Melissa's Reviews > The Last Woman Standing

** spoiler alert ** I got this book through Kindle First. I am a fan of historical fiction and thought that this would be interesting at least. I haven't read a ton from the era in the novel and I enjoy alternative perspectives.

First strike was that this was in first person. I don't particularly enjoy reading in first person - for me, it breaks that suspension of disbelief because I would very rarely do all the things that the narrators do. In this case, I did not enjoy riding around in Josephine/Sadie's head. She is very blunt, but not in a charming way. Instead it's awkward, with far too many metaphors that seem scripted. The story did not feel natural, as first person generally tries to.

Second strike was that I just did not enjoy Josephine. I do not think we would have been friends. She seems pretty gullible and passive in many cases - moving to Arizona on the strength of a promise, borrowing money to build a house, waiting still to demand what she wanted, deciding to work as a prostitute rather than return to her parents' home (?!?), accepting Wyatt's promises because she loves him...the list goes on.

Last strike? I just hated the ending. When I was finally starting to see development and growth in Josephine, she reverts back to type when Wyatt returns to make an honest woman out of her. She also seems to want her independence, but not enough to actually be independent. She depends far too much on her relationship partner to give her instruction, which is odd because it seems like she wants to be her own person. Contradictions abound.

I'm glad it was free because I would have been mad if I had paid for it.