The Last One is an impressive debut by Rachel Howzell Hall into the romantasy genre that had me hooked from page one. Best known for her mystery and thriller novels, I was especially excited to see how she would take on Romantasy genre. Suffice it to say she did not disappoint.

Kaivara or Kai was once Vallendor’s Grand Defender. Now she wakes in the middle of a blighted forest, surrounded by sickness and unnatural beasts, with no memory of who she is or how she got there. All she knows is that she has to reach the Sea of Devour before the darkness swallowing the land gets even worse. When she sees a village blacksmith take down armed invaders with almost inhuman skill, she decides to take a gamble and accept his offer of help.

What follows is a journey full of danger, gods with their own agendas, creeping betrayals, and a slow, reluctant partnership that simmers with tension. Rachel Howzell Hall blends action, atmosphere, and emotional depth so well that you feel the weight of every choice Kai makes. The world is richly built, full of political intrigue and mythic elements, yet still grounded in the raw humanity of its characters.

And then there’s Jadon Wake, the blacksmith MMC. He maddeningly guarded, quietly dangerous, and impossible to ignore. Their banter and push-pull dynamic had me grinning one moment and holding my breath the next.
By the end, I was completely invested in Vallendor, Kai, and whatever comes next. Luckily, book two (The Cruel Dawn) is already waiting for me.

Tropes

💭 Memory loss

🔥 Enemies to reluctant allies
🗯️ A+ banter

🤝 Betrayal and redemption arc

🐉 Gods and monsters

I did not finish this book since I found that the writing style did not work for me. I will not be continuing the series.

This was so unique and original. I could not put it down. I loved the suspense and drama of it. Could not get enough.

DNF..

Didn't enjoy the writing, felt a bit unfinished? Cheesy? idk
The romance, or what I expect to be the romance later on, felt very sudden, they fell in love after barely knowing each other for two days? 'unlike anyone I ever met before'..
The main character not knowing who she was started to annoy me very early on. And since (I think) this is the main plot point, I decided not to continue on.

The world building in this book is insane - the author really has every detail down. Unfortunately, it can be a bit overwhelming, as there are a LOT of names/terms/things to remember.

As for the main character, Kai...I did not find her likable or relatable. She's experiencing total memory loss, which I think does contribute heavily to her demanding of answers, confusion, etc. Really, I didn't find any characters likable or relatable; I found myself quite frustrated with all of them for most of the book. The story moves very slowly, despite the urgency (which I also found frustrating).

Overall, it's an interesting read but you'll need to be patient.

Thank you Entangled Publishing for providing this copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book was amazing. The story was interesting, and I was really intrigued by the characters. It kept my attention the whole time, and. had a hard time putting it down.

Thank you Entangled for the ARC!!

DNF 30%
1 star for the premise.
The premise of this book sounded interesting. The main character wakes up to someone trying to steal the clothes off their back and has no memory of who they are or how they got there. She then chases after said thief, assaults them and ends up needing to raise funds to pay her way out of that town. It lost me before she even caught up to the thief.

The reader is immediately dropped into a action scene which I would think would suck you in, but it fell flat for me. The writing was not the best and the dialogue was disjointed from the world the author was creating.

I've read YA and adult romance where there is insta-love, but this was a bit far fetched. We barely know what the MMC looks like and she is obsessed with him as he is with her.
There were parts of dialogue that I think were meant to sound romantic or funny but just sounded so weird:

“I feel like we came from the same cabbage patch or something.” Then he looks at me as though I’m the last star in the sky before dawn, the last sip of clean water ever. And the world around us stands utterly still.

I didn't connect with any of the characters and whenever I was about to decide to DNF, there was some action that gave me hope. The scenes between the action were far too long and boring. I found myself skimming the last 15%, just reading the dialogue.

I also had a feeling I knew who Kai was and decided to ask a friend who read this book. She confirmed I was right and I feel like we get enough information in the first 10% of the book to figure it out.

I may revisit this another time but for now, it will live on my DNF shelf...

Eh. Wasn't life-changing and wasn't terrible. I got through it, but didn't find myself reaching for it whenever I had free time. The writing seems a bit unfinished and the characters just weren't very likable. 2.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing this digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

The Last One starts with an intriguing premise: Our main character wakes in the forest and finds herself stripped of her memories and the objects which grant her power. She must work with those around her to find herself again, even as she battles against insidious forces that she cannot understand. Kai must grapple with her identity, whether she can trust those around her, and with the mystery she has found herself in.

However, the plot is baffling, the characters are inconsistent, the dialogue is unrealistic, and the world building is muddled.

