Lucy lost her little brother Clay when he went on a camping trip with the scouts. Clay died in flood waters from torrential rain that caused the dam to break. It’s eight years later and Lucy is seventeen and hoping to make the Olympic air rifle team. Clay’s death is still fresh but the family is moving on. Then another tragedy strikes this small home town and two of Lucy’s friends are found dead. Lucy’s luck worsens as she learns the number one suspect is her ex-boyfriend. Secrets begin to be revealed and Lucy slowly realizes that not everyone is as innocent as they claimed to be. 

The story began rather slowly for me as the narration moves between what happened before the damn brake to present day. Around part 3 is where the book grabbed my interest and kept me guessing with enough twists and turns.

I really liked the main character, Lucy, who was likable and possessed so much empathy for others and everything the town had been through. This is a good read albeit being wrought with tragedy. I enjoyed the representation of loving people through pain and mistakes as experienced from the eyes of a young adult.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens. The last part was great, but the beginning was rough. I couldn’t connect with the writing style and the words and dialogue didn’t have a smooth flow. It took a while to get used to the timeline switching and it was hard to see how the past related to the present. I didn't really engage with the story until part four when things started to come together. As much as I love YA books, this one was not really for me. If you like a surprising reveal, this book might be for you!

I would have read this book in one sitting if time would have allowed. This is a fast-paced, young adult thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is the second Court Stevens book I've read. I read "We Were Kings" and love it almost as much as I love this one.
One of the great things I loved about this book is that there is not a lot of bad language. Too many YA books today are peppered with cursing and swearing that are completely unnecessary.
This is definitely a great book for all ages.

The Last Girl Breathing is now my favorite Court Stevens book! This is a thriller that you won’t want to put down. As with any Court Stevens book, the backdrop is in a rural community and this community is grieving the loss of 2 teens suspiciously in the same area where a dam broke years before, killing several. We follow the perspective of Lucy as she’s searching for answers. Adults will enjoy this one as much as teens. It’s nice to have a thriller where I didn’t have to worry about the dog! I did get a little lost with so many characters, but that is the natural of a story set in a small town. The community plays a large part of the story.

This is my first book by this author and it will certainly not be my last! It was such a page-turner.

I found the main character, Lucy, to be very likable and I felt so much empathy for everything she'd been through! Life really threw a lot at her and she continued to be strong and fight through all the hard stuff. Even with all the death and tragedy, I still would hand this to anyone who is a teen or older. I think it's a good representation of loving people through pain and mistakes told from the perspective of a young adult.

My favorite part of this story was the mystery element. I thought the author did an excellent job of arranging the clues in such a way that I truly didn't see the end coming. Five stars from me!

This was a very interesting thriller that kept me guessing until the end. It was a little hard to get into this story as I really wasn't into the characters right away, but they did grow on me and, by the end, I was hooked. The back and forth between then and now was a great plot point that revealed little by little, even if you weren't sure exactly what you were getting at the time. I would definitely pick up another book by this author in the future to see where it can go! Will definitely recommend to the YA patrons at the library. This book definitely has some male appeal to it!

I had trouble in the beginning with this book. There are lots of people in this story and it took a while to remember how the relationships worked. In addition the narration is almost chain of conscious. I persisted, and by the time I had figured everything out I became obsessed with finding out who was responsible for the deaths and I was on Lucy's side as she was determined to find answers about the collapse of a dam, and the deaths of her childhood friends. It was a well done mystery and I was only one step ahead of Lucy at the end. The end is more nearly about real life because Lucy's future life is not tied up in a neat bow. This is a worth reading book. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc and for not pressuring for a good review.

Can’t explain enough how amazing this book was! Fast paced, amazing characters, so many twists and turns throughout. I loved how the background to the story was run through the main story so it kept it to the point, relevant and well paced. Really enjoyed the splitting of the story and starting again a few years later, was really unique and was a great addition. The ending was just mind blowing!

An adrenaline-pumping thriller that had me gripped, teetering on the edge of my seat throughout. I found immense satisfaction in reading this one; undoubtedly, it ranks among the finest books I've encountered this year.

Wow!! This is an amazing story that pulled me in from the first page. I couldn’t stop reading. I wanted to keep reading so that I could figure out who was behind the murders and put all the pieces of the puzzle that the author created together. My only complaint is that the switching back and forth between the present and past was a little confusing. As the Court Stevens laid out the events it eventually came together and told the story, but it was a little confusing at first. The Stevens did a great job of developing the characters and as a reader you feel that you are a part of the community. I highly recommend this book. I have students coming into the library looking for mysteries and adventure stories and I will be sure and recommend this book to them in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advance copy so that I could leave a review!!

Finished it in one sitting. Fast paced even tho the writing felt off at times.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked that the main character, Lucy, was training for a different Olympic sport than most books use. It added a nice twist to the storyline. I thought it was well written, the pace was great, and I liked the characters. I'll be looking for more books from this author to read.

