The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State

Written by Nadia Murad, Jenna Krajeski and Amal Clooney

Narrated by Kadushin Ilyana

'Telling my story of first surviving genocide and then as a captive of ISIS is not easy, but people must know.'

The remarkable and courageous story of Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi woman who is working with Amal Clooney to challenge the world to fight ISIS on behalf on her people. With a foreword by Amal Clooney.

A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, the first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations and winner of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, Nadia Murad is a courageous young woman who has endured unimaginable tragedy (losing 18 members of her family) and degradation through sexual enslavement to ISIS. But she has fought back.

This inspiring memoir takes us from her peaceful childhood in a remote village in Iraq through loss and brutality to safety in Germany. Courage and testimony can change the world: this is one of those books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown (Hachette UK) Audio
• Release date: Nov 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781405540049

Reviews for The Last Girl

[deaconbernie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm glad this book was written. The author's story must be told. It is especially pertinent now as it seems ISIS might again be on the rise. That said, I can't help saying I did not like this book precisely because it is a story of man's inhumanity to man or woman. We'd like to think that we have reached a high level of humanness. And then along comes something like ISIS to prove that we are nowhere as civilized as we think we are.

[pdcread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The only place that Nadia Murad had even know was Kocho in Northern Iraq. This small village was part of the Yazidi community, and most of the population there were farmer or shepherds. She had simple dreams, wanting to open her own beauty salon or become a teacher. The war in Iraq had affected them a little, but not much. However, in August 2014 everything was to change forever. That was the day that ISIS rolled into the village, separated the men from the women and children and slaughtered the men, piling the bodies in a mass grave. Six of Nadia's brothers were among those killed in cold blood.

Nadia, her sisters and the other young women of the village had a different fate. They were packed onto buses and taken to Mosul to be sold as sex slaves. Forcibly converted to Islam and marry her captor, the second part of her story tells of the horrific time that she had at the hands of the thugs that 'owned' her. She was forced to marry one of her captors, beaten, whipped and raped repeatedly. She contemplated suicide or fighting back as this might bring death and a release from her misery. She didn't though, and when the chance came, she climbed over the wall and escaped through the streets of the city. Looking for shelter, she almost knocked on one door, but had second thoughts and went to another. Luckily for her, this was a Sunni family that took her in and gave her shelter.

They gave her the much-needed care required, and she managed to get in contact with the little that was left of her family. A plan was hatched to smuggle her through the ISIS checkpoints to get her to a refugee camp so she could join her displaced Yazidi people.

It wouldn't be a spoiler to say that she survived. ISIS implement a cruel and harsh version of Islam, with rules that are arbitrary and are their strict and warped interpretation of the Koran, that they are more than happy to break them as and when it suits. This, her heart-wrenching story, is to tell the world of the plight of this peaceful community and to force the world to pay attention to the genocide against the Yazidi. She is one brave woman and the momentum she has gathered since she escaped is inspirational and very moving, it had never even crossed her mind that she would ever address the UN or be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. This is another book that I can highly recommend, even though it is uncomfortable reading and I hope one day that they get the justice they deserve against ISIS. 4.5 stars

[smits_52 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The last line in Nadia's book is "I want to be the last girl in the world with a story like mine." Nadia's story forces us to pay attention to a genocide taking place in Iraq. Her story makes it real and tangible when you read about one girls horror. The way ISIS treat women is beyond articulation but Nadia tell us. She is a unbelievably brave, strong woman. No surprise she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Thank you Nadia for sharing your story.

[jessika.c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is Nadia’s story about her escape from slavery and human trafficking. It’s also a love letter to her roots as a Yazidi and the community that she grew up with before it was destroyed by the Islamic State. But it's also the story of the country she longs for and what was lost when everyone turned a blind eye to what was happening and allowed for these atrocities to begin with. There were many moments where I had to pause and really think about what it would mean to have my culture beaten out of me. It’s something so ingrained within many of us and to have to give it up for survival is unimaginable. Her story is one of millions and with the help of Amal Clooney her lawyer they have been working to bring awareness to the issue of sex trafficking and pleading with the UN to help stop this.

