I just finished the Last Immortal a few days ago and while there were certain aspects I really liked, overall the book wasn’t entirely for me! If you’re interested in this book please look into it beforehand!!

Thank you NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the ARC!

𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨

Initially, I was drawn to this book as the cover was every interesting and the initial plot idea seemed really interesting! The story follows a woman named Ramillia, who his immortal, and her life story.

The plot itself was interesting and I enjoyed the darker take on immortality! The idea of certain people being born into it and how it affects them was really cool!

I also enjoyed the writing style of this book; it had more of a similar pacing to other horror books I have read. It definitely captured the gothic atmosphere and put me on edge at times.

Now, this book was incredibly dark to the point where I had to skip over certain paragraphs or scenes. There is a trigger warning list at the front but there was still that I was not expecting. Body horror and trauma were very heavy in this book.

My main dislike was that it seemed like it sometimes focused too much on being dark and shocking the reader. There were scenes where it felt like the darker elements of this story seemed more for shock value than contributing to the story. Dark themes in stories are fine, but it wasn’t necessary to every scene or chapter.

I would have liked this a lot more if it had cut back a bit; the times where the story were focusing on Ramillia and not sex or dark themes were actually quite good! I just didn’t feel like many of those scenes happened. This is one book where I would say there were to many sex scenes and none of them really interesting.

If you’re looking for a super dark book and don’t mind heavy topics then you’ll probably like this! It’s a book you really need to look into before reading as there is a BUNCH of triggers!

I wanted to like this book but I could not get into it. I would rate it 2/5 stars. I also agree with my fellow reviewers on goodreads that the trigger warnings should’ve been appropriately listed

"I am Lady Ramillia Winmoore, daughter of the very late Earl of Brooksberry, or I was lifetimes ago. I am an immortal, and this is my story. Do what you will with it, but I must warn you: this tale is not for the faint of heart. Highborn Victorian Lady that I was, my life was one of violence and cruelty.

Lady Ramillia Winmoore has suffered gaps in her memory her entire life. This darkness has proven to be a blessing until the day she awakens strapped to an examination table at the West Freeman Asylum for Lunatics. Imprisoned for the gruesome murder of her parents, she is forced to endure years of torture until salvation arrives in the form of a benefactor named Sir Julian Lawrence. Betrothed to her through an arranged marriage, Julian helps her gain freedom.

But appearances are deceiving and soon Ramillia learns the cost she must pay. The horrors she encounters in his household are far worse than the asylum. When he inducts her into a society of bloodthirsty, cruel immortals, she is forced to join them and accept their way of life.

Armed with talents she doesn't know she has, Ramillia must break free of a prison she cannot see, kill an enemy who cannot die, and find a daughter who she cannot remember - all with the help of an ally she does not know.

In this chilling gaslight-era Gothic horror novel where paranormal powers are bred and collected, friends and foes are not always what they seem when immortality is at stake."

I mean, the winter months were meant for gaslight Gothic right?

This book made me uncomfortable from start to finish. I wish the warnings would have been somewhere in the description because they are a crucial part of choosing to read this title.

I did believe the writing styles was good and that the author could craft an interesting story, I am just not one for SA and especially not child SA.

Maybe I’m just not the right audience.

From the moment I saw this incredible cover I had to get my hands on an arc and it truly did not disappoint!!!!! What an incredible read it fulfilled all my reads needs. A must add to my shelf the moment physical copies go out!

Imagine waking up with amnesia to be told you killed your own parents, that is what happened to poor Lady Ramillia. There is no secret that Ramillia had suffered, but to what extent? In part one, we learn about her past. In parts 2 and 3, it is her future that we are concerned about.

Verdict

Dark gothic is not a genre for everyone, but the story is solid with questions answered and a journey of a girl from naive girl to hardened woman. One theme stays throughout the book: Ramillia wants peace and happiness. She has to fight hard to get it, but you will have to read to the end to find out if she gets it. Although I am not pleased with how it ends, I think it is a closure for everyone. If you love violent, gory genre with plenty of heavy themes, you will like The Last Immortal.

I'm not going to lie, I had to DNF, it creeped me out that the MC dad was only with her mom because she looked like a child and the MC was insecure because her dad was upset about the MC not looking child like and was filing out to be a woman. That weirded me out and some of the things in the story just didn't sit right with me. This book was not for me. I will give it 2 stars cause the set up for the atmosphere and surroundings were good.