The novel opens with an amnesiac main character, which in itself is a bold choice – how is the reader supposed to get to know the main character if she doesn’t even know herself? This is a decision which carries itself through the vast majority of the book - in my opinion, to the detriment of the reader's understanding. Kai doesn’t remember what her name is until over 10% of the way through the novel, and mysteries abound all the way up until the end. The reader uncovers very little information about Kai and how she has ended up where she is until the final ages of the novel, whereupon information is dumped at a dizzying and confusing rate.

One might ask, if it takes so long to learn anything about Kai, what is happening for most of the 550 pages in this book? Well, not very much (and also too much… we’ll get to that). A lot of time is spent on pretty useless things, such as Kai taking a bath, Kai laying in bed, Kai making candles, Kai complaining about things being dirty and people being poor and sick, et cetera. This book could’ve been half the length with the amount of actual plot progression that occurred. Despite the length of the novel, descriptions are generally lacking. While the author spends plenty of time describing Jadon, other vital aspects of the world are left ambiguous. For example, Kai is able to see a “glow” around others that indicate their vitality or how close to death they are. This doesn’t really make sense, and isn’t described any better that that. The author also introduces a number of fantasy creatures with minimal description, leaving the reader without an idea of how to picture them. At one point, a creature is described as “a wolf or a bear or a man.” I wanted better descriptions of the creatures that Kai encountered so that I could imagine them more clearly.

The characters are even more confusing that the world that they exist in. Every character is wildly inconsistent and their motivations are hidden from the reader until very close to the end of the book. Jadon’s motivations, specifically, remain unclear as multiple twists are uncovered in the last twenty or so pages. Despite Kai being the main character and the only character whose thoughts the reader is privy to (aside from the sporadic thoughts of other characters that Kai can hear…sometimes?), Kai is not readily understood. She oscillates between angry and vengeful, a warrior seeking to harm those who would insult her, and being a kind and empathetic woman who seeks to save and protect. She is clever and witty at times, and frustratingly obtuse at others.

The romance which develops between Jadon and Kai feels forced and unrealistic. The two apparently have a strong physical attraction to each other from the very beginning. Romantic tension is then forced by the author through miscommunications and secrets which are not fully explained at any point (what does Jadon’s tattoo actually mean, again?). The dialogue between these two is cringey – fulls of quips and one-liners, modern slang (despite their existence in a fantasy world without so much as indoor plumbing), and cliche proclamations. The writing struggled to maintain the tone and language of a medieval fantasy world and often slipped into modern slang and vocabulary (would a poor blacksmith in a world without electricity have developed a vernacular which includes the word ‘vibes’?).

I wanted to finish this book because I believed that the author was developing lore and mythology which would be explained. However, by the end of the book, I was left with even more questions than I had in the beginning.

There were a few scenes which I enjoyed. I found myself immersed in the story for a couple pages at a time, before some dissonant dialogue, perplexing plot point, or contradictory character choice would wrench me from the story. The premise was interesting. The world holds promise were the author to elaborate on the mythology of the world and describe the peoples and creatures within it.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing LLC. This book had me intrigued from the beginning. If you are a fan of Fantasy that has a little bit of romance and an FMC that has wit and banter from the very start. Then you will enjoy this book. It is a little confusing at times and maybe a little hard to follow the story, but it comes together by the end. Even if it does end with a cliffhanger that just makes me want to read the second book. I cannot wait to continue Kais's journey. I also want to thank Red Tower books.

This book was interesting, I really liked the story line. I liked how Kai wanted to get her memories back but was also like if not, that's okay. I'm not that same person anymore. Kai is a very strong female who has me laughing a lot. She was not afraid to tell men how it is and put them in their places. This book has a lot of twists that I was not expecting! I kept saying okay things can't get worse for our girl and then boom I was wrong. Some things did feel a little dragged out but I can't wait to read the next book to get some answers and figure out what is going to happen next!

Thank you for the opportunity to read The Last One. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish the book and will not be submitting a full review.

I gave it a genuine attempt over the past two weeks but ultimately had to stop at around 31%. While the premise is intriguing and there were some fun, action-filled scenes, I found it difficult to connect with the characters, and the pacing felt a bit too fast for my preferences. The narrative felt somewhat choppy, and I often wished for more descriptive elements to help ground the story and build a stronger emotional connection.

DNFing a book is rare for me—I usually pause and return later—but given the upcoming release date, I won’t have time to revisit it.

Wishing the author and publishing team all the best with the launch.
Thank you again.

