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dogoodwithbooks's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about this book.
Waverly never expected to end up at the infamous Webber Academy Masquerade… especially disguised as somebody else. But she agrees to it after one of the most popular girls at Webber Academy asks her to go as her as well as finding out that Ash Webber, her secret ex-girlfriend and daughter of Webber Academy’s dean who her and her family rely on for their generous scholarship. However, as the night goes on, things take a devious turn and nothing is what it seems.
I guess the main thing that bugged me about this book is that it dragged on in the beginning. A lot. Of course, I appreciate Wilde’s efforts to fully dive into each of the main characters to understand their backstories and motivations. However, there’s not really anything to keep you in until you’re almost 50% into the book. While I dabble in the thriller genre from time to time, I feel that you need to have something to keep people engaged until you get to the thriller aspect.
Though, once you’re able to get through the beginning, Wilde’s plot gets a lot more interesting. A unique perspective on the dystopian subgenre, you get to see female empowerment as they take on the end of the world as they know it. This book is full of twists and turns, and even the thorough beginning makes more sense as well as come full circle at the conclusion. On the other hand, this book can be intense at times and it’s made clear that this book is not for the faint of heart.
Now, I absolutely loved the autistic rep in this book. As an #ActuallyAutistic book reviewer, I love being able to see autistic folks as the MCs in the books I read and I love it even more when they are written by disabled authors. I feel that Wilde does a great job portraying Waverly and her Autistic experience. Seeing Waverly fight against a system that wants to eliminate anyone who doesn’t align with Webber Academy’s elite, her journey in this book has me feel inspired despite all the blood and gore that comes with it.
Overall, this is one of the times where I wished GoodReads would allow half-star ratings. However, I decided to round this book up because of the autistic rep and Wilde’s storytelling. If you’re able to push through some of the mundane aspects of the beginning, you can expect an excellent read in This is the Way the World Ends.
My advice for any reader that wants to read This is the Way the World Ends? If you want a jump-scare novel with dystopian horror vibes, you’re going to like this book. If you want an Autistic MC written by a disabled author, you came to the right place. If you’re the type of person who’s squeamish around blood and don’t like books with a lot of deaths, you might want to avoid this title.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about this book.
Waverly never expected to end up at the infamous Webber Academy Masquerade… especially disguised as somebody else. But she agrees to it after one of the most popular girls at Webber Academy asks her to go as her as well as finding out that Ash Webber, her secret ex-girlfriend and daughter of Webber Academy’s dean who her and her family rely on for their generous scholarship. However, as the night goes on, things take a devious turn and nothing is what it seems.
I guess the main thing that bugged me about this book is that it dragged on in the beginning. A lot. Of course, I appreciate Wilde’s efforts to fully dive into each of the main characters to understand their backstories and motivations. However, there’s not really anything to keep you in until you’re almost 50% into the book. While I dabble in the thriller genre from time to time, I feel that you need to have something to keep people engaged until you get to the thriller aspect.
Though, once you’re able to get through the beginning, Wilde’s plot gets a lot more interesting. A unique perspective on the dystopian subgenre, you get to see female empowerment as they take on the end of the world as they know it. This book is full of twists and turns, and even the thorough beginning makes more sense as well as come full circle at the conclusion. On the other hand, this book can be intense at times and it’s made clear that this book is not for the faint of heart.
Now, I absolutely loved the autistic rep in this book. As an #ActuallyAutistic book reviewer, I love being able to see autistic folks as the MCs in the books I read and I love it even more when they are written by disabled authors. I feel that Wilde does a great job portraying Waverly and her Autistic experience. Seeing Waverly fight against a system that wants to eliminate anyone who doesn’t align with Webber Academy’s elite, her journey in this book has me feel inspired despite all the blood and gore that comes with it.
Overall, this is one of the times where I wished GoodReads would allow half-star ratings. However, I decided to round this book up because of the autistic rep and Wilde’s storytelling. If you’re able to push through some of the mundane aspects of the beginning, you can expect an excellent read in This is the Way the World Ends.
