Celebrity Book Review: Dua Lipa's Recommendation 'The Last Girl' by Nadia Murad

By Faith on June 28, 2024

Welcome to my first Celebrity Book Review! So, for the past few years, I've actually been trying to read novels recommended by some of my favourite celebrities. This was originally just a little personal project I was working on, I wanted book recommendations and I turned to some of my favourite celebrities to see what they were reading and recommending. I've been reading books recommended by Harry Styles, RM (Namjoon from BTS) and of course, Dua Lipa.

Dua Lipa has been a favourite musician and singer of mine for a long time now, I went to her Future Nostalgia tour back in 2022 with my best friend and I've also been listening to her podcast. Her Service95 podcast (which also has a newsletter) is actually how I discovered the novel I'm going to review.

So, here's my review of The Last Girl by Nadia Murad which is recommended by Dua Lipa (via her podcast and newsletter).

I want to be the last girl in the world with a story like mine

Nadia Murad

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Last Girl is a memoir by Nadia Murad which recounts her life before, during and after her captivity by ISIS.

Nadia starts the novel by telling us about her life in Kocho, which is a small farming village in northern Iraq. She is part of the Yazidi community which is also an ethnic minority in the region. Her childhood in Kocho is hard but was ultimately content with her life with her large family.

Then, in 2014, when Nadia was 21 years old, ISIS militants massacred the people in her village who refused to denounce their religion. Six of Nadia's brothers were killed as well as her mother, their bodies would then be thrown into mass graves. Nadia and many of the other young girls were taken to Mosul and forced into the ISIS slave trade where the women were tortured and raped by the militants.

Nadia, however, was able to escape. After many of her previous escape attempts failed, on one fateful night, she ran out of the house of her capture and found herself sheltered by a Sunni Muslim family. The family helped Nadia escape her fate and she was eventually smuggled into the safety of a refugee camp. Where, later on, she would migrate to Europe where she managed to contact a lawyer (Amal Clooney) to help her seek justice against the men who wronged her.

Honestly, I don't have much to say about this novel other than the fact it is harrowing. It's one thing hearing about ISIS on the news, its another thing actually reading Nadia's account of her time being tortured by them. It's eternally heartbreaking knowing that women (and men) are subjected to degraded and dehumanising treatment as Nadia had experienced. My heart goes out to her and all the victims and survivors who share her experiences.

The novel was truly educational as it is emotional since it provided information and insight into a situation that will make your heart break for Nadia and her community.

This novel is separated into three sections: the first part focuses on Nadia's childhood, and her community and gives us insight into being a Yazidi. We learn about the love and strong bonds she shares with her family and community and the importance they play in her life.

The second part details her experience living as a sex slave for ISIS. While the novel does not go into extreme detail about all of these experiences, it is still not very nice to read. So, while there is no trigger warning, I do want to point out that you should read this second section with care as it does mention Nadia's experiences being of raped and tortured.

The final part of the memoir talks about Nadia's escape into freedom and liberation (as well as a few family reunions). This section is much more hopeful as we learn about Nadia's new life as she comes to terms with her trauma and her fight to protect women and the Yazidi community. I hope with all my soul and female rage that Nadia achieves all that she sets out to do. She truly deserves it more than anyone.

And that is it for my book review. I know it's not like my other reviews but this is a novel I wanted to talk about and bring to everyone's attention. So, thank you for reading and I hope you all have a lovely day.

Earlier in the post, I mentioned that I discovered this novel from Dua Lipa's Service95 podcast. I have her podcast's website linked here for anyone who may be interested in listening to it. The website will provide links to various platforms where you can listen to Nadia Murad talking to Dua Lipa about her memoir and life experiences. The podcast also features Amal Clooney talking about the legality and international criminal court's role in assisting Nadia and the world to hold ISIS militants accountable for their actions.