A young adult, fantasy novel about a teenager who is the last eighteen-year-old in her territory. There will never be another child; every baby born after her has been taken away. Everyone wonders why she survived.

Emma Whisperer was born in 2080, in the small futuristic world of Craigluy. President Esther, in charge for the last twenty-two years, has divided their world into three territories, separated by classes—the rich, the working class, and the poor—because she believes the poor should not mingle with the others. And, the poor are no longer allowed to have children, since they do not have the means to take care of them.

Any babies born, accidentally or willfully, are killed. Emma is the last eighteen-year-old in her territory; every baby born after her has died. Somehow, she survived this fate.

During the president’s Monday night speech, she announces a party will be held to honor the last child in the territory, Emma Whisperer. Emma must read a speech, expressing how happy she is to be the last eighteen-year-old.

Emma doesn’t like the rules; she doesn’t believe in them. So, she feels she must rebel against them. Her family doesn’t agree with her rebellion, since they are hiding a big secret. If this secret gets out, it will be disastrous, and deadly, for her family.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy of this book! It was incredibly hard to put down, as I couldn’t wait to see where Emma would go next. I thought that the plot was so interesting; very Hunger Games adjacent while still being a very separate dystopian universe.

I could actually envision an elected leader not only further driving a spike between all classes of people, but also taking the wildest stand on children and deciding that the key to making sure that no child ever suffers is to make sure none are every born. That is such a glaring commentary on our powers that be right now.

We are focusing on issues such as immigration and instead of helping the people whose countries are uninhabitable, our president wants us to build a wall. So too is President Esther forgetting all about the struggles of the lower class, or Territory L, to focus on their reproduction.

I gave a lower rating mainly for the writing style, which is a total personal preference, but I found it very impersonal and professional almost. At times it almost felt stilted but at the same time it kind of went along with the world the author was creating. All in all it was a fun read!

4/5 stars