WOW!! I have read many "locked door" type novels and this story is an elevated version that I could not put down. Each new chapter leads to more questions, not answers all building to an unforgettable ending. I can only hope their is a sequel on the horizon. I read this through so quickly so eager to find out what was happening next!!

Intriguing, tense, nail-biting, dramatic and unpredictable....I couldn't put this book down. I was initially very impressed with this book. I haven't read a book involving a cruise ship of people that disappear and you have to figure out what happened. I would have given this book 5 stars but the ending fell flat for me. Even still, it's a great book and highly recommend. The book will be released August 8, 2023! Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for sending me this ARC for review.

Preposterous. The author was asking me to stretch my imagination too far. I found myself skimming through some of the pages, because the plot twists were too unbelievable. I did end up finishing The Last One, but felt I had wasted my time with what I consider a very silly novel.

This book was a wild ride. You must be able to suspend disbelief if you want to enjoy this thriller.

The tension starts immediately. I felt every bit of the claustrophobia from this locked room premise. Then the story I thought I was going to read morphed into something completely different. But hey I’m flexible, let’s take this new theme for a spin and just enjoy.

Outlandish but entertaining and the pages kept flipping. Then the last page happened and now I’m just mad.

Thank you to Atria Books for this early Netgalley e-copy of The Last One by Will Dean.

For Caz, this Atlantic crossing aboard the luxurious RMS Atlantica is supposed to be a breeze. With her new boyfriend Pete along for the journey, it may even be romantic. Everything is going swell… that is, until Caz awakens the next morning aboard and finds Pete gone, along with (seemingly) every other passenger on the ship.

This is one of those books where everything that can go wrong will, and where every chapter ends with an almost irritating cliffhanger (which is immediately resolved in the first few sentences of the next). It also reads a lot like the author made it up as he went along, with easily noticeable inconsistencies from chapter to chapter. There are plenty of plot twists, none of which make any sense. I understand that this is fiction, but this was really pushing it.

Overall, this is another one of those books that had a promising concept, but that failed to deliver by going completely off the rails.

I also noticed a number of typos throughout the e-copy, which I hope will be fixed before publication.

☆ - NOT FOR ME

CW: descriptions of drug use; suicidal ideation and the performance of.

An unbelievable story at the beginning made me wonder if I should keep reading. Absolutely YES! The Last One is an exciting, survival saga filled with ingenuity and perseverance as flawed characters work together to overcome an unseen enemy. Better yet, the title only makes full sense until the very last words.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was creepy and atmospheric. It was a bit long but I enjoyed it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: The Last One x Will Dean
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Goodreads Rating: 4.02/5
My rating: 5/5 ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ ☠️
Read this if you liked: Squid Game and The Hunger Games, modern edition

💀 💀
“I wish you fair winds and calm seas.” THIS BOOK WAS INSANE. When I first started, I was like ok… How are we going to have 400 pages about someone stranded on a boat? I was so wrong! I read it in one sitting and stayed up until 2am because I had to know what happened. And THAT ENDING!!! I knew it was coming and still audibly gasped. The character development was fantastic and I honestly felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions (shock, rage, hopeful, surprised etc) that didn’t stop until the end. This is a book I feel everyone needs to add to their TBR it was just that good. I promise it’s one you will have lots to discuss for your book club!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Atria/Emily Bestler Books, Will Dean and Netgally for this ARC of The last one.

This closed room thriller was super fast paced and leaving you wanting more to know more. I did connect with the characters which made me want to know what happened and what would be their end. I could not put this down and just could not take this as a slow ride.

Once you know what’s going on, the book takes you in a whole other direction.

The only part of this book that I didn’t care for was the ending but it was not enough to say don’t read this book cause I will tell you READ THIS BOOK!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Pace: 4
Plot development: 5
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC.

The story was amazing, the characters and emotions were raw and I was immersed from the beginning.
The chapters are quick so it makes it near impossible to put down because you get desperate to find out what's next because each chapter ends with a cliffhanger.
This was honestly for me one of the best books this year, that its .... until the END.

I just wanted to throw my kindle after I read that last chapter, it changed from something amazing to something unbelievably frustrating. It just didn't make sense AT ALL. Everything was already explained so it made no sense for that to continue.

