wgporter's review against another edition
3.0
I got this for $1 on audible and it was a decent listen. I still enjoy zombie/apocalypse books, but this one was very surface level, with none of the characters getting much backstory or characterization. Overall a decent read but absolutely nothing special.
gemmaduds's review
2.0
Fresh out of a really good reading month in April, I've hit a slump now and was looking for something super quick and easy to get me back on track. 'The Girl at the End of the World' was it.
Originally bought on Kindle in 2018, the cover of the book made me finally want to blitz through it this week. This is fast, action driven YA fiction that doesn't pretend to be fancy or deep. Scarlett isn't a believable character in the slightest, and the first half of the book was better than the second - but it's just really fun to read and can be finished in one or two sittings.
I wish the bike had been featured more.
Originally bought on Kindle in 2018, the cover of the book made me finally want to blitz through it this week. This is fast, action driven YA fiction that doesn't pretend to be fancy or deep. Scarlett isn't a believable character in the slightest, and the first half of the book was better than the second - but it's just really fun to read and can be finished in one or two sittings.
I wish the bike had been featured more.
pamelas's review against another edition
3.0
This book was just ok for me. It was very young adult with little depth or nuance. Entertaining, but not thought provoking.
janetval's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
justaguy's review against another edition
2.0
Great idea but poorly executed
At first, it was on a good pace with all weirdness. Then it seems like a cliche along the way. Maybe just me, but it is not realistic for 15 yrs old to transform into a new survival person that fasts. Plus, the pace of the story near the end seems flop hard. Maybe the author could expand more pages and bring in more to the story plot.
At first, it was on a good pace with all weirdness. Then it seems like a cliche along the way. Maybe just me, but it is not realistic for 15 yrs old to transform into a new survival person that fasts. Plus, the pace of the story near the end seems flop hard. Maybe the author could expand more pages and bring in more to the story plot.
heuristicate's review against another edition
3.0
So, I have been catching up on the latest season of The Walking Dead. Whenever that happens I always seem to end up searching for post-apocalyptic novels.
This novel had a fairly interesting concept for the end of the world. A deadly fungus starts growing in people heads and then explodes out. It reminds me of something that I saw on the nature documentary Planet Earth where they showed this happening to insects. It was disturbing enough with insects so transferring this image to people and adding all the blood was pretty horrifying.
I also think that it was a pretty gutsy move to avoid zombies. They are so trendy right now that managing not to write about them in this type of book just impresses me. I have always thought that the way the world collapse and people’s basical ethics are abandoned in post apocalyptic novels is much scarier than zombies. If you remember the film 28 Days Later, the soldiers were significantly more terrifying than the infected.
Character wise this novel was pretty flat. I didn’t really connect with Scarlett, Chad, or Delores. I would have liked some emotional engagement. Numb, I could understand. Angry, sad, scared. I didn’t feel like anyone really felt anything. There is a love interest but I found that whole subplot boring and sort of just there. Oh of course there must be a cute boy… On the other hand the characters also weren’t stupid. Scarlet was very smart about what she might need to survive. Getting the motorcycle and raiding the sporting goods store were both good ideas. I love that she went to a library to find books on survival. If I am ever a survivor at the end of the world I feel like that is one of the first things that I will do. Scarlet is a 15 year old girl from LA. She isn’t going to know how to survive without some outside information.
But the ending! It was a little creepy.
The writing is decent. I was never distracted by it which made this a quick read. I didn’t realize until the afterward that the author is independent. Does that mean self published? I am going to assume that it does. So I will mention that I never noticed any issues with copyediting which seems to be the bane of the self publishing world.
This novel had a fairly interesting concept for the end of the world. A deadly fungus starts growing in people heads and then explodes out. It reminds me of something that I saw on the nature documentary Planet Earth where they showed this happening to insects. It was disturbing enough with insects so transferring this image to people and adding all the blood was pretty horrifying.
I also think that it was a pretty gutsy move to avoid zombies. They are so trendy right now that managing not to write about them in this type of book just impresses me. I have always thought that the way the world collapse and people’s basical ethics are abandoned in post apocalyptic novels is much scarier than zombies. If you remember the film 28 Days Later, the soldiers were significantly more terrifying than the infected.
Character wise this novel was pretty flat. I didn’t really connect with Scarlett, Chad, or Delores. I would have liked some emotional engagement. Numb, I could understand. Angry, sad, scared. I didn’t feel like anyone really felt anything. There is a love interest but I found that whole subplot boring and sort of just there. Oh of course there must be a cute boy… On the other hand the characters also weren’t stupid. Scarlet was very smart about what she might need to survive. Getting the motorcycle and raiding the sporting goods store were both good ideas. I love that she went to a library to find books on survival. If I am ever a survivor at the end of the world I feel like that is one of the first things that I will do. Scarlet is a 15 year old girl from LA. She isn’t going to know how to survive without some outside information.
But the ending! It was a little creepy.
Spoiler
First istalove. But I can overlook that. It is a stressful time and people naturally bond together quicker. Also, it isn’t as if either of them can leave the other. Unavoidable codependence. But Scarlet is just 15 years old. As in she JUST turned 15. I feel as if the ending of the book sort of sets her up as a child bride. The epilogue is three years later so she is 18 years old with an adopted 3 year old. And she mentions that they are considering having more kids. You are 18 years old, the world has ended, and you literally watched a woman blead to death giving birth. NO! You have enough to deal with for the next decade.The writing is decent. I was never distracted by it which made this a quick read. I didn’t realize until the afterward that the author is independent. Does that mean self published? I am going to assume that it does. So I will mention that I never noticed any issues with copyediting which seems to be the bane of the self publishing world.
erino4dad6's review
4.0
The book is somewhat derivative - but as dystopian books are all the rage right now, it's hard not to sound like SOMETHING else out there. That being said, I enjoyed the book. It definitely kept my attention. I cared about the characters, which is the main key for me to enjoy a book. If I don't care about them, it doesn't matter how well it is or isn't read, I won't enjoy it. I found the author's delving into how Scarlett is going to survive -- what she might need, how she might find it, where she is going to go -- the most interesting part of the book. As I read, I might think "why is she moving? Why doesn't she just stay where she is?" and a few minutes later the author gives a very reasonable and logical explanation for the move. I appreciate this kind of attention to detail -- it makes it all more real for the reader. The ending types up rather neatly, but it is a change to have a real optimistic ending in this genre for once.
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