My advice for any reader that wants to read This is the Way the World Ends? If you want a jump-scare novel with dystopian horror vibes, you’re going to like this book. If you want an Autistic MC written by a disabled author, you came to the right place. If you’re the type of person who’s squeamish around blood and don’t like books with a lot of deaths, you might want to avoid this title.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Chronic illness
imstephtacular's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War
sophie42's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, and Alcohol
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed this book; it wasn't predictable for the most part. I never did trust Jack, but I doubt any reader would. I loved Max, Pari, Waverly, and Caroline. Ashley, I'm on the fence about her. I wish we'd gotten more of the book after the disaster. Maybe a sequel? Overall, a good and not super predictable edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent
All the racism/ableism/homophobia/misogyny/sexism was from the bad guys and parts of their evil plot.sarahsbookss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
thereadedit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Suspense: 👀👀👀👀👀/5
Action: 💥💥💥💥💥/5
Tropes: End Of The World, Queer, YA, Elite Academy, Disability Rep, Autism Rep, POC Rep
I opened this book to find so much more than I ever bargained for. Let me preface this by saying that I read the synopsis before I chose to review it. Then promptly forgot the synopsis 🤦🏻♀️. So when I picked it up I literally went in blind. And I'm so glad that I did. This kind of book should be gotten into with no clue what is to happen. I loved it that way. No expectations and no let downs.
Also I am not an end of the world, apocalypse kind of girly. It's just not my thing.
Waverly is such a dynamic character that will always surprise you with every twist and turn of the story. Not only is she dynamic, but she is one heck of a heroine! I never expected for her to go to the lengths that she went to for those she never thought would be there. And those that she hoped would. She had such a a huge heart for not just her friends, but also her family. She knew how hard it was in the world before everything went to pot, and she knew how much she had to sacrifice. And she was so willing. My heart went out to her often throughout the book in only the way someone with a kindred spirit could.
With so much action going on through this book it was not easy to have to put it down when I had to do the adulty things. Like eating, taking my dogs out, and just doing things in general. I couldn't stay away for long because I needed to see what was going to happen next.
The friendships she made along the way with people she never thought she would only strengthened her as the night went on. I honestly don't know how this could have ended any different. And I don't wanna know.
I truly enjoyed this book to the very end. I hope you will too!
Suspense: 👀👀👀👀👀/5
Action: 💥💥💥💥💥/5
Tropes: End Of The World, Queer, YA, Elite Academy, Disability Rep, Autism Rep, POC Rep
I opened this book to find so much more than I ever bargained for. Let me preface this by saying that I read the synopsis before I chose to review it. Then promptly forgot the synopsis 🤦🏻♀️. So when I picked it up I literally went in blind. And I'm so glad that I did. This kind of book should be gotten into with no clue what is to happen. I loved it that way. No expectations and no let downs.
Also I am not an end of the world, apocalypse kind of girly. It's just not my thing.
Waverly is such a dynamic character that will always surprise you with every twist and turn of the story. Not only is she dynamic, but she is one heck of a heroine! I never expected for her to go to the lengths that she went to for those she never thought would be there. And those that she hoped would. She had such a a huge heart for not just her friends, but also her family. She knew how hard it was in the world before everything went to pot, and she knew how much she had to sacrifice. And she was so willing. My heart went out to her often throughout the book in only the way someone with a kindred spirit could.
With so much action going on through this book it was not easy to have to put it down when I had to do the adulty things. Like eating, taking my dogs out, and just doing things in general. I couldn't stay away for long because I needed to see what was going to happen next.
The friendships she made along the way with people she never thought she would only strengthened her as the night went on. I honestly don't know how this could have ended any different. And I don't wanna know.
I truly enjoyed this book to the very end. I hope you will too!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
womanwill's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Wow, this book was a ride! I didn't realize it was a thriller/science fiction-y until I started reading it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC.
Set mostly at an elite private school's fundraiser and private gala, Waverly and her friends stumble upon murder and a high-level power scheme after a dystopian event.
