This cover + the Southern gothic setting = an instant request. For those who want to sink into a slow-burning atmospheric book, Our Last Wild Days is definitely for you. If you want something a little more fast-paced, which I was hoping when I picked this up, then it might not be the strongest fit.

This book really drew me in, like I could feel myself in this tiny Louisiana town! To start, I had no idea the author was nonbinary and I love that! I really enjoyed Sasha’s character and the growth of Dewall, and the glimpses of Cutter in the past really made me feel like I knew her myself. I didn’t love the plot twist but I was definitely satisfied with the ending!

What a fantastic book! The first one I have read by this author but definitely can't wait to read more! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Highly recommend!

Small town secrets + the Bayous of  Louisiana
Thank you, Atria Books,  for the gifted copy of Our Last Wild Days {partner}
 
Genre: Mystery
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date:  5.20.2025
Pages: 329
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

“Some people go through life like broken bones that haven’t been properly set, never really getting better, just slowly racking up damage for later down the line.” 

One of the things I love about being a reader is how every book resonates with each person uniquely. Through reading, I’ve stepped into worlds and perspectives I never considered before.

When I first finished Our Last Wild Days, I was unsure how I felt. It was a dark read, and there were moments that made me uncomfortable, leaving me questioning what I’d just experienced. But then, after reading other people’s reviews, I realized how much depth Anna Bailey infused into this book. She dives deep into heavy themes like relationships, addiction, abandonment, redemption, oppression, and social justice—all while crafting vivid, complex characters. Even though they have tough exteriors, you can’t help but grow attached to them.

CW: animal abuse, child abuse, drug abuse, gore

Read if you enjoy:
🖤 Atmospheric reads
🤫 Small towns with secrets
🗣️ Deeply flawed characters
📖 Southern Gothic literature 

Our Last Wild Days is definitely one that I plan on revisiting again and taking in with a new appreciation.

Thank you NetGalley & Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Our Last Wild Days follows a young reporter looking for answers about her estranged best friend's mysterious death.

I love books about the bayou, and gators, and this one did not disappoint. Our Last Wild Days features a diverse cast of wild, unpredictable and complicated characters that seem to come alive. I loved them all for different reasons, and I especially loved Loyal, for her name and for her fatness, something so plainly stated and without any morality tied to it, and I loved her for her dogged determination to get the truth, whether she likes it or not. Sasha, a gay man living in the rural south with pink hair, is another amazing character that is all at once flawed, innately good, and deeply relatable. Some of the other characters will sneak up on you - they will start out ugly and confusing, and end up touching you in a way you wouldn't have guessed. The town and the water surrounding it is a character itself, and it plays a pivotal role in the creepy-crawly dread that winds its way through this story.

There's not much I love more than complicated characters that you want to hate, but just can't, and want to root for, but just can't.

I will definitely be reading whatever Anna Bailey writes next.

"I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling thru this world below
Theres no sickness, no toil, no danger
In that bright land to which I go"

awesome, well-written, suspenseful thriller with an interesting mystery to investigate and an awesome set of characters. 5 stars. tysm for the arc. would recommend.

Journalist Loyal May returns to her small hometown of Jacknife, Louisiana to care for her ailing mother and work for the local paper. When one of her childhood friends is found dead in a swamp, Loyal questions the sheriff’s verdict of suicide and sets out to discover what happened to her friend. But small towns can hold big secrets, as Loyal soon finds out. Our Last Wild Days is a brooding, dark and suspenseful tale of a town given up for dead, and author Anna Bailey hits it out of the park with this sharply written and beautifully described story of a downtrodden family, friendships gone awry, and a quest for redemption, all set against a backdrop of alligator-infested swamps. The writing is absolutely mesmerizing, and you can almost feel the stifling heat and humidity and fear the lethal reptiles as the almost lyrical prose envelops the reader. Loved the characters and the gripping plot, and was sorry to see this one end, it was so good. Easily a five star read through and through. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I love Anna Bailey books. This one was not my favorite. It was very atmospheric and the writing was well done if a bit fluffy, A solid mystery with corruption and some heavy topics. All in all not a bad read.

This is a very good story, I think you would really enjoy it if you like southern life that's rough around the edges. Loyal May has recently moved back to the town she grew up in, her mother has a dementia type disease that has found her out in the yard digging tulips in the middle of the night, or wandering around not knowing where she is, Loyal is there to help her. Loyal found a job with the local paper, she worked for one in Houston where she had moved to when she left Jacknife. Jacknife is a very small community, everyone knows everyone else, no strangers there. Loyal had upset her best friend Cutter, when she wrote about Cutter's family in the local paper before she left, it was not a nice article, hinting that perhaps Cutter's family may be intimate with her (she lives with her 2 brothers and a father who had passed by the time Loyal returned). Cutter's bothers make their living by hunting alligators, not always legally, they sell the meat and the skin and can make a lotta money from it. One day Cutter is found dead in the swamp, and the police quickly rule it a suicide and close the case. Loyal is convinced that Cutter wouldn't do that and starts to look into on her own, and quickly catches the attention of the police, and not in a good way. A young girl also goes missing and that has the whole town out looking for her. The story is told at a good pace and you really get the sense of the environment, and how it's not a good idea to get too close to alligators. The story ends very nicely, all the loose ends come together. Overall I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Atria for the ARC.

