A Southern gothic mystery from Anna Bailey. I somehow missed her debut, Where the Truth Lies, so I can't comment on whether her second book lives up to her first, but I have a feeling it does her credit. I certainly enjoyed it.

The story is set in the small, rundown town of Jacknife, LA, where people lead a pretty hardscrabble existence in the swamps and bayous. Loyal May escaped all that and has been living in Houston for the past ten years but has returned now to take care of her ailing mother. She's gotten a job with the local newspaper and the first story she has to cover is the death of her former best friend, Marianne Labasque, nicknamed Cutter, someone Loyal hurt badly before she left. She had hoped to make amends but it's too late for that now.

The sheriff's working theory is the young woman's death was either from suicide or accident but Loyal can't accept either so decides to do some investigating herself, with the help of her fellow reporter, Sasha. Her boss reminds her that her job is to report, NOT investigate, but this feels too personal to let the police handle it. She owes it to Cutter to learn the truth. But it soon becomes apparent someone really doesn't want the truth to come out.

This is a slow-burn of a mystery, concentrating on the building of atmospheric dread through the dismal setting and eccentric characters. I used to think Alaska would be a scary place to live with the wildness of nature but the swamps and bayous of Louisiana have just as many scary things that can kill you, like gators and snakes. Or are humans the most dangerous creatures of all?

As I said, there's a slow pace to begin with. We don't even learn how Cutter was killed until we reach the 50% mark. But be patient--the conclusion explodes with action and drama and makes it so worth the wait.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new mystery via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

I did not read Bailey's debut, but this sophomore novel of hers is so well written that I will be going back to check her debut out soon. Bailey tackles many themes with this one (addiction, domestic abuse, aging, mental health, grief, and more), and all of theme are very well written and executed. I'm not sure of the official classification of this book, but I would say it is a cross between a mystery/thriller as well as a family drama. I love when an author creates a sense of place so well that the setting is like another character to the story, and the Louisiana bayou is such an excellent location for this story. Although I felt like many of the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out, I love how they are all a bit messy while many of them are lovable at the same time. There are lots of comps out there to Where the Crawdads Sing, but I felt that this one was a much better book overall. I can't wait to see what Bailey does in the future!

The Labasques aren’t your average swamp family—and this is not your average murder mystery. Cutter Labasque is found dead in the bayou, and no one seems to care… except Loyal May, her estranged childhood friend back in town to care for her mom.

Wracked with guilt and suspicious of the so-called suicide, Loyal teams up with a ragtag crew from the local paper to dig into Cutter’s death. What she uncovers? Corruption, buried secrets, and a town that would rather stay quiet than face the truth.

Anna Bailey’s writing is sharp as a gator bite—Southern gothic with real teeth. It’s a slow burn, but it smolders, and the characters are flawed, fierce, and so human it hurts.

4.5 stars—because the swamp doesn’t forgive, and neither does the truth.

#OurLastWildDays #AnnaBailey #SouthernGothic #NetGalley #SwampThriller #MurderMystery #SlowBurnSuspense #PsychologicalThriller #BookReview #MoodyReads #TBRAlert

Thrillers tend to be hit or miss for me, but Anna Bailey’s OUR LAST WILD DAYS was an unequivocal hit. Loyal May, a budding journalist who left her small Louisiana town ten years before after an alligator attack and fallout with her best friend, returns to help her aging mother, only to become embroiled in a death that the police aren’t taking seriously.

I love a dark southern story. I’ve never been to Louisiana, but the atmosphere was palpable and truly a character in the story. The characters were complex, and many of them had motivations and struggles at war with their good intentions. The writing was so evocative—I felt as though I was being carried along by the narration, present in the moment with the details right before my eyes.

This is a dark story that gets at the underbelly of the worst of human nature, but there is hope and light there as well, with a dash of mysticism. I plan to go back and read Bailey’s previous novel, and I will be curious to see what they write next.

Anna Bailey’s "Our Last Wild Days" is a dark, tension-filled exploration of loyalty, justice, and the unforgiving weight of the past.

Set in the swamps of Louisiana, the story centers on Loyal May, a journalist who returns home to care for her mother, only to find herself drawn into the mystery surrounding the death of her childhood best friend, Cutter Labasque. Cutter’s family have always kept themselves isolated from the rest of the town, which has led to them being mistrusted and branded as outsiders by the town's other residents. While the rest of community tries to dismiss Cutter's death, Loyal is sure that there is more to the story and she's determined to uncover the truth.