In this short and fast-paced novel, you'll find an amazing cast of characters and tropes:
- Waverly- our MC - a lesbian scholarship student with Autism
- MS & chronic pain rep in Waverly's mom & how disability impacts their family and income earning abilities
- Pari- Waverly's bad ass mized South Asian best friend who is bisexual and has EDS & chronic; she also often uses a cane & has quite the collection
- sapphic longing
- dark academia meets tech dystopian science fiction
- found family
- lots of death and murder
- mannequins
- a horror maze
My favorite thing about this book was the disability and queer rep. At its core is a queer and disabled centric core friend group/found family & love for blood family. Though the characters did face some discrimination and comments from the able bodied and minded and cisheternormative side characters. So CW for that.
I found the story to be a bit unbelievable at times and a bit uneven in plotting. But I think it's aimed for a relatively young YA age, and overall, I thought some of the twists on dark academia were quite fun.
Set mostly at an elite private school's fundraiser and private gala, Waverly and her friends stumble upon murder and a high-level power scheme after a dystopian event.
In this short and fast-paced novel, you'll find an amazing cast of characters and tropes:
- Waverly- our MC - a lesbian scholarship student with Autism
- MS & chronic pain rep in Waverly's mom & how disability impacts their family and income earning abilities
- Pari- Waverly's bad ass mized South Asian best friend who is bisexual and has EDS & chronic; she also often uses a cane & has quite the collection
- sapphic longing
- dark academia meets tech dystopian science fiction
- found family
- lots of death and murder
- mannequins
- a horror maze
My favorite thing about this book was the disability and queer rep. At its core is a queer and disabled centric core friend group/found family & love for blood family. Though the characters did face some discrimination and comments from the able bodied and minded and cisheternormative side characters. So CW for that.
I found the story to be a bit unbelievable at times and a bit uneven in plotting. But I think it's aimed for a relatively young YA age, and overall, I thought some of the twists on dark academia were quite fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Racism, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Grief, and Death of parent
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- Please allow me to do some queer screaming about THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS! Multiple queer characters from different backgrounds! Multiple characters with varying visible and invisible disabilities! A twisty story in an opulent setting with some real heartbreaking and heart-filling moments!
- If you can't tell, I really loved this one. I blew through it in a single night, absolutely loving Waverly and her friends. I am a big fan of how Wilde used this over the top story to make real world points about capitalism, ableism, classism, and more.
- Please allow me to do some queer screaming about THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS! Multiple queer characters from different backgrounds! Multiple characters with varying visible and invisible disabilities! A twisty story in an opulent setting with some real heartbreaking and heart-filling moments!
- If you can't tell, I really loved this one. I blew through it in a single night, absolutely loving Waverly and her friends. I am a big fan of how Wilde used this over the top story to make real world points about capitalism, ableism, classism, and more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
abbiesdigitallibrary's review
5.0
What an amazing book.
Waverly's used to wearing a mask to fit in with her neurotypical, 1% classmates at the prestigious Webber Academy. When offered the chance to put on another mask & pretend to be one of the most popular girls in school at this year's masquerade ball, she says yes. Only, the ball doesn't go seamlessly and Waverly witnesses a murder. Enlisting the help of her friends, they have to fight to save everyone's lives at the ball.
So many thrillers are allocishet, non-disabled, and white. And I am absolutely loving the increase in thrillers that are pushing back on this. Jen Wilde's "This is the Way the World Ends" is queer, disabled, and not all white. And it is so so amazing. I absolutely love thrillers and it thrills me to see more and more diverse ones being published. So let's talk about it:
Our main character, Waverly, is queer and autistic. And so unapologetically so. There are so many open discussions about her being autistic, such as feeling overwhelm & overstimulation, using accommodations like headphones & ear plugs, stimming to self regulate, and we even see her friends help her out of triggering environments.
Then we have Pari, a bi, Indian American SC who has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She is a major side character, so we see lots of discussion about her chronic pain, we see her use a cane, and since it's a thriller and there's lots of action, we see discussion about how everything is currently and is going to affect her pain.
