Although My Last Innocent Year is a coming of age novel, it is not your typical tale. As the reader follows Isabel through her college years at the exclusive Wilder and in her reflections from years after, we are drawn in to her relationships; with parents, roommates, professors, friends, and acquaintances. As Isabel is forced to make life choices, or not to make them as the case may be, we endure the repercussions with her. While there is not a fairy tale ending in the traditional sense of the word, the ending is satisfying and appropriate; we see adult life that Isabel has "consented" to live and see her as satisfied with what she has created for herself, right or wrong.

Characters are believably drawn and the setting of an upscale university setting is authentically presented. At times, the references to the Clinton/Lewinsky case seemed out of place, the point about responsibility and choices resonate and ultimately, interesting parallels are drawn.

This story will keep the pages turning; I completed it in a single sitting and my interested never wavered. Author Daisy Alpert Florin expertly captures the uncertainties of life as we navigate unfamiliar circumstances and as people come and go.

The best part of reviewing ARCs is getting a novel like this to read. Beautifully written, this is the story of Isabel, during her senior year at a thinly disguised version of Dartmouth (Wilder). Like so many coming of age novels, Isabel is drawn into the orbit of manipulative professors and classmates.

She questions her own sexual decisions and her talent. She witnesses the messiness of other people’s marriages. Ultimately, she becomes the prey of one of her professors. Isabel is a product of a difficult home, an aloof mother who died when Isabel was 12, and a father who was mired in work.

This is a story of grit and determination, getting past all the negatives. Ultimately, Isabel is faced with many decisions during the time of lost innocence and she has triumphed.

I loved this little treasure, thank you Netgalley!

As much as I believe that not everything an author writes in fiction is their personal belief, I can't let this one go. I don't actually know Florin's opnions on Israel, but I know I don't support an estate that is the cause of deaths of innocents in Palestine and are currently commiting war crimes against its residents, and I won't support a book that will talk about it as if it is a "saviour" estate. Free Palestine.