I’ve done a few posts for LAST GIRLS already but it finally hit the shelves this week!

I’ve been looking forward to this release for a LONG time so I hope loads of readers add it to their libraries and TBR lists now that it’s out.

 

**It’s kind of rough for authors to be releasing books while bookstores are closed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Authors and local bookstores could really do with your support right now so show them your love of books by placing online orders of physical copies of books to be SHIPPED TO YOU!!* 

 

Synopsis:
Demetra Brodsky's Last Girls is a twisting, suspenseful YA thriller about sisterhood, survival, and family secrets set in the world of doomsday prepping.

No one knows how the world will end.
On a secret compound in the Washington wilderness, Honey Juniper and her sisters are training to hunt, homestead, and protect their own.

Prepare for every situation.
But when danger strikes from within, putting her sisters at risk, training becomes real life, and only one thing is certain:

Nowhere is safe.

 

 

 

what makes this a great read…

Honey, Blue, and Birdie haven’t had a choice but to live in The Nest and although they feel like weirds among their peers at school, they are tightly bonded to each other. They have been brought up to follow strict rules and guidelines, to not trust Outsiders, and know how to survive in all kinds of situations (without the constant use of technology, and while also not knowing the full truth about their past).

They are strong despite the trauma they’ve been through. They are connected despite the distance they must maintain from others around them. They are smart beyond their years despite everything that is missing from their lives.

It’s a story that unfolds as thriller, a mystery about a prepper community that gradually appears to be a dangerous group with some dark plans, but this is decidedly a contemporary novel with superb character development. The entire story also wouldn’t be complete without a family secret and the ending encapsulates some of my most positive feelings about ‘Last Girls’; nothing cheesy, just full-on satisfied it ends that way.

Author Demetra really allows the reader to get to know her characters and writes her contemporary ‘worlds’ with the detail of a fantasy novel (I love the way she uses actual survivalist terminology for chapter names); these give the story so much more depth. Getting lost in the woods of the Pacific Northwest is one thing (I don’t think I’d advise it). But getting lost in this book for a weekend is immersive and wonderful.

 

 

 

 

*some thoughts about the state of the world around us in relation to LAST GIRLS*

Once the COVID-19 outbreak started affecting our communities jut a few short months ago, the concept of doomsday-prepping became something that seemed to be terrifyingly necessary because we suddenly went into ‘lockdown’ mode.

When our minds go into catastrophic thinking mode amid crisis (and the Coronavirus outbreak definitely can be described as a real one, not imagined), we turn to ways of coping that may be extreme, but not always rationally thought through.

Across the country and early on in the outbreak, many people started hoarding supplies such as toilet paper, cleaning products, hand sanitizer, and disposable face masks. They were panic-buying.

*Doomsday-preppers/preppers/survivalists don’t hoard per se; they spend months preparing and saving supplies, and plan to disperse these within their community if there is an emergency.

 

Because many people bought way more than personally needed or that they needed for their families, many people, including those with less resources and also essential personnel, could not get what they needed. This has been just one of the vey unfortunate issues of the pandemic, but thankfully many people have shown their compassion for others by sharing and caring for their neighbors and strangers in this time. Crisis has the potential to bring out the best in some people but not so much for others.

 

 

LAST GIRLS author Demetra Brodsky wrote her sophomore novel about a trio of sisters who live in a prepper community over a year ago, long before the current outbreak of COVID-19 that has swept the United States and much of the world.

I think there’s something quite wonderful about this having been written before the outbreak but most will read it afterwards. I read it during ‘quarantine’ and it colored the way I was feeling at that time; I was barely leaving my house! 

It seems crazy to have written about people preparing for TEOTWAWKI (and people prepare for ‘The End’ all the time) when it kind of felt like it for a while when so much was unknown.

I’m grateful to Demetra and all my books and for the privilege of reading so I can escape my own reality when things are hard. For real.

 

 

COMING UP...

 

 

Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore will be hosting a Virtual Launch Event for LAST GIRLS on Saturday May 9th at 2pm, and you can check out the info at the FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE!

You can order signed copies of the book through Mysterious Galaxy, whether you tune in for the event or not.

 

 

HAPPY READING. Stay healthy, everyone :)

 

 

*A review copy was provided by the author Demetra Brodsky in exchange of an honest review. THANK YOU!*

The Secret Child: A gripping novel of fa...

One of the best books I have read this year. Kerry Fisher has a great style of writing and makes the characters very 3 dimensional and believable. The subject matter is a sensitive one and in previous generations very taboo. I felt the book did it justice. The story flowed nicely and wasn't hard going at all, although very emotional in places, I found myself rooting for the characters and hoping that it worked out for the best in the end. Books are always good when you find yourself thinking about it after reading. I have a feeling this book will stay with me for a long time!

Action from start to finish, and it was nice to have some over-40's bonking, but the dialogue was rather stilted, and the action felt very rushed. The other books in the same series by the same authors have been better. 

 

Here's the blurb: 

 

"

Husband and wife reunite in USA TODAY bestselling authors Debra Webb & Regan Black's sizzling Colby Agency: Family Secrets series! 

When someone tries to kill security expert Sophia Leone on a dark road, she's rescued by her husband—a US army general she thought died a year ago. Suddenly, Frank Leone is back, very much alive, and insisting that someone is trying to kill Sophia. Convicted of treason before his supposed death, Frank claims a shadow group is behind everything. Now Sophia must put her life in the hands of the handsome desperado she married for better or worse thirty years ago…the man she never stopped loving."

Family Secret - Kay LaLone Family Secret is about Tom Henry, a typical 16 year old kid with typical teen age issues until one day his mom is murdered. As if that weren't enough, all of a sudden he is seeing ghosts, and running for his life. He finds out that almost no one he knows, especially his parents, are what he thinks he knows and the danger of their secrets has caught up with him.

It took me a while to get into the flow of the story, but once I did it was really good. It turned into a suspenseful page burner. Tom does a great job of unraveling the mysteries surrounding his family. The book sported an interesting cast of characters, a ghost that isn't a ghost, super secret spies, super super secret witches and a grey cat that seems to know more than it should. Young teen readers should enjoy this book. They will find a lot to relate to.


I received a copy of this book to review in exchange for a fair and honest review.