The Last Girl on Earth by Alexandra Blogier (review)

The Abdoloreans thought they killed all human life sixteen years ago when they took over Earth, but there's one survivor, a girl named Li. Li's adoptive Abdolorean father (a human sympathizer) has taken great pains to make sure no one knows the truth, fitting Li, now seventeen, with phony gills and making her endure grueling physical and intellectual training sessions to match Abdolorean strength and intelligence. Soon she'll be able to travel to other planets, where her humanity wouldn't endanger her the way it does on Earth, but then she meets Ryn, a beautiful Abdolorean boy who majorly complicates her feelings about her future. There is a quiet but constant thrum of tension in even the most mundane aspects of Li's daily life—hanging out with friends, answering a question in class, or accepting an invitation to a gala all risk the exposure of her identity, and readers will feel her fearful uncertainty with every decision she makes. Though the romance with Ryn is sweet and heated (Abdolorean teenagers apparently experience the same hormones as humans do), it's her relationship with her Abdolorean sister, Zo, that is the heart of this story. Their affectionate bond is especially poignant since Zo is well aware that keeping Li's secret has cost her friends and could potentially cost her life but who still very much looks up to Li as the big sister. This is an immersive and intriguing alien invasion story that focuses not on space battles but on relationships. KQG