I really wanted to like this book, I really did. A dark, gothic horror book with something similar to a cult? Sign me up! However I just could not get into it, as I feel the pacing was very off. The author did an amazing job with setting up the atmosphere of the book, and it was easy to read, but I found myself feeling like the majority of the book was dragging on. I also had a hard time connecting to any of the characters, and the turmoil they went through.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I think this book achieves what it wants to do I just don't think I am the target audience.
The book is a gothic horror story filled with lots of trauma that can easily be triggering so please read the content warnings.

I don't know why but I somehow thought this would lean way more into the paranormal niche but it sadly didn't. The magic system wasn't much explored and the focus lay way more on all the trauma and survivorship of Ramillia.
The story also is very much sexual and is so from the very beginning.(Ramillia has sexual fantasies about multiple people within the first 10%) Again I don't think it is badly done just a heads up because it wasn't really my thing personally.
The writing was nice though. Not too flowery but also not too simple and it's a pretty easy read language wise so you can definetly binge this away if you want.

Yeah like I said in the beginning if you want a really dark book where one gruesome thing happens after another this is probably for you sadly it didn't hit for me as hard as I had hoped.

The premise of this book sounds amazing and I really wanted to get into it. However, I had to put it down as the content was too much for me to handle. Please read the trigger warnings and don't take them lightly; they are there for a reason.

Thank you BHC Press and NetGalley for the e-arc of 'The Last Immortal'.
This review are my own thoughts and given freely.

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 the execution was not there for me.

I ended up DNF'ing at 85%, I just couldn't do it anymore.

Thank you to BHC Press and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book! The following review is given freely and all my own thoughts.

Firstly, check the triggers for this and please take them in stride. The warnings are there for a reason and definitely are needed for this story. With that being said, this book is dark and that is definitely what the author sets you up for with the cover and blurb. We have the Victorian era basically doused in blood and full of gore. It's an atmosphere that is thick, heavy, and almost oppressing. The gothic-horror genre is definitely alive and well in this book, which I applaud the author for achieving.

While I wanted to love this book, I just couldn't. The pace of this book was too far off for me. It felt like a majority of this book dragged, and then the ending was sped up and rushed. I would have loved to have things explained more in the end, but instead the beginning was just over-explained and confusing at times.

The characters weren't bad, but I found it hard to really be invested in Ramillia. She was interesting, but at the same time her thought processes and her chararacter arc throughout the book didn't pace out well.

Overall, I wanted to love this book, but it didn't live up to what I was expecting.

First off, I did NOT expect the warnings at the start of the book. Tread lightly. Next, I DNF’d at 25%. I’m going to be honest, I wish I had stopped when I saw the warnings. I thought I could handle it, but clearly, I couldn’t. Even though I didn’t finish it, there were still some things I had an opinion about.

First, this was a pretty dark read. I was excited when I requested this book. Its description was intriguing, but I did not expect the content present in the book. It deals with quite a few traumatic topics, all on different levels. If you choose to read this book, be sure that you can handle the topics referenced and more, along with in-depth dives into them.

Second, I could have been more into the plot. I reached around 16 and a half chapters in, but I still couldn’t tell exactly what world this was in. Everything was a bit glazed over regarding world-building, things were stated in one part, then explained halfway around 5 chapters later. While other readers may enjoy that, it wasn’t my favourite.

Last, is the writing style. The book was written as a narrative experience of the character’s life, and I must say, I quite enjoyed it. It was an easy style to read, and had it been about a different topic, I may have enjoyed it more.

Overall, it boils down to me being unprepared for the book and its themes. If other readers are prepared for it, they may enjoy it far more than I did. After all, it states in the warnings that it was dark, and you can’t blame a book for being too dark. Thank you Netgalley, BHC Press, and Natalie Gibson for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book was an absolute treat for me personally.
To describe this book as dark would be an absolute understatement, it dives into a person's deepest, darkest place and brings stuff to the surface you would think you haven't got.

Please Please!!!! Read the trigger warnings, they are there for a reason and Natalie Gibson was not joking about them!

Story:
Lady Ramillia, the heroine of this book, at first young and naive locked away and ill-treated, to be set free and experience as something very special the deepest and darkest places in her mind and in the world. Set in the Victorian era, its beautiful dresses and parties, but there is a very dark side behind in secret rooms and places.

It's the idea that as soul and a body is not one for those immortals called "Incula" they can switch places with a so-called "Carrier" a "gene" trait or mutation if you will, they can "ride" for a short time, or they can switch bodies forever, but there are rules that must be applied to switch permanently.

Writing:
The style of writing made it easy for me. I love this style! The details that were placed could trigger my imagination and when I closed my eyes I could have been there, even though trust me you don't want to go where our Lady Ramillia went.

