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)

After reading a few chapters, I decided this book held no interest for me at this time nor was it a good fit for my blog.  I elected not to finish the book now, but it may well be a case of "the wrong book at the wrong time" syndrome and I might be willing to try it again in the future.  Thank you to Random House - Ballantine Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to sample this title.

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.

I got over halfway through the book and I knew nothing. All I knew was what the description told me. The flashbacks were interesting, but they never set the stage for anything that the future was showing. The flashforwards/present time were very unsatisfying. They mainly had the woman (who apparently was Zoo, but I wouldn't have known that without reading the description) reflecting on what she missed and repeating that this all had to be some part of the show.

I had this book for the longest time before I got started, but once I got started, I really couldn't stop reading.
The premise appears to be that we are following a group of participants in a "Survivor"-like game show, except the challenges are considerably more serious and the consequences are more severe. There is a separate narrative in the book, that I had a harder time figuring out where that belonged compared to the main story.
That, however, neatly came together towards the very end of the book.
The story is incredibly well-told and, aside from sometimes confusing the side-narrative, a through and through page-turner.

I really enjoyed The Last One.  It is built around the main character, Zoo, as a reality show contestant.  It flips between what she is experiencing currently with different interactions and challenges she had with other contestants at the start of the show.  It was interesting and fast-paced.  It held just the right amount of intrigue that for a little while you can’t tell: is Zoo right, and the producers have gone to extreme measures and created an apocalyptic world for the contestants to navigate, or is all of this chaos, destruction, and death actually real?

I really liked Zoo’s character.  She admits that her excuse for joining the show was a bit bogus and that she’s kind-of avoiding the reality of aging.  Her relationship with her husband.  There wasn’t much hit on this, but I really could feel how much absolute love Zoo had for her husband.

I am a huge fan of apocalyptic novels, and for me, this one did not disappoint.  I liked the layout, the journey, and even the fact that the reader doesn’t know the characters’ real names.

I received The Last One from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. Couldn't get into this one, I didn't connect with the writing. I only made it a few chapters, so don't put too much stock in this review. Maybe the story is good, I just didn't want to keep trying.

I thought this story had a good plot with interesting characters and a good backstory. The narrative felt a little flat at times. I think some more editing would help the story move along more briskly.

This book has a definite appeal for those readers, like myself, who enjoy the craziness of reality TV and the lengths to which television will push people to the limits. I enjoyed this book, and I think readers who like contemporary fiction with a dark side will like this title.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I have lost interest in the title, partly due to trusted reviews, and will not be reviewing the title. I have, however, promoed the title through my weekly recap with links to Amazon. Thank you again, and I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

This is a great dystopian book. I was reminded of THE HUNGER GAMES, but to me, this was SO much better. So many aspects of this book made it a perfect read for me, especially the twist of the reality show. Two thumbs up.