Reviews with content warning for Cursing - The Last Girl

This is a solid book. It kind of moved slowly for me and not a genre I usually get into. The characters are well written but I couldn’t relate to them because I just don’t like horror movies. A fine book, just not written for my taste.

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bookishgoob's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Mary Shelley club. “The brain does curious things when suddenly presented with something it cannot comprehend.” what started as a game went horribly horribly wrong. my qualms with the book was definitely the eye roll worthy riverdale-esque dialogue, especially when it came to stuff like feminism, while still having a hint of misogyny in the main character. she’s very much an “NLOG” which makes sense given that she’s a 16 year old girl, but to have such intense PC dialogue about other topics and having the main character be “not like other girls” made my second hand embarrassment soar. on top of the second hand embarrassment, it took me out of the story when things like that happened, because teenagers don’t speak like that. however, the story was very captivating and so perfect for a spooky halloween read. it has a vague sense of dark academia with a secret society at a private school in new york, but other than that, i would not classify it as 100% dark academia. it’s a wonderful easy read, especially for teens and adults wanting to dip their feet into horror. it’s not too scary at all, but the mystery will keep you on your toes. once you finish the book, you’ll realize how everything was staring to right in the face. the puzzle at the end comes together so perfectly and naturally, it’s the first book i’ve read in a while that does not feel like it has a rushed ending. all in all, i give this a 3/5

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nina_yan's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

[Audiobook] 4,5 stars
A fun YA horror with a solid plot.

This was more fun than horror tbh. Appreciated that the story gave the reader moments to breathe out once in awhile from all the suspense tho.

Also didn’t expect LGBTQ content, because unfortunately the book didn’t have the tag to inform the reader. This is not the content I want to read about so coming across it does disappoint when the book clearly didn’t provide of a tag as a prior warning.

About the story, I have a few things to say:

1. I was Team Bram from the start and still am.
2. Saundra is still my favourite character idc.
3. I never liked Freddie. If you’re Team Freddie I wish you won’t ever find the cold side of your pillow at nights.
4. I miss emo characters like Felicity in books these days. People may hate her but she was very amusing to me.
5. THE CLIFFHANGER?????

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sunshinestark's review against another edition

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5.0

Perfect for fans of horror, The Mary Shelley Club starts off strong and ends with just the right hook to grab you, making you want a sequel immediately. Filled with references to old, new, well known, and more obscure horror movies, we have a group of students obsessed with horror who play a twisted game with one goal: make their target scream. When Rachel moves from Long Island after a traumatic home invasion, she never expects to be initiated into the Mary Shelley Club. The club plans elaborate pranks meant to terrify others, and it's all a game - the person who creates the best scenario wins. But as the game progresses, it's clear someone is sabotaging them. With danger closing in, Rachel isn't sure who she can trust. All she knows is she has to survive, and she won't go down without a fight.

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justagirlwithabook's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Seventeen-year-old Rachel and her mom are new to the Manchester area after moving from Long Island because of a traumatic home invasion that took place a year earlier. Masked men broke into their house when Rachel was alone and attacked her, but she defended herself and lived to see another day, though the experience left its mark; she suffers from nightmares, anxiety and anxiety, has trouble making new friends at her new school, and just can't seem to shake the past. But then, things begin to look up as she meets and joins in with the Mary Shelley Club, a small, eclectic group of fellow students and horror fans who take their love of fear to the next level, staging their own "Fear Tests" as part of a game. Come up with a plan, scare the victim until they scream, and the person with best Fear Test when it's all said and done wins. But things start taking a dark turn the more Rachel gets caught up in the group and their game, and it seems like her past, and a masked intruder, isn't as far away as she once hoped.

This one got off to a sort of slow start, but by maybe a fourth of the way in, things started picking up and the storyline turned a bit more macabre, which I ate up, in one 4 and a half hour sitting! I really appreciated all the references to the cult classics of the horror genre, both film and text (as a former English teacher and current librarian, all the asides related to horror literature were a hit for me!). The storyline really focuses most on this traumatic incident that occurs at the very beginning, and then everything builds from there. We don't ever find out much about Rachel and her mom's story really; we only know them through the lens of this bad moment a year ago. While this might not work for some, I think it worked fine here, especially as a Young Adult novel that really carries itself well as a "slasher" type of story (it'd make a great older teen horror movie!). I didn't fully see the twist at the end when all was revealed, so it wasn't super predictable, which was great as well.

What I loved: the (mostly) fast pace, all the references to classic horror novels, authors, and films, the build up to the somewhat surprising ending, the 'slasher film' feeling of the story overall (5-stars for entertainment value!)

What I didn't love: the end-end of the ending (it felt like it ended quite abruptly rather than smoothly tapering off and letting us go - there were some loose ends that would've been nice to have wrapped up), not a lot of love for the main character (she was a bit abrasive, but then if this had been a horror film, we wouldn't need to have lovable characters to still get caught up in the scary of it all), the more mature content (in regards to language, casual underage drinking, drug use, and sexual commentary ... as a junior high librarian I was hoping this would be a great addition to my library shelves but it's much to 'new' young adult rather than just middle grade-YA).

I would definitely recommend this to older young adults who enjoy a good horror/thriller with a plot twist (as well as adults who can appreciate a pretty decent YA slasher novel when they see one). As a librarian, I would recommend this to general public libraries where young adult horror has a readership.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group (Henry Holt and Co.) for the Early Review copy in exchanged for honest feedback.

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