After some sort of catastrophic event in the not too distant future the natural world is in deep decline with poor air quality, poisoned oceans and a scourge that has killed off much of the plant and animal life. Several of the world’s largest zoos have created elaborate habitats to try and protect the last remaining wildlife from extinction. But like anything else that is desirable but becomes scarce a black market develops and the rich, powerful and often corrupt want to gather the spoils. The zoos are going under one by one and the last great zoo is on the island of Alcatraz off San Francisco. We meet two keepers who love the animals and their work but see the dark side of where the business is headed. Camille has worked at the zoo for several years when Sailor arrives after working at the failing zoo in Paris. Camille finds a close friend in Sailor and they become a tight pair. But Sailor challenges many of Camille’s ideas surrounding the protection of the animals in their care and her plans become ever riskier as she seeks a way to help return these creatures to a natural environment safe from the eyes of the world.
I enjoyed the fast moving story and found the premise interesting and alarming. How awful when we lose even one species to extinction so it is overwhelming to think of losing most or all of them. It was a lot to ponder. All in all I enjoyed the novel. There were a few loose threads that I felt weren’t woven back in well at the end but it didn’t distract from the overall story for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron books for the Advanced Reader Copy!

“The natural world and the nonhuman beings in it are part of what makes this life worth living. If we kill all the beauty around us, we kill a part of ourselves.”

While the need for climate fiction is horrendous, I really appreciate some of the books in this subgenre that have been written over the last few years. This one takes place at the last zoo open to the public, located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. We follow two very different characters and get their perspectives when it comes to a variety of conservation-adjacent issues. Through their perspectives, the book explores the ethics of zoos when it comes to captivity vs conservation, how corporate greed can intersect with animal rights, and how scarcity impacts humankind and the animal world in a variety of ways.

There is not a lot of action, but there IS a lot of contemplation. I love a book with this type of internal tug-of-war, and I think it worked out really well with the story, but if you prefer action packed books you should know this going in. I quite enjoyed the writing style, and the sense of decay and suffocating unrest felt visceral and all encompassing. The author was really able to make us feel the intimacy between the two friends, as well as the desperation each one felt as the story progressed. It was also clear why they were drawn to each other and how their personalities shifted once their lives were entangled.

The desperation and overwhelming sadness, but also the glimmering hope, spoke to me throughout this book. I felt all the feels while reading it, and I definitely will still be thinking about this one for a while.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for the advanced ebook!

[Disclosure: Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for offering this book for early reading and review consideration.] In Sloley's novel, Camille works on Alcatraz Island at the last zoo in the world, a story both environmentally relevant and provocatively necessary for the modern world. When Sailor, a zookeeper from France, comes to work on Alcatraz Island, Camille finds her worldview irrevocably changed . . . Sailor offers both a realistic and sentimental view of the animal kingdom, teaching and broadening Camille's perspectives on humanity's evil, non-human virtue, and the hope remaining in a dying world. Sloley's book can grow stagnant at times, but its relevant message imbues it with power; Camille and Sailor's story is one frighteningly close to our own . . . it is easy for the reader to picture unhealthy air quality, extinct species, and the undercurrents of foreboding that vibrate beneath the storyline. Further, the book possesses didactic value, teaching facts about plants, non-human animals, and offering novel perspectives on humanity's perseverance in the face of a strange world. Sloley's novel is simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful. The book paints a portrait of what our world could become if we choose not to come together and collectively change our ways. Echoes of this plot already exist, and already, readers understand the beauty in endangered (and extinct) species' fragility. This book is essential to the publishing industry, humanity, and the world as a whole. I have yet to read a book this year which captures so keenly the threat of a dying world at humanity's hands.

I usually only review non-fiction books, although I do also read fiction – and something about the cover and the blurb of this book really called me in. I was not disappointed.
This is one of the most original and unusual stories I have read in a long time. The near-future world is richly imagined and disturbing, definitely not a place any of us should want to live. The idea of Alcatraz Island as the last zoo is incredible and descriptions so vivid I could imagine it no problem. The zoo life itself sounds almost idyllic, particularly compared to the outside world, at least if you can ignore the disruptive tours, the isolation, the cliques and the military style rule enforcement.
Camille and Sailor are interesting characters, and whilst sometimes I felt a little frustration at Camille’s naivete, you can also understand her need to be liked by her more confident and out-going friend.
The ending… I’ll be thinking about that for a long time. This is an incredible book.
Thank you Flatiron Books for providing an advance content copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Would you risk everything to make the world better?