Bailey’s writing is richly atmospheric and the pacing is deliberately moody, allowing readers to become truly engrossed in the narrative before escalating into gripping twists and revelations. Her characterization is a strength, exploring how deeply people can be affected and shaped by grief and betrayal. Loyal’s search for answers unearths long-buried secrets and forces her to confront the guilt she still carries for leaving so many years ago. Even the town itself feels like a character, with a dark history that winds its way into every interaction.

"Our Last Wild Days" is truly compelling in its ability to blend high-stakes suspense with raw emotion, making it a story that will stay with readers long after the final page.

1⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of Our Last Wild Days.

Loyal returns to her hometown of Louisiana to take care of her mother. She is a journalist and her first assignment is to report on a body that was just discovered but she is shocked to see it is her childhood best friend Cutter. She is determined to prove that she was murdered.

I could not with the writing being so overly descriptive. Also the descriptions they used to describe things were just odd and off putting.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5 Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an eARC, I so enjoyed this book. I loved the setting and story. Definitely kept me wanting to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. Definitely check this out.

Not to be missed if you’re a fan of Southern gothic thrillers - so good that I sent out for a physical copy. There’s so much I enjoyed about this book. Bailey’s attention to detail of the Louisiana bayou landscape felt surreal, and in the way she seamlessly combines eerie suspense with a fittingly dark atmospheric thriller/mystery was perfection. Our Last Wild Days is a multilayered story with messy characters that can’t help but pull at your heartstrings when a young woman’s body is found washed-up in the water and deemed a suicide. Our main character believes there is more to the story and goes in search of the truth.. and in the Labasque family connection. There’s so much more to the story.. poverty, small town violence, secrets, etc.. and it’s the bayou so of course you got your alligators too. Definitely recommending to all thrill seekers. 5 stars — Pub. 5/20/25

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

I give Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey four stars. From the very first page, I was captivated by the haunting atmosphere of rural Louisiana’s swamps and the small town of Jacknife, which feels both lush and foreboding. Bailey masterfully weaves a compelling mystery around the death of Cutter Labasque, drawing readers into a story filled with secrets, suspicion, and dark truths. The characters are richly developed, especially Loyal May, whose journey to uncover the truth is both emotionally resonant and engaging. The unconventional Labasque family and the diverse townsfolk add depth and authenticity to the narrative, making the setting feel like a character itself. Bailey’s vivid descriptions of the bayou’s humidity, murky waters, and oppressive environment heighten the suspense and create an immersive reading experience. Themes of alienation, societal judgment, and hidden darkness are explored thoughtfully throughout the novel. The atmospheric writing effectively captures the mood, keeping the tension high as each revelation uncovers more about the town's secrets. Overall, Our Last Wild Days is a gripping and evocative read that combines suspense with insightful commentary on human nature and community. It's a compelling story that kept me hooked from start to finish, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys atmospheric thrillers and nuanced characters. A well-deserved four stars!

DNF @ 10% - the entire writing style just wasn’t for me. the atmospheric setting was fantastic, even though the characters felt like clear stereotypes of the southern hippie cult-like persona… I didn’t get too far into the mystery and horror elements as the writing style and cliches kept pulling me out of the book, but I’d be willing to try another story by this author!! thank you to atria thrillers for the advanced copy & I’m sorry I wasn’t able to finish strong 😭

Set deep in the swamplands of the Louisiana Bayou, this slow-burn murder mystery follows Loyal, a journalist reluctantly returning home to care for her ailing mother. When her estranged childhood friend, Cutter, turns up dead in the swamp, Loyal finds herself entangled in a web of suspicion, regret, and long-buried secrets. Her regret at the downfall of their relationship propels Loyal's quest for answers and unsettling questions arise — did Cutter's own brothers have something to do with it and why? While it was a slow burn for me, the character development and plot twists make it a rewarding read of friendship, poverty, dysfunctional family, addiction and survival.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy! #ourlastwilddays #netgalley

I absolutely loved this story. There is something about the Louisiana swamps that naturally gives a mysterious element to any story. Anna Bailey’s writing was brilliant. I loved Cutter, Loyal, Dewell, Sasha and Beau. Each character had a unique voice and the struggles they all went through felt so real. I loved learning about alligator hunting. Excellent book that I highly recommend.

