Last One at the Party

Her new life began at the end of the world

By: Bethany Clift

Narrated by: Heather Long, Jane Collingwood

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's summary

The end of everything was her beginning....

It's November 2022. The human race has been wiped out by the 6DM virus (Six Days Maximum - the longest you've got before your organs disintegrate and you melt from the inside out). The end of the world as we know it.

Yet someone is still alive. Alone in a new world of burning cities, rotting corpses and ravenous rats, one woman has survived. A woman who has spent her whole life compromising what she wants and hiding how she feels to meet other people's expectations. From her career to her relationships, to what she wears and where she lives, she's made a lifetime of decisions to fit what other people want her to be.

But with no one else left, who will she become now that she's completely alone?

©2021 Bethany Clift (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

A great listen

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think it will become quite popular in the near future as more people read / listen to it.

I was somewhat reminded of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’, and midway through I started thinking of this book as a companion piece. This is not just because the two books share similar themes. The writer’s prose is disciplined, sparse and economic. Different from McCarthy (of course), but not world’s apart.

I was impressed with how the writer weaved in the unnamed protagonist’s reminiscences almost seamlessly to offer insight and context to her apocalyptic predicament, and unveiling an impressive character arc.

Lastly, I thought the narrator did a great performance supported by some subtle and provocative production.

Highly recommended.

Just…wow!

Amazing performance and really engaging story. I highly recommend although it can be a bit dark at times.

Scary, lonely journey into the end of the world

I was lured in by the story, the predicaments and dangers which the MC faced. The writing was rich in the depiction of the world falling apart and the colorful flashbacks to before everyone died. However, I found the MC highly unrelatable. Don't get me wrong, I like reading about people that are not reflective of myself or people that I know, it is the best thing about books, to know other personalities and lives. But I have to admit that I heavily disliked the woman, her selfishness and superficial tendencies. Although she admitted to herself that she thought some of her actions were deplorable, and you can forgive a little down to shock, but it was hard to read/ listen to a book that only (mainly) had this one character, this one utter disappointment of a person - and it went beyond her plight and troubles.

I also felt that there were some aspects of the story and plot that didn't quite match a realistic expectation of how infrastructure would fall apart in an accurate timeline, but if you can overlook this, it won't take away from the tale too much.

The narration is superb, some light special effects included which is nice and was subtle enough not to interfere with the story and actually add an extra layer. I expect the great narration helped me listen to the book till the end.

Loved it

Story, narration, writing style, subject matter, ending… all of it! Would absolutely recommend to everyone.

Interesting theme but not a great story

The theme of this book is a great one. Imagine being the last person alive.

This book attempted to tackle this subject with some dark (sometimes nasty) humor, and a main character that is difficult to cheer for. Several times in this novel, the main character would do so many foolish things that would lead to her own demise and it did not create sympathy for me. The character was selfish and treated animals poorly. She complained constantly. To her credit, it seemed like she did grow and become more resourceful as the book led on.

Some parts felt unrealistic for it to be the aftermath of a global pandemic where you’re supposed to be the last person alive. One example, most car batteries would be dead after a few months of sitting undriven in the middle of winter. There are others but I don’t want to spoil anything.

The narrating was great, the only reason I couldn’t give them 5 stars for the performance was because in some parts towards the end it began playing out sort of like a movie where the narrator was immersed and acting out a scene. Since I didn’t really care for the main character it felt like those parts were dragging on a bit too long.

The last issue I’ll say is that the virtue signaling by the author felt forced. It’s one thing to talk about how politicians/political parties would blame other countries for the origin of the virus at the onset of the pandemic, but a couple of times the author clearly tried so hard to fit it into the story that it felt forced and unnatural.

Overall I can’t say I would recommend it to a friend, but it did keep me listening to the very end so it was at least somewhat captivating.