In a world where climate change has had a devastating effect on nature only one zoo remains on the entire planet. It is located on Alcatraz Island, and it is there that zookeeper Camille tends to the animals in her care. Her life may seem isolated to many, but she's always preferred the company of animals to that of other humans anyway. Her whole life changes when a new zookeeper arrives on Alcatraz, Sailor, who has brought with her from Paris a more radical view of animal rights and what constitutes a caring sanctuary for the animals in her charge. Sailor envisions a place where animals can roam free rather than be confined as they are on Alcatraz, and Camille finds herself drawn to the charismatic new arrival and her plans. Could they work together to smuggle one of the animals on the island to a place where it can be free? If they can, should they?
The Island of Last Things is a literary dystopian novel, one that explores themes of the relationship between humans and animals, the ethics of and dilemmas faced by those who run the zoos of the world, and environmental failures and how things would be affected by a dying natural world. The relationship between Camille and Sailor, and their conversations about the animals for which they are responsible and the idealistic vision they come to share, are an important part of the narrative. The pace is slow...this in no Jurassic World thriller...but it offers a view of a scary future that still offers hope for those willing to do their part to make things better. I found it to be an interesting premise with a somewhat dramatic ending that made me rethink what I had earlier read, and I suspect it will appeal to readers of Téa Obreht, John Lancaster and Kassandra Montag. My thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for allowing me access to the novel in exchange for my honest review.

I closed this book and sat with it for a good half hour, wavering between three and four stars. It’s a story I mostly enjoyed, but one that left me with more questions than answers.

The premise is striking: the last zoo in the world, perched on Alcatraz Island, staffed by people whose work blurs the line between preservation and survival. The setup alone carries so much potential for commentary on human nature, environmental collapse, and our connection to the wild. And in many ways, it delivers. The dialogue between characters is a particular strength, and there’s a propulsive undercurrent that kept me turning pages once the central tension took hold.

Still, I found myself wishing for more clarity in certain areas. Why was Alcatraz chosen as the final sanctuary? What really drove Sailor’s rapid rise through the zoo’s ranks? Several plot points, from mysterious family histories to unsettling incidents at other zoos, felt touched on but left unresolved. A few inaccurate animal details pulled me out of the story altogether. I’m comfortable inferring, but here the gaps sometimes made the world feel less lived-in than I wanted.

Comparisons to Téa Obreht and Charlotte McConaghy set a high bar, especially for readers (like me) who love McConaghy’s deeply immersive eco-fiction. While The Island of Last Things shares thematic DNA (environmental decline, fragile hope, the pull of human connection), its emotional weight didn’t land for me. Key moments, including Sailor’s tragic final act, lacked the buildup that might have made them devastating. And the focus given to certain animals early on, like Feliz, the jaguar on the cover, didn’t match their impact in the narrative.

Even with these misgivings, there’s a good story here. Sloley captures a certain tension between resignation and hope that feels both timely and timeless, and her premise will stick with you. It’s not the kind of book that swept me away entirely, but it is one I’m glad to have read. It has the potential to spark interesting conversations about where we are, where we're headed, and what/who we choose to protect along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I did notice one typo in my advance copy, "thiryt" instead of thirty around the 79% mark, that's likely to be corrected before publication (today).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. 4 ⭐️

Overall I think this book really delivers on what it set out to do. We follow two zoo-keepers at what is essentially the last zoo on earth, blights having infected and wiped out much of the animal population.

And of course, because we live in a capitalist hell society, there are people who hoard the animals, keeping them locked up in bad conditions so they can make money from showing them off. This was maybe not a part of the book I expected, but really helped flesh out the world.

There is a great love for animals in this book. You feel it from the characters, but also from the way the book is written. A poignant little book with a big impact.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.”

Thanks Flatiron Books and Macmillan Audio for the advanced readers copy and advanced listeners copy via Netgalley! 3.75 rounded up to 4

For those who like literary fiction that incorporates some suspense, drama, and environmental crises (think Charlotte McConaghy where these are the settings but it’s the characters who stand out the most), then I suggest giving this one a shot! The cover might be quirky but don’t let it fool or deter you.

We are given Camille’s POV recalling past events on Alcatraz and Sailor’s brief POVs leading through her time there. It’s more of a slow burn but there is a continuous uneasiness, a foreboding, not so much about the climate issues as much as about Sailor’s antics and motives, which influence Camille’s predictable compliant behavior, and get increasingly more reckless and defiant. I was curious to know how things would all unfold, the true reasoning behind Sailor’s actions, and where Camille is now telling her side of the story.

