Growing up in a swampy backwaters town where there was little time for sensitivity or tenderness, Cutter and Loyal were two girls who had each other's backs. Loyal needed that as the local fat girl, and Cutter needed it to take the edge off per hardscrabble existence growing up with absent parents and only two brothers in an alligator trapping family.

But then life took different direction, and the two of them had a serious falling out. Soon after, Loyal left for the big city and the bigger life that it promised - she had always been a bright girl. Predictably enough, Cutter went nowhere.

Now, Cutter is dead - under strange circumstances. Loyal is back in her one alligator town to look after her mother, who is behaving erratically, with no hope of reconciling with her old friend, whose brothers are behaving oddly.

So, why is Loyal the only one who seems to be invested in finding out how Cutter actually died?

This story captures the suffocating atmosphere, complete with Southern heat and reptiles, of a small town in the middle of nowhere - and an even smaller community, keeping dark secrets. Worth a read, it gets 3. 5 stars.

I was stunned to learn that the author of Our Last Wild Days, Anna Bailey, is British. I would have bet my mortgage on her being born and bred in rural Louisiana. She has done an amazing job of describing the location, creating the atmosphere, and building the characters, all of it had me convinced from the start.
The plot built, and we hear largely from the point of view of Loyal, who has returned from Texas to care for her mother, Sasha who works with her at the local newspaper, and Cutter, whose death is the main focus of the novel. All of the young people are beautifully described and they will find a way into your heart. While the book is mostly about friendship and making amends, it convincingly includes biker gangs, dodgy cops and a lot of alligators.
If you like Chris Whittaker (another Brit who does small town USA so well) this is for you. I definitely recommend it, including for book clubs. There is much to discuss and explore. An easy five stars from me *****

I haven’t yet read Anna Bailey’s debut Tall Bones so wondered if that would mean I’d find it harder to slip under the surface of Our Last Wild Days. Pleased to say that doesn’t seem to have been the case, I was straight into those small town Louisiana bayou vibes and revelling in the nods to Southern Gothic (but I am keen to make sure I get to Tall Bones now!).

In fact, sense of place is something that Bailey does fantastically, I vividly imagined Louisiana and at points things felt quite Sookie Stackhouse with unusual happenings after dark and an unexplained death in Jacknife; the body of Cutter Labasque - orphan, crocodile hunter and misunderstood old friend of main protagonist Loyal, is found floating in the swamp. So far, so intriguing.

Back in town unexpectedly Loyal is contemplating reconnecting with her old friend but a falling out in their teen years has held her back, and then she discovers it is too late. Cutter can no longer advocate for herself so Loyal finds herself using her reporter’s nous and local connections to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on in the bayou.

The second half of this book is super compelling and hard to put down but I also enjoyed the scene and character building - it’s not often I get to hang out with crocodile hunters in the Deep South.

Set in the swamplands of Louisiana this was not my kettle of fish. I found it rather boring and decided to give up with it about a third of the way through especially when I could see that I had another eight hours of reading to finish the book.

Set in Jacknife a Louisiana swamp town, this is a story about a family, the Lasbasques, who scratch a living catching alligators in the swamps. When Cutter, the sister, is found dead in the swamps, her childhood friend, Loyal, a reporter on a local paper, is determined to find out what happened. A very brooding atmosphere with loads of twists along the way which will keep you guessing. If you like When The Crawdads Sing, you’ll love this slightly harder hitting story. Thoroughly recommended.

Our last wild days" reminded me a lot of " Where the Crawdads sing" which I loved. It is clearly directed at these readers.

Atmospheric setting in the Louisiana swamp town of Jacknife, with a corrupt policeforce, shady characters and colorful townspeople, it has at the heart a highly disfunctional white trash family, the Lasbasques who make a living hunting alligators. When Cutter is found dead in her boat in an alligator infested swamp, only Loyal, her childhood friend who is now a reporter at the local newspaper, seems interested to get to the bottom of what happend. It's a suspence packed, entertaining read, enjoyed the proof on vacation and was immediatly  sucked into this troubled, cajun small town atmosphere.

A captivating thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Perfect for long nights, this book is both engaging and easy to read. The plot twists and well-developed characters make it a must-read for thriller enthusiasts. If you're looking for a book that will keep you hooked from start to finish, this is the one for you.

Cutter and Loyal uses to be best friends until things happened and Loyal wrote a not very nice article about Cutter in the local paper. Now adults Loyal is back in the small town of Jacknife to care for her mother who has become confused and forgetful.
When Cutter is found dead in the swamp no one seems to care, not even her brothers. A verdict of suicide is given, yet Loyal doesn’t think that Cutter would kill herself and she alone seems intent on finding out what happened to Cutter.
Cutter and her brothers caught alligators for a living, selling them for their skin and meat. They live in a ramshackle hut in the swamps and this makes them outcasts with the locals. Perhaps, Loyal thinks, if she can find out what happened to Cutter it will atone for the article she wrote when they were 18.
Every person in this book is wonderfully drawn and the steaminess of the bayou leaks out on every page. Although I didn’t enjoy it as much as Tall Bones, it’s a great read all the same,

#OurLastWildDays. #NetGalley

I thoroughly enjoyed Anna's first novel, 'Tall Bones' and recommended it to everyone so was very excited for this one.
The emphasis is definitely more on characterisation and story telling this time as I found the plot, whilst it said enough, was almost not needed.
Anna is an incredible writer.
The word 'atmospheric' is somewhat overused these days but I really could imagine the heat, mosquitoes and smell of the swamp lands in Louisiana. So much so that I also wondered if I'd have nightmares about being attacked by an alligator.
It is that immersive.
Hats off to the author for creating such a backdrop and for writing passages that I felt compelled to read out loud to anyone who was in the vicinity.

