The Last Orphans (The Last Orphans #1) by N.W. Harris

We’re changing the pace for a moment for a book and switching to a post-apocalyptic series.  I think it was think to change the pace a little from those cheesy and steamy stories.  Some had their merit but I wanted to go back and read some YA novels to just take a little break.  Digging through my Kindle books, I found this one called The Last Orphans by N.W. Harris.  This series, to date, as three novels.  Whether its ended or not, I don’t know because I haven’t done more research yet. Still, it looks promising.

The Last Orphans (The Last Orphans #1)
By: N.W. Harris

The Last Orphans is about the end of the world where all the adults has been murdered in one way or another. Left behind are the children who curiously are immune to whatever is going on.  We zoom in to sixteen-year-old Shane Tucker who encounters this while coming home from a funeral and wanting to save his aunt but realizing there was nothing he could do to stop whatever was going on.  As he escapes to find other people, he encounters his high school crush, Kelly and her younger sister who is also left alone traumatically. Together they meet others teens and kids and he becomes the leader as they figure out their next steps.  Their first was to slowly discover what was going on together and then find safety. Step by step their discoveries lead to them realizing that they were not spared but rather the next victims.

I’m sorry for my bad attempt at synopsis but the Goodreads one was way too long to put in here. Still, the idea of The Last Orphans is there and it leaves some room for you to discover the novel if you want to check it out.  The Last Orphans was quite a thrilling read.  It did a decent job and made a very good effort with some fun ideas for an apocalypse. The fact is, a world without adults, while we sometimes might wish it away when we were younger, also is one that is hard to imagine.  The decisions are tough and stepping up is hard.  Its emphasizes on responsibility and safety.  The Last Orphans does a good job at looking into the teens that take in their crew.  It has a balance of characters from strong-headed to weak-willed but they also leave enough space for them to grow logically in a situation like this.  Fact is, in a world without adults, there will still be bullies and people who want to take advantage of the situation in a stupid and non-beneficial way.  There will be kids who want to just protect their own and do what they need.  And most of all, everyone wants to have their own turf and have their own societies.  They are left to build up from scratch again and grow up in an instant.

The Last Orphans is also nice because its rather well-crafted. The story itself takes a unique path but it also carries a reality that we can believe.  The apocalypse holds some rather disturbing descriptions of the outcome of the adults.  There is gore and action wrapped together and it didn’t need zombies to do it. The new world that the orphans are now a part of is a place they are exploring and its a whole new universe that we also willingly jump into this dangerous adventure with.  They are smart but they also need each other.  Friendships build and relationships form, even if they sometimes are a little predictable, it still merits some happy moments because the characters are developed well and rather likeable.

The Last Orphans is a great YA apocalyptic novel.  It draws out unique turn of events that has enough threat to make it intriguing to read even if some parts give it a level of predictability. However, it has likeable characters and well-developed characters that set up a good stage as the first book of the series. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Have you read The Last Orphans?