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, Nadia Murad, author; Amal Clooney*, foreward; Ilyana Kadushin, narratorThat something like what is described in the pages of this book could occur in a society of human beings is appalling. This is one of the most heartbreaking descriptions of brutality and violence that I have read, apart from the books about the Holocaust. This genocide was carried out without regard for human dignity or suffering. Religious fanatics, attempting to recreate the Caliphate, murdered and captured the Yazidi people with abandon, and the world largely watched it happen.The Yazidi religion is described as a combination of the three major religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Their religion has aspects of each religion with respect to worship, prayer, and dress. They are a simple people with their superstitions, customs, and codes of proper behavior to guide them. There is no written book for them, however. The traditions and culture are passed down orally by specially selected Yazidi who are tasked with that effort. There are some aspects, like honor killings, that I found reprehensible, but what happened to the Yazidi people is equally, if not more, reprehensible. Forced from their homes and moved by Saddam Hussein to make Iraq more Arab, they were then attacked by ISIS. They were viewed by the extremists to be fair game because they had no written book. They were, therefore, unforgivable infidels. Because sex before marriage was forbidden, they abused the women they kidnapped and told them they were ruined and would not be accepted back into their world. Fear and pain were tools used with abandon by men and women who were followers of ISIS, who accepted their brand of brutality.The author lost many members of her family during the time ISIS was capturing towns and villages, among them her own, in Kocho. Women were forced to convert. They were raped. The infirm were murdered. Young boys were forced to be soldiers or used as human shields to protect the cowardly members of ISIS. Those who witnessed the mass murders and brutality turned a blind eye, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of their agreement with the goals ISIS. Today, Nadia Murad is an activist and works to help those abused and to prevent further kidnappings and massacres. Her description of the events she witnessed and experienced may be simple, but it is so vivid and detailed that the reader will be forced to visualize the heinous and vicious treatment of the Yazidis, imprinting it on their own memories as it is imprinted on Nadia’s. It has to be emphasized that it was only through the grace of God and some kind Iraqis that Nadia was able to escape.Nadia admits that although life was better after the Americans took over, it was followed by horror. Tribal issues rose to the surface; Sunnis, Kurds, Shites and Yazidis butted heads. Religious factions rebelled. The war was poorly executed and promises that were made went unfulfilled. Hope for the future died, for many, with the development of ISIS and Al Qaeda, with the rise of fundamental Islamic, radical terrorists.The book, although not long, describes Nadia’s happy life before the war, reveals the atrocities committed after her capture, details her return to civilization in Germany, and than as an activist. She has resettled in Germany, but will always be an Iraqi, in her heart. However, her home is gone, ransacked and destroyed. Now, she dedicates her life to helping others who are less fortunate than she was and rejoices with the family members who have survived and those that can be rescued.Nadia states that she learned that words could be used against you as weapons, a valuable lesson, since people interpret words differently. How apropos to consider those words in the divisive political atmosphere that exists today in the America. Mobs become protesters; illegal aliens are transformed into undocumented workers depending on which side of the political spectrum one sits. When appeals are made to emotion rather than intellect, people suffer, when fear and identity are used as tools people grow hopeless. Couple that with a lack of power and they are also helpless. No one would come to their aid.When the last page is turned, the reader can’t help but wish it had been a novel, rather than non-fiction! The awful cruelty and blood bath committed by members of ISIS and its followers is hard to wrap ones head around and accept. The Yazidis were caught between haters in a war they did not want, but they hoped that America would save them. However, Obama abandoned them and allowed the terrible acts committed by ISIS to continue and proliferate. Yazidis were kidnapped for ransom, women were used as sex slaves, boys were forced to be soldiers, belongings were looted and destroyed, and many Yazidis were simply murdered in cold blood. Because conversion and intermarriage is forbidden to Yazidis, their numbers have been diminished. To continue, they must have large families. Muliple wives are permitted, so perhaps their numbers will rise.Nadia was happy once, although her family was poor. Her home was filled with love and laughter. Now she lives to prevent further atrocities, to rescue those that she can, and she hopes one day to see those who commit such acts of terror to be punished and brought to justice. They should not escape untouched. *Amal Clooney is the lawyer who represented Nadia so she could tell her story to let the world know of the plight of the Yazidis and the crimes of ISIS and the Islamic state. She is the wife of actor George Clooney.

[thecrow2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A book once again which one hard to `love` but everyone has to read. Although the subtitle says that it`s the story of a sex slave, the book is muck more than that. The genocide of a religious-cultural minority, the horrors of the war, the apathy and helpfulness of the people, all in this book. Nadia had the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, which was a great and well deserved choice.

[janarose1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nadia lived a quite life in northern Iraq, with other members of the Yazidi community. A little known religion, Yazidi's are an insular community, who generally keeps to themselves and bothers no one. When ISIS enters their village, they separate men, women and children. The men are slaughtered. Young women of Nadia's age are taken away, to become sex slaves. After being forced to convert to Islam, she is traded by several militants to be repeatedly raped and beaten. Left unattended one day, Nadia miraculously escapes. With the help of a Sunni Muslim family, she is smuggled to safety. This was a very powerful and moving story. I can't imagine the horrors that Nadia, and other members of the Yazidi community have gone through. I was glad to see a book written from this perspective. It is very brave of Nadia to speak of her experiences, and it is important to bring awareness and to ensure that this does not happen again. Overall, highly recommended.

[librarygeek33 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The human, tragic, story of the unrest in the middle east. The trials of the Yazidis are now seared into my brain and I will think of this book and Nadia Murad whenever I hear the word ISIS. The very few reviews, mentions and readership is unfortunate. Yes, it was disturbing but sometimes, people need to be disturbed to become aware of the atrocities that exist in the world.