The intensity ramps up towards the end and you’ll be shocked by what happens. I was, and thought the ending was fitting. Was it a favorite? No, but I did enjoy and liked the development of the characters and the story, as well as the reflections on the animal kingdom; how they contribute to our world and our unfortunate footprint on their survival. It makes you appreciate the beauty, majesty, and wildness animals offer our world. So, if you want something a little different, one that isn’t a cookie-cutter, been-there-read-that, this is worth picking up. Content includes minimal profanity and suicide.

A poignant, enchanting, heart-touching story that will get the gears of the brain turning. Keeping this one short because going in blind is what I recommend for greatest enjoyment.

The cover artist needs a bonus, wonderfully enticing!

The description of this book had me feeling it was going to be a no brainer 5 star read for me. Ultimately I had a hard time believing some of the plot points and found the characters' interactions to be odd and just not all in all believable. Camille is such a gullible protagonist that I had a hard time rooting for her, and Sailor is the Manic Pixie Dream Gurl of the Environmental Apocalypse.

I was not expecting the ending and found it to be an interesting way to wrap things up. That being said, I am not entirely sure this was for me

The Island of Last Things is a brilliant reminder of what we, as a society, have to lose. Remembering the bug filled wind screens of my youth, I fear we are well on the way to seeing some version of this actually play out. Very well written, grim, but still has hope. Well done.

Thank you to Flatiron via NetGalley for the ARC.

The Island of Last Things is a dystopian novel about the last zoo on earth. But is it? Are these the last animals of their kind?

This had such an interesting premise, and I will admit that I was hooked and wanted to know what happened next. However, I had questions that didn’t get answered. So be prepared for that, and you should also be prepared to suspend your belief.

I have to say I didn’t think it would end like that, and for that, I give it points because I wasn’t anticipating that.

I do think most readers will walk away talking about good and bad zoos. What that environment is actually like for captive animals vs being in a conservatory. I also think other readers will walk away with the message of eat the rich. It’s pretty well stated about how they (the millionaires) twist the messaging and we, both animals and humans, are at their mercy.

Is it a page turner? Yes! Will all questions be answered? No. Do I recommend this book? Absolutely.

*4.5

Slice-of-life litfic aren't usually a hit for me, but apparently all it's missing is a dystopian setting where zookeepers are responsible for caring for the last surviving animals on Earth. Set on an island conservation sanctuary, this slower-paced, near-future novel balances emotional depth with a haunting sense of realism that feels entirely too possible.

I was completely drawn in by the details of the zoo island itself—learning about the animals, their behaviors in captivity, and what might’ve been “normal” in the wild felt both tender and devastating. The relationship between the two main characters was beautifully developed, and the ethical questions they face, about care, extinction, and responsibility, make this story stand out for me.

The novel’s environmental and conservation themes are baked in with care and nuance, sparking reflection without feeling too preachy. While a few sections meandered more than I would have preferred in terms of plot progression, the rich storytelling, layered character work, and a genuinely surprising ending more than made up for it.

Highly engaging and deeply powerful, this book was truly amazing and worth picking up.

Interestingly written. Clear sense of style and interesting story. Might look into this author further, sophomore effort is strong and it would be interesting to see future ideas from this author.

This is a quietly devastating dystopian novel that explores what it means to nurture in a world built to consume. At the center is Camille, a zookeeper who continues to care for the last surviving animals in a society that has long since stopped valuing them, or anything vulnerable. Her devotion is rendered in poetic, deliberate prose that lingers in the intimate moments: feeding routines, silent companionship, and the slow erosion of institutional structure. The act of caretaking becomes an expression of feminist resistance, especially in the ultimate decision to sacrifice to save a crocodile, a creature emblematic of prehistoric endurance, misunderstood danger, and feminine rage.

The relationship between Camille and her friend Sailor adds nuance, modeling solidarity and chosen kinship in the absence of larger social stability. Their intimacy, both emotional and practical, challenges dominant narratives of individualism in apocalyptic fiction. Sloley’s vision of womanhood resists romantic tropes and instead centers survival through care, patience, and mutual reliance.

But the novel’s power is complicated by its insular whiteness. Camille’s world is quietly shaped by privilege: she had the resources and education to be a zookeeper, and even in the apocalypse, her inner world remains the primary lens. The narrative glosses over the colonial and racial legacies embedded in both zoos and dystopias, treating the island as an abstracted ruin without reckoning with whose land it might have been (with some superficial attempts - mention of the AIM protest on Alcatraz) or who never had the luxury to grieve the old world in peace. This absence is not just a missed opportunity; it limits the novel’s capacity to fully engage with the systemic forces it gestures toward.

In The Island of Lost Things, Emma Sloley imagines a future stripped of wildness, where the last animals on Earth are kept not in open fields but in converted prison cells on Alcatraz Island. Camille, a quiet and introspective zookeeper, tends to these creatures with devotion, employed by the continent’s elite to preserve what little remains of a once-vibrant natural world.

