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I loved the premise of this book and I really wanted to like it. I felt it dragged on however. And the inner monologue of Zoo really started to weigh the book down. I felt she should've figured things out a lot sooner. Didn't hate it...but I didn't love it.

Ehhhhh… not a big fan, I might be in the minority here. Found it difficult to stay invested in this tale, was not a big fan of the characters - could not finish and that’s saying a lot for me. I will keep my eyes peeled for more of this author and try them again though.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC opportunity though!

Such an original premise and one so deserved of a limited tv series. An emotional rollercoaster ride of an apocalyptic thriller. Highly recommended.

I loved reading as I kid but struggle to find time as an adult. It’s often impossible to sit down to focus. While this book was not memorable overall, I’m sure it’s not you, dear book, it’s me.

I very much enjoyed this book - it was a fun, well-paced read that defied my expectations

The books takes place along three parallel narrations:
A. A story of a production of a reality show, in theory about surviving in the woods, but really about whether the producers can make the participants miserable enough to quit. One of the characters (called Zoo in this narration), is the putative fan favorite, is a seen as plucky stereotype by the producers, but has a steely resolve that becomes more relevant when some unknown infection kills off the production crew, so that what was a reality show about survival becomes, unbeknownst to Zoo, a real story of survival

I am not sure what to say about this novel. The premise is super interesting - during the filming of a survival game show, a pandemic occurs, wiping out a good chunk of the population. The main character, Zoo (not her real name - just a nickname given to her by the show people) is unaware of the pandemic, believing that the destruction she sees is part of the show.

We go back and forth between what happened during the show (pre-pandemic and just as it hits) and what happens during what she believes to be her Solo Challenge. I found the chapters about the show more interesting, as there were more characters. However, we really don't get to know them very well. I liked Tracker and disliked Exorcist, but other than that, the characters are kind of a blur.

I found Zoo to be unbelievable as a character. Many things happen to her that should have alerted her to the fact that it was real life she was participating in, not the show - however, she doesn't realize it. Some of that can be suspension of disbelief on her part, but not all of it. I was rolling my eyes during a few parts.

It took me a long time to read this book, because I just wasn't enjoying it. The only reason I finished it is because I got it free in exchange for a review. I have heard it compared to Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, but I don't think it compares. I know quite a few people liked this book - I just wasn't one.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First off, How has this book not been all over the news!?! This was a "fun" twist on the reality shows about survival. Yet this one goes wrong, really wrong... and boy is it fun to watch unfold!
I really liked this book and would recommend it to any reality show watching junkie who also enjoys the dystopian genre.
Great twist to this book, with a present and past storyline. I only wish the cover and title conveyed more of the storyline. I would have grabbed this book sooner!

I received a free copy from NetGalley years ago but just now got around to reading it and well, reading it during a pandemic certainly puts a different spin on what is happening in the book. And the ending...no spoilers but man. Reality show out of control and real life combine into a weird new world. Told in two slowly merging timelines you know something happened but not exactly when or how much was scripted. Probably not the book for you if the pandemic is causing you anxiety and you are reading to escape but defiantly different from other books I've read.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

3.5 stars

The idea of this novel was INSANE! I was so excited about the concept, a group of people in a reality survival show and then a worldwide pandemic occurs....what if they didn't know?

The beginning of this novel was a little bit confusing (spoiler-ish) because it's told from two points of view, one is our female character and the other is essentially a play by play of the show. I really like that we never really know who they are talking about because the show chapters they are all given nicknames, so it takes a little bit of time to figure out who are other narrator is. It's very much a then (the show) and now (the individual) points of view as the story unfolds. Although I quite enjoyed that bit of it, I feel like at times the story dragged and frankly, you want to hit our individual over the head with everything she is seeing and experiencing. I get it with technology now a days, TV can do some CRAZY stuff (huge fan of Walking Dead...), however, sometimes it felt a bit ridiculous with how unrealistic she was with her frame of thinking and that got a bit annoying.

The ending of the novel was starting to feel pretty and hopeful and then it felt unfinished. I don't want to say more than that as I do not want to spoil it. It was an interesting novel and enjoyed, just not totally blown away.

This was an adventure of a book and one that I really enjoyed from start to finish. The author clearly got really into the protagonist's head and the emotions, pain, and devastation were all very realistic. The premise of the book was interesting and unique. It took something we all enjoy watching, reality shows, and adds a great twist onto it. The jump in timelines is done well and made me want to keep reading. This was a great escape into this world and overall I enjoyed it very much. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

I loved this book. Honestly did not think I would and picked it up, put it down about a thousand times. But it was awesome. I love the different perspectives in alternating chapters, how the structure of the story was built and how the main character, Zoo, keeps explaining away odd things as they get crazier and crazier. I looked forward to reading it every night, and I really loved the adrenaline rush from it. I don't usually read books like this, but this one was a great thrill ride.

Very interesting read. The author does a good job of telling this suspenseful story. Good characters.

