Andover, Kansas is now as famous as Wuhan as this is where the deadly virus 6DM (6 day maximum). It sweeps the world, there’s chaos, madness and devastation as the horrific virus sweeps all in its path. The UK holds out for a while but by 24 November 2023 it’s here. This is a dystopian novel but it more about one unnamed woman’s story of survival and she tells her own tale.

You’d think reading this in the middle of the Covid pandemic would be a mistake but it isn’t! It’s riveting, gripping and deeply emotional, it’s funny in places, you applaud our narrator survivor for her fortitude and initiative, you sob with her and live in hope with her. . Her narrative is extremely honest especially as she confronts her past and you become invested in her survival along with Lucky the golden retriever who is utterly adorable in his loyalty and love as her only companion. In places it is horrifying and there are some powerful visual images of the impact of the enormous loss. As the virus hits Britain her reaction is reminiscent of the danse macabre of the Black Death with an ‘eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die’ (well certainly in six days) attitude. It’s very well written, her backstory emerges a bit at a time and her battles with mental health over the years is movingly portrayed as she tries to quell her demons. In places it’s nightmarish as the depth of the pandemic reveals her solitude. Her travels the length and breadth of the island give some fabulous images with flashes of humour which are most welcome. It’s eerie, macabre at times, there’s hope, dashed hopes and chasing a dream. She’s incredibly resourceful, brave, clever yet at the same time fragile though stronger than she thinks. The end is excellent.

Overall, I fully appreciate not everyone will wish to read a book like this in these times but all I can say is that it is fantastic. Yes, it shows the effects of a deadly virus but it’s also about love, strength, self discovery but principally about survival against all the odds. Her character shines through admirably and just as she was the last one at the party pre pandemic so she is afterwards. This book is amazing!

With thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the arc in return for an honest review.

Loved this. Read it in one sitting. Found the lead character annoying at times - and would cheerfully have given her a good shake. Nevertheless it made me laugh, left me wondering what happened, and kept me interested and enthralled to the end. Really enjoyed it.

Perhaps not the best time in view of COVID-19 to read about a terrifying virus that wiped out whole populations but read from the perspective of a lone survivor discovering firstly the will to live, then attempting with great difficulty ( particularly with none of the modern devices so taken for granted) to find the knowledge and means to do so . The protagonist throws us into a world gone mad, in which euthanasia by tablet is the choice of the majority, whilst she struggles to understand and cope as the only human being without symptoms yet an inability to take responsibility for any aspect of her daily existence. The storyline swings between the difficulties she faced as a highly strung individual actively seeking out relationships that would supply total ongoing support and the current situation in which survival depended on her actions and decisions. in a world where she must assume she is the sole survivor. The trials and tribulations of this journey are chaotic, often graphic to become the stuff of nightmares, and detailed and raw enough to demonstrate how ill equipped we are to survive without the basics , fundamentals and essentials of modern living taken for granted. by the majority. The reclamation of the environment by nature ,the danger and fear of exposure of vermin and household pets all builds up to a premise that could so easily move from fiction to fact. Unable to put this dystopian novel down, yet strangely bereft upon conclusion . A debut that suggests a successful career for this this widely imaginative and knowledgeable author who has delivered an excellent and well written first book. Many thanks to publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

I absolutely loved this book and really hope there will be a follow-up book.
The premise of the story is that the majority of the human race is wiped out a virus just a couple of years after Covid. The only survivor is the lead character. I am not usually one for dystopian thrillers and I went into it thinking I was not going to enjoy it. Don't get me wrong there were many parts of the book that unsettled me but the writing was so good and the empathy I had for the main character and her loyal companion Lucky surviving such a horrific disaster had me on tenterhooks constantly and in the end I couldn't put it down and read it in two days.

It probably wasn't the best idea to read this book during a pandemic, but it really made me look at the things that I have and feel very grateful.
The main character is very well developed and I love that the story isn't just about her life after the virus. I think that the stories of her past life work really well, especially when they are beside stories of her present.
The one thing that I would say is that a lot was left unexplained. Which, in itself, isn't a bad thing necessarily. I just felt that there were somethings that would have made sense to explain. For instance, the ending was so rushed and I felt like I was left hanging. I also found it shocking that she ended up pregnant after everything she had done during the first few months. Another issue I had is that the author occasionally would just tell the reader things that the main character had been doing the whole time, but only at the end of the book, or at the end of a section that didn't even mention anything of the sort. One small example of this was that she had been taking very good care of her teeth the whole time, which just didn't make sense with everything else that she had done.
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. I think that it could have just been left with the end of her story. It felt rather The Handmaid's Tale to me but wasn't as effective in my opinion.
But I do think that the story holds a good message about learning to love yourself and that it is ok to prefer to be on your own (which doesn't mean the same as not needing to talk to anyone at all). I know a lot of people talk about the current pandemic in their reviews (myself included) but I actually found that this was so far from our current reality that I didn't draw too many comparisons. There were definitely sections that did feel close to home but I think that Clift handles them well. I also like that, even though the majority of the book was written before COVID-19, she edited it into the story. I think this is a huge strength in the story because the characters have past experiences and Clift uses them to affect their thinking during this new pandemic.
While there were a couple of things that I felt could have been better, I loved this book and I love that Clift didn't try to filter the main character's experience. I am left in a strange sort of limbo after reading this book, it really sucked me in and I need time to process everything that happened.

