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LAST CHANCE LIVE! by Helena Haywoode Henry (Oct 7)

Thank you Netgalley and PenguinTeen for the earc.

LAST CHANCE LIVE! is a reality show where d*ath row inmates can compete for freedom. When Eternity Price is picked, it's her last chance to live. During the show, she finds friends, a community of people also fighting for survival, while she grapples with inner turmoil. She must decide how far she's willing to go to win the game.
LAST CHANCE LIVE! is a YA novel. This book is interesting to say the least with its reality competition to save d*ath row inmates premise. I'm a fan of reality competitions, so I was excited to dive into this one. This book had a lot of potential, and kind of reminded me of that Gerard Butler movie GAMER (2009) minus the fighting and video game vibes---but it has the whole cameras floating around, showing the inmates and what they're doing vibes with all of them being d*ath row inmates. So similar...
Onto my thoughts. I was a little iffy as I got through the first few chapters. I liked the flashbacks because they helped tell Eternity's story, but I wanted to know what Eternity did, and I wish it was revealed early on (I'm a very, very nosy person, so I was hooked in a way that I wanted to know this so I stuck around).
I found myself rooting for Eternity as more was revealed about her...even without knowing what she did. The author was able to portray Eternity as someone---like as someone more than their mistakes, more than how they grew up, etc. But at the same time, I couldn't stand her when it came to the competition, her inner turmoil, how she behaved towards the others, etc.
One thing that irked me the most was the excess inner thoughts. I don't know how to describe it. Like brain vomit...so much going on inside of Eternity's conscious. I get it though. She was locked up, on her own---all she had was herself for the most part.
LAST CHANCE LIVE! was a little long, and the length was quite daunting. I wish it was a little shorter, especially some of the chapters. Now those were longer than I would have liked. That being said, I was able to fly through this for reasons stated above---ahem: wanting to know what Eternity did, rooting for her and wondering if I actually should, etc. And then everything was revealed and I was baffled. Absolutely shocked.
This book isn't for everyone. It's emotional and it's disturbing as we delve deeper into Eternity, what happened, and what didn't. Plus the ending brought tears to my eyes. This book is gut-wrenching.

This wasn’t my kind of book, but it was pretty deep and very thought-provoking. Often times I feel like young adult books have a happy ending for the characters even when it’s not a happy story. This book did not do that. The ending was very sad, but I think it was impactful because of that. Sincere was not likable character throughout the book. It really bothered me — her mindset, her perspectives it was hard to read the way she viewed the world and how she responded to it. At the same time, though the world really had failed her so I can see why she felt the way she did. I had a hard time enjoying the book because I felt like a lot of sincere’s beliefs were so skewed and damaging. But this book really showed that the speculative fiction is more so in her mindset than in the premise of the show. I liked it for the message it was trying to show, but I found the book itself difficult to read even though I know that was the point. The ending was really beneficial to the reader to understand that since you wasn’t meant to be likable person, her viewpoints weren’t supposed to be once you agree with. There’s only been a few books I’ve read where the character is so unlikable and that is part of the story, but I’ve never read that in a young adult book. I think it would take a really advanced young adult reader to appreciate this book because it was hard for me to read as an adult and get through without being so turned off from the way she viewed the world. Ultimately though I really appreciate what the author did with this book and it is an art form.

2.5 stars
Thank you @netgalley and @penguinyoungreadersgroup for the opportunity to read and review this. I had high hopes for this one – given the premise, but sadly this wasn’t it. The writing style and the point of view killed this for me. And I don’t know if having multiple POVs would have saved this for me or caused me to rank this higher, but I can definitively say reading from Eternity’s POV did not help. Her thought process was all over the place, which made the chapters and story drag on. Furthermore, this could have been much shorter, given that it was around 500 pages, and given that length, some of the chapters felt bogged down. However, I will say there was one positive that kept me going to the end. I was intrigued by the character’s background and their crimes, and I wanted to know what happened to Eternity.

Overall, despite its interesting concept and eye-catching premise, this wasn’t the book for me, and I wouldn’t recommend.

Last Chance Live! follows Eternity Price, an eighteen-year-old death row inmate as she’s cast on a reality game show that could win her clemency. However, if America doesn’t vote for her, she forfeits her rights to appeal her sentence and will be executed when she returns back to prison. But Eternity is desperate for any chance to get out of her sentence and go home to help her little brother. Not everything goes according to plan and Eternity has to decide how she wants to play the game: sacrifice new friends or do whatever it takes to win.