4 out 5 because 95% of the book was amazing but that ending just ruined it.

I first wanted to read this book when I was planning on going on my own first cruise. What a great read - about a cruise while actually *on* a cruise. I'm so glad that I didn't get it in time! I'm not going to give any spoilers but even the summary tells that this is about waking up to find that all other passengers and crew have disappeared. I just didn't expect that to happen right away. It did have me guessing some. There were many times that I was going to put the book away but I did want to find out if I had guessed correctly as to what happened. There were also quite a few times that I might have talked out loud to the characters (they should've listed to my advice!!). It is a quick read because the chapters are so short. It is a great quick summer read....especially if you want to go on a cruise :)

Thanks so much for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. It was a ton of fun! The following review will appear on episode 17 of the podcast. This episode will drop on Monday, July 17. The review will also appear on the website when the episode drops (link attached) and I will add it to Goodreads and share a post on Instagram. I loved this one so much I also plan to give it a shout out the week before and on publication day. Below is the text of the review:
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This is going to be a tough one to review because so much craziness happens in this book, and I don’t want to give it away. There are so many twists and turns and I don’t want to ruin the fun, so bear with me.

First of all, you need to go into this one willing to suspend disbelief. It’s imperative that you let go of that annoying little voice that insists you stay grounded in reality. You’ll enjoy this so much more if you do.

The basic premise is Caroline (Caz) and her newish boyfriend Peter have boarded a state-of-the-art luxury liner in England. They are making a cross-Atlantic trek to the US for some much needed R&R. They have a lovely first night together on the ship, but then the next day, Caz awakens to find that Peter is not in bed. She gets dressed and steps out to go look for him and finds that the halls are empty. No one is in any of the dining rooms and the decks are empty - to make matters worse - no one is steering the ship. She is alone in the middle of the friggin Atlantic ocean hurtling toward God knows where.

Can you imagine? For someone like me who is terrified of getting on a cruise ship, this was my worst nightmare realized. Being lost at sea - be it on a raft or a luxury liner is NOT something I have on my bucket list. Between Jaws and Titanic I am forever afraid of the ocean. There are far too many nibbley, bitey, chompy things that you have to worry about on top of the big fear - drowning. Then again, I don’t know what’s worse - drowning or being nibbled to death; neither sounds fun.

Anyway, Caz soon finds three other people on the ship, and none of them know WTF is happening. How could hundreds of passengers vanish? Why can’t they stop the ship? Where are they? Everything they try to contact help goes awry and when the power goes out and their access to the food supply is lost, they know their days are numbered.

That’s all I’m going to say about the plot because this is definitely one that needs to be read. The book is filled with all kinds of crazy twists and turns and I found myself gasping frequently. Once I started, I couldn’t put this one down. I’m glad I chose this as a vacation read because waiting to finish work so I could get back to it would have been torture. I can also say that the end made me scream “Holy Sh*t” so loud I’m sure I woke my neighbors.

Poor Caz is put through the ringer. I’ve read books where the author puts their main character through some stuff, but this one pretty much takes the cake. If you prefer a more character-driven novel, this probably isn’t for you. I cared for the characters well enough, but what kept me reading was the crazy plot twists and a need to find out how (or if) these people would ever get off this damn boat. The chapters are short (which I loved) and the action is non-stop. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a fun, fast-paced thriller. Buckle up and dive in and then thank me later.

This was my first read by Will Dean. The summary sounded super interesting and I was curious how it could play out. I was so surprised by many of the twists and turns this book took. I read it in a couple nights, which is much quicker than normal for me. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. The story was high energy and fast paced. I really enjoyed it. I can see this being a made for streaming movie some time soon. Thanks to the publisher and net galley for the advanced copy.