Anna Bailey's "Our Last Wild Days" wraps you in Louisiana's suffocating embrace. The humidity clings like a second skin, a constant reminder that nature holds power here, even as industrial progress creeps into Assumption Parish's wilderness. This palpable atmosphere is another character altogether, heightening every whispered secret and suspicious glance.

I found myself completely immersed in Loyal's reluctant homecoming, dragged back to the town she escaped by her mother's illness and thrust into a journalist position that reopens old wounds. When her estranged friend's death becomes her first assignment, guilt and determination collide in a way that feels heartbreakingly authentic. The partnership with her editor's nephew tones down the grimness as trust is built, evolving into a growing friendship between the two.

What starts as a personal quest for justice peels back layers of small-town façades to reveal something more insidious. The dead friend's family alligator farm provides the perfect backdrop—primal, dangerous, yet oddly vulnerable to outside forces. Bailey brilliantly uses this setting to mirror the community itself—wild elements being systematically contained and exploited.

The brothers' involvement with drugs isn't just a plot device—it's a window into how desperation takes root in forgotten places. Each character carries their own relationship with the encroaching world, making even the most troubling choices feel grounded in reality.

Bailey's greatest triumph is her ability to weave environmental concerns through a propulsive mystery without ever feeling preachy. The rot beneath the town's surface runs parallel to the ecological devastation, creating a thriller that satisfies on multiple levels. For readers who crave mysteries where setting becomes sensation and every revelation cuts deeper than the last, "Our Last Wild Days" delivers with devastating precision.

Thank you, Atria Books and NetGalley, for my free book.

A slow burn deeply atmospheric novel about a woman looking for truth and redemption from a morass. Loyal is back in Jackknife to care for her mother. She's always felt she betrayed her friend Cutter who lived in the swamp with her family and she wants to make it right. Except she can't because Cutter's body has been found. So what to do if you're a journalist? Yep, she goes looking for the truth with the help of Sasha, a photographer. No one cared about the Labresque family, not even the family itself and now Loyal is digging, putting herself in a bit of peril but even more distress. This goes in hard on the feels and smells of the swamp as well as the Gothic element of the story. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Good storytelling makes a good read.

Our Last Wild Days by Anna Baily, Loyalmay has returned to Jack Knife Louisiana, her childhood home to help out her mother who has early onset dementia. she gets a job with the local and only paper in town The Bayou Leader. with loyal maze arrival it brings their employees up to three. This is how she finds out early on that her best friend Marianne a.k.a. cutter was found in a cutoff in the Bayou. she will soon learn the death of her ex best friend with the sheriff calls a suicide isn’t the only strange thing to happen in the parish and she believes it’s all connected. first Loyalmay and the flamboyant quirky Sasha will have to go and get a comment from what’s left of cutter’s family her two brothers bow and dewall. they live deep in the swamp and the death of their sister isn’t the only reason she is hesitating to visit the back water compound where they live. The last time she saw the siblings she was running from an alligator attack leaving two of her fingers at the Homestead. The whole town thinks their family crazy, but Loyalmay knows a different side to the unconventional close-knit siblings. This is where she learns Dewall is angrier than ever in little brother bow is addicted to crystal meth. This doesn’t lessen her desire to find out what really happened, because knowing Cutter the way she did she absolutely a certain she didn’t kill herself. from football hopeful Don Broussard becoming sheriff to Cutter hanging out with the preachers kid there are lots of things Loyal we’ll have to relearn about jackknife but she is willing to relearn all if it helps her solve her best friends murder. this book was pretty good and the description made the mystery that much more earrie. I do want to say the author got the attitude of the policeman right because they do act like they are whales in a pond of guppies. i’m always afraid when authors write stories said in the Bayou in southern Louisiana but I have to give kudos to miss Baily because she did a bang up job representing the south she didn’t give us a stupid accent and for the most part she was correct. With one exception that is, there’s no way Sasha would’ve taped his hair because they’re beauty salons and Sally’s hair salon stores on every corner I didn’t get that I could be wrong because to be honest I didn’t even know why he was duct taping his hair but either way I digress I found the book a little slow but again I finished it the whole thing with Dewall at the end I found unbelievable only due to the characteristics he had throughout the book or for at least most of it. I still recommend this book for those who like books written in the south especially Cajun country you will probably love this book I really enjoyed it.#NetGalley, #AtriaBooks, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #AnnaBaily, #OurLastWildDays,

