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I requested a Netgalley digital arc of Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens after loving Dress Codes for Small Towns and enjoying The June Boys.

About The Book 📚

Title: Last Girl Breathing

Author: Court Stevens

Publication Date: November 7, 2023

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Young Adult

ISBN: 9780840707109

Pages: 400

Content Warnings: grief, murder, injury, child death, gun violence, suicide, abduction, self-harm, uncomfortable relationships, on-page description of teenage sexual content

About The Author

“Court Stevens grew up among rivers, cornfields, churches, and gossip in the small-town South. She is a former adjunct professor, youth minister, and Olympic torchbearer. These days she writes coming-of-truth fiction and is the director of Warren County Public Library in Kentucky. She has a pet whale named Herman, a bandsaw named Rex, and several novels with her name on the spine: The June Boys, Faking Normal, The Lies About Truth, the e-novella The Blue-Haired Boy, Dress Codes for Small Towns, and Four Three Two One.” https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/last-girl-breathing-court-stevens/1143228450

Court Stevens also writes under the name Courtney C. Stevens. 

My Review

› Let’s start with the cover. I love this image of the water and the bare branches barely sticking out of the river. They almost look like hands desperate to survive. The clouds tell me this story is going to be dark and stormy.

› First Line
“The bulk of Mom’s messages come through in a span of thirty-eight minutes.”

› Told in first-person with two timelines, Last Girl Breathing takes place in Kentucky. Lucy lives in a small town near the Tennessee River. Previously home to the LaRue Dam which broke ago during severe flooding and killed fourteen Boy Scouts and Lucy’s little brother Clay.

› Ten years later, Lucy is training for a shooting competition called The Walther Cup, hoping to compete at the Olympics like her ex-boyfriend, Neil.

› The story doesn’t waste any time getting right into action. Lucy’s stepbrother is missing. Then Sheriff Owl’s son, Deuce, is missing. Then Neil’s younger sister Astrid is missing. Then they find a shoe…and dead bodies. The suspense builds as Lucy tries to uncover the truth of what happened when the dam broke and what happened to Martin, Deuce, and Astrid.

“Evil came, left, and boomeranged. It came with a rifle and a scope. It came in a single word. Hunted. It came with a voice: Underwater, baby.”

› I liked the characters, but they were one-dimensional. The story lacked diversity and side characters were boring. I didn’t feel anything. I should have felt worried, sad, anger, however, I just felt nothing. I had a hard time getting through the book and forced myself to finish it. I do enjoy the writing style itself. It’s quality writing, with high readability, and authentic dialogue. I liked the beginning but felt bored throughout the middle and disliked the ending.

Bechdel Test ✅

› Characters: 5
› Atmosphere: 4
› Writing Style: 6
› Plot: 3
› Intrigue: 2
› Logic: 5
› Enjoyment: 4

Average 4.1
My Rating ★★

Average Story Graph Rating 3.89
Average Goodreads Rating 4.10

› Final Thoughts
• I really wanted to like Last Girl Breathing as I am a big Court Stevens fan. This one just wasn’t for me. I recommend this thriller to fans of YA fiction. I am in the minority on this – 77% of Goodreads reviewers gave Last Girl Breathing 4 or 5 stars. I’m looking forward to checking out Stevens’s next book.

 Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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I want to acknowledge that I am on the traditional territories of the Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Wendake-Nionwentsïo, and Mississauga. https://native-land.ca/