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Last One At The Party by Bethany Clift

 


THE END OF EVERYTHING WAS HER BEGINNING

It's December 2023 and the world as we know it has ended.

The human race has been wiped out by a virus called 6DM ('Six Days Maximum' - the longest you've got before your body destroys itself).

But somehow, in London, one woman is still alive. A woman who has spent her whole life compromising what she wants, hiding how she feels and desperately trying to fit in. A woman who is entirely unprepared to face a future on her own.

Now, with only an abandoned golden retriever for company, she must travel through burning cities, avoiding rotting corpses and ravenous rats on a final journey to discover if she really is the last surviving person on earth.

And with no one else to live for, who will she become now that she's completely alone?


Last One At The Party by Bethany Clift

What's it about?

The last woman left alive after a pandemic attempts to survive despite being magnificently under-equipped for the task. 

What is it?

An immensely readable and different take on pandemic fiction. It's as much about the narrator coming to terms with her life before, as it is about finding a way to live in this new world.

What isn't it?

Nice. Yes, it's funny and emotional, but there's also some very distressing stuff that felt gratuitous at times. A look at The Story Graph's trigger warnings is advised.

Why do you recommend it?

Because it's a different take on the usual (male-led) pandemic narratives. I didn't personally care for where the story ended up going, and it was undermined by some factual errors and conveniences, but I do like a deliberate subversion of tropes. Check out those trigger warnings though.
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