This book left me guessing until the end on who was behind all of the chaos! It's been eight years since Lucy's brother was lost in a flood when the dam burst. Now she's preparing for a shot at the Olympic air rifle team. But when her stepbrother goes missing just before he's about to reveal a big secret to Lucy, suddenly the whole town is searching, and the secrets are going to come out eventually.

The book was a quick read for me because of the authors writing style. I like the suspense that grips the reader till the end.

Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, narcissistic parent, descriptive kissing between two 12-year-olds, imprisonment, malice, codependent relationship, murder with a firearm, blackmail, coercion, suicide. #NETGALLEY #LastGirlBreathing

Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, narcissistic parent, descriptive kissing between two 12-year-olds, imprisonment, malice, codependent relationship, murder with a firearm, blackmail, coercion, suicide.

Phew, the Last Girl Breathing was a roller coaster ride of a book. I was skeptical about reading this because YA books, especially thrillers, have been subpar lately. I believe that Stevens did a wonderful job setting up the characterization and setting in the book. I enjoyed the story's premise and kept reading because I just had to know what would happen.

Lucy was in a flood at the local dam with friends and family eight years before the current story. When the dam lets go during a large amount of rainfall, Lucy loses her little brother Clay in the washout. The story touches on the stressful areas of grief within the town of Grand Junction for Lucy and her family and friends.

In the current timeline, we find that Lucy is now seventeen and an Olympic hopeful in sharpshooting. She has a new stepfather and stepbrother, and as readers, we soon find that her stepbrother is missing. The police gather people to begin searching when they find that not only Lucy's stepbrother is missing, but also a new deputy and a second teenager. The story began to move quickly, and I found myself engrossed in it and could not put it down. Lucy is a strong protagonist, and the story surrounds her past and present throughout the book. There are a few things that I found slightly cringy, but all in all, the story was good. 4/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thought this was an entertaining YA murder mystery. Lucy was a very likeable main character who did a really good job of leading us through the mystery to the eventual solution. Set in a rural location near a wildlife preserve, it is the perfect place for the suspense that is created in the story. The secondary characters were interesting and varied and the plot twisted enough to keep it very interesting. I think YA readers who are fans of the murder mystery genre, will enjoy this one.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

This book is a mystery/thriller about a dam break in a small town and the secrets behind it. At the beginning it switched from past to present and I was a bit confused but by the middle of the book it came together. I was kept guessing until the end and wanted to find out everything that had happened. The relationships in the book were somewhat complicated and had depth to them. Overall, I liked this book and would give it 3.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Nice Fast pace and plot for teen audience. Writing a bit clipped and time lines a bit jumbled .
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens
Publisher Thomas Nelson
Genre Murder Mystery YA
Release Date November 07, 2023


Characters: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Suspense: 4/5
Overall Enjoyment: 4/5

*My Thoughts*
I have just recently started reading Books geared to the YA readers and found that I really enjoy the ones that do not contain writing that is juvenile, which I have found is only a few. So if the blurb looks good, I am ready to read it.
I started reading this book and really like Stevens ability to tell a story and keep the readers engaged and entertained the whole time. The story has a great build up of the characters as well as the suspense. The setting and her descriptive nature was so very well developed that I honestly felt as though I was in the book myself. Grief is the main focus with the characters and the way that the author weaves that into the story is perfect. Not overly done but it allows the reader to understand the and feel the intensity of how grief can overwhelm people.The other great part is that you may or may not have a clue who the culprit is but that does not change how the story is exposed to you, the reader. I truly could feel the emotions that the author set out for the reader and I so wanted Lucy to make all of her dreams come true.

*Premise*

Eight years ago in the town of Grand Junction, Lucy lost her brother Clay when a dam broke due to very heavy rainfall. Lucy continues to feel as though she is to blame. She was responsible for watching him. Now at seventeen Lucy has aspirations of going to the Olympics on the rifle team as she is a skilled air rifle shooter and most of all graduating from high school. However, tragedy strikes again and poor Lucy is thrust right back into the center of it. Two of her best friends were found murdered in the exact same place that her brother died and the prime suspect is none other than Lucy’s ex boyfriend. Yet Lucy has no idea if she can believe that. So she sets off to investigate the matter herself. Lucy is very strong willed, smart, confident and persistent. It all pays off for her because during her snooping she finds that not everyone is telling the truth and and they have some secrets to hide. Can Lucy figure out who killed her friends and can she do it before someone else is killed?


4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

I couldn't put this book down. Seriously, I had to sneakily read it during work because I was so invested. Great characters, great plot, great ending.

This book grabbed me from the very first page. As I read on, the author kept me wanting more of the why’s and how’s of the story. It is the kind of book you can finish in one sitting, and want to.