This was a very interesting book with a great premise. The author brings up a lot of important, topical themes and discussions that I really enjoyed. It’s a very prevalent novel to today’s political and societal climate. It’s a very heavy story but one I think will impact a lot of people and also be relatable to teens. That being said, I really wanted to love this more than I did. I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. It was very stream of consciousness, and it’s hit or miss for me if I really enjoy that style. Unfortunately, I found Eternity’s narration tedious at times. The book was also quite long, and I think it could’ve been shorter.

The characters were very well written. The author did a great job of humanizing them and making you forget that they’ve all killed someone and done some very bad things. Eternity is a very interesting main character. She’s very flawed and dislikeable but you can’t help but feel bad for her. She’s a product of her environment and she’s gone through so much. This really isn’t a redemption story, and I enjoyed that because I find that isn’t super common.

Overall, if you love books that have a lot of important commentary on race, the penal system, and reality tv, I think you’ll really love this one.

Thank you to Penguin Teen CA and Netgalley for the arc!

Did not finish - 23%

I will really intrigued by the concept of this book - kids on death row get a chance to compete on a reality TV show to earn the chance to live. Felt like a unique concept.

However the downside with this book was the narration style. It felt somewhat stream of consciousness and I just felt like I was dragging myself through wet concrete trying to get through each chapter.

I, don't even know what to say. There is so much to this book, and it's absolutely brutal, and I mean that as a compliment.

This book handles some pretty heavy topics with a dystopian premise: in order to escape death row, young adult inmates need to compete in a reality competition. Some of the conversations about faith take on a pessimistic view that I think sometimes overcrowds the story. I think Eternity's perspective is what makes the story shine. Even though the flashbacks and exposition are a little muddled, her voice is what kept me hooked to the story. And truly the ending of the story enraged me, and I think that was Henry's point.

Themes of racism, justice, and inequity shine through in this story and really drive home the author's message. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of "Dear Justice", "The Hate You Give", or "#murdertrending".

Overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to recommending this to my students.

This review was posted to Storygraph:
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/3d56de4d-d2f0-4482-b160-375c53577a0e

Help I don't know how to feel anything anymore.

Ok.

So.

This book is super complex, y'all. The characters are so well written and they are all pretty terrible people. Which is great. Everyone in this book committed some of the worst crimes imaginable. Yet by the end of the book you are like. Do they deserve to die though?

Honestly this book paints a very harsh view of humanity that I don't agree with. At every turn everyone does the worst action possible. I kind of thought this was just because we see the world as it is through Eternity's eyes, but after seeing the end author's not I am not so sure. After reading this book take a moment to look at all the good things going on in the world. It is easy to feel like everything, all the time, is horrible. I promise you it is not.

The books themes about race are very heavy-handed at times but I don't really mind that. Sometimes that is what is needed to make people listen.

A big point made in this book is how people's brains aren't fully developed until 25 or whatever. And with most crimes I could get down with that excuse. Like yeah, your poor impulse control and inability to think clearly about the outcomes of your decisions made you steal that purse or whatever. But I think at 18 you can probably know that hey. Maybe I shouldn't kill that little girl. You know?

Like, Eternity is such an interesting character, and by the end of the book you really do care for her, but I think it may be less than how the author cares for her. Yes, she had a horrible life. Yes, that sucks. No, I don't feel that bad for her. I am sorry but like again a lot of people go through horrific things and don't kill children about it.

HOWEVER I am also like hey maybe it is kind of crazy that the state of Texas gets to kill her. Like, maybe don't do that.

IDK man this book made me sad. It is very well written. It is so bleak and I don't think I would read it again. I do think you should read it though! I am so excited to start seeing reviews come in with people's opinions!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This book is the story of Eternity who is on death row in Texas. She can't stand the thought of rotting away waiting for appeals that probably won't change her sentence, so she applies for a new reality show called "Last Chance LIve!" On this show, death-row inmates between the ages of 18-21 compete for the chance to go free. However, freedom always comes at a cost. I was angry almost the entire time I was reading, which is probably the point of the book. Almost all the contestants are people of color, and all the contestants have stories and circumstances that led them to where they are now. I wanted so much better for these kids--even though they're adult aged, they are all still kids. They had crappy lives, crappy parents, crappy legal representation, and crappy outcomes. If you're looking for social commentary on our penal system and the exploitative nature of reality TV, this book provides it all If you're look for a redemption story, you'll have to look elsewhere.