This was not what I was expecting, as I went in blindly. Dystopian is not my normal preferred genre. The concept is interesting.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Baby girls is not being born anymore and so the few that are born are now kept under guard until 21 when they get to join their parents again. One of these girls doesn't completely buy this and wants out. So much violence and questions come after this. Though there are more books in the series, it does not end on a cliff hanger. She didn't read as a strong female character, instead as lucky. No one else was really well developed. You knew the story they were being fed wasn't right, but the end didn't seem to have answered why they were doing what they were doing either.

Very thrilling read. Story was very intriguing to read. Characters were really well thought out an brought to life.

I think this series is just going to get better! It was a slow start but a good story! I’m looking forward to the next book.

I DNF'd this. Just not the book for me. it was too far away from my typical read I couldn't get into it.

What would happen if the female birth rate fell to below 1% thus decimating the world’s female population? Joe Hart runs with this concept in the first book in The Dominion Trilogy, The Last Girl.

I first requested The Last Girl because I was intrigued with the dystopian concept, the idea that an epidemic has reduced the female birth rate to less than 1%. What is causing this? What is the solution? How will the human race survive if there are no females left to repopulate the world? I’ve said that the YA dystopian has been a little overdone over the past 10 years, but I still had high hopes that The Last Girl would bring a little something new to the table.

The first 60% of the book is set inside a scientific research compound, where a few of the world’s last remaining girls are housed. Here the girls are treated as prisoners, locked away from the unknown of the outside world. Unfortunately this chunk of the book is where I had most of my issues with The Last Girl. Despite the intriguing premise behind The Last Girl, there seemed to be a decent amount of plot holes throughout the story. For example, if the girls housed in the compound are really among the last remaining girls in the world, then why the harsh treatment? I can understand why they are not allowed outside the compound, but they are treated as criminals and are even subjected to harsh punishments… It all seemed a little extreme. I also didn’t really believe the naiveté of the girls. Who would believe after living in captivity for 21 years, that they are simply going to be released to be reunited with their families, especially after all the harsh treatment for no apparent reason? Furthermore, it is never exactly fully explained why girls are the source of the birth rate problem in the first place… Since the male sperm determines the sex of the baby, wouldn’t they need to be running experiments on males? Had the author spun it so that the female womb rejected all female fetuses, it would have filled in some of the gaps and made more sense.

Zoey was a likeable enough character, but she was very much the stereotypical YA dystopian female lead. Nothing really set Zoey apart or made her special in comparison to all the YA female leads we’ve seen before. The remaining cast of The Last Girl are just as lack luster. I never really felt that the remaining characters were developed enough in order for me to form any type of connection with them. While Hart did give us a diverse group of characters (character on the spectrum – not specifically stated, but I’m assuming – characters of color, a lesbian character, a mute character…) none of these characters were well fleshed out. It almost felt like they were thrown in for the sake of diversity. While I commend Hart for NOT writing an all white & able bodied cast, it didn’t feel like enough to just include these characters. Maybe if he had focused on one or two representations instead of multiple, it would have felt more authentic.

Let’s talk about the girl hate in The Last Girl. Don’t get me wrong, I totally know how some girls (and grown women) can have a tendency to be petty, competitive, and victimize others… mostly due to their own insecurities. I get it, girls can be mean, HOWEVER there is typically a reason in most cases. Sometimes it is over a boy, sometimes it is about differences, sometimes it is a competitive factor, etc. etc. Generally there is some underlying reason. This really wasn’t the case in The Last Girl. There was no reasoning or backstory as to why there was so much animosity between the girls in the compound. I would think that a handful of girls living together in these conditions would band together instead of divide, but that’s just my thought. Girl hate, while very much prevalent in real life, is a pet peeve of mine.

