I went into My Last Innocent Year expecting something similar to My Dark Vanessa. And while the two did share similarities - the obvious being that the main character is a girl sleeping with her teacher in both - I thought My Last Innocent Year was so much more than that.

Izzy is in her final year at Wilder College when she’s raped by a fellow classmate who she’d previously considered a friend. A few months later, she begins an affair with her married professor, and the rape falls somewhat into the background of the story. Alpert Florin did a beautiful job of blending these two experiences - along with the current events of the time surrounding Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, her friendship with her two roommates, her mother’s relatively recent death, and the intense divorce of two other professors in Izzy’s department - into a coming-of-age story of a young woman in the 1990s realizing what it means to be a woman in this society, all the dangers and violence and beauty that comes with that.

My Last Innocent Year was absolutely gorgeously written. It managed to capture a lot of the nostalgia of a woman looking back on her college years along with the fear and anxiety that dominated that experience at the time.

I loved this book!! It should be made very clear it is "new adult" not "young adult" because many of the themes, language, and situations are mature. However, it's obviously this author did a lot of reflecting, putting herself in the mind of a new college student. The protagonists felt so REAL, like the people I knew in college.

It would be helpful to have trigger warnings in the beginning of the book especially given the subject matter of some of the chapters and the ambiguity of what 'new adult' really means.

All I have to says is, wow. What a heartbreaking, and beautifully written story to read. Isabel is a senior at a college in New Hampshire. She is soon thrown into a chaotic and messy year. A non-consensual sex act has her reeling and lost. She now has to find herself through all the pain, and manipulation of those around her.

There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this book. But I don’t want to give away too much. I want all readers to experience this going in with an open mindset. This book was so well written, and really impacted me. I know this story will stay with me and I won’t be able to forget it. Isabel is a strong character and I genuinely liked her. Don’t hesitate to pick this book up and read it! 4 stars out of 5. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first ever ARC and boy did it not disappoint. This story was devastatingly beautiful and the kind of read that you simply just can’t seem to put down. The type of story where you feel the words sitting heavy in your chest, days after you turned the last page. This was an icreadibe coming of age story that will make you relive all the feelings you thought you had put to rest, but in the best way possible. As a women in her mid 20s, I found the deeper tones of this novel disgustingly relatable; to the point where I know I will think back on this book for years to come. My Last Innocent Year is show-stoppingly brilliant and I will continue to recommend. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I enjoyed it! It was exactly what I was hoping it to be. It was moody and had a darker vibe and atmosphere. It was the academia style that I gravitate to. I was excited to be approved and knew the trope would be psychologically interesting and keep my attention.

I would research any triggers if there are some you avoid. Our main character Isabel is in her final year at an elite prestigious New England college in New Hampshire. Shortly before leaving for college she loses her mother and is having a hard time finding her place and feeling as if she fully fits in. Isabel is then faced with a nonconsensual sexual encounter and it spirals her into a not so stable state of mind. She then ends up entering into a relationship with a married writing professor who encourages all her deepest inner hopes and dreams. Goodreads tells us “My Last Innocent Year is a coming-of-age story about a young woman on the brink of sexual and artistic awakening, navigating her way toward independence while recognizing the power, beauty and grit of where she came from. Timely and wise, it reckons with the complexities of consent, what it means to be an adult, and whether or not we can ever outrun our bad decisions.”

It was hard to believe this was a debut. I thought our protagonist was very well developed and the story itself was good. It had a slow steady burn like a lot of dark academia books but I didn’t mind that at all.

Many thanks to our author and Henry Holt & Company Publishing for providing me with an advanced eGalley copy of the book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This will be published on February 14th, 2023. I hope if you choose to read it you enjoy it also.

This was a great debate book and I really want to thank Netgalley for the ARK. This book starts with a non consensual sexual experience that begins to shape a young womens life while she is away at school. I honestly had a hard time reading this book but the writing was beautiful I just personally related a little too much to the novel.

This book really resonated with me. It's funny how things change in your mind, especially after the Me Too movement. The book starts with the main character having a sexual experience and not really consenting to it. It's vague, because it's not the typical rape "scenario", but i think as women we can relate to have experienced something like this at least once in our lifetime. It's not black or white, it's in fact very gray. She then proceeds to have a very consensual relationship with her married professor, and that brings on a new wave of issues. He's married, a lot older than she is, and although consensual not necessarily and evenly paired relationship. She is telling the story as if she's remembering it so we do get to see her life unfold and how that relationship really effected her. Overall i really enjoyed it.

Thank you Henry Holt for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. IYKYK, my reviews are always

PSA: 3 stars does not equal bad.

Writing: 4/5 | Plot: 2.5/5 | Ending: 3/5

THE PLOT

Isabel is a senior English major at Wilder College. Navigating friendship, a sorta rape, and an affair with her professor, Isabel explores what adulthood really means.

MY OPINION

Let me address the 2.5/5 plot score first. I don't really think there was a plot. Imagine your mom writes you a long ass letter explaining all her life lessons through anecdotes, that's what this book was like. It was just one fluid, stream of consciousness about a period of personal growth. I enjoyed learning more about Jewish cultural dynamics and college life in the late 90s.

I felt like this book was driving the speed limit and I really wish Daisy Alpert Florin had just put the pedal to the metal at some point and careened around a corner. It lacked the emotional punch that a story tackling sexual assault, mental health, and inappropriate relationships should have.

For example, her affair with the professor "haunts" her for the rest of her life, yet this relationship didn't even start until the 40% mark in the book??? I didn't sense an emotional connection between the characters that would cause Isabel to be so tethered to this moment in her life. I'm not downplaying the fact a relationship at 21 with a 40+ yr old man is life-altering, but there was no deep professions of love that validated her lifelong obsession with the 8-ish weeks of sex with a professor—especially considering she had several sexual encounters before so it wasn't like a virginity snatcher thing.

The writing was flowing, sometimes a bit over-baked, but very comforting and rhythmic. The theme was clear: men are bums but women pay the price for their bummitude. This coming-of-age story is a niche read.

PROS AND CONS

Pros: fluid writing, tackled sensitive topics appropriately, introspective at times

Cons: lacked emotional punch... I wasn't left wrecked, which I expect from this type of story

Beautifully written coming of age story. Isabel is flawed, often stumbling and incredibly naive. But you feel it. You feel her confusion, her need for validation, her lack of confidence. At one point or another every woman has been Isabel. In the one final semester of college she begins to grow up, stuck in between that sliver of time between girl and woman. That last semester she learns things about who she is and who she needs to become. Everyone that surrounds her has an impact on her life going forward - her friends, her father, her mentors and her professor (as illicit as it was). The author winds you through her life during those 5 months and beyond showing you the trajectory her life took. Wonderful story.

This is a story of a girl name Isabel Rosen who goes to a college in New Hampshire called Wilder College . One night she has a noncensual encounter with another Jewish man in his dorm. She ends up going to having a affair with one of her professors. She is in a web of manipulation with the professor because he makes her feel seen and makes her believe in herself. It reckons with the complexities of consent, what it means to be an adult, the results of good and bad decisions. She ends up overcoming everything in the end that she faces in the book. Great read .

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.