A well done and twisty read about how things can go wrong- terribly terribly wrong. Zoe is the only one who knows and she's got to survive. This is a race car of a novel. A great read.

Twelve contestants begin a reality game to be the last one standing. One becomes lost between the game, reality and the conjuring of her mind. What happened? Is the game still being played? Where are the others? Can she make it home alive? These are some of the questions that arise, are narrated and are answered. Me. Olive has written a fast paced thriller that seamlessly intertwine the present and the past as we race with the main character towards home. We are challenged to identify what is real and what Zoo / Zoe, the mc is only imaging. I really enjoyed this book and was quite happy with the ending and the questions about the future that remain unasked and unanswered. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Highly recommend.

I love the premise of this novel but the execution fell short. I didn’t feel attached the characters making it less exciting. Still worth a read but not as good as I had hoped.

I am sorry for not reviewing fully but I don’t have the time to read this anymore. I believe that it wouldn't benefit you as a publisher or your book if I only skimmed it and wrote a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for not fully reviewing!

Thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to read this book! I appreciate the kindness. <3

The Last One by Alexandra Olivia

title: The Last One

author: Alexandra Olivia

pages: 304

format: Audiobook

buy it: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository | Goodreads

rating: 4/5

genre: Thriller, Action/Adventure

topics: Apocalypse, Grief, Psychology, Reality Television, Road Trip, Survival

Questioning Reality

A young woman nick-named Zoo signs up for a survivalist reality television show, in which the goal is push the contestants into quitting using psychological stress. As part of this, they are subjected to mind games, faction fighting, and even faked catastrophes and "dead body" mannequins. So when Zoo sets out on a solo portion of the competition and the world descends into a genuine apocalyptic plague, she believes that her extreme isolation and the signs of devastation she comes across are just part of the show. While slowly losing her grip on what is real and what is fake, and with no idea of where 'the show runners' want her to go, she slowly makes her way east across an abandoned landscape.
Dual Narrative and Tonal Shifts

The story is told in alternating chapters. One is told in Zoo's first person perspective as she makes her way across the world, slowly discovering more and more proof that it's all real and trying to play it away. The other narrative flashes back to the actual reality show and is told from the POV of...well, of the camera. There's a lot of descriptions of exactly which shots are on the 'screen' in which order (including the whole opening credit sequence of the show) and a lot of awkward sentences about 'the viewers will see X happen.'


The juxtaposition of the very basic, very distant narration in the show parts, and the very dense and close stream-of-consciousness in Zoo's parts created quite a bit of whiplash for me. I appreciated the potential of both styles, but I didn't get much of a chance to really enjoy one or the other before being switched to something else. Furthermore, there didn't seem a reason for the dual narrative. The show parts did not impart any insight into Zoo's solo survival. Zoo's solo story didn't have any thematic impact on the story of the show. They were both interesting in their own rights, but they only thing connecting them were "this happened after that." They could have come from completely different authors, they were so disparate!


The set up was great...to a point

One of my favorite parts of the book was seeing Zoo's mental process of explaining away every bit of evidence she got about the apocalypse being real. To the reader, it's very obvious what's going on, but at the same time I had no problem believing that Zoo convinced herself otherwise. The close-in, first person narration does a very good job letting the reader into her head, into all of her confusion and the fact that she's clinging to this narrative she's built for herself as a defense mechanism. There were a few points where I was sucked into Zoo's perspective so much that even I wasn't sure what was real or what wasn't. Obviously there's an apocalypse, but where exactly in Zoo's memories does it start? The portions she experiences are pretty clear, but there's a section of the timeline that we only see in Zoo's memories and she's a very unreliable narrator at that point.


It also helps that, in the portions of the reality show that we see, it's very clear that they're doing all the can to mess with the contestants, even to the point of faking someone's death. So while the final conclusion of "this whole destroyed town is fake" is a leap, it is reasonable that Zoo would have started down this line of thinking.


The only complaint I have is...well, that missing chunk of the timeline. There's a bit between where Zoo leaves the show group and before her POV narration picks up which I would have loved to see, because that's the point at which she starts to crack. Instead of seeing the process of Zoo losing her grip on reality and succumbing to loneliness, we start with her already there. She comes into the book already worn down and desperate and single-minded. And then she stays that way. It makes the emotional tone of the book very one-note. Her emotional state is rich and delved into for a lot of soliloquies, but it also doesn't change much.


Will I read this author again? Maybe.

Will I continue this series? Not part of a series.

(to be posted 2/15)

While the premise of this book was great, the execution simply wasn't there for me.

I liked the writing style, especially with the forum excerpts interspersed throughout. I also really liked placing the real names with the nicknames in the book and letting the reader guess who was who. I also appreciated some of the skewed perspective of Zoo and the unreliability of the narrator.

I was disappointed by how the novel ended and didn't find enough unique in this novel to boost up it beyond 3 stars. While I enjoyed some of the other characters, there wasn't substantial enough characterization among them.