When Sailor arrives from the shuttered Paris Zoo, she brings not only a new presence to the island, but also a dangerous kind of hope. Together, she and Camille drift through the nighttime corridors of the zoo, sharing whispered stories and half-remembered dreams. But Sailor has a plan—to smuggle animals off the island in search of rumored freedom. The question is: will Camille risk the fragile safety of her quiet life for the possibility of something real and wild beyond the walls?

Eerie, tender, and steeped in melancholy, this novel asks what it means to preserve life, and what we lose when we stop believing in the wild altogether.

#flatironbooks #emmasloley #theislandoflostthings #feliz #dystopianfiction #climatenovels #debutnovel2025

Set in a near future where most animals have been killed off by disease and the air is barely breathable for humans, The Island of Last Things tells the story of two keepers working at the world's one remaining zoo.

Quiet Camille has worked on Alcatraz Island for nine years. She isn't thrilled that the zoo is primarily kept afloat financially by catering to ultra-wealthy tourists, but she cares deeply for the animals and sincerely believes in conservationism. On one momentous day, two new inhabitants arrive and completely alter the environment of the zoo: an elephant bull who will provide companionship and possibly mate with Alcatraz's other pachyderm, and Sailor, a rule-flouting keeper from the Paris Zoo.

Despite their personality differences, the two women soon become close friends. Camille isn't always comfortable with how Sailor pushes the envelope at the zoo, but she knows that Sailor shares her passion for animal welfare. However, Camille doesn't know the true circumstances of Sailor's arrival at Alcatraz, and has been largely sheltered from the dangers of the outside world. Sailor, desperate with the hope of finding a fabled animal sanctuary, takes advantage of Camille's naivete to achieve her aims.

A quiet novel that explores ethics, desperation, and connection at the end of the world, The Island of Last Things builds to a dramatic conclusion that will leave readers reeling and, despite everything, hopeful.

I listened to this on audio and found Suzy Jackson’s narration excellent. She captures Camille’s quiet sincerity and Sailor’s restless energy with precision, which is critical to keeping the book’s emotional core intact.

If you’re looking for hard sci-fi dystopia, this isn’t quite that. Instead, this is a contemplative, immersive character study about what happens when people (and animals) are backed into corners – and what it means to reach for something better, even if it’s risky, even if it’s foolish. Like the jaguar pacing its enclosure, Sailor cannot abide confinement, and Camille discovers she may not want to either.

Recommended for readers who love quietly propulsive stories, layered ethical quandaries, and deeply observed character work – especially those who don’t mind putting the book down to let it linger before picking it up again.

𝐀 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐳𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐳𝐨𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌: The Island of Last Things
𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓: Emma Sloley
𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4.5 stars

I was incredibly immersed in the world that Sloley created in The Island of Last Things. The book is reflective, brimming with life where there is hardly any left, and moving. The main character Camille and Sailor became so important to me as I followed their story alongside the animals at the world’s last zoo. As I read the book I found myself reflecting on books such as 𝘋𝘰 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱? and 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 because there is such an underlying warning within this novel. A mass outbreak has lead to almost every plant and animal on earth being wiped out. They are kept in a ‘sanctuary’ which plays along a fine line between actual conservatorship and a money grab for the final wealthy few left in a crumbling world. I could not put this story down and you won’t be able to either!! One of the most intriguing endings I have read in a while- it will leave you speechless. The writing is detailed and immersive, the characters three-dimensional, and the animals touched my heart. Sloley has crafted an incredible story that will not soon leave me!!

The setting and the devastating climate and last of the animals was so beautifully done and i felt like those were strong aspects of the book but I felt like the characters were a little lacking and not as strong. Was heartbreaking and definitely for readers of Charlotte McConaghy.

The premise of this story is so good – there was a blight, animals are actually going extinct, and Alcatraz is the last zoo. That sounded SO interesting, but there was next to no world building outside of the zoo. They mention the blight, carrying branded inhalers, and at various times reference how different the world is compared to present day, but there was just not enough building given the number of times the outside world is referenced. I did enjoy when there was exposition about the animals and how they used to be, pre-blight. Talking about the miracle of petting a cat, for example, really does make you pause and think about the animals we see every day.

That being said – overall, I'm just meh about this book. I thought there were so many opportunities to really create something unique and instead it was just sort of a sloooooooow moving journey with not as much going on as the blurb would have you believe. The ending for one character SHOCKED me, but the ending for the other felt, again, meh. It was just kind of like okay, it's over now. The end. Which I did not love.

Solid 2.5 stars.