Despite all my grievances, The Last Girl is not a bad book, and I can see why many have enjoyed it. There was a readable quality about it that many YA dystopian books posses. Why are we so fascinated by stories where the world is in complete chaos? Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough new & unique concepts that we have already seen done many times in the YA dystopian genre. There wasn’t anything that sets this book apart, or makes it stick out in my mind. There isn’t anything wrong with Joe Harts writing. I just almost feel as if he was trying to write this book to please the YA crowd. I’d actually like to see him write something in the adult sci-fi genre.

*I would also like to add that parts of this book are a little graphic and could be triggering to some, especially those that are sensitive to sexual assault.*

***Big thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I was pleasantly surprised by this book as it is not something I would usually pick for myself. I felt an emotional connection to the characters from very early on, mainly zoey the main character. The book is filled with plenty of action and suspense to keep you reading till the end... and in my case purchasing the next book in the series.

The tale of the last girls who are kept in a lab and watched over. One by one, they disappear. Can the last girl win her freedom or will she too, disappear?

Zoey is now a friend of mine. A good book even with the "hand Maiden" theme. Lots of death but in the end book two must follow right? I liked it

I usually don.t give many 3 stars, as I tend to feel strongly about the books I read. Good or bad, im usually there with an extreme emotion and opinion. Not this time I don't. This is the most 3 star book I have ever read.

It was not bad, the writing is illustrative and the Author is a man, writing about a girl and that makes it kind of more interesting to me in a way. I like the characters presented as we move on in the book, they are described well and so are our surroundings, but the story is tiresome: Yet another "special" female lead, a YA sci-fi, "The future is fucked but miss whatever will save USA".

I dont like that Zoey overcomes every obstacle put in front of her, even though she malnourished and never done any training of any sort in her life. The "badies" are looking for "something", that something is very important, and I bet my ass that that special snowflake is our heroine.

Basically this is a kind of a "Divergent" story that lacks Ompf.

My first joe hart series.
This book surprised me. I was utterly shocked how invested I was in this book. Very well written and relatable characters

This was a great book. Loved the story and the characters

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

The end of the world is a popular topic. How did the world as we know it end? Who is left and how are they governing it? What scientific studies are taking place to try and repopulate the world? And many other questions. Joe Hart's trilogy about the end of the world as we know it and the rebirthing efforts are in a bit of a different vein than the other books I have read. This time the world ceased to repopulate because at some point no more girls were being born. Only boys were coming into the world, at some point the chromosomes quit making girls altogether. Yeah, that's a problem for keeping a population growing.
Zoey lives in a place called ARC. She's about a week away from her 21st birthday and being moved from the place where she has been sequestered for as long as she can remember. She and the other girls held in this facility have been told that when they turn 21 they get to be reunited with their families and can live in the safe zone. But Zoey isn't buying it. As the time nears for her supposed reunion with her family she begins to thread together different events that have happened throughout the years. Her suspicions grow as she gets disciplined, shut up, etc. She decides she has to leave and take the other girls with her, something just isn't right.
I like Joe Hart, I've read another of his titles and he's an author I like to read. He writes fast and well, i.e. it's easy to keep reading his stories - the pace is always just right. I'm excited to see where he takes this series.

[I was given a free digital copy through NetGalley]

The Last Girl first drew me in with its plot and its cover, because although we're told not to judge a book by its cover, I cannot help but let that influence my choices. The story itself kept me drawn in through the way it was remarkably paced, starting off in the thick of the action without ever becoming too fast-paced and unrealistic. Although the protagonist's reasoning for questioning everything she's ever known is never really dwelled on, it was easy to forget that detail and for it not to matter as much as she continued with her fight within the prison she had been stuck in. Her development was occasionally shaky, but her relationship with other characters, such as Lily and Meeka, always rounded her out. Although these two in particular did get attention, I felt as though there could have been more done with them, along with the other girls trapped with our protagonist. The same could be said about our protagonist's future allies, but at the end of the day, perhaps enough was given about them in the first novel and keeps me intrigued to learn more about them in the sequel to come. The protagonist never seemed to catch a break, and one of these instances was disappointing as it led to a shock-value death that didn't really seem all that necessary. My favorite part of the book by far was the very ending because it was by far the most hopeful piece of the novel and hinted beautifully at the next story to come, along with the protagonist's own growth and strength. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves a good female-led, science-fiction novel.

