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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Caz Ripley boards the RMS Atlantica expecting a romantic cruise with her boyfriend, but wakes up to find him and every other passenger gone. Stranded alone in the middle of the ocean, she faces silence, broken technology, and a growing sense of unease. As her search for answers intensifies, she begins to question her memories, her sanity, and the true nature of the voyage. When she uncovers a disturbing truth hidden within the ship, Caz realizes she may not be alone and that escaping will take more than just survival.
After reading an ARC of Adrift, I have become a new fan of Will Dean's work. I saw this book at Barnes and Noble and it was an instant purchase, especially after reading the synopsis...going on a cruise and waking up the next day as the only passenger on board??? That's an absolute nightmare.
I must say, cruise ships are super interesting to me. I went on a cruise once in 2018 and really enjoyed my time, buuuuut there's a lot of missing person cases involving cruise ships (Amy Bradley, a recently popular one), and other dark things that can happen on them so I guess I've been in a dark cruise ship story mood. Lemme tell you—this one was a lot darker than I thought lol (nervously). At first I thought it would be paranormal or maybe all just a dream—I couldn't have ever predicted where this book would go.
It's a great read, I just would have preferred it to be a little less dark and also I couldn't stand one of the characters and her attitude 😅 but I can understand why the character was written that way.
Trigger Warnings: Isolation, gaslighting, suicide, blood, death, confinement, emotional abuse, addiction, psychological distress
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The first “could not put it down” book I’ve read in a long time! Creative and psychologically scary, capitalizes on the things that make cruises vaguely ominous and unsettling. That combined with well-rounded characters who address not only the big challenges they are facing to survive but also the mundane details of their everyday lives made the experience more realistic and understandable. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had actually read it while on a cruise. The ending was perfect!
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I thought this book was fantastic and extremely interesting. However, I can also understand why some people hated it.. but I'm easy to impress and I just went along for the ride.
I never watch TikTok, but my friend sent me one of some woman quickly going over the best spooky books she'd read recently. Every single book she brought up sounded SO good, I added them all to my to-read list. And The Last One by Will Dean was the second one I've now finished from the TikToker's list of recommendations. And so far - both have highly impressed me!
The Last One gives a somewhat brief summary on the back of the book, but it still somehow tremendously sucked me in.
Caroline (Caz) and Pete have somewhat recently became a couple, but it's off to a great start, and they go on their first trip together - on the giant cruise liner, RMS Atlantica. The first night is great; they have a gourmet meal, meet some people, and explore some of what the ship will have to offer. They go to bed with high spirits. When Caz wakes up the next morning, Pete is not in the bed next to her. He's no where to be found in their cabin. And when she walks into the corridor, she realizes she's the ONLY one on the cruise liner. The cruise liner that left with a thousand plus boarded on it just the day before.
I don't know how much more to divulge other than that brief summary, because I had a very fun ride not knowing where the story was going to go in the slightest. The book took a path I NEVER imagined simply from reading the synopsis from the back of the book.
But I will say these few things about the book - It makes you think quite a bit about the way our society is and the type of things we enjoy for our entertainment.
I enjoyed the character's back stories and learning the detailed events of things that happened in their families and the way it affects them even to this day.
I liked the setting of the book being on the ocean. I've never been on a cruise, but I'm very intrigued by them and the concept of the vastness of the ocean. This book did a great job drawing me in even more on the subject when the author describes what ghost ships are and when he illuminates to the readers what the deep, dark, cold layer on the bottom of the ocean called The Midnight Zone is like. I went on a research rampage after that chapter so I could learn more about the creatures that can inhabit and thrive in such a cold, pressurized layer of the ocean that seems almost unfathomable that it even exists.
The book was told entirely from Caz's POV which I liked. As much as I like alternating POV, so many of the books I read tend to be written like this, and it was a nice change of pace having the story be told from only one voice.
I was somewhat intimidated to start this only, simply because I tend to read books around the 250-350 page range, and my copy has like 434 pages, I believe. But I shouldn't have been because this book is crazy readable, you'll find yourself flipping through the pages to find out what happens next. And I'll say this, and I'll say it again, but the short chapters of this book are one of the things that make it so readable. How can you not keep flipping the pages to find out what happens next when so often, the chapter would end on a huge cliffhanger, and the next chapter would on average be only 2-3 pages.
I highly recommend this thriller, and it's one of the best books I've read so far in 2024!
The Last One gives a somewhat brief summary on the back of the book, but it still somehow tremendously sucked me in.
Caroline (Caz) and Pete have somewhat recently became a couple, but it's off to a great start, and they go on their first trip together - on the giant cruise liner, RMS Atlantica. The first night is great; they have a gourmet meal, meet some people, and explore some of what the ship will have to offer. They go to bed with high spirits. When Caz wakes up the next morning, Pete is not in the bed next to her. He's no where to be found in their cabin. And when she walks into the corridor, she realizes she's the ONLY one on the cruise liner. The cruise liner that left with a thousand plus boarded on it just the day before.
I don't know how much more to divulge other than that brief summary, because I had a very fun ride not knowing where the story was going to go in the slightest. The book took a path I NEVER imagined simply from reading the synopsis from the back of the book.
But I will say these few things about the book - It makes you think quite a bit about the way our society is and the type of things we enjoy for our entertainment.
I enjoyed the character's back stories and learning the detailed events of things that happened in their families and the way it affects them even to this day.
I liked the setting of the book being on the ocean. I've never been on a cruise, but I'm very intrigued by them and the concept of the vastness of the ocean. This book did a great job drawing me in even more on the subject when the author describes what ghost ships are and when he illuminates to the readers what the deep, dark, cold layer on the bottom of the ocean called The Midnight Zone is like. I went on a research rampage after that chapter so I could learn more about the creatures that can inhabit and thrive in such a cold, pressurized layer of the ocean that seems almost unfathomable that it even exists.
The book was told entirely from Caz's POV which I liked. As much as I like alternating POV, so many of the books I read tend to be written like this, and it was a nice change of pace having the story be told from only one voice.
I was somewhat intimidated to start this only, simply because I tend to read books around the 250-350 page range, and my copy has like 434 pages, I believe. But I shouldn't have been because this book is crazy readable, you'll find yourself flipping through the pages to find out what happens next. And I'll say this, and I'll say it again, but the short chapters of this book are one of the things that make it so readable. How can you not keep flipping the pages to find out what happens next when so often, the chapter would end on a huge cliffhanger, and the next chapter would on average be only 2-3 pages.
I highly recommend this thriller, and it's one of the best books I've read so far in 2024!
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Most of the book was interesting, but the ending ruined it for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicide