Viimeinen muuttolintu on surullinen kirja seikkailusta, menetyksestä, ekokatastrofista, rakkaudesta, ystävyydestä ja tietenkin lapintiiroista. Kirjassa on niin sanottu "found family" -piirre, jota rakastan kirjoissa. Tarina sijoittuu lähitulevaisuuteen ja on toiveikas dystopia. Viimeinen muuttolintu on monisyinen kertomus ja ruumiinavaus siihen, mitä on elää ja rakastaa.

Ainoa syy, joka jättää kirjan viiden tähden alapuolelle, on lopun kiirehdintä ja muutama epäjohdonmukaisuus.

Content Warnings

karmapen's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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jaimiejaimiejaimie's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It's a 3.5? This book was strange for me. Franny was so outside of anyone I could imagine, and the events were so improbable I had a hard time with it. I appreciated the diverse characters, but at the same time they seemed there as a backdrop to a white woman's plight. It was still engrossing, but it felt like a book I would have appreciated more as a college student and had more drama in my gut. The audiobook narrator does a pretty darn good job with all of the accents and brings the story alive with her acting, so there's that. And as a content note, I found it very difficult to get through certain parts as the mother to a son and daughter.

But also, what the heck did I just read? Did anyone grow? Did anyone learn anything? What was real?

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emilypalah's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

I think this is my current favourite book. Not many books make me cry, but this one did. It made me rethink my impact, being alive on this earth, and my future career as a biologist. The plot and the twists and turns and the flashbacks all added to the beauty of this book. Wow honestly

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shantuck13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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annamolpus's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Our heroine is a scientist obsessed with an endangered species that she loves dearly. In fact, she often identifies more with the animals she studies than with her fellow humans. She has significant trauma in her past, some of which is alluded to only obliquely so that the reader slowly pieces together what happened via flashbacks sprinkled throughout the novel. As the novel begins, our heroine has travelled to a foreign land on a possibly-doomed quest to save her species, where she's greeted with distrust - or even outright hostility - from the locals who feel their livelihood is threatened. However, over time, she forms a found family of sorts with a motley crew of people who develop respect for her obsession even if they don't always understand it.

My only issue with my synopsis of Migrations above is that it applies equally to McConaghy's subsequent novel "Once There Were Wolves." As it happens, I read Once There Were Wolves first, so it felt fresher to me then and Wolves is my favorite of the two. There are certainly differences between the novels, but I must admit that as I began Migrations, I was pretty quickly struck by the similarities. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Migrations and found it very moving. It takes place in a near future where most species are going extinct at a rapid pace, which is certainly a sobering premise. I would've preferred a slightly more straightforward recounting of the protagonist's past trauma (she's an unreliable narrator). But the well-developed characters and passion for nature were a draw for me.

I'd recommend this for fans of character-centric literary fiction, particularly with a passion for environmentalism.

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gibetal's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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velsbooknook's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense

5.0

I read Once There Were Wolves last year and really enjoyed it so I was very excited to read McConaghy's debut novel. In the beginning I did not think that I would be so invested in the last migration of the Arctic Terns but oh well I was! The writing style was so eerie and atmospheric having me turn page after page. The topics of climate change and animal extinction were so real and scary. I was invested in all timelines and I loved to find out everything about the main character Franny. Seeing her in the present and in past events that made her the woman she is now. This story was dark and cruel, yet also beautiful and breathtaking. Be sure to check trigger warnings since some events were very heavy. I loved this book a lot and it has a special place in my heart. If it sounds like something you would enjoy I encourage you to give this one a go.

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