Lost in Lualand

The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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For Christmas, my boss gave me one of those “mystery books” that come wrapped in brown paper so you have no idea what you’re getting. I’ve always thought it was a fun idea, but I never bought one for myself for fear I’d buy a book I already have. When I finally opened the book from my boss, I was hoping for a mystery. What I got was a dystopian novel based on a reality survival show. I confess, I have no interest in dystopian books, movies, etc, and I detest “reality” TV. Nevertheless, the book was a gift, and I took it to work intending to read it on my lunch breaks. The book was The Last One by Alexandra Oliva.

Twelve contestants are chosen for a new, survival-based reality show, which will include group challenges and solo challenges. There’s no voting anyone off; instead contestants are provided with a Latin phrase that they can use if they give up and tap out. The show’s creators assign nicknames to each participant, such as Tracker, Rancher, and Biology. The story focuses mainly on one of the few female contestants, who is known as Zoo for her work with wildlife. For Zoo, this was meant to be one last, grand adventure before getting serious about having children with her husband. She’s tough, resourceful, and resilient, but she harbors little hope of actually winning the contest. As hunger and exhaustion begin to blur the lines between reality and what are carefully staged props, Zoo and the others are unaware that a catastrophic pandemic has swept the globe. Zoo soldiers on, convinced that the emptied buildings and “staged” bodies she encounters are part of the elaborate game she’s playing.

I had low expectations when I began reading this. I intended to soldier through like Zoo, I guess. Instead, I found the story to be utterly engrossing to the point that it annoyed me to have to close it and go back to work. LOL! As a reader, there were times I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t, either. As it became apparent that Zoo was deluding herself, the story took a darker tone, because you knew the other shoe was going to drop eventually. Characters were portrayed very well, from Zoo to the other contestants, to the smarmy “host” of the show. The narrative skipped around, time-wise, which is never a favorite trope of mine. It alternated with Zoo’s first-person pov in present time, then went back in time to showcase a particular group challenge, which was all in third-person. Interspersed throughout where various social media threads by fans of the show discussing it online. I’m not fond of vacillating timelines and points of view, but it worked for this book.

Favorite lines:
♦ It’s exactly the same except now I can’t see and I’m missing a shoe.
♦ The journey’s too hard only if I’m too soft.

Not an enjoyable read by any stretch, but it was compelling and thought-provoking. Five stars.