Tense, twisty, and impossible to put down—The Last One is a thriller that plays with your mind in the best way. Rachel Howzell Hall masterfully blends suspense with razor-sharp insight, keeping the tension high and the pages flying. The atmosphere is eerie, the characters layered, and just when you think you’ve figured it out… nope. You haven’t. Perfect for fans of psychological thrillers with smart female leads and secrets that unravel one chilling thread at a time.

3.75-4

I’m waffling on my rating for this because I really enjoyed the story and the plot but I felt it was a little long and repetitive at times. There were also a few parts where I had to go back because I thought I had missed something because it felt like it flipped to something new without context.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and am intrigued to see where the second book starts up from again!

Thank you to Entangled: Red Tower Books and Net Galley for the chance to read this book. I enjoyed the story. I just think i need to read the other 2 before this one. I was a bit lost. I will pick up again when the others are read and maybe my rating will change.

Our FMC awakes in the middle of the woods, getting robbed, with amnesia. She befriends he thief, and the towns blacksmith, assisting them in fighting off invaders. This triggers mini flashbacks, and starts the journey of finding herself. for ever answer, there are many more questions piled on top. Can she even figure out the truth and untangle the lies?? She is drawn to the blacksmith, but it becomes more of a situationship. No one is who or what they appear or seem. There are enemies amongst her, but which ones are they???

This was my first read by this author, but definietly not my last! I can honestly say it has been months since I have stayed up reading till 3am. This book had me doing just that! the action, mystery, banter, and the amnesia trope was exquisitely written. The world building fully emmersed me! The pace was fast/steady. I was so shocked reading the last chapter. I honestly had no clue who the enemies were. Her amulet for sure needs a new clasp; she kept loosing it! I was cheering on her and the blacksmith the whole time. I was blindsided just like the FMC. There is war, slow burn, death, grief, amd finding ones self. Yet more importantly it is righting wrongs, and not always having to be who you were. This is book1, and I would definielty recommend reading in order. Highly recommend, and cant wait to dive into book2!

I really struggled to get through this book, and eventually had to stop at 30%. The authors writing style didn’t appeal to me in the slightest, though their plot idea was strong.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book.

Slow burn, memory loss, stabby FMC, mysteries and twists(!), betrayal/secrets, cliffhanger

Kai wakes up being robbed and realizes she doesn't know where she is or who she is. But she knows her belongings are important. So she follows the thief to find a town revenged by a sickness. The town blacksmith ends up coming to her aid when she runs into trouble with the local law enforcement, and then later when the town is under attack she not only discovers she can fight very well, but so can he. Soon she finds herself setting out to draw her attackers away and to find more answers with the handsome blacksmith by her side.

This is one of the learn the world along with the FMC since she wakes up without her memory. Lots of mystery and trying to piece together why people are after her and cryptic messages given to her. I did have a bit of a hard time with this one as I wasn't very connected to the characters and wasn't feeling the MMC. I do want to see where the story goes with next book though!

Kai wakes in the woods with no idea why she is there or who she is. She meets an intriguing blacksmith and his sister and realizes that she must set out for the Sea of Devour to try and fix the screwed up things happening within the land. However, there is more to this blacksmith than meets the eye. Along the way, sparks fly between them, and she slowly regains enough memories to advance the plot.

Having a main character who doesn't remember is a great way to ease into world-building in a fantasy. Or it may just be a cop out. I spent most of this book confused. Who is Kai? Who is this blacksmith? What do these symbols mean? Why is Insta-lust considered romance? How can there be so many unknown creatures who constantly seem to change sides? How can SO MUCH come to light in the last few pages of a book? Why cannot there ever be stand-alone books, or at least a series that does not end on a massive cliffhanger?

There was a ton of potential in this book. But it was also repetitive and dragged in several areas. It needed to be tightened up in the middle, and we needed more revealed earlier in the book.

I have not decided if book two is one I will read. I am tempted just because I hate cliffhangers, but I also don't want to return to Vinevridth.

When Kai wakes up alone, amnesiac, and half-naked in the middle of the forest, she has no choice but to follow the one who has stolen her goods to a remote village. But outsiders are not welcome there, and with no name and no past, Kai is forced to work to avoid prison—and to have a chance at reclaiming what’s hers.

Taken in by Olivia’s brother—a man as generous as he is disarming—Kai must navigate the villagers’ suspicion, fend off threats from beyond the village… and unravel the mystery of her lost memories. Because what she has forgotten may be more dangerous than anything she’s about to face.

"The Last One" is a well-paced romantasy, though perhaps a bit too conventional to truly capture my attention. I would recommand it to readers less familiar with the classic tropes of the genre.