The Last Boy follows Brewster, a chimney sweep who’s been forced to risk his life every night since he was six. But Brewster has a secret, written on the walls of his small shared room, he has numbers that predict a storm of stars. During this storm he plans to wish on each star. His wish is to be the last climbing boy. When a powerful lady offers to make his wish come true, Brewster has to achieve the impossible in return.

I loved The Last Boy. It is both sweet and sad and has some really great characters. I loved seeing the relationships that Brewster had with the rest of the chimney sweeps and how he works to help them throughout the book. I also really loved seeing him adjust to the new environment of Birr Castle and try to fit in with the rest of the residents there.

The Last Boy is based on real people and stories. Reading about the history behind the book made the already amazing story even better. The historical elements of this book were really interesting because of the way Eve was able to merge and blend the real people and stories into one. It was hard to believe that most of the real people would never have met. I think this book is such a great way of remembering and honouring Brewster and the rest of the real people in The Last Boy.

The combination of magic, science, math and history in The Last Boy means that there’s something for everyone. I would recommend this book to anyone 9+.