Ughhh so heart wrenching!! Being from a small town, we know the families that deal with addiction, poverty and shunned from the community. This book delivers a message about the labels in place, whether it is troublemakers, outcasts or damaged souls. The book has dark underlying tones that are painful to read how neglect and hardships can either make them stronger or angrier. The Labasques family has endured as alligator hunters deep in the Louisiana Bayou. They have known their share of betrayal and have created their own chaos and corruption in the town. When their sister, Cutter, was found dead in the swamp it was as if no one cared, not even her brothers. The one person who did care was her estranged friend, Loyal. Loyal left town at 18 years old after an accident with an alligator and some harsh words that she would regret ever writing for the world to see. Those words were like salt poured deep into the Labasques' wounds. Loyal returned to the town to care for her mom suffering from dementia. She took a job as a journalist at the local newspaper. She arrives in town, as a stranger to many and notes the demise the town has suffered since she left.
The dangers are not only in the swamps infested with mosquitoes, alligators and snakes but people in the woods with masks and an endless whistling. The creepy factor is definitely there within the swamps and will have you gravitating to the end. With reminders of Where the Crawdads Sing, just not quite as humbling, because this is a dark atmospheric thriller with a web of deceptions. A great job by the author keeping it low-key and slowly building riddled implications with 4 POVs, and layers of significance. There is more than meets the surface, and exploring deeper is a worthwhile endeavor.
"How anyone survives is much as it is the mystery of how one woman didn't."
Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for this incredible ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dark, atmospheric, with tension lurking just below the surface, Our Last Wild Days sucked me in and never let go. This book began as a bit of a slow burn for me and I do struggle with them, but the author won me over with her wonderful writing, vivid descriptions, and the mystery surrounding Cutter Labasques's death. I could almost feel the humidity of the swamp, as the family of alligator hunters in Jacknife, Louisiana, went about their business. When Cutter is found face down in the swamp, it is not her brothers but her childhood friend, Loyal May questions Cutter's death.

If you are looking for a book that is heavy on emotion with a fantastic southern setting, Our Last Wild Days may be the book for you! You could cut the tension with a knife as this gritty southern book gets closer to the reveal. The story slowly builds and readers soon get to meet several of the key characters who are flawed, damaged, and beaten down.

If you struggle with slow burns as I do, hang in there as Anna Bailey will win you over with her searing plot and vivid descriptions. This was my second book by Anna Bailey, and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Wonderfully written, atmospheric, and gritty.

Anna’s writing is incredibly descriptive. I could vividly visualise the setting and the characters. The absorbing storyline hooked me from page one as we join the alligator hunters who are the Labasque family. Orphaned, the three now adult brothers and sister live a meagre existence from the sale of the alligators they risk their lives to capture and kill. CANT WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT RELEASE OF ANNA BAILEY!

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: May 20, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

This was a first for me with Anna Bailey and their writing and I loved it. I took in all of this book and thought that it was wonderfully written. The way that Anna writes has you imagining and hanging on every last word on every single page. We jump in when our main character gets back to her home town and her friend is found dead and it’s ruled a lot of speculation are placed on what happened because of their upbringing and everything surrounding them and their life but what really happened is what we get into. We are given such a beautiful story with a lot of meat to it, involving relationships, family, judgment, ties and bonds we have with each other and the darkness behind things that we cannot see. This book was very addictive and I did not want to set it down. I will continue to reach for other books that publish from our author and will recommend always to my reading friends.

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Atria Books

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC copy. I was drawn to this book purely because it featured the swamps of Louisiana. I hadn’t read anything with swamps and always thought it would be great for a mystery/thriller and here we are. This book starts off pretty good and the characters are interesting. The book as a whole is a decent read and I’d recommend it to others. However, there are A LOT of trigger warnings for people. I feel like it has every complex storyline. It features death (obviously), missing children, abortion, poverty, homosexuality, and race issues, just to name a few (probably missed some).