“The Last Martin” is a fast-paced and quirky story of growing up, discovering your independence, and learning to truly live.
When Martin Boyle concludes that his name is cursed and he has only weeks to live, his entire world is altered. Long an outsider at school and perpetually worried due to the influence of his hypochondriac mother, Martin finds his pending demise a source of dread, but also a catalyst for dramatic changes. In short, in the face of death, Martin begins to learn what it means to live—but will that prove a lesson that comes too late?
Jonathan Friensen grabs the reader’s attention from the start, and the pace hardly lets up through the next 266 pages. The book is written from Martin’s perspective so it takes a bit before the various elements of the story come together clearly, but once they do it is a worthwhile adventure. Medieval knights battle, friends are made, crushes blossom, wars are reenacted, and all the while death edges ever closer. Touching on themes of fate, friendship, family relationships, and navigating the difficulties of school life as a teenager, I found “The Last Martin” to be a fun read and a strangely inspiring tale.