There's also Waverly's mom, who has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. She isn't as major of a side character, but we still see her struggles with pain, of doctors not believing her, misdiagnosing her, and the cost of medicine being raised too high to afford.
Now onto the rest of the book: I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. There were so many twists and turns and surprises thrown in and I would never have guessed the motive behind the murder. There is so much betrayal, questioning who you can and cannot trust, and I fell for it all.
This was an absolute thrill to read and the vibes were immaculately done to reflect the feelings of everything going on. I loved every second of this book and it is definitely one of my favorite thrillers.
Rep: lesbian MC, bi SC, sapphic SC, Indian American SC, Black SC, autistic MC, SC with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, MC with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, SC who uses a cane, MC with anxiety
CW: murder, hospital, overstimulation, death, death of a parent, vomit, blood, autistic meltdown
Rating system:
5 - absolutely love, little-to-no dislikes that did not impact my reading experience
4 - great book, minor dislikes that did have an impact on my reading experience
3 - good/decent book but for some reason did not hook me or there were some problematic things that just were not addressed or greatly impacted my reading experience
2 - is either a book I did not click with and did not enjoy, problematic aspects are not addressed and severely impacted my reading experience, or I DNF'd but think it has potential for others
1 - is very problematic, I would not recommend the book to anyone
Thank you to Netgalley & Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected pub date: May 9, 2023.
Waverly's used to wearing a mask to fit in with her neurotypical, 1% classmates at the prestigious Webber Academy. When offered the chance to put on another mask & pretend to be one of the most popular girls in school at this year's masquerade ball, she says yes. Only, the ball doesn't go seamlessly and Waverly witnesses a murder. Enlisting the help of her friends, they have to fight to save everyone's lives at the ball.
So many thrillers are allocishet, non-disabled, and white. And I am absolutely loving the increase in thrillers that are pushing back on this. Jen Wilde's "This is the Way the World Ends" is queer, disabled, and not all white. And it is so so amazing. I absolutely love thrillers and it thrills me to see more and more diverse ones being published. So let's talk about it:
Our main character, Waverly, is queer and autistic. And so unapologetically so. There are so many open discussions about her being autistic, such as feeling overwhelm & overstimulation, using accommodations like headphones & ear plugs, stimming to self regulate, and we even see her friends help her out of triggering environments.
Then we have Pari, a bi, Indian American SC who has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She is a major side character, so we see lots of discussion about her chronic pain, we see her use a cane, and since it's a thriller and there's lots of action, we see discussion about how everything is currently and is going to affect her pain.
There's also Waverly's mom, who has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. She isn't as major of a side character, but we still see her struggles with pain, of doctors not believing her, misdiagnosing her, and the cost of medicine being raised too high to afford.
Now onto the rest of the book: I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. There were so many twists and turns and surprises thrown in and I would never have guessed the motive behind the murder. There is so much betrayal, questioning who you can and cannot trust, and I fell for it all.
This was an absolute thrill to read and the vibes were immaculately done to reflect the feelings of everything going on. I loved every second of this book and it is definitely one of my favorite thrillers.
Rep: lesbian MC, bi SC, sapphic SC, Indian American SC, Black SC, autistic MC, SC with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, MC with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, SC who uses a cane, MC with anxiety
CW: murder, hospital, overstimulation, death, death of a parent, vomit, blood, autistic meltdown
Rating system:
5 - absolutely love, little-to-no dislikes that did not impact my reading experience
4 - great book, minor dislikes that did have an impact on my reading experience
3 - good/decent book but for some reason did not hook me or there were some problematic things that just were not addressed or greatly impacted my reading experience
2 - is either a book I did not click with and did not enjoy, problematic aspects are not addressed and severely impacted my reading experience, or I DNF'd but think it has potential for others
1 - is very problematic, I would not recommend the book to anyone
Thank you to Netgalley & Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected pub date: May 9, 2023.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
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