Heavy world building with some really uncomfortable scenes. This is a horror of human terror vs a traditional creepy horror

This is a book to suck you in until the last page, and keep you along for the ride. If you love gothic horrors like A Dowry of Blood, Juniper & Thorn, or The Spirit Bares Its Teeth - then I really believe you’ll get sucked into this story just as I have.

We slowly become entangled in Ramilla’s world as she is institutionalized and horribly treated, to suddenly becoming wealthy and thrust into an entirely new world of immortals. I thought the types of immortals present were very fascinating, as well as the powers some have - and how they use that to control others. I thought the storytelling as if it’s a journal/recollection from Ramilla’s modern-day life to her past very reminiscent of A Dowry of Blood and quite enjoyed it.

I also found the twist of the reasoning for her blackouts to be very fascinating, and (SPOILER) one of the very few books I’ve seen that includes a form of DID to not be done in an ableist/”shocking plot twist” kind of way. I can’t speak for anyone who does have DID, so if someone who does have it says differently I’d take their feelings over mine (obviously), but I never felt like it was included as a cheap or offensive twist - but rather as a very real response to the consistent abuse and trauma inflicted on our main character.

I agree that most of the time skips (especially for part 3) were a bit confusing at first, but I found it not too difficult to quickly catch up to what was going on. At first, I didn’t like how the first chapter or so would spoil the ending of what would happen near the end of each section, but I thought the way those endings actually happened was unique enough for it to not actually be a spoiler. Especially in part 2, I knew what was going to happen but I was still shocked with how exactly it happened, as I was expecting something completely different.

My biggest complaint is that each new section of the book includes a brief overview of what happened in the last section, and with this being all in one book I felt it was unnecessary. I think possibly what had occurred is that this might have been intended for 3 much smaller books that were combined into one, and the review sections were never removed. However, it’s never too distracting to take away from reading it, simply a little unnecessary at times.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys dark gothic tales and can handle very triggering content. I know a few people complained about questioning the “why” for this book, but I felt it answered its own question. This is a novel telling Ramilla’s life - especially the beginning and how she became the person in the current day who is writing this memoir.

Also, absolutely check the trigger warnings, but personally I did not find the descriptions of the mentioned triggering content to be any more explicit or mishandled than it was in Juniper & Thorn.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and BHC Press for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I typically love anything gothic or gothic horror, but I was left wanting more. I was shocked at the depictions of CSA, as I didn’t expect it. I heard that the Author now adds it as a trigger warning, but to say I was surprised was an understatement. With that being said, the plot had a lot of potential,

thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and natalie gibson for the advanced reader copy of "the last immortal". i am absolutely obsessed with the FMC, ramillia. if there's one thing i love, it is a strong female lead, and gibson definitely delivered!! alongside that, i really loved the chilling atmosphere of "the last immortal". natalie gibson does a stellar job of encapsulating the eerie gothic vibe. there was an air of mystique that clouded the storyline, which was alluring in some parts, but in others... just left me frustrated. i look forward to seeing more works from natalie gibson in the future!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for so graciously providing me qirh this e-ARC! I am very thankful and once read will update this review placeholder with my thoughts and also review on my Social medias.

I understand, appreciate, and love horror movies/tales/novels. That being said, there needs to be a reason for the things that are happening, otherwise, you're just as bad as the villain you're trying to be "better" than.

If you're going to write a book that has graphic depictions of physical, sexual, and emotional violence, make sure its actually a trigger warning. I can't say that I loved this novel. It was choppy and sluggish, and felt like horror porn.

Thank you BHC Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

It turns out this book was not my cup of tea.

The book follows Lady Ramillia. After she kills her parents, she's commited to an insane asylum where she suffers years of torture. Once Lady Ramillia is able to leave the asylum, she discovers her betrothed, a very wealthy man, is more horrific than her torturers at the asylum. She must learn to navigate this new world of monsters and what she needs to do to survive. There ensues lots of violence and other rather unsavory things.

First off, this is a horror nobel, not in the sense of ghouls and such, but in the sense of horrors humans commit. As the book says: this story is not for the faint of heart, and while I don't consider myself 'faint of heart,' it seemed I was when it came to this book. The book does come with trigger warnings but I feel the trigger warning glossed over a most triggering thing for many people: SA of a minor. There's also incest. It was too much, too overwhelming that I had to take a break from the book for a while. I'll reiterate that this story is not for the faint of heart.

I like the story but it was too heavy on the world building for my taste. The story also felt like it dragged on. I did appreciate that Lady Ramillia stood up for people, especially women, of lower economic means, and that she spread her wealth. Sometimes her shows of power, either violent or monetary, felt excessive, like showboating. The sudden change in behaviors and sudden changes in the story were jarring and left me confused.

There were many times throughout the book where I wasn't sure where the story was headed. There seemd to be no sense of direction or purpose. Overall, I was not a fan of the excessive violence and numerous depictions of SA. I was most definitely not the target audience for this book.

Apologies on the delay in reviewing this book. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read it.

I'll start by saying, this book was not for me. I think there's a rough idea/concept in here that could be successful, but it was not executed correctly here. I did see that Natalie has another series called "The Carrier Series", and the description seemed the same as this one, so I'm not sure if they are related and if I am missing something that I did not know about. That being said, as a stand alone novel, I would not have guessed that this was her 18th or so book.

