Wednesday, August 3, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

It begins with a reality TV show. Twelve contestants are sent into the woods to face challenges that will test the limits of their endurance. While they are out there, something terrible happens—but how widespread is the destruction, and has it occurred naturally or is it man-made? Cut off from society, the contestants know nothing of it. When one of them—a young woman the show’s producers call Zoo—stumbles across the devastation, she can imagine only that it is part of the game. Alone and disoriented, Zoo is heavy with doubt regarding the life—and husband—she left behind, but she refuses to quit. Staggering countless miles across unfamiliar territory, Zoo must summon all her survival skills—and learn new ones as she goes. But as her emotional and physical reserves dwindle, she grasps that the real world might have been altered in terrifying ways—and her ability to parse the charade will be either her triumph or her undoing.

I think the key to finding a great ARC on NetGalley is to lower my expectations. It does seem like every time I read an ARC that I am not super thrilled about, I end up loving it. That was the case for this one.

This book is about twelve contestants on a reality show. The reality show is basically like am extreme version of Survivor. The contestants face both team and solo challenges in the woods and the goal is to be the last one standing. The winner gets a million dollars and the only way out of the game is to say this latin phrase to the cameras. First of all, the people in this book are not given names. At first it bugged me, but then I liked it. Even the people working on the show were just called "the host" and "the editor" and "the camera man." The contestants are all given nicknames: Zoo, Black Doctor, Air Force, Waitress, Cheerleader Boy, Tracker. I can't remember all the nicknames. Occasionally, Zoo would mention the actual names of a couple of the contestants. But even though most of the book is told from Zoo's POV, we don't learn her name until the end. The chapters go back and forth between two time periods: the past when Zoo and the others first started the show and the present where Zoo is alone and trying to make her way through what she thinks is still part of the reality show. The chapters talking about the reality show are in third person, while the ones from Zoo's POV is told in first person. That is an interesting decision on the author's part. Reading the reality show sections, it was almost like we were watching everything from afar, like we were the viewers of this show. We saw what they wanted us to see and we found out things when the contestants did. But when Zoo is making her way through this destruction that she sees, we are able to tell exactly what she is thinking and why she is so determined to believe everything is still part of the game. 


I loved the commentary with this book on how much reality TV can alter our perception of things. We were also able to see a little behind the scenes stuff with how certain characters were portrayed and how certain things were edited out to create the story that the producers wanted to tell. Throughout most of the book, you know something is wrong and that Zoo's perceptions are way off. And it isn't until the full picture of the reality show is told that we can understand just why Zoo thinks the way she thinks. And there is also the whole psychological aspect that Zoo doesn't want to realize that what she is going through is real. Honestly, there were times when even I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. This whole book was so suspenseful and dark and so good. I do think the ending could have been handled just a little bit better. I feel like there were still a few unanswered questions. All in all though, this was a very impressive debut. 


Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy this one. Worth the read!

10 comments :

  1. I'm glad to hear this one turned out to be such a good read, Cynthia. I was intrigued by the concept and requested it, but I haven't had the chance to pick it up just yet. Your review has definitely made me want to pick it up immediately though. I love that the whole story is so suspenseful. I can't wait to read it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nick, I do hope you'll read it soon. It's so fascinating. Happy reading!

      Delete
  2. I have to confess that I never would have even glanced at this book, but when I saw that you were reviewing it and I saw the words "reality TV show" I decided to click over and check it out. I'm so glad I did because this sounds really intriguing! Thanks for helping me find a new book to check out!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nicole, oh I am so glad that my review intrigued you!! I have to admit that the phrase "reality TV show" was exactly what piqued my interest enough to request it. I am so glad I did and I really hope you read it!

      Delete
  3. Going to have to check this one out. It sounds thrilling and your review has me excited to read it! A bit different with the plot too and that's always fun.

    ReplyDelete
  4. DUDE! This sounds like a book I would really like- I mean, not just because you did (though let's be real, that is a big part of it bwhaahhah) but just like, in general! I have never heard of it before, but yeah, it is going on my TBR right this minute! Fabulous review, I am excited about this now!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shannon, okay we both know that if I loved it, YOU will love it, right? That is just how we roll. :) I am so glad you are adding it to your TBR!

      Delete
  5. Great review! I wasn't sure what to expect with this one either but it was surprisingly well done -- spooky yet so real!

    my review

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Eva! I am going to check out your review as well. :)

      Delete