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hollyk 's review for:
Last Girl Breathing
by Court Stevens
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is the epitome of "lightning never strikes the same place twice"--which is a false statement, and instead of lightning, it's tragedy.
8 years ago, the town of Grand Junction suffered a tragedy-a dam broke and killed fourteen boy scouts and one other boy, Lucy Michaels' younger brother. Now, Lucy is 17, her mother is remarried and she has a stepbrother. But when her stepbrother and another friend turn up murdered, and all the evidence points to Lucy's ex-boyfriend, she starts to uncover a conspiracy that could change the entire perspective of the dam flooding and consequential rebuilding. Some people will kill to protect their secrets, and Lucy may be next.
Ow. Pain. Sad. This was more gut-wrenching than "We Were Kings." It takes place in three parts, with the second part being almost negligible, but it can be divided into the Before Before, the Before, and the After.
The Before Before: details the day of the flood and how Lucy came to lose her brother. She blames herself, while others find her to be a hero. Barack Obama makes an appearance????? I'm surprised you can include a living person in a book but okay.
The Before: Martin (Lucy's stepbrother) and Deuce start as teens reported missing who are found to be dead. The initial evidence points directly to Neil, Lucy's ex-boyfriend. Martin was investigating the flooding of the dam before he died, but Lucy didn't believe him. Now, with her (semi) ex=boyfriend's future on the line, she starts to look into it more fervently.
The After: I can't get into too much here because of spoilers, but Lucy is older and working for a freelance private investigator. She's done her best to put the past behind her, but with new evidence resurfacing, Lucy ends up more dedicated than ever to finding the truth.
Lucy is great. Very flawed, homegirl needs some therapy, but she's smart, resourceful, and dedicated, not to mention loyal. I ached for her throughout the book and especially at the end. I liked seeing her grow and change throughout the novel, it felt like keeping in touch with someone you know, but like reaaallllllly closely considering we're in her head the entire time.
Now for some complaints:
There's a weird section where Astrid fervently discusses what "...The Supreme Court is doing to "ruin her life"..." (reminder that this is from an uncorrected e-arc copy). and then proceeds to "...make wild, psychotic suggestions about what should happen to certain politicians who disagree with her beliefs." This isn't cool. This takes place in 2023ish, and the only major Supreme Court ruling as of late has been the overturning of Roe v. Wade. That's a valid thing to be upset/angry/impassioned about. It's really weird to have subliminal messaging about how teenage girls are blowing the LITERAL repeal of their rights to bodily autonomy out of proportion. And to then suggest she's making deranged statements about what should happen to politicians? I don't think I've ever seen a democrat/leftist/liberal suggest anything other than the removal of certain politicians/justices from office due to not upholding their job/duties. This book takes place in Kentucky, but the fact that this is just a throwaway statement made my blood boil. Reducing a very hot-button, nuanced issue down to "angry teenage [social justice warrior] (my take)" is really problematic.
Why are we supporting the TERF Queen J.K. Rowling in the year of our Lord 2023?? Harry Potter makes multiple appearances in the book, and I'm so, so tired of dealing with her and her books. Major yikes.
I would give this a four, but I'm sticking to my guns (pun intended) and giving this a three.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)
8 years ago, the town of Grand Junction suffered a tragedy-a dam broke and killed fourteen boy scouts and one other boy, Lucy Michaels' younger brother. Now, Lucy is 17, her mother is remarried and she has a stepbrother. But when her stepbrother and another friend turn up murdered, and all the evidence points to Lucy's ex-boyfriend, she starts to uncover a conspiracy that could change the entire perspective of the dam flooding and consequential rebuilding. Some people will kill to protect their secrets, and Lucy may be next.
Ow. Pain. Sad. This was more gut-wrenching than "We Were Kings." It takes place in three parts, with the second part being almost negligible, but it can be divided into the Before Before, the Before, and the After.
The Before Before: details the day of the flood and how Lucy came to lose her brother. She blames herself, while others find her to be a hero. Barack Obama makes an appearance????? I'm surprised you can include a living person in a book but okay.
The Before: Martin (Lucy's stepbrother) and Deuce start as teens reported missing who are found to be dead. The initial evidence points directly to Neil, Lucy's ex-boyfriend. Martin was investigating the flooding of the dam before he died, but Lucy didn't believe him. Now, with her (semi) ex=boyfriend's future on the line, she starts to look into it more fervently.
The After: I can't get into too much here because of spoilers, but Lucy is older and working for a freelance private investigator. She's done her best to put the past behind her, but with new evidence resurfacing, Lucy ends up more dedicated than ever to finding the truth.
Lucy is great. Very flawed, homegirl needs some therapy, but she's smart, resourceful, and dedicated, not to mention loyal. I ached for her throughout the book and especially at the end. I liked seeing her grow and change throughout the novel, it felt like keeping in touch with someone you know, but like reaaallllllly closely considering we're in her head the entire time.
Now for some complaints:
There's a weird section where Astrid fervently discusses what "...The Supreme Court is doing to "ruin her life"..." (reminder that this is from an uncorrected e-arc copy). and then proceeds to "...make wild, psychotic suggestions about what should happen to certain politicians who disagree with her beliefs." This isn't cool. This takes place in 2023ish, and the only major Supreme Court ruling as of late has been the overturning of Roe v. Wade. That's a valid thing to be upset/angry/impassioned about. It's really weird to have subliminal messaging about how teenage girls are blowing the LITERAL repeal of their rights to bodily autonomy out of proportion. And to then suggest she's making deranged statements about what should happen to politicians? I don't think I've ever seen a democrat/leftist/liberal suggest anything other than the removal of certain politicians/justices from office due to not upholding their job/duties. This book takes place in Kentucky, but the fact that this is just a throwaway statement made my blood boil. Reducing a very hot-button, nuanced issue down to "angry teenage [social justice warrior] (my take)" is really problematic.
Why are we supporting the TERF Queen J.K. Rowling in the year of our Lord 2023?? Harry Potter makes multiple appearances in the book, and I'm so, so tired of dealing with her and her books. Major yikes.
I would give this a four, but I'm sticking to my guns (pun intended) and giving this a three.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)