The Last One

The Last One follows the adventures of a woman named Zoo, a contestant in a wilderness survival show. It employs two timelines which switch between the early days of the competition and later when Zoo is on her own.

The highlight of the book is the commentary on how reality shows such as Survivor manipulate both the contestants and the viewers through clever editing and casting personality types for maximum drama. This was further shown by the inclusion of forum posts by viewers of the show, which provided insight as to the viewers' opinions as well as information on what was happening in the world outside the show.

A minor complaint is that the characters were referred to by their stereotyped nicknames throughout the great majority of the novel, so on the few occasions when characters address each other with their real names, it causes a moment of confusion and breaks immersion. A much larger problem is the inconsistency in Zoo's character. Without spoiling, she is repeatedly described as independent, intelligent, and resourceful... but fails to recognize the reality of what is happening around her for much longer than is believable.

Despite these problems, The Last One is a promising debut with an original premise. A fast-paced, fun read good for fans of both post-apocalyptic settings and reality shows.

Provided for review by NetGalley.