The Last One: A Novel | 
We start our school year earlier than most other schools and our days are a bit longer, so I‘m usually off a bit before other teachers. I have two weeks, TWO, before summer camp starts. I‘m almost through the first and while I haven‘t done a lot (and still worked a bit) I‘m making sure to take time for myself. I feel a little guilty, but after this crazy school year I know I need it at the same time!
pickOverall Rating 3¾⭐ | Narration 😁 = Very Good
I read this synopsis and I had an idea in my head of what this would be like, but I‘m not sure this lived up to what I had envisioned for it. The scope was set pretty high and the actual story was somewhat less than that. It‘s not like I thought it wasn‘t good, though...I just wanted more than I got from it. The MC was so flipping stubborn...right up until the very end, I just wanted to shake her.
October Reads 2: wasn‘t so lucky with this crop. His and Hers, Little Secrets and Goodnight Beautiful all sort had elements that were fun, but overall highlighted what I hate about modern thrillers. The Last One and Castaways were thematically similar and both solid.
pickThis was a lot of fun. Definitely the best of this reality show pandemic/horror that I‘ve read recently.
I guess I‘m on a reality themed horror kick, and you know toss in some end of the world shit and that‘s pretty much my year in reading in a nutshell.
pickI've seen some mixed reviews about this one, but I loved it. I stayed up way too late finishing it because I just couldn't put it down. The combination of the reality show with a mass pandemic and the main character not knowing what is real and what isn't was thrilling.
I'll definitely read anything Oliva writes because I enjoyed this one so much. 💚
We want to welcome everyone back to another #mondaymatinee where we recommend books based on what we've watched and loved recently.
Today, we're recommending books based on some of our favorite reality TV shows. So get your TBRs ready and let us know what you would recommend in the comments!
https://stuckinthestacks.com/2020/02/03/monday-matinee-reality-tv-edition/
#readalikes #realitytv #bookrecommendations #bookblogger #bookblog
pickI really enjoyed this one! I am a huge fan of Survivor and "competition based reality" shows. This starts out with a group of people competing in a wilderness-survival game show but things go very awry when a mysterious disease starts killing off humanity and the lines blur for "Zoo" on what's reality and what's the competition.
I saw this one in my Amazon Kindle Deals email this morning. I really enjoyed this end of the world tale. It's sort of Survivor meets Outbreak. If you like that sort of thing, $2 Is a great deal.
Found a lovely little discount book store on our last night in Florida. Bought the tagged book 😊
pickReally enjoyed this one!
This is a compulsively readable suspense book that combines a post-apocalyptic event with the “realities” of reality TV. While filming a Survivor like reality competition show, the contestants are left out in the woods during a real world disaster, unbeknownst to them. The story follows one contestant as she continues to play the “game” of survival, believing the world she finds herself in is all part of the show.
Sneaking in a little airport reading with this thriller I got from the library.
I‘m off to the exotic location of....wait for it....
Norman, Oklahoma !! 🤪
It‘s for a work conference and it‘s always in Norman, so it‘s not my first rodeo.
Sadly I don‘t read on the plane because I‘m too scared of motion sickness (I‘ve become increasingly susceptible) so I get in what I can while waiting!
I don't like reality television or pandemic stories, but this book combines the two and it somehow works. On sale today!
pickWrapped this up on the way home from work today. I really enjoyed it! I loved that you go in thinking it‘s just recounting an episode of Survivor or something but the it turns into The Road and more and more things open up a and suddenly you‘re like - oh shit - in disbelief and then your cheering and shouting ‘no way‘! And then it‘s over! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤘
About half way through and greatly enjoying this! A new take on the post-apocalyptic outbreak survival horror.
pickI read this book a little while ago and was pleasantly surprised at how much I ended up enjoying it. A group of people are on a survival type reality show in the woods. Something terrible happens in the real world, but the contestants don't know anything about it and don't know what is real or part of the show. This was one of my many Deal of the Day purchases on Amazon, and it turned out to be a good one.
#readingresolutions
#wilderness
@Jess7
Author #11 - Last one of the night!! Who is this author? What books did he write? And if you have read some of his works I wanna hear all about it 😊
pickI‘m giving this a somewhat conflicted pick rating. I loved the beginning/middle - the concept is so clever and at first, well executed. But the end really dragged and fizzled, which is a shame. Still glad I listened to it, and I‘ll definitely check out whatever Oliva does next.
pickThis was not my usual book - sci-fi/dystopian mixed with Survivor. It was good, I couldn‘t stop reading and I liked the switches in timeline. This book just really creeped me out though!
pickIf you're like me and you like to try to read some books that are sort of horror/suspense/thriller-y as we move into fall, but you have a hard time finding books you really like in those genres, and you're more into near-future SF and post-apocalyptic type things, you should pick up this book. This book does a great job of building creepy tension, and the reality-show/survival premise gives it some Hunger Games-esque vibes at times, which I loved.
