Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Agnes at the End of the World

McWilliams has crafted a wonderful story fills of trials and hope, and of different faiths blending through similar hearts. I loved this book, the imagery and characters are memorable and the message very timely.

While the beginning was very slow, I am very glad I read on past chapter 12 to see the magnificent piece of writing this turned into. Faith plays heavily into this novel, and while I myself am not particularly religious I very much enjoyed it and even had parts resonate. This is one of those books where the characters feel real, and you see yourself in them.

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dreamweaver's review

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dark hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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sophieefaithh's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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eve_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ This book is more an exploration of the characters’ faiths than a typical apocalyptic adventure. It was an unexpected and different perspective to the genre that was interesting to read, even if I didn’t necessarily relate to or understand it all.

⁕ I LOVE that McWilliams also included Beth’s (Agnes’ sister) narrative! I think she captured the sibling relationship perfectly, and their contrasting personalities added depth to the text.

⁕ Agnes’ abilities sometimes felt too powerful in that they prevented her from experiencing a lot of obstacles/conflict that would have made the story more interesting.

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in_love_with_bookish's review against another edition

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medium-paced

2.0

I really don’t know how to begin this review. It's weird that I have a lot to say about a book that didn’t have much to offer.

The premise was good, intriguing, and original yet the execution was boring and killed whatever potential Agnes at the End of the World had. The comparisons to Wilder Girls and The Handmaid's Tale will definitely raise expectations but to be honest, this book in my opinion doesn’t fit that at all. The characters go through a lot within this book and yet they still feel flat and underdeveloped.

Also, I don’t know how you take two intriguing and fascinating elements like cults and survival in a post-apocalyptic world and you end up with an anticlimactic, underwhelming, and boring story.

The story revolves around Agnes, a girl taking care of her family, living in peace in her quiet home of Red Creek, far from the outside world with all its danger and wrongness.

What Agnes doesn’t know is that she’s trapped in a cult and has been controlled since forever by a madman who believes himself a prophet. As things get more dangerous for her inside, Agnes starts to think of going outside.

Meeting Danny, an outsider will make it even more obvious for her that she’s been living a lie. But Agnes will soon trade one danger with another in a world dying of a viral pandemic.

The problem with this book is that it took a direction that sucked all of the intrigue and tension from the story and the plot was left dry and pointless at times. I was drawn in at first but slowly lost interest in everything that was happening.

The stakes didn’t feel high enough, the tension wasn’t there at all and the characters felt like complete strangers to me even though they were easy to read like an open book. Honestly, I think this book tried to do a lot of things at the same time but couldn’t find the balance to do it smoothly.

I still enjoyed the dynamic between Agnes and her sister and how fascinating it was to see their journeys flip in unexpected ways. There were some moments that kept me on my toes and I hoped we could focus on those more seeing as how they gave a sense of urgency to the story.

All in all, this was just underwhelming and lacking. It had some great moments that showed how great this book could’ve been but they went away quickly. What a disappointment!

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