Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review contains some spoilers, but those are at the end, and clearly marked. I read this as part of Kindle First. This novel contains profanity, violence, and instances of non-graphic, attempted non-consensual sexual content (attempted rape). The violence is mostly plot relevant, however the sexual content is gratuitous in nature, and the novel suffered for it. The premise of this novel--dystopian society, low birth rates, fertile women treated as property--reminds me somewhat of 'The Handmaid's Tale' (Margaret Atwood). Unfortunately, in all of the places where Atwood's novel succeeds, 'The Last Girl' fails. I only give novels which I can't finish a single star, but this one came close to making me break that rule. There's so much 'I don't like this' going on that I'm not sure where to start. Characters: mostly not developed. The villains are all disfigured, or easily recognizable by their sneers/general sliminess, and their motives make Snidely Whiplash's look complex. The secondary characters aren't memorable. The main character is just like any other female dystopian main character--she's spunky, can get pummeled on the regular and bounce back, handles a firearm well (despite only having seen them in holsters, on guards), etc, etc. Plot: 'Spunky girl fights evil dystopian establishment,' with a side of attempted rape, and bizarre cruelty toward the other young girls in the story. Far too much reliance on tropes, cliches, and archetypes to create 'twists' to move the plot. Writing style: okay. It's not 'pretty,' but it's mostly serviceable, without too much dry, clunky phrasing. Pacing: Very inconsistent. Far too much exposition. Much of the world-building is done in the form of characters reading in classroom lessons. (For comparison, 'The Girl with All the Gifts' does this brilliantly.) Overall, I wouldn't recommend this. If the premise of this book interests you, I would recommend 'The Handmaid's Tale.' ***spoilers beyond this point*** * * * * There are so many things that didn't make sense to me in this story. Here are just a few. Why were the girls treated so poorly? It makes zero logical sense, other than causing the main character angst. Why bother such an elaborate system of lying to these girls? Their compliance was guaranteed regardless. It seems contradictory, given that the reader is told (repeatedly) how little the powers that be care for the girls. Why bother keeping the sperm donors around the facility? Regarding the abusive guard...If women are so precious, surely they wouldn't keep a guard around with a history of inappropriate contact. What purpose did Lily, the handicapped girl, serve? I was initially pleasantly surprised to see a handicapped character in this story. Unfortunately, it seems her inclusion is only to cause more angst for the main character. Last...I can't buy into the government slaughtering the bulk of the population. A country, torn by unrest, with its infrastructure going to pieces, finances in the toilet, somehow manages to coordinate and fund the slaughter and disposal of 300 million people? They convince their military (composed of citizens) this is the best course? Sorry, I can' t get on board that train.