Adult book review - The Last Girl

The Last Girl - Kitty Thomas

Tour:Dark Mind Book Tours

Publisher: Burlesque Press (Feb 2012)

Genre: Adult Paranormal, Dark erotica

Tags: BDSM, D/s, 

ASIN: B0078QAZ4K

Format: Kindle Edition

File size: 234 KB

My thoughts:

Naughty naughty is usually my opening line when reviewing erotica. I don't think that quite covers this one though, more -->

Ok, where to begin... 

I hadn't read any of Kitty's books before, but noticed a lot of comments about her work being very dark and more than capable of messing with your mind. Now that I've read The Last Girl, I completely agree. I have never been out of my comfort zone to this extent before, yet I remained utterly entranced and unable to stop reading. It floored me. 

The story: Home alone, thirteen year old Juliette encounters a terrifying situation when her house is broken into. She hides, as the robbers aim to retrieve something important. Her eyes remain closed and because of this, the mysterious man leaves her be, only to catch up with her at a later date...

The darkness scares Juliette. Blind-folded by her boyfriend Devon, she's led to a secret location all the while she's freaking out due to the nightmares she's had about the mysterious man who visited her that night. The nightmare becomes reality when the blind-fold is removed and the man in question stands before her unwilling to let her go. His name is Christian and he's a vampire.

Kidnapped and no longer known as Juilette, but Pet, she's thrown into a world where her diet changes in order to taste better to her kidnapper, her virginity is taken over and over again and the world outside is nothing but a mere memory to her. 

This is definitely a character driven story. Christian is an old-school vampire, meaning he really is the villain here, not some sparkly do-gooder. 

A sadist, violent, bullying, abusive; he's just an outright menace, but he's programmed that way-he isn't human. Upfront about this from the get-go, he states to Juliette he is "not a human, but a predator and that she should expect to die, it's just a matter of time." For me, his character was one of those that you love to hate. I was confused at times because I really should have hated him the entire time, with all the mean things he did to Juliette, but I didn't and I actually found myself feeling sorry for him! He doesn't want to love Juliette because he knows she's going to die and it'll happen quicker if does love her. (Re: See quote further down)

Juliette is the narrator, and what a voice she has. As a reader you can't help be captivated by her words as her journey plays out. The character development here is spot on, from a young teen, to a hormonal teenager, to a young woman trying to understand a situation and 'person'. Plus experiencing what I can only put down as some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. You experience her fears, confusion, excitement, her everything. Juilette's personality and reactions are completely believable. 

I 'shouldn't' like this story, nor it's plot. It's wrong on so many levels and oh-so-scary. But I think to hate it would be to not understand it, or what Kitty has done. There's always that feeling that you should dislike something like this due to it's extreme content. 

There were times I genuinely read in shock. I'm talking hands-over-my-face-yet-peeking-through-my-fingers. Because even though it was so shocking, I just couldn't stop reading. I've read D/s based books before, but I found this psychologically disturbing. Very, very clever though. The author has such a talent for captivating you and dragging out an array of emotions with her every word. 

Respect where respect is due, Kitty Thomas is a fantastic writer. I haven't read a lot from this genre, so take my views with a pinch of salt. Would I read this type of book again? Yes, It's good to shake things up a bit in the fiction world, a good book pulls a strong reaction from a reader...or in this case, shocks the shit out of you. 

Summary: All in all, a great read and one not to miss. The distinct characters have such a clear voice and the atmosphere remains hauntingly dark throughout. It's more than capable of fucking with your head. 

Oh, I have to mention the cover too. It's beautiful! Just don't let it fool you into expecting hearts and flowers... 

Recommended to: Fans of BDSM and dark erotica reads, particularly interested in the psychology side to it. That said, if it's not a genre you usually read, but have an open mind and are willing to step outside your comfort zone, then yeah, give it a go. Fans of tortured heroes in the paranormal world will love this too. 

Content warning: BDSM scenarios, f/f, m/f, group, captivity/ kidnap, blood, biting, knife play,  sadomasochism, exhibitionism, D/s,

Quotes:

"The only thing you're safe from is everyone and everything else. I can protect you from literally anything but myself. Pray that I don't love you, Juliette. I'm scared of what will happen to you if I do."

Read an excerpt from The Last Girl here.

Synopsis:

Six years ago strangers broke into Juliette's house; she was home alone and only thirteen. She kept her eyes closed, praying that if she didn't see anything, she wouldn't be killed. No one harmed her. In fact, on of the thieves protected her. Now Juliette's dreams are haunted by him. Christian has waited to take her, resisting the urge each night. It always ends badly with human pets. They're too fragile. The longer he can wait, the better, because the moment he takes her, the clock on her life starts ticking down. Then she'll be gone forever. Warning: This book is dark erotica, meant for a mature audience only.

Purchase The Last Girl: 

Amazon l Barnes & Noble l Smashwords

Meet the author:

Kitty Thomas writes dark literary fiction that explores power dynamics and sexuality. This work is fiction and meant for an adult audience. The author does not endorse or condone any of the behavior carried out by characters in her stories.

Her work is not “erotic romance”. Often on some level it is about love and/or obsession. Often the couple in some way ends up “together”, but the work should not be expected to follow the conventions of any type of genre romance, erotic or otherwise. If you are looking for genre romance (erotic or otherwise), please read a different author. Erotic romance is “more explicit romance”. This is something different.

Inspiration for Kitty’s work comes from many sources including Story of O, Nine and a Half Weeks, and the work of Claudia D. Christian.

Connect with Kitty online: Blog/Website l Facebook l Twitter

*Don't forget to subscribe to Kitty's newsletter by sending an email to kittythomas29@gmail.com with the word subscribe in the subject line, Kitty runs amazing contests for her followers!*

Visit the schedule for the tour here to read reviews, author interviews, guest posts etc.

Thanks for reading!

xo

TToria♥ 

© TToria ttoria.blogspot.com

*A copy of this book was provided to me by the author. No payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review.*