Breathtaking in the way in which it has had such a major impact on the way I deal with my practical and emotional reaction to our current corona virus crisis. The writing skills of this author are beyond belief, I was not able to stop reading the minute I picked up my e-reader, if I had realised what an immediate effect it would have on me I would have at least prepared some meals in advance for the day. The attention to detail is at times overwhelming but nonetheless needed to make the reading experience immersive. I have told every friend about this in every phone conversation and zoom/FaceTime call, I am becoming a ‘Last one at the party’ bore. Please read this, although with care, I have given it a five star rating, which for me is very rare. Thank you so very much Netgalley, publisher and especially the very talented Bethany Clift for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is like this year, especially with COVID at the moment. It is written well yiu just need to carry on reading to the end.

I just raced through this book in a couple of days - from the outset the premise gripped me and the writing was absolutely compelling, the protagonist felt completely real and relatable and it was so tightly plotted I couldn’t put it down. I can see that for some people a post-apocalyptic thriller set in the aftermath of a deadly pandemic might hit a little to close to home, but somehow this didn’t bother me. This is the first time I have read a book that feels like a “chick lit” take on dystopian fiction (though I generally like this term) and it’s success hinges on the absolute relatability of the main character’s ups and downs dealing with the realities of life as the last human left on earth. Her struggles, and reactions, feel like the same ones any of us might face in the same situation. The only shame was the ambitious ending (which reminded me a bit of the way The Handmaid’s Tale ends without making clear the ultimate fate of the protagonist), which left me wanting to know what happened next.

I would predict that this book will be a big hit when it is published next year, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it unlike any dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction I have read before.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Staughton for the ARC.

This was an absolutely perfect read for me. I was not expecting to like it as much, given that it treats difficult topics such as grief, loss, sickness, and the world after a pandemic but I truly enjoyed it.

The writing is witty and phenomenal and I felt very close to the main character who, I soon realised, was a very interesting and unique type of heroine.

This book is filled with life lessons and truths, it's at times devastating and presents the reader with an amazing journey of self-discovery.

It's one of the best books I've read this year and I highly recommended it!

In the current climate this was a difficult book to read - too close to home in light of COVID-19. Having said that it was so well written that I just had to keep going and was glad I did.
One quickly becomes immersed in the main character’s fight to survive and can’t help but root for her. The book is fast paced with a few twists and turns thrown in. Will definitely look for other books by this author.

I adored this book, I got swept up in it and once I had started I couldn’t put it down, I was spellbound. The story at some points was a bit close to the bone in the beginning, what with COVID-19 making an unwelcome comeback at the moment, but I was so wrapped up in her story that I soon got past that. It was so easy to relate to her worries and struggles, and I found myself crying quite a few times. The only part of the story I didn’t love was the ending, I was devastated it ended as it did, and actually shouted out loud at my kindle (much to the amusement of my husband) My only consolation is that maybe there will be a sequel as although I loved the lessons she learned about herself (and enjoyed so much her and Lucky’s journey both physical and emotional) I felt that the story just stopped midway through, that there was more to be shared.

Amazing! Maybe not the best read for a single woman during our own pandemic... thrilling and so very relatable. You really feel for the main character even if you want to shake her at points
The ending gave me chills! Still thinking about it days later...

Well done Bethany Clift, this is a stunner of a book! What a debut

Written as a diary by a survivor of the virus 6DM (6 days maximum) that is rampaging the world in 2023, and leaving nothing in its path, it pulls no punches from the outset. You hear about the mass destruction of everything that we have ever lived for and how utterly helpless humans are to stop the virus from spreading. But somehow, our heroine has escaped it - the book tracks her journey, going back and forward to explain more of the past and the present. She has to find everything, food, energy, shelter, to help her survive, and what sort of future is she going to find?
I was completely hooked and found myself thinking about it all - you can't help but think about how you might cope in the same way.
The book references the current COVID pandemic, and builds on that brilliantly and brutally, so if you are feeling anxious about the current state of the world, its probably best to skip this one, but if you like your fiction as dark and depressing as possible whilst still being entirely possible - go for it!