One of the novel’s strongest aspects is its well-developed characters. FMC is not only intelligent and resourceful but also deeply human, making their struggles and triumphs all the more engaging. The antagonist is equally compelling, adding layers of psychological depth to the story.

What a wild ride!

This is the type of book I love getting sucked into. A mysterious death, in a town that you feel like you’re in while reading it, with a family in the centre of it all.

I would recommend this to readers.

An atmospheric book set in rural Louisiana! Loyal comes back to her hometown to care for her mother when her childhood friend (Cutter) turns up dead in the swamps. As a reporter and friend, she sets out to find the truth of what happened.

This was a slow burn for me and took a while to get into. You can definitely envision the setting and the dark troubled people of this town. The ending was unexpected for me but satisfying!

Our Last Wild Days swept me away to the swamps of Louisiana, where the setting and the people feel as alive as the bayou itself. The small-town atmosphere is rich and immersive, making it easy to get lost in its secrets.

Loyal, a journalist returning home to care for her mother, finds herself caught up in the murder of her childhood best friend. As she and her newspaper coworker Sasha start digging for the truth, they uncover more than they bargained for—twists, danger, and even an unexpected and surprising love story.

This book balances suspense with humor beautifully. The mystery kept me guessing, the friendships felt real, and the romance was raw and real.

This was such a great thriller. It was super atmospheric and you can truly feel like you're in the Louisiana bayou. The characters were deep and it kept me guessing until the very end.

If for no other reason, read this for the atmosphere alone! This story is set in the Louisiana Bayou, and it feels so real! The oppressive humidity and creepiness are around every corner! But back to the story itself, Cutter Labasque has been found dead in the swamp. Her family is the "trash" family of the neighborhood. Enter Loyal, Cutter's childhood best friend, who returns to help her mother and something about the death just doesn't sit right. We also have a betrayal from long ago that Loyal wants to make amends for. She is also working for the local paper. The tension is very real and by the end, nearly the entire town could be a suspect. I am starting to love this author, having read her previous book, Where the Truth Lies also. I didn't see the ending coming.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Anna Bailey and Atria Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of May 25, 2025.

I don’t think I have ever read a book that made me as homesick as this one did. That is how brilliant Bailey is in describing the swampy, claustrophobic, heartbeat of the swamp. You can feel the humidity as well as the danger!

The Labasques are wonderful characters, as is Loyal and her rag-tag bunch of fellow reporters. The Labasques siblings, two sons and a daughter, are outcasts in the town of Jacknife, Louisiana. Known as trouble and Loyal knows just how violent they can be.

Cutter Labasques and Loyal were friends. Until their gator took part of her hand. But when Loyal comes home and finds out Cutter is dead, she is determined to find out what happened and get justice for Cutter. Righting a wrong.

Brilliantly atmospheric! Absolutely loved it.

NetGalley/ Atria May 20, 2025

When Loyal returns to her small hometown to take care of her mom, she learns her childhood best friend has been murdered and sets out to find out what happened.

This is my second book by this author. I just read their first one and tore through it. I found the plot to be fast paced and gripping. This one fell flat for me. I wasn’t very interested in the storyline and it was very slow paced.

I did love the character of Sasha and enjoyed his storyline the most. The writing was also fantastic (just like their first book). I also appreciate all of the intricate threads between so many different characters. The author does a wonderful job of weaving complex stories with equally complex characters.

I love a small town secrets thriller and will definitely pick up their next book but I just couldn’t get into this one.

I had not read any work by Anna Bailey before, but after finishing “Our Last Wild Days”, I will definitely be seeking out anything Anna publishes in the future. This gothic fiction captivated my attention from the first page to the last. Set in the Deep South, I felt like a fly on the wall as the story unfolded. The storyline was expertly crafted, keeping me engaged while I tried to unravel the mystery—though, spoiler alert, I never figured it out! I love that! Although gothic novels aren’t usually my preferred genre, the synopsis intrigued me, and I’m so glad I stepped outside my typical reading habits. “Our Last Wild Days” is a five-star book that I won’t soon forget!

This is a captivating, immersive novel that takes place in the bayous of Louisiana. It centers around the Labasque family, who have always been troublemakers.

When Cutter Labasque shows up dead, nobody cares enough to solve the mystery of what happened to her, except Loyal, who betrayed Cutter in the past and wants to make amends, if only for herself.

This story encompasses many issues such as drug addiction, family bonds and dynamics, regrets and justice. It is beautifully written with an eye to detail when describing life in the swamps.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

This was a slow burn of the best kind. You know all the major players by the end, and all their dirty layers and the clean, bright brief spots glimmer though. This is one of the best books I have read so far this year.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.