The Last Feminist

by Alisha Nelson

In this captivating story of tragedy and inspiration—Alisha Nelson takes us into the depths of Africa and the despicable ways of Boko Haram.

Maddy Archer, a successful freelance journalist reporting on feminist issues from the United states, receives an e-mail that entices her to do something very out of character. She decides to follow her heart to Nigeria—where Boko Haram are holding a group of girls hostage. When she arrives in Nigeria, life is even tougher than she ever imagined—she begins to question the life she lived before her grand trip.

When Maddy and the local aides are captured—she is sent to camp where she is forced to learn a lot about herself and how to overcome extreme pain and suffering, all along becoming an inspiration to the very women she has come to save.

Will Maddy get the captured girls to freedom—before something devastating happens to them all?

112 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 17, 2016

Reviews

[Marc Stephan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was readable, but felt corny. The protagonist tended to view herself not as an individual or as a human being, but as a feminist, which was very strange to me. It felt vaguely inappropriate a lot of the time, like these should be horrors on a human scale, not merely on the scale of a specific ideology. I felt like I could have substituted feminist with American or something similar and I doubt the meaning would have changed much.

How would she be able to live with herself, and still call herself a feminist if she was not willing to put herself in danger to save these girls?

"To save these girls," she said.
"You are not married?"
"No, but I don't see how that would have made a difference," she snapped at him - her old feminist anger reappearing suddenly.

She could see now with hindsight that she had worked too hard to make them feel inferior as she tried to live up to the 'feminist' tag that had been attached to her. There had been a couple of men who could possibly have made her happy, but she had pushed them away with her constant arguing and questioning of their motives in relation to treating her as an equal.

I like feminism. I often consider myself as one. But to dedicate one's entire existence to an ideology that can't even agree with itself what it is about? To base every action and decision onto something as vast and broad as 'feminism'?

I suppose some people do live their lives like that. But I feel most people judge the world more based on their individual point of view, and the protagonist never struck me as someone who thought and acted on her own. I applaud the ending, but more the author's courage to avoid a Disney-like ending than me suddenly liking the book. I spent all that time reading about Maddy, and felt like not once had I ever gotten to know her.

Side note: If this was made in Hollywood, would Maddy be played by Tom Cruise to uphold the white male status quo?

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddy is a journalist. She receives a call to go on a mission to save women being held captive in Africa. She is skeptical but feels the need to go. When they arrive, she's quite taken back by everything. How will she and her friend save these women? Will they have help from the U.N.? I found this story captivating and enjoyable. The narration helped move the story along quite nicely. If you do not like narration you will not like this book. I, in fact, believe it helps the reader gain knowledge of the character and who she or he is.

[Asha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great suspense thriller which you can't put down. I just wish it was longer.