2 ⭐️
Unfortunately I just couldn’t get into this book, I thought the writing was a little hard to follow at times with finding it hard to keep myself invested in the story. I found the characters difficult to relate to as well and very slowed pace. When first starting this I had seen many great reviews and was excited to start this book but it fell flat for me.

Loyal May returns to her hometown after a betrayal and the death of her childhood friend, Cutter Labasque. Loyal, who left town years ago, is now determined to uncover the truth behind Cutter's death, which the local police have ruled as an accident, but Loyal suspects foul play. She teams up with a group of unlikely allies to expose a web of deceit and corruption within the small town and its hidden secrets. 

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC
Publication date: May 27th

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: May 27, 2025
Loyal May has left a journalism job in Texas to return to her hometown of Jacknife, Louisiana, to care for her ailing mother. Taking a job at the local paper, Loyal hopes to eventually leave the small town behind her- again. Then the body of Cutter Labasque is found in a bayou and although the police are claiming suicide, Loyal knows that Cutter would never take her own life. As childhood best friends who drifted apart, Loyal strives to make amends with Cutter by solving her murder- even if it means putting her own life at risk.
Anna Bailey is the author of “Where the Truth Lies” and their newest work, “Our Last Wild Days” is an atmospheric Southern Gothic story about the bonds of friendship, small town secrets, and whether or not you can really ever go home again. With emotional themes such as early onset dementia, struggling with homosexuality in a closeted town and drug addiction, Bailey pays tribute to the small-town life and its sense of community that never really leaves you.
“Wild” features Loyal as the main protagonist, although her reporting partner, Sasha, plays a significant role as well as Cutter’s drug addict brother. All three are connected through the dead woman, of course, but all three knew each other as children, growing up in a close-knit community. As different as all three are, they were able to elicit my empathy right from the beginning, and, despite their faults, I was hopeful they’d come out alive on the other side.
Bailey’s writing is delectable, and her depictions of small-town Louisiana are immersive and passionate, from the alligator hunting to the swamplands in the bayou. It was easy to see the town from both sides- the side that made its residents want to stick around, and the side that had them wanting to run as far away as they could.
Throughout the story itself, there were multiple plot lines but the most important is what happened to Cutter. There were many potentials and Bailey ensures that readers are left guessing until the very end. Although I had my suspicions throughout, I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong and Bailey provided a concrete solution for all the plot’s twists and turns.
I did not get the chance to read Bailey’s “Lies”, but “Days” was one I am glad I did not miss. Riveting and full of unexpected twists and turns, “Days” is an immersive experience for fans of Southern gothic murder mysteries.

Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey is a beautifully written and emotionally rich novel that explores themes of identity, silence, resistance, and the fragile, fleeting nature of youth. Bailey’s prose is lyrical and often stunning—there are lines that genuinely stop you in your tracks with their depth and poetry. The characters are raw, complex, and fully human, struggling against the pressures of their environment and the weight of their own choices.

That said, I found the pacing to be quite slow, and at times I struggled to stay fully engaged with the story. The novel leans heavily into atmosphere and introspection, which can feel immersive, but also occasionally meandering. It’s a quiet burn of a book, more about internal tension than external action—so it may not be the best fit for readers who prefer faster-moving plots or strong narrative momentum.

Still, there’s a lot to admire here. Our Last Wild Days is a bold and thoughtful piece of literary fiction that asks important questions and refuses to offer easy answers. It’s a story that lingers long after the last page, even if the journey there requires patience.

I found this novel off-putting, both in character and content. By the end, I still could not get a solid grip on the two main characters, Loyal and Sasha. The setting of the tale in bayou country was made out to be menacing and evil, which is ok, but it fell more into stereotypes than was needed. There were times when the prose began to be evocative, but then the sentences would lengthen into a confusing end. The whole work felt a little mixed up, perhaps, reflecting the characters' ambivalence about their surroundings and emotional connections, but it did not help the flow of the work. The alternating viewpoints also seemed forced, rather than a natural outpouring of the story line. The writing was engaging at times, creating in me a desire to know the outcome of a plot point, but often added too much side information or backstory before getting there to keep me hooked.

Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.