Oh, my God. Just...Oh. My. God!
This book was INCREDIBLE!!!
How could a book be this good?!?!

I had really high hopes for The Last Girl before I started reading it, and it did not let me down!!

As I started reading, I was a little apprehensive about it being too similar to The Handmaid's Tale, which is one of my all-time favorite books, but it quickly veered away from any similarities I was seeing between the two. (I obviously breathed a huge sigh of relief.)

I have SO MUCH to say about this book...where to begin?
I read The Last Girl like it was oxygen and I was suffocating--quickly and with my heart pounding.
Although I have heard many a book described as "heart-pounding," I always had a difficult time believing the truth behind such a description.
But let me tell you: This book is freaking heart-pounding!!! I was literally on the edge of my seat while reading it, and quite a few times I had to physically force air into my lungs and remind myself to breathe. It was that good!!

And that's just it--this book picks up the pace early on and DOES NOT STOP! It builds and builds until you don't think you can handle it any longer, and it lets you rest for a moment, and then you're back on a collision course of adrenaline and excitement and more than a little dread.
What a feeling!
This alone made me feel as if I were Zoey, planning my escape from the ARC, running through the compound undetected, and then struggling to stay alive out in the wilderness.

Getting to the juicy parts...
Zoey's time spent in the box was so unsettling! I thought I was going to lose it when the creepy bugs came in. But when the creature with the glowing red eyes came for her, holy crap! So disturbing! (Yes, I knew both were simulated to a certain extent by the people in the ARC to scare Zoey before the Director ever even revealed that to Zoey.)

But what really got me was the part where Dellert (sick bastard--he made my skin crawl!!) led Zoey and Meeka to the machinery room to be RAPED!!
It was only a matter of time though--I was suspicious of every male character from the very beginning simply because the setting and circumstances of the book; women being used for their reproductive capabilities, women being housed and controlled like prisoners, and women being lied to about EVERYTHING.
I mean, sexually abusing the women was bound to happen in the story (NOT an excuse for doing it!!!!), and I was ready for it.
Or at least I thought I was.
Once they actually got into the room together, I couldn't have begun to imagine how it all would play out.
Zoey finding a weapon in time, Meeka easily stealing the electric prod from Dellert and jabbing it in his mouth and electrocuting him and then stabbing it through his skull until his brains oozed out, all the while still being electrocuted!!!!!
One word: Brilliant.
That moment permanently solidified Meeka in my mind as the badass that she truly was!
And when she died, I knew then that Hart would not shy away from killing off beloved characters and that he would do so savagely and brilliantly when necessary, making me love him as an author all the more.
It's a sad thing indeed. But in a world gone to shit, it's expected, if not necessary. Not everyone can make it out. Someone has to be unlucky, whether they're a good guy or a bad guy.

Zoey's subsequent race through the wilderness was frightening as all get out! Darting from dilapidated building to dilapidated building, struggling to find ANYTHING to eat, and outwitting the Reaper and his cronies at every turn was AMAZING....

....Not to mention being found by Ian. (Ian! I LOVE Ian, and I loved him from the second he entered the story!)

And, of course, Zoey's return to the ARC was about as scary as it could get. I can't believe they managed to get out as many girls as they did!

And let's talk about Lee for a second.
I'm calling him out for what he is: a C-O-W-A-R-D, coward!!
A big-fat-disappointingly-timid COWARD.
Zoey doesn't need him, and he doesn't deserve Zoey.
I loved him from the beginning, don't get me wrong, but there was always something about him that made me question whether he was truly WITH Zoey all the way.
His complacency about living in the ARC and about how Zoey and the other girls were being treated infuriated me.
For God's sake, his father had more balls and compassion than he ever did!
Omg, his father! Simon! I ADORED Simon, and he couldn't have been sweeter and kinder to Zoey if he tried. He was one of my favorite characters, and he was one of the only truly NOBLE people in the entire story.
And when he died sacrificing himself for Zoey and Lee's escape, I'm pretty sure a small piece of my heart died along with him.

