The Last by Hanna Jameson

Genre: dystopia. Stars from Goodreads: 3.77. Stars from me: 4.

I fell in love The Last as soon as I read the excerpt. I love good writing. As long as the story flows naturally, I want it, regardless of the genre or description. That was exactly what happened with The Last. More than that, I found the description very intriguing. Who wouldn’t? 

BREAKING: Nuclear weapon detonates over Washington

BREAKING: London hit, thousands feared dead.

BREAKING: Munich and Scotland hit. World leaders call for calm.

General information

This is a story about a group of people left stranded in a Swiss hotel after nuclear bombs demolish major cities and wipe out most of the planet’s population. People are left with no connection to the outside world, no ways to learn about their families, no news. There’s also not enough food and it’s getting very cold as the nuclear winter begins. It’s a whole new life now for those who survived. There are new rules, and the values get adapted to the new reality.

What I loved about the book

The protagonist

I loved the protagonist’s voice. I could hear him and I believed him. He felt absolutely real.

The atmosphere

Whenever I closed the book, the atmosphere stayed with me. It was so consuming that for a few nights I was having apocalyptic dreams.

The plot

I loved how the plot branched out to so many different storylines. I really couldn’t let go of the book, I had to know what happened next.

The higher purpose

The book is very thought-provoking. It makes you debate and argue. The topics will not leave you indifferent, and I am especially thankful for that. 

What I liked less 

The background stories of characters

I think the book progresses rather slowly in the parts where the background stories are introduced. I really wanted more action in those places and felt a bit bored.

The description of how the community changed

I would love to see more examples of how the community changes. The book merely states that people did change, but because there are no actual actions to demonstrate it, the statement alone feels forced.

What I disliked a lot

One of the choices the characters made

Imagine you live in a diminishing community and suddenly discover a dangerous member amongst you. It’s not clear if he’s really guilty but the presumption of innocence doesn’t exist anymore so he’s presumed dangerous. What do we do with him? Just for the record, we constantly need people to search for food, someone to dig graves, someone to clean, to watch over water supplies. There’s lots of other work that’s needed for the survival of our small community. What would we do with such a member then? Would we try to make him somehow useful? Maybe, we’d lock him in the basement with a task to attempt growing mushrooms for the community (or any other useful task)? Well, the people in The Last make a very different choice.

Politics

I feel like the book is trying to make a statement that if people choose wrong leaders, or don’t speak up against wrong leaders, we will have a nuclear war. I would have loved it if The Last had gone even deeper than that. No lunatics in power is a good idea. No power would have been an even better one.

Final thoughts

The Last is interesting, fast-paced and easy to read. It’s also multilayered and thought-provoking. I’m giving it 4 stars and I will gladly recommend it to anybody who’s interested in this genre. The digital version of the book is already out. The paperback will be available from 31st January.

Thanks a lot to the publishers for my copy in exchange for my honest review.