper sisters besides their unwavering bond. There are dark secrets where these three are concerned, they just don’t realize it. What is it about their past that someone doesn’t want brought to light? The only way for you to find out is to read this book and join me in fangirling Brodsky’s powerhouse novel.

I really liked the concept of this book, but it felt like I had picked up the second book in a series. There wasn't enough introduction to the characters, and I felt completely lost. DNFed at about 10% because I was just so completely mystified.

Brodsky seems to have done a lot of research into doomsday preppers, which I found to be quite interesting. Going into this book I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I was completely blown away by the time I finished. I am looking forward to recommending this in my YA book discussions.

At first, I was really into this book. I liked the comparison between the Juniper girls and this mysterious boy with missing sisters. I liked the parallels between their plots, the ways they were trapped by circumstances and how both of their worlds threatened to end. I was less happy when it became clear earlier than I'd have liked that it was not parallel plots but just one plot from two perspectives, that the missing sisters were the Junipers. Because then, instead of becoming an exploration of what leads a person to these extreme view it becomes a simple oppressive cult,. It's threats to their lives and a race for survival. The first chapters were an exploration of who we are, the things that influence, and what we give up for the good of others. The end was just the resolution of simple, physical plots. These emotional issues don't get resolutions or further exploration. All of the complexity is loaded into the early chapters. The end is just quick physical wrap up. That devolution from inventive and contemplative to commonplace was a serious let down.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I loved the idea of the sister relationship, but it took several hundred pages for the action to start and when it did I wasn't interested. I wanted so badly to be interested, but I wasn't at all. The amount of passive reading I did made the story so hard to understand. There were alternating POVs that just confused me. I really really wanted to like this book, but it really felt like it was several hundred pages too long.

Last Girls is about a group of sisters who are doomsday preppers and part of a compound. Honey, Birdie and Blue have been raised learning how to hunt, identify poisonous plants, and to carry around a bag filled with necessities in case the world ended.

I loved the story for the most part. I loved the bond the three sisters had with each other, and how each sister played off each other's strengths. I was confused by the alternating chapter perspective shifts. For most of the story, it alternates between the three sisters, and another person that you don't find out her significance until closer to the end of the book. When it did come together I felt that the twist was unnecessary. I would've much rather just had the doomsday prepper plot focus, rather than what ends up happening.

I'm also disappointed that there is no trigger warning in the beginning of the book, and hope that changes when it goes to print.

DNF.

So, I DNF'd this book. I thought I knew what the vibe of this story was going to be, and I was super into the idea of it. However, it's not actually post-apocalyptic and is, instead, deeply contemporary. With a twist, of course, which I would normally like, but the voice of the characters just didn't work for me so much that I couldn't go on.

The idea is good and while I don't think that Brodsky is a bad writer by any means, it's just these characters that didn't sit well with me. And maybe it's also the events happening in the world, which is by no means the book's fault. This just didn't work for me on a bunch of levels. At some point I might come back to it, when the world isn't falling apart in more than just fiction.

The bonds of sisters is a special thing, but Honey, Birdie, and Blue have to handle growing up in the midst of dysfunction and conspiracy theorists with weapons. The tension in the book is on point, you never want to put the book down!

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

3.5 stars
What an interesting read. The main reason I wanted to Last girls was because of the synopsis about dooms day preppers. To me they seem to have very obsessive personalities but with the current pandemic going on they do not seem that far fetched. But Last Girls was so much more than that. The mystery was intriguing, and I enjoyed all the twists and turns. But I think one of the best highlights of the book was the character development and the three sisters Honey, Birdie and Blue they each had their own unique voice and personality.
Overall Last Girls is not your typical young adult mystery read. The book has excellent character development and just enough fascinating doomsday speak to keep you interested.

Last girls is a YA mistery thriller about three sisters, Honey, Birdie and Blue living in a
compound of doomsday preppers in Washington.
Honestly I didn't know a lot about doomsday preppers until I read this book.
This was very different from any book that I ever read but very enjoyable. Overall, I really like it
3. 5 stars for me ⭐⭐⭐💫
Thanks to netgalley and Tor teen for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I kinda lost interest in this book after a while. I think that the concept was good, but I just could not get into this book. I did not really like this book. I don't know why. I just did not care about this book. I should give it a second chance at some point, but as of now, I did not like it. I could not bring myself to read this book. I could not care about the characters, and I just was bored during the book. It can be that I was not in the correct mindset. However, I could not and did not care about this book.