Thanks so much to @netgalley and Hachette for the ARC

This book is really, really unsettling. It's also excellent.
Written in a style that evokes Atwood, I feel it has potential to become another classic that will be dissected in schools and recommended by book clubs everywhere.
In a pandemic, reading about another pandemic is chilling. And doubly so because it all seems so incredibly possible and even likely.
The absolute raw blunt truth of the narrator, who assuredly is not prepared for a pandemic, is heart wrenching and terrifying.
I loved this book, but it also gave me nightmares.
Five stars!

An excellent take on the end of the world, with a nod to Covid and the restrictions we currently face as a now past event whilst a new virus sweeps through Britain killing almost everyone in its path.
Following a lone survivor via her diary entries we learn a bit more about who she was and what happened, itnerspersed with her ever more grim mission to survive.
There are suprising pockets of humour interspersed with the realities she faces trying to find a reason to keep trying to stay alive and I was frustrated when the book ended- I wanted more!

Review of Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift

Written in the form of a retrospective, this novel follows a survivor in a post-pandemic world. A killer virus — named 6DM because having caught it you have 6 days maximum until you die — has swept the world, and the narrator believes they are the only person left alive. In the midst of the 2020 Covid-19 crisis, I found this premise intriguing and the story didn't disappoint my curiosity.

Struggling to accept her plight, the narrator's already frail emotional state is battered time and again by the challenges she faces in her endeavors to eek out a living in a decaying environment devoid of any other living person. If she was unhappy with her life pre-pandemic, her troubles post-pandemic multiply beyond imagination, and many threads of lingering regret haunt her — she'll now never be able to make amends for the opportunities she previously squandered, nor rectify the consequences of her poor life choices. Apparently spiraling towards inevitable suicide, a chance encounter, and later an unexpected revelation, change everything.

The epistolary narrative, in the form of diary entries and, ultimately, dictaphone recordings didn't really work for me. I also found the numerous flashbacks increasingly annoying as I found it difficult to relate to the foundations of her characterization. This, along with the narrator remaining nameless, didn't engender empathy. However, the denouement worked delightfully, being a surprise twist which caught this reader unprepared.

#BookReview #AlexRosel #LastOneattheParty

I found it difficult to read a pandemic book in the midst of a pandemic, and I wish the author had not made light of COVID as there will likely be many readers who are suffering dreadfully right now who will find that deeply insensitive. Given that the idea for the book came months before COVID, it would have been more appropriate to concentrate solely on the 6DM plot without comparisons with the dire and worsening situation we find ourselves in.

I found the narrative fairly repetitive and the protagonist difficult to like or relate to back in the pre-pandemic world, and I wasn't convinced by the many and varied ways she went about her life as the supposed last person on earth.

The ending was abrupt and unsatisfying. We're told that a number of people were 'rescued'. From where, by whom and under what circumstances was not revealed and would have added an interesting dimension to a pretty one-dimensional book.

I loved this book it was so much fun which I didn't expect.
It was great that she brought in covid - 19 and Brexit into the storyline. The preface at the beginning drew me in which was unusual.

It really wasn't depressing at all. I am not usually into something like this book, love full blown dystopian and psychological thrillers but this was really wonderful. I laughed out load at certain sections.

I can see a second book in the making as really want to know what happens - can't say anymore due to spoilers. The writing was brilliant - really want to read more of this author. She should be so proud of her achievements.

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.

I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as the publisher do it as they do it better than I do.

I wasn't sure that reading a book about a killer virus during a global pandemic was my best idea of 2020 but I"m so glad that I requested this.
From the first page, I was hooked.

There is a virus with the nickname of 6DM as it takes 6 days maximum for you to succumb to it. It appears to have started in small town America and before long it has managed to get its clutches everywhere. The UK had managed to keep it at bay for a while but of course, it soon reaches these shores. Everyone does what they can but with no hope of a cure, a suicide pill is readily available for all.

What would you do? Would you give up thinking that anything less is just delaying the inevitable or do you fight?
Our protagonist has watched her husband die and now for the first time ever, she is really on her own.
We get flashbacks from before the virus and see the kind of woman that she was and the hardships that she has had to face - some of them are of her own doing - but not all and we travel with her as she makes a plan to try to find other survivors.
This is a very fast paced book. It pulls no punches and some of the descriptions are graphic - but then, so is life.
I loved the main character. I doubt that we would have ever been friends, but I was rooting for her from the start.

I loved this! The author was inspired, she tells us, in 2018, well before Covid19. She weaves in the current situation seamlessly as we join the lead character in another global pandemic. One from which there is no cure, death in 6 days maximum. Our lead watches her husband and the world die while she remains immune to the virus. The story of her adjustment and survival to the new world is brilliantly written. It's both hard to read and hard to put down, worryingly near the knuckle at times, joyous, sad, funny and tense throughout. Brilliant!