Gripping story, but missing some details

I enjoyed the story and I do recommend this book, however there were a few things that, to me, just didn't make sense.
*Spoiler alert*. I'm about to reveal some parts of the story:

1). If these girls/women are supposedly the last females on earth, and "The future of the human race" why were they basically treated like prisoners who had committed some terrible crime? I would imagine they would be treated more like goddesses who were the hope for the future.

2). Why would the women be so cruel to each other if they spent their whole lives in the compound and are stuck all in the same boat? There was never any reason given for the animosity.

3). Why were the women not allowed to read books or listen to music? How would that affect their ability to reproduce?

4). Why would the scientists kill the women after giving birth to a boy? The women could've gotten pregnant many more times and subsequent babies could've been girls

5). When the protagonist Zoey escapes and sees the world for the first time ever, after spending her entire life in the compound, she is barely surprised by any of it--and somehow expertly knows about it all "from reading about it in the textbook" and is able to survive on her own. It seemed a bit far fetched.

However, despite those questions, I was able to enjoy the book and hope some of it will be explained in the next version.

52 people found this helpful

Had potential but it was lacking in clarity

If there were only 1000 women left in the world and a handful in captivity, what happened to the rest of the women/young girls that were kidnapped and experimented on? The author eluded to the fact they regularly went on raiding parties to find new candidates. Considering Zoe was taken as a young child and was just turning 21, you'd think the facility would have been brimming with girls. Why would such a precious commodity be treated so badly? If the problem was women giving birth to nothing but males, you'd think the scientist would want to safeguard all women for the day they found a cure and would have women with good genes around to repopulate the world. You'd think these special girls would be treated with kindness rather than with terror. Getting thrown into some dark box and terrorized made no sense at all. There were just a lot of holes in this story, not enough character building, not enough explanation about what was being done to solve the problem. For example, no one was treated with any sort of favoritism but there was obvious tension between the girls. How come? If the girls and their male overseers were only going to be sperm and egg donors, then why was it important to have Zoe and Lee develop a relationship if the point was for them to provide the ingredients for a petri dish conception and not an intimate relationship. Overall, I did not get bored with the story mostly because I asked questions all along. If there is a sequel, I might listen to it just to see what happened to Zoe and her fellow escapees. If Joe Hart doesn't do something to tighten up his story, I would not purchase the third book in the series.

53 people found this helpful

It was much longer then it needed to be

I just couldn't get into this book. It was very well narrated, which kept me going. The descriptions of characters and places was very detailed, and after awhile was too much. The story line dragged on.

5 people found this helpful

Listen to the Sample

THEY ONLY HAD BUTTER ONCE A YEAR
I fell for the hype and I should have known better. For some reason Audible felt this was a top Sci-Fi pick and a top Suspense pick. I loved the concept, but when I check out the author, I found he has two other books at audible. One has a 3.7 rating and the other a 3.8 rating, so what made audible think this book was so important? It is really a YA novel and had I listened to the sample I would have known that. It is a good sample and very representative of the book. You listen and decide.

87 people found this helpful

Unusual and compelling

If you could sum up The Last Girl in three words, what would they be?

Brave, heroic, horrifying.

What did you like best about this story?

Zoe was so determined to be an honest, free person that she had to protect the others that were not as brave and honest as she.

What does Dara Rosenberg bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Dara brought a naive youthfulness to the character that fit quite well with Zoe's personality.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It horrified me at times. There were shadows of the Handmaid's Tail in this.

Any additional comments?

I definitely need to finish the series to see what happens.

3 people found this helpful

solid work

picked up at the end. characters were bland, and were somewhat stereotypical. how many times did a man ask Zoe if she was okay?

11 people found this helpful

Suspend disbelief, and your common sense.

I understand this is supposedly post Apocalypto of some kind but it is one of the worst stories I have read with no stable plot. I hate having a pretty good understanding of how babies are made and how the sex is dictated. It was so many flaws within the scientific part of the story, and character development. They never once looked at all the men that was inhabiting the earth in droves. The story had too many holes, and nothing was tied up at the end of the book.

6 people found this helpful

Great story. can't wait for sequel.

Admittedly, it did have a slow build up. Speaking for myself, I can appreciate elaborate detail if it's done tastefully. I did not mind the less intense scenes. I believe it adds to the story and derives a great road for suspense. The story did escalate within a few hours and the drama was well written. I quite enjoyed the narration as well. Give this story a shot. I love a read that can pleasantly surprise. I gobbled this audio edition in two days tops.

22 people found this helpful

Different, but good

The story is good, but leaves a few holes that are hard to reconcile. The center if the story is the main character's resilience, and that journey us very good.

5 people found this helpful

Tedious listen

According to the description there are only 1000 women left in the world. This book has some of the them living in a prison being treated like serial killers. Why? There are countless hours of a basic description of prison life including 30 minutes of a woman locked in solitary confinement. Although the initial premise started out well, after 5 hours I just gave up. Nothing made any sense whatsoever. If I had used a credit for book, I would have returned it. If you want something to your your insomnia this may be just the ticket.

34 people found this helpful