Lily dying. What the hell was with that?! She was so pitiful and innocent, and she was constantly jerked around by her circumstances, only to be killed like ten seconds after experiencing freedom. Damn! Harsh.
But I suppose it was for the best. Let's face it: Lily would not have made it outside the walls of the ARC. I mean, she was barely making it inside them.
She was in NO condition to have her eggs harvested after turning 21. It would have broken her for sure.
It broke Tara, and it MIGHT even have done the same for Zoey, so there was ZERO possibility that little Lily was getting out of that experience unscathed.
All I can say for Lily's death is that she was happy and free right before she died--something Zoey wanted for her desperately.

Okay. Now onto that crazy bitch Rita.
What the royal hell?
She loathes the very idea of Zoey the entire book, only to save her life from Penny, her friend, whom she killed without a backwards glance.
Like, seriously?
HOW am I supposed to believe that she can be trusted now that they're on the other side of the ARC's walls??
Let me just say this about bad guys (ahem, girls in this case, I suppose): If they're bad, they're always going to be bad. End of story.
I think Zoey needs to sleep with one eye open....
Rita's playing house, digging around in the garden and fixing lunch, and I'm having NONE of it!!
Not on my watch, Rita. Not on my watch.

Lastly, the scene between Zoey and the Director and Reaper. Whoooo!! Can we say 'nail-biter'??
But as juicy and revealing as it was, I was left with concerns--the main one being, of course, why were Zoey and the others pursued so persistently if she shot and killed the Director??
I mean, he's head of the whole shebang. He's the main man in charge. Why not just let them all escape and pick up another round of girls and begin anew?
Unless...
Unless we were made to think that the Director was dead. Unless he actually survived the gunshot wound and called out orders for Zoey and the others to be followed and killed.
Hmmmmm. We shall see.

Observations:
1. Zoey happening to stumble into the helicopter on her way out of the ARC was just too unbelievable for me to take seriously. I don't care what Zoey said, Tara could not have had the foresight to know where exactly the helicopter was sitting and push Zoey in that direction. It was just too serendipitous.
2. The extent of Zoey's knowledge of the outside world was frustrating! She doesn't know what a couch, a piano, or insulation are, but she seems to take riding in a vehicle in stride. In theory, she would not have been accustomed to vehicles, yet she seems at ease around them. If I were her and I had never seen/ridden in a car before and someone told me to get in, I'd be wary.

Predictions:
1. Lee will return. He has to. He was too close to Zoey's heart for him to not make a reappearance in the story.
2. Something will happen between Zoey and Newton. I saw it from the second he entered the story. He's too perfect for Zoey for her NOT to take notice. He's strong, brave, willing to fight when he has to and willing to kill when he has to, and he has clearly endured something horrifying enough for him to be rendered mute (whether willingly or unwillingly). Lee is just too faint-hearted to stand beside Zoey and fight for the return of everyone's freedom. Newton shares a common bond with Zoey that ties them together--the need to fight and win. I see something between them, and I hope I'm not wrong.
3. Zoey will return to the ARC because the Reaper is not dead, and perhaps neither is the Director. The compound needs to be destroyed entirely, or they will continue to search for more women/girls to kidnap to bring back and test on.
4. Vivian. There is something going on with her, something strange. My guess is either she is related to Zoey (her mother?!?), or she knows something crucial about Zoey that will later be revealed. Perhaps something to do with Zoey's fertility or something about Zoey's true family if she isn't actually her mother. Her interactions with Zoey were odd, to say the least, and her insistence that Zoey not be shot when Tara was SO much less of a threat to everyone and was tossed aside without a second thought causes me to think that Zoey is a more valuable player in the game than she could ever have initially realized. Fingers crossed for something juicy!