Having a chill night in with 📚and ☕️
I'm about 75% done with The Last One, my first book of #ripxii and it's SO addicting; it's a great thriller/suspense pick for someone like me who's more into SFF than straight-up horror.
#littensdressedinblood
I wasn't planning on doing much reading for #ripxii until October, but after finishing two of my current reads this weekend (yay!) I cleared up some space on my pile of books and decided to start these two. I'm still at the very beginning of both, but it never hurts to start some Halloween-ish reading early 💀👻🎃
I should stop with the audio books, the female narrator is driving me nuts! Her voice is awful!
if there's a title on the cover with all giant capital letters, then I wanna read it!!! 😉 #forfontssake
#anditsaugust @RealLifeReading
pickInteresting premise that can be a page turner at times but the story does get a little tired and rushed towards the end.
Twelve contestants are sent into the woods to face challenges that will test the limits of their endurance. Something calamitous happens while they're out there, but being cut off from society, the contestants know nothing of it. So when they do stumble across it, they just assume it's part of the game...
pickI loved this book. If you liked Station Eleven you'll probably like this, similar dystopian future style, different plot. I also liked how they referred to the reality show contestant by things like "waitress" and "tracker" and "engineer" because that is exactly how I refer to reality show people, I can never keep their names straight. ANYWAY, a good book.
pickWow, I've had a streak of great books lately! I've heard this compared to Station Eleven, so maybe I should revisit that book, because I DNF'd when I had trouble getting into it. This one is basically Survivor meets the apocalypse, in a beautifully written work of literary fiction. It ticked all my boxes. 😍👍
Recommended by a friend/author/co-worker, and it sounds just tripy enough to work. I'll need to clear some space for "The Last One" in my reading pile! Anybody read it yet? #recommendations #TBR #bookrecs #tbrpile
pickI enjoyed this one. It was a little slow going (took me over a week to read a book less than 300 pages which is odd!) but the story was interesting. I didn't really like the ending though. The author could have given closure if she wanted to.
pickI chose this read as it came recommended as a fan of the Black Mirror TV series. Imagine the hunger games meets apocolypse meets Bear Grylls survivor. A strong female lead who is having a last adventure before committing to tying herself down to mother hood.
Was a good read which kept the pages turning and yes in true Black Mirror style was very thought provoking though way less disturbing.
haven't heard much about this one but it sounds interesting + a cookie & latte from one of my favorite coffee shopes 📖😀☕
pickI really enjoyed this one. I liked the premise of being on reality TV show when a pandemic strikes. There were times when the main character got on my nerves, but I would be whiny and cranky on that situation, too. Good book club choice.
P.S. The two narrators were new to me and well suited for their roles. Mike Chamberlain has a great reality TV host voice.
I have finally found an audiobook I want to listen to!! 🎉🎉 This novel is about a Survivor type reality TV show and things are going lethally wrong. There are alternating chapters that switch between insights on the beginning of the game that introduces all of the contestants and a single contestant at some point in the future. I'm really intrigued!
We are waiting on the storm while reading. Spot the puggle?
so-soNot the most unique premise, but Oliva is a good, promising writer & certainly creative. MC wasn't as kickass as I wanted her to be—kinda whiny—and it's a bit long and winding imo, so there's the 'so-so' for me. But I liked the book in general. Lots to think about re: portrayal of reality in media and how it shapes your perception of people/the world, etc. Worth a read if you like post-apocalyptic stuff.
panThis was somewhere between a so-so and a pan, but I'm not feeling generous today. I hated the idea that was perpetuated in this book that not wanting to have a child is the WORST THING EVER. The main character grew less and less likeable as the story progressed. There was a good concept hidden somewhere in the book, but it was not well-executed.
pickThis book kept me turning pages from start to finish. I'm looking forward to more from this new writer.
Enjoying this so far. It's amazing the rationalizations the main character is making, but I'm willing to suspend disbelief a little bit longer :)
panSorry but i really really really dislike this book. It was so predictable and slow. I think there is a lot of missing informarion that would make the book more interesting but for this it's a pan for me
While I did read quite a few books last year that were published last year, most of those weren't debut novels. This is one of the few that was a debut. I gave it four stars on Goodreads, but I'm still not sure how I really feel about it. It was good, but not one I'll read again. #bestdebutsof2016 #feistyfeb
pick#FeistyFeb #Day5 Best Debuts of 2016 @RealLifeReading
This was one of my ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rated books published by a debut author in 2016.
Incredible! What Oliva did in this, her first novel, is simply fantastic. The author crafted her characters' world immaculately. The story is a thriller that is written around a reality tv show, and the book itself reads like you're watching one. Highly recommended! 👍
pickAn interesting twist on the traditional plague/apocalypse narrative. Not only does our protagonist have to navigate the country after a massive plague has hit the earth, but also had reason to deny what reality is showing her.