It's extremely sporadic truthfully, it was very hard to follow. Things would happen so quickly and in succession without any reasoning or explanation. Eventually when things were explained, it was too far removed from whatever we'd just witnessed that the information wasn't useful. A lot of the book seemed to be grotesque for grotesque's sake, which is a common problem in the horror/thriller genre. I am all for making a novel as dark as possible, but I also think there is a time and place for it. This novel was entirely whimsical with its gore and sexual themes, to the point it was sprinkled on like confetti on cake. After a while, it became more of a nuisance to read through than an adventure.

I think the main issue the book struggles with is timing. I also think, if the book is to be set up like a diary, there needs to be more context provided. It was hard to tell what the point of the plot was, or why we should care. The Character would often conflict herself and was completely unaware of her own wrongdoings as compared to others, which I do not think was the point, since she likens herself to a hero so many times.

All that is to say, this one did not go well for me and it was a struggle to finish it, hence the long timeframe in response. Apologies again for the delay, and thank you for providing me with a copy!

This is a dark fantasy book, unlike any other one that I have read. This took my interest and and I read this in just two days, and I was only because I had to work. The characters were expertly crafted, and the atmosphere of this book was unsettling, but beautiful.

DNF'd at 15%,

This genre just isn't for me for a lot of reasons and I don't feel that I need to go into detail about it.

Now I wanted to like this book, I did; It has most things that I love: a powerful female character, it's dark as f**k, and it's got a weird cult involved. But this book just fell flat for me. Also, I knew there were going to be a lot of dark elements in the book, but the mild trigger warning page DID NOT do the triggers justice. There needs to be 2 pages of trigger warnings for this book. None of it triggered me, but there were a lot of SA elements that could be upsetting to a lot of people.
This story had a lot of potential, but it was not there for me.
I ended up DNFing at 65%, I just couldn't do it anymore.

DNF'd at around 60%

Pros :
Some really beautiful writing
A rather compelling (if a little confusing) magic system
Interesting characters
Plenty of plot twists

Cons:
Slow pace, with a confused sense of time passing
Very clear it was a series of novellas banded together - plotlines were repeated and re-explained too quickly, as if there had been considerable time between reading each part. Would have certainly benefited from editing these out.
Magic/power system is engaging but, as mentioned earlier, a little hard to pin down
Content/trigger warnings list was VERY incomplete - not an issue for myself, but certainly could be for other readers.

Wow. Just. Wow
I just reviewed The Last Immortal by Natalie Gibson. #TheLastImmortal

Victorian gothic horror.
My jaw was dropped the entire time, and my head was spinning with Lady Ramillia. I LIVE for an unexpected plot twist and this DELIVERED.

Be aware going in that there are a lot of triggers, and as Lady Ramillia warns, "not for the faint of heart"— she means it.

If you have any child-related triggers - this book may not be for you. I was able to make it through but that doesn't mean it's for everyone.

Some of the triggers include:
Assault/Murder
Animal cruelty
Blood/Gore
Cannibalism
Child SA
Child birth
Child death
BDSM
Drug use
Forced Abortion
Human Skin wearing
Incest
Mental health issues
Pedophilia
Reanimated corpse
SA
Self Harm

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This was a DNF for me. While the cover is compelling, the story was off to too slow of a start to feel excited to pick it back up.

Hello Fellow readers,

First off I want to say that this is a dark book. That in of itself isn't a bad thing, as dark fantasies are usually one of my favorite genres, what bothered me was FMC development. This is a long book, as we go through Ramillia's life we should see her development happen slowly (this is a very slow-paced book) but I felt like this was rushed which doesn't make sense. Her growth felt unnatural. The book's first half was extremely slow, with Gibson providing a little too many lore dumps and what feels like random world-building. The build-up felt forced and lacking something that hindered a book of this length. Some made sense in the latter half of the book, but it's a struggle to get there, I almost DNF'd a couple of times but forced myself to push through.

I will say a couple of positive things, despite the development, the characterization of Ramilla was nice and she showed the ability to make the right choices, something that most characters have trouble with. Gibsons's idea is also unique and refreshing, they also did a great job at building a gothic atmosphere and her writing is very lyrical.

Overall, I believe this book could have benefitted from being slightly faster-paced and edited down.

In all honesty I had to DNF this book. The premise was interesting and made it seem like a modern take on the classic horror genre. And the first few chapters started to feel that way. It started feeling off when it got into the main character’s backstory.

The whole thing is spun as if our main character is giving a look into her life leading up to somewhere. The reader is never introduced to the character as they exist in their modern time, never knows exactly who is telling this story. So it reads more like the usual outside perspective and much less biographical than it feels is intended. The perspective is set up to be this woman telling her life but at some point shifts to the usual outside narration. Is at least twice jarred back out to the modern with commentary from the mc herself. But a balance is never truly established.

The book also takes some weird turns in setting up the character’s early life. Somehow setting her up as someone who has had all of her privileges ripped away from her after the deaths of her family but also given insane amounts of privileges in the institution she is locked into because of some unknown man. The level of vagueness around her monstrous side and how much knowledge the people around her have about it and why felt, more often than not, too vague. Like it wasn’t setting up properly for the grand reveal of it all.

I'm not sure if I loved this or disliked it. There are a lot of TWs/CWs that need to be listed and are not. This is highly unhelpful for people who might need this Information. Other than that, I did like the story for the most part.

A powerful woman. A powerful man.
The ability to live forever after taking over another person.
The ability to share the bodies of yet others.
Sex, violence needed for them without explanation.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC

DNF after 6 chapters. The book made no sense and made me highly uncomfortable with how it was displayed, I will not be posting a review on any platforms to not deter someone else’s interest.