What I loved/didn't like
Everything, I can't find one bit that I found boring or so that I could lay that book down. The only thing is that it could have been longer or ended with a cliffhanger so we could have had a part two. Sadly, there is none.

***SPOILERS***

****It is important for me to point out that I thought this novel was well constructed, and that the themes used weren't done flippantly to further the plot. Rather they were used carefully and with respect, to create an indepth character, and her personal journey. That being said, I personally have not experienced the themes (or triggers), and therefore saying it was done "well" would be doing a disservice to those who have. Please read the trigger warnings carefully, and if you're unsure about the triggers included ask someone who has read the novel.****

Thanks to Netgalley and BHC Press for providing me an ARC of this book!

Readers be warned, the tale you're able to read is not one for the faint of heart.

This book was... a lot. Now that isn't to say it was a bad novel, in fact for the most part I enjoyed the story it told. However, there is a lot going on, and it is easy to get lost. The novel is best seen as "three" seperate books within the one. It is segmented into parts, and definitley should be read that way to simply digest and understand what is going on.

Written as a "flashback" or journal, the reader gets to learn the things that make Ramillia, Ramillia, at the same time she does. This leads for a breadcrumb tale, with plot twists and carefully placed "wow" moments throughout.

Set in the gothic-era, Ramilia is no stranger to violence and pain in her life, or is she? Having suffered from "black outs" for the majority of her life, she slowly begins to learn what these black outs actually mean for her, and tghe unfortunate circumstances that caused them. Once Ramilia begins her path of understanding, knowledge, and power, she slowly begins to see what has been around her, the entire time. She is not "normal". Natural, yes. But "normal", she is everything but. Having a genetic variation to the regular human, Ramilia is immortal. But that isn't all. She is a "carrier" and an "incola", meaning she can *ride around in peoples heads and bodies, if she so chooses*, but unfortunatley, that means the same can be done to her. She learns this the hard way, and loses a piece of herself and her husband - thus setting off the plot for the rest of the novel.

This novel becomes a story of reclaiming ones power, through whatever means necessary, and redeeming what perception one has of themsevles - the rest of the world be damned. Unfortunatley for our protagnist, the "be damned" ends up resulting in her swaying from the very things she fought so hard to obtain. Family, Power, Wealth, Life.

What I liked:
- The reclamation of power from Ramilia
- The way those around her didn't see her "splinters" as making her "crazy", and rather respected her, her power, and that she was still HER regardless of the things that "afflicted" her beyond her outward self.
- The writing was beautiful. Gibson has an amazing way with words
- The world building, utilised enough of the known past to make the novel relatable whilst still creating and "underworld" heirarchy on a global scale.

What I didn't like:
- When Ramilia manages to leave the facility in which she is held, only to become *enamoured* with a strange man, enough to flippantly gloss over the disappearance (and death) of her friend, and the gaslighting of her brothers death. I understand after reading further this was a key plot point to the development of Ramilias character, but I still thought it was too teenage dream romance for the overall vibe of the novel.
- The ending.. DID SHE MANAGE TO KILL THE OCTOPUS OR NOT MAN.. (I don't like a cliff-hanger, sue me)

Would I read this again:
Yes, but not for some time. I think it's such a detail dense novel that it would be easy to DNF the first time around, let alone the second.

Awesome book! The writing and the story were both great. The characters were very well developed and memorable.

This book is incredibly dark, to an extent that may be discomforting for some readers. It explores numerous challenging themes in a way that can be difficult to digest. The author, Natalie Gibson, successfully creates a gothic ambiance that complements the narrative well, but overall I was left feeling disappointed.

The initial half of the book was disappointingly slow-paced, with an overload of confusing world-building details. Important elements of the plot were introduced too late, causing the first portion to feel unnecessarily puzzling. While certain aspects were intriguing, the disturbingly dark elements of the book overshadowed them.

This was a hard book for me to read. But thank you netgalley for sending me this copy. Took me a while to get into it so beware of the trigger warnings before you guys go in

2 ★ stars.

❝Violence is only horrifying when it is done to those who don’t deserve it.❞

➽ DNF at 70%

First of all, thanks to Netgalley and BHC Press for providing me an ARC of this book.

I have never been so conflicted over a book. I'm even conficted whether it's in a good way or a bad way. It was the toughest read I had in a while. My thoughts are so messed up right now, I'll try my best to sum it all up.

[spoiler free]

Before reading this, I strongly request you to check the content warnings so you have an idea what you're getting into. The author wasn't joking with the content warnings; it it serious. If you're skipping that part, be prepared to greet the unexpected, it won't be pretty.