Whew!
That being said, this book did NOT disappoint. I was left wanting more, and I think the story ended at the absolute perfect place!
The reader knows enough to not feel confused or short-changed, but wants to see how Zoey will handle the next, possibly scarier, chapter in her life.

I will DEFINITELY be buying the other two books in the trilogy very soon and devouring them like I did the first one. I'd be a fool not to! Hart is brilliant, and he clearly knows how to keep the reader on the edge of their seat.


*Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was okay. I've seen that a lot of people have found the concept somewhat offensive and overdone but this didn't particularly bother me. My issue was that it felt unrealistic and the narrative felt far too infantile for the severity of the situation. I think that sci-fi fans will really enjoy this book.
A respectable 3 stars.

If I have to describe this novel with only one word, it would be ordinary. I didn't hate this novel. There was nothing terribly wrong with it. Did it have some holes in its logic? Yes, but I've read other dystopian novels that also raised some questions. Did it have action? Yes, more so towards the middle and end of the novel. What this novel didn't have is a unique component, something that makes it stand out in mind from everything else in the genre. I didn't really care much about the characters because there just wasn't anything to draw me to them. The beginning of the book sounded like The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - only not as well-written. Right now, I'm trying to come up with something interesting to write about this novel but I've got nothing. It's not a terrible novel by any means but it has nothing new to offer and for that reason, it is unmemorable. Maybe it's my own boredom from reading about the same crisis of not-enough-women-to-populate-the-planet, but I struggled to get through this book. It just didn't work for me.

I really wanted to get into this book but I just couldn't do it. It started off pretty slow and then of course things got a lot better later on. In the beginning I was reading but also skimming through so there were things I missed but at the same time I just wanted to finish the book. I was looking forward to this book but it just didn't do it for me.

So happy I stumbled across this book. Let me start off by saying that this is a genre (science fiction, dystopian) that I normally despise so I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

"As of today we don't have any solid factual data or numbers to speak of concerning the phenomena."

The book follows Zoey, a 20-year old girl, who is one of seven girls living in a research facility after the world's female population inexplicably begins declining. For 25 years, scientists have been unable to determine why women are unable to give birth to a female baby.

"I don't know what's after induction, but it's not what they say. It's all a lie"

Throughout their time in the facility, the girls are raised knowing that on their 21st birthday, they will go through their Induction and be reunited with the families they were taken away from as children. All of the girls look forward to this date with the exception of Zoey who has become skeptical of the system and the people in it.

"We are of the greater good. We live for the chance to rebuild the world that is no longer."

I spent a good portion of my time reading this book feeling disgusted with its themes, but these themes are important to the plot and my disgust was due in no part to Mr. Hart's narrative. The girls are treated as objects in a science experiment instead of as women. They are told when they can eat, shower, dress, sleep, exercise and work. Their days follow a strict schedule and each girl is escorted and watched over by their own cleric (aka, guard). They are unable to experience anything outside the walls of the research facility and are held to a strict set of rules and live in fear of punishment if they should violate these rules.

"Even when all seemed lost, he continued on. And that's what we all must do if we want to survive"

From the beginning you see Zoey begin an internal struggle with her conscience between adhering to these rules and her longing for freedom and a better life. At the same time, she does not want her freedom if it means leaving behind the girls she has become close with in the facility. I found this aspect of the book to be very interesting and spent a lot of time questioning what I would do in this same situation. Zoey is very likable and relatable and I found myself rooting for her in each plot twist. Every turn of the page finds her becoming more resilient and cunning. It's refreshing to have a female heroine as so many books take the easy way out and have the girls being saved by their knight in shining armor.

"There are prisons of all kinds, Zoey, they take every shape imaginable.They aren't just concrete, and steel, and stone. They're everywhere."

The only con to this book is the fact that I loved it and now I have to add two more books to my to-read list in order to finish this trilogy!