The Last Girl by Goldy Moldavsky

There’s a fine line to be found in horror /thrillers when it comes to YA, and I think The Last Girl by Goldy Moldavsky handles it superbly. This is a book that’s not just about what happens – it’s interested in why. The psychology of it. How to manage it – how to master it. How to become lost in it…

The Last Girl by Goldy Moldavsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve had a fair few ‘meh’ books over the past few weeks; those books that are the ones that sort of don’t quite work for you, or leave you feeling a little ambivalent about them. And that’s fine – that happens. Sometimes books don’t work for readers, or it’s not the right time to meet them or find them, and sometimes you’ve just got to accept that this is how it is. And then I read The Last Girl by Goldy Moldavsky and I loved it. I’m always interested by books that try to do something different and find their own space in the world (there might only be seven stories to tell, but my goodness you can work how you tell it..) and The Last Girl does that in spades.

Let’s set the scene: a prestigious school, a club, and a new girl trying to find a place to start over. There’s complex, messy friendships; the dark spectre of privilege, pop-culture and a group of people devoted to exploring the scary side of the world. These takes the form of a club devoted to horror films and – no spoilers here. But it’s the sort of thing that feels like it might become something of a franchise and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of more to come here. The framing conceit really is very good.

Though I suspect I prefer the other title of ‘The Mary Shelley Club’ (which should give you some idea as to one of the references here), I thought this was excellent. Moldavsky is a pacey, stylish writer and I loved how fiery and honest her work is here. People are real here – this isn’t about smoothing the edges of people, it’s about exploring them. And with that comes interest; a novel that’s psychological, dark, and gripping. I loved it.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

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