This book feels like you should be stepping back several decades with the small town attitudes, gossip and prejudices.
For me all of the characters had a dark side and the swamp setting and alligators added to the eerie feeling pervading the pages.
The Loyalty of Loyal to her old and estranged friend is beautifully depicted and she stands out among the cast of villains, no matter how misunderstood she is.

After reading Anna Bailey's Tall Bones, I have been eagerly awaiting her next book, Our Last Wild Days and let me tell you it did not disappoint.
Anna has a way of writing about small town American communities that draws you in and leaves you wanting more. This book is set in Louisiana and features a small cast of characters that get under your skin.

Loyal May returns home to assist with her ageing mother and finds herself working for the local newspaper. She'd also like to make things up with a friend she betrayed, but discovers it's too late when Cutter is found dead in a swamp. The police are saying its suicide or an accident and nobody seems to care about investigating further as Cutter comes from the Labasque family who live on the outskirts of Jacknife. Alligator hunters and viewed as trouble by others, they're best left alone. But Loyal believes there's more to it and continues the investigation, along with Sasha - another employee on the paper (and my favourite character).

The plots twists and turns and the ending was unexpected, and although it works and is satisfying, I don't believe this is the strength of this book. The writing is beautifully crafted - some pieces I read over and over. The setting is described in a way that enables you to not only see but you can also feel the place and the heat of it. In relation to the main characters, particularly The Labasques, you may start not liking them and yet as the book progresses, Anna scrapes away the top surface and we find vulnerability and the desire for love underneath. She also shines the spotlight on judging others and I remember the same being true in Tall Bones (which if you've not read - please rectify immediately).

I think you can tell that I loved this book. When you get a copy, make sure you have some free time because once you begin, you'll not want to put it down and the funeral scene makes me want to cry thinking about it now, about a week after finishing the book and not for obvious reasons. The way Anna brought conflict and the decision to do the right thing into this scene was a writing skill I greatly admire.

As a writer myself, my aspirations would be to write like Anna Bailey.

Due to be published in April 2025.

5 stars

I found this story strangely unsettlingly and I mean that as a compliment to the Author. In this tale of murder in the Louisiana bayou, I either afraid for or afraid of most of the main characters. The rich descriptions of the swamps and the poverty stricken people are exceptional. Not an easy book, dealing as it does with the darker side of human nature, but every page is enthralling and to be read with your breath held against what's coming next.

I loved this Southern Gothic tale of violence, murder, and oppression in an area of swamp land that's rich with alligator life. It's densely atmospheric and reminded me of the long tradition of Southern literature like Carson McCullers, Capote, and John Berendt.
The central story about a murdered young woman and her former best friend is gripping and compulsive. The social commentary is well played and there are themes around modern American and the stripping away of women's rights, the rise of men's rights movements and neo-fascism, poverty and drug fuelled desecration. These are well integrated into the plotline and feel like part of the terrain.

If you want an immersive reading experience, then Anna Bailey is an author to read. They write beautifully and are expert in plotting and tension.
It's both a propulsive and beautifully told story and an alarming and accurate social commentary. Highly recommended.

‘People are mostly good, and the dead are just plain old people a little further down the road than us. What you should be worried about is the things that weren’t ever alive in the first place.’

Our Last Wild Days takes a microscope to a small community and the goings-on of the people who reside there. With the backdrop of an unsolved murder in Jacknife, a town steeped in the Louisiana bayou, Bailey explores the various manifestations of grief and how we hold on and let go of one another. They gracefully weave subjects of reproductive health, substance abuse, the cycle of violence and more into this story. We follow multiple characters as they navigate the world without Cutter Labasque, and the truths that come to light in the wake of her death.

I am, once again, in awe of Anna Bailey's ability to unlock a singular, emotional experience with each book they write. I was lucky to get an early copy of Our Last Wild Days through NetGalley, and I sped through this story like you wouldn't imagine. I recognize that this is not the best habit, but I put most all my priorities on the back-burner to take in more and more of Bailey's words as often as I could. One thing about Bailey's writing is that I want to stay in the current moment as long as possible. Nearing the end of one of their books is like coming up on the end of a much needed trip away.

Now to the story: What beautiful and complex these characters are. I have never read a book that takes place in the Louisiana bayou until this one, and now I have a soft spot for the Labasque siblings, who also happen to be alligator hunters. I feel so strongly for these characters. They all have their own perception of what they call home in the people in it, and like most who stay in one place for a while, they come to find new truths about their home, good, bad, and ugly.

I cannot recommend this story enough. If you loved Where The Truth Lies (Tall Bones in the UK), Bailey's second book will not disappoint. Our Last Wild Days comes out April 24, 2025. Preorder, wait at the door until your local bookshop opens on pub day, whatever. Just get your hands on it asap. Thank you again to the publisher for granting me an early copy, my first one at that! Started off with a bang,

Lastly, I wish I could share every single quote I kept, and I will hold onto these dearly for a long time. Thank you Anna Bailey for a new favorite.