The Last Girl on Earth

It is a short and easy read. The cover is what caught my eye and decided to read. I love scifi and ya so unless you are into these genre, pass ;)

Li is a young girl who adores her best friend, Mirabae, and loves her Father and sister dearly. And seemingly she has a perfectly ordinary life. However, she and her family are hiding a big secret that could cost them all their lives. Li is a human. All humans were eradicated from Earth after Abdoloreans took over the planet sixteen years ago.

But Li's father was a human sympathizer, who rescued Li from extinction when she was a baby and raised her to act, think, live, train, and become an Abdolorean. Much of Li's life has been focused on protecting this secret and keeping a low profile not bringing attention to herself. All that changes when she meets Ryn. Will Li risk it all for a chance at true love?

Ok, I loved this story I thought it was an interesting coming-of-age story transpiring under unique circumstances. I mean trying to discover yourself and come into your own while simultaneously hiding your identity and being forced to pass as an alien race that finds your very existence offensive and would kill if they knew the truth. I found that very interesting and enjoyed the story immensely.

However, I'm not oblivious to the shortcomings and limitations of this tale. For starters, there are some very compelling themes around colonization, genocide, xenophobia, indoctrination, the true definition of humanity, and the burden and loneliness associated with being the last of your kind.

These themes were not explored at all. They were presented and introduced into the story but not fully fleshed out. I don't know if this was due to this being a YA novel and the author feeling the exploration of these topics wouldn't work for the audience or what but this couldn've made the story more powerful than it was.

Additionally, I found that for Li to be a human trying to pass as an Abdolorean, things came easily to her. She shares how Abdoloreans are superior to humans because they're faster, more intelligent, and she has to work twice as hard to achieve the base level of skills.

However, the story doesn't reflect this struggle. She seems to excel during her tests and examinations and ranks high among her pupils. She's even the teacher's favorite. While we see her training extensively and studying long into the night, I just felt that for her to be so inferior to the aliens, we should've seen her struggle a bit more. She met little to no resistance.

I didn't mind the romance between Li and Ryn. It was very insta lovey but it's a YA novel I expect instalove and love at first sight vibes. I mean when you're a teenager everything is so dramatic and intense so it makes absolute sense to me.

Also, there's a plot twist at the end that doesn't make sense to me. It puts into question Li's entire life amongst the Abdoloreans, making everything pretty much all for nothing. And the ending itself doesn't provide an actual conclusion; it kind of just stops making it feel unfinished. Like are we missing a final chapter?

Although I really enjoyed this story, it worked for me I don't know why. Perhaps I connected with the original premise and I was able to hyperfixate on that despite all the shortcomings. You know how you're obsessed with the guy that's all wrong for you and you ignore the red flags because he's fun and sexy. That explains my love of this story.

However, upon deeper reflection, I must admit it's a bare bones of a story and doesn't go into depth for many key points, which is why I see it rated so low. This is a shame because it holds so much promise.

My high rating purely reflects my enjoyment of a silly, goofy story and my ability to completely suspend my disbelief and just go with the flow. But unfortunately, I don't recommend this story for those looking for more complex, in-depth storytelling.