Some apocalypses start with a big bang–a mushroom cloud, a massive storm, a lurking asteroid. Other start with tiny catastrophes like a single virus.
This one starts with a teenage girl.
I’m not really sure why I waited so long to review this book! I finished it ages ago. Maybe I just needed to get it digested. Either way–Let’s get into it!
Ivy Moon: Last Girl on Earth kind of gives its plot away in the title, lol. It is about a teenage girl who lovingly names herself Ivy because she has no idea who she really is. She can’t remember her name, her date of birth, or how she ended up in a crashed ship in the middle of the suburbs after what has to be the worst hurricane of all time. She takes shelter in a nearby house and finds her soon-to-be best friend Tonka–the white terrier.
I loved the cast of this book. It starts small with just Ivy and Tonka, which is super endearing and cute (a girl and her dog against the end of the world? sign me up), but it grows over the course of the novel. Each character really has their own place and personality, and I enjoyed the diversity that we get. Plus, they’re all connected somehow? It’s a bit vague right now, but I think that’s done intentionally.
Pacing wise–It’s a bit slow. Again, it really has to unfold as a story, and most of the time, I didn’t mind the slower pace. But as a YA post-apocalyptic story, I expected there to be a moral or a point or even a Big Bad. And there is, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not even introduced until like… the last ten percent? Most of the novel was spent in world-building, or at least in the process of Ivy building her world (again, not a bad thing if you don’t mind slower paced books!)
My two biggest complaints are these–
- I didn’t like the Ivy somehow knew everything. I think there’s a reason for this, but I can’t put my finger on it just yet. If there was a problem, Ivy miraculously had a solution for it. She somehow had the knowledge of an old woman and a child at the exact same time. I’m a scifi reader, and girl had me convinced she’s part cyborg (tbh, that might be true, I’m still reeling, lol).
- The ending. Period. Full Stop. I was waiting for something to happen, but that just… wasn’t it. There wasn’t enough lead up for something THAT extreme. It was both jarring and downright confusing. I sat up and audibly wtf-ed. If this isn’t the first book in a serious of books, I might riot. There’s no closure because the author rips it open within the last few pages and just leaves you breathless. I did not like that. Some poeple might.
Final Ratings
Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5
Pacing: Slow.
Intended Audience: Any age fans of post-apocalyptic survival-style stories. It very much reminded me of A Boy and His Dog.
Content Warnings: None that I remember.
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8TDNGZF
Amy Johnson Writes 