Easily one of my top ten books for 2023! A lot of times thrillers can have similar vibes/story lines but this one was so different! Caroline(Caz) decides to embark on a cruise with her significant other and wakes up to find everyone is gone. After a little while she ends up finding 3 others on the ship with her and what follows is a series of events that will have you on the edge of your seat. I do wish the ending would have been different but overall this was a 5 star read and I’ll definitely be checking out other books by this author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I really loved this book, the feeling of being locked in, and confused as to what has happening was intense. I loved how everything ended and was wrapped up, almost making me want to read it again with what I now know...the only thing preventing this from being 5 stars, are the last few pages....just when i was comfortable with all explanations...what does the last few pages in the book mean for Caz. I never wanted to slam my kindle down harder, i loved the book so much, but the last few pages left me upset and confused! Still I would recommend this book, one of my favorites, it's pretty long, but never did it stall or stop being entertaining!

Caz is finally on an international holiday with her boyfriend. What should be an exciting and well-deserved break from her life back home turns sinister when Caz awakes to find the ship deserted except for her. Or is it?

***

*2.5 stars rounded up*

This was a 5 star book for me until the last few chapters. Despite Caz constantly reminding us about her father being a gambler, I generally found this book to be well written and fun to read. It escalated quite nicely, and you were definitely left guessing up until the very end.

However, is it too late for the author to change the ending? Are we getting a sequel so we can torture this sad, unfortunate victim?

Spoilers and some thoughts and questions that are driving me nuts:

<spoiler>
*Look, I know that these actors didn't know that Caz's father committed suicide by walking off a bridge...but c'mon. Having Frannie mirror that just a coincidence? Which leads me to...
*So Caz's boyfriend is like the mastermind right? He def knew about Caz's father and was like let's have Frannie walk right off the boat the same way her dad died? HAHAHA. Psychopath. Seriously.
*While I'm sure the show's creators knew how traumatizing this was, can none of the actors (Michelle, Frannie/Jen, etc.) understand just how freaking AWFUL this would be to do to someone? And Smith/Walter was only going to get $25K??
*Also, why did they leave Caz in the water so long after Smith "drowned"? Why was Smith the one who randomly drowned when they both jumped off the boat? He picked the wrong life safety device, so Caz just automatically wins? (Even though she totally deserved to, because everything she went through was way worse than everyone else.)
*There's a lot we have to suspend belief about here, but the actors who they had in the ballroom? That takes the cake. Look, I get that we had to start questioning if this was all really a game, or the work of one really powerful psychopath, but it would have been easier to assume dummies, then having that many actors moving about the boat like that without the others noticing. B+ for the helpful wrench it put into the reader's perspective though.
*Speaking of suspending belief, the boat thing, fine whatever, they was passed out. Got everyone off. Blah. Blah. But the plane thing? C'mon. There's no way that in the time she was in the bathroom they were able to just abandon her there. That's nuts. And what would they have done if she never fell asleep or went to the bathroom? And what is the end game when she completes this challenge? This chick will never eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom again. I'm going to have to just believe that she is having a bad dream on the plane and is just totally ruined by the PTSD.
*THE BOX. No one opened the box, right? Or the viewers decided to open it? IDK! Stupid box.
</spoiler>

All in all, this one is going to leave me banging my head against the wall for a longtime, but I couldn't help but love what it did to me just a little bit.

Woooowwww! What a ride! Caz wakes up after her first night on a cruise ship alone. All the other passengers have disappeared. She finally finds three other passengers, but what has happened to the rest? This is just the beginning of the terror that is awaiting her.

✨RATING: 4.5⭐️

✨REVIEW: Thank you @netgalley for my advanced eCopy of this one! Personally I felt as though it was an extremely slow start, however, that didn’t stop me from constantly going “WTF” from page 1 😅 I had multiple jaw dropping moments, cringing moments, and felt like I was right there with Caz all along and it wasn’t a fun place to be 😅I don’t want to say too much about the story because it’s not shown in the description and I feel like you have to read it for yourself and experience the shock factor! But I can say I don’t really wish to go on a cruise any longer 😅
Knocked down .5⭐️ because I felt like it was that art project that should’ve stopped one bottle of glitter earlier. It was 50 pages too long, but overall did exactly what it needed to and I LOVED it.

✨PROS: SHORT - I mean 1-3 pages SHORT chapters! While I called some of the “twists” I wasn’t mad when it happened 🤣

🚨WARNING: Potential triggers include abandonment/feeling alone… cruise ships? 😅

Well this one will sure make you debate getting on a cruise ship! It was an intense ride with likable characters that Will Dean really brought to life! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this book!