Uptown Oracle Reads… Last One at the Party

Last One At the Pary Bethany Clift

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THE END OF EVERYTHING WAS HER BEGINNING

It’s November 2023. The human race has been wiped out by the 6DM virus (Six Days Maximum – the longest you’ve got before your body destroys itself). 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?

The first words of this book are “Fuck You” and honestly I knew from that moment I would like this book. The story is brilliantly devastating with a dark sense of humour, although I do have to point out the similarities to the Covid pandemic with a virus called 6DM (6 days maximum… left to live). The author does apologise for this as the book was written before but unfortunately the release date was set during lockdown. 

I found the book to be a realistic portrayal of how many people who would act in the end of the world. Our main character is completely useless at survival, and seems to survive mainly by pure luck. But she’s endearing in a way and you want to root for her even when she’s being selfish or naive. Also let’s face it, I probably would be pretty similar if I was her position. 

The story jumps from the present around how she’s surviving post-6DM to her life before it to show off her development over time. It also reads a bit like grief, as she starts off being in denial of how sad she was  in her normal life and only focuses on the best bits such as her loving husband. As she grows throughout the story, learns how to survive, her stories of before start getting bleeker and more realistic. Despite her life being blown up around her, and being alone in the world it’s taken the pressures of the world and society off her so she can be more of herself than she’s ever been before.

The writing is brilliant. There’s very few books about a pandemic that I think I could have read during the pandemic, but this kept me so intrigued throughout. 

Last One at the Party is a standalone book, however the story leaves everything very open ended. Despite missing the endorphins of having closure, it does encourage you to fill in the blanks based on your perceptions of the character. Something I loved was that you never know the name of the character, and you don’t even realise (or at least I didn’t) until quite far into the book. This seems purposeful because she doesn’t know herself really, and now no one will but it really shows off the quality of writing as you feel attached to a person whose name you don’t even know. 

It’s a book I’ll be thinking about for a while because it felt different to many other dystopian stories I’ve read. The focus was character driven, but focused all about her including her life before this story. It shows we can grow on our own, and it shows that sometimes we grow better without outside intervention which I loved. I also enjoyed that whilst at times she probably did need saving, she ended up surviving by herself and the book didn’t need to end with someone finding and saving her. 

Positives of Last One at the Party

• Covers topics that really make you think
• Dark sense of humour and wit

Negatives of Last One at the Party

• So close to the current pandemic that it could be uncomfortable

I received Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review

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