➽ Vibes of this book:

Shatter me meets A Dowry of Blood in the world of the Bridgertons and gets rained on, only leaving behind the darker and twisted parts.

↳ Haven't read those books? I've got you.
Imagine a heavy mixture of science fiction with blood, gore and horror in a Victorian setting. Imagine putting on pretty ballgowns, twirling around scandalous social seasons; just blink and all the lights get sucked out of the room, the daze of glee is gone and the pretty gowns get stained with blood as the pitchblack darkness kicks in.

➽ Theme & Plot:

↳ Saying this book is dark would be an understatement. You can't blame a dark book for being too dark. I don't read books of this genre often, so I'm not sure I can compare it's levels of darkness. It deals with a lot of problematic issues I thought I could handle but ended up feeling terribly uncomfortable half the time. Other than that, I really liked the gothic atmosphere Natalie Gibson created here. I played some dark academia soft piano playlists from yt while reading this and it was amazing. It's the kind of slow-paced, gothic-horror read that'd be perfect for gloomy days.

↳ In this book, we are taken back to the dark age of the Victorian period. In the midst of evolution, creatures of nightmares and evil powers are taking root, infesting darkness within the land. Ramillia Winmoore, a child locked in an asylum far away from civilization for the murders she doesn't remember committing, is well on her way to becoming the monster that lives inside her. She doesn't understand the lethal power that hums beneath her skin and the endless voids in her head.

'They fear her so they lock her up. They loathe her so they inflict pain. They don't understand her so they destroy her.'

Until her noble betrothed, Sir Julian Lawrence, the man she only knows in letters, comes to claim her, promising her great things she never dared dream of. Soon she realizes she escaped one hell for another as she learns more about her husband and the evil that is his kind and comes to terms with her own powers she spent all her life afraid of.

➽ Characters & Writing:

↳ The characters of 'The Last Immortal' were twisted in their own ways while still maintaining individuality. It felt like they were eerie, empty and hollow from inside out and as we go further into the storyline along with the details we learned, they turn into more than words on paper and we slowly get a grasp on their personalities.

No moral. No judgement. No remorse. No redemption.
It took me a long time to sync with their thought process and understand what they were working towards; even then, I couldn't connect with them, couldn't feel anything for them. They were just another fictional character stuck in books who couldn't reach out to me. Honestly, Remillia was the only one with real developments here, though it was one of those that didn't feel like a development at all.

↳ The writing was beautiful, don't get me wrong. It was just difficult to get through. I didn't like the narrative, especially Ramillia's point of view. You need to be partially fond of a character to be invested in their thoughts, while I found Ramillia interesting, I wasn't fond of her; she actually made it super hard to be. I don't know if it's just me but I would read through a page, reach the ending and realize my mind went completely blank and I didn't catch a single detail. I had to go back and read that page again, that's why it took me much longer to reach the 70% mark than I thought it would. The story was intriguing but the writing style and pace couldn't keep my attention grounded for more than a few minutes.

➽ What I liked:

• The overall atmosphere of this book.
• FMC pushed her love interests in the backseat and was a force of nature all on her own.
• She made the right choices most of the time.
• The original idea of Carriers and Incolas, it was refreshing to read about.
• FMC knew where to project her rage and not being cautious of it.
• She embraced her deadly powers and violent nature.
• Despite being morally corrupt, she protected the ones who needed her protection.

➽What I didn't like:

• More intrigue than explanation.
If you're going to put together a bunch of complex things, you need to back it up with sufficient explanation. I loved the idea of genetic disorders/ genetic superpowers that make a human invincible, immortal; the idea of Carriers and Incolas, carefully choosing and breeding to create more of their own. A lot was lacking in the build up, it could've been laid out a lot better.

• Character development or more like Ramillia's development.
I was completely thrown off guard by the huge leaps her personality was taking when it should've been a rather slow process. I know the book is already slow-paced, but it should've slowed down with the things that actually come first and foremost. Besides, I didn't get the chance to get to know the other characters better; they didn't get enough spotlight or much-needed details.

• The first half of the book was super slow, nothing important happening and a bunch of detail dumps on the world building that made little to no sense. The main plot and explanations came in later in the book but it was kind of too late; the first half was almost spent in confusion.

I'm so sorry, I really wanted to like it but it was way too confusing and a letdown in so many ways. There were interesting bits, yes, but it's dark elements overcrossed it many times. The level of darkness just goes up and up until it turns straight out horrifying. This book had no romance and no scope for romanticizing anything even. I didn't get the justification I needed and I'm thoroughly disappointed.

I dnf’d it cause it was great at the beginning but quickly turned very weird very fast without anything being explained what was going on