dreamingofreadingx's review
dark
emotional
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
I actually really enjoyed this book! At the End of Everything is about teenagers who are abandoned at Hope Juvenile Treatment Center. After a deadly plague takes over the world. Our group of teens has to figure out how to survive as food and supplies slowly dwindle and they realize no one is coming to help.
I was a bit worried that reading about a deadly disease would hit a little too close to home right now. But honestly it just felt relatable. Also this plague and their situation was just so much worse, that I felt a bit grateful. (Which I know sounds ridiculous to say).
I loved the representation in this book. We got to read from the POV of a non-binary character. Which I’m sad to say, I’ve never seen in any of the books I’ve ever read.
My favorite part about this book was watching all our characters grow so much. We got to see all our characters learning to work together and trust one another. Which is hard for a lot of them to do.
Overall, I would really recommend this book. Just please check trigger warnings first. At the End of Everything deals with a lot of dark themes.
Thank you so much Source Books Fire for the ARC!
*All opinions in this review are my own*
I was a bit worried that reading about a deadly disease would hit a little too close to home right now. But honestly it just felt relatable. Also this plague and their situation was just so much worse, that I felt a bit grateful. (Which I know sounds ridiculous to say).
I loved the representation in this book. We got to read from the POV of a non-binary character. Which I’m sad to say, I’ve never seen in any of the books I’ve ever read.
My favorite part about this book was watching all our characters grow so much. We got to see all our characters learning to work together and trust one another. Which is hard for a lot of them to do.
Overall, I would really recommend this book. Just please check trigger warnings first. At the End of Everything deals with a lot of dark themes.
Thank you so much Source Books Fire for the ARC!
*All opinions in this review are my own*
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Racism, Blood, and Gun violence
b3ck's review
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Medical content, Abandonment, Grief, Transphobia, and Confinement
Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Outing, and Animal death
Minor: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts
laurennnn1066's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, Death, Bullying, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, and Deadnaming
lokenstein's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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
This was an amazing book. I picked it up because I heard there were quite a few queer characters in it, including a non binary main character, and indeed there were. But I wasn’t expecting the story to be so much about found families, about everything that is wrong in the prison system – or even in the punishment ideology, especially for young people, and especially in America. Of course this was written (and read) during the covid pandemic, and there are some obvious similarities, although this is still a work of fiction and not really talking about covid (for instance, the plague here has a near 100% death rate). This book broke my heart, but also healed it, and I cannot recommend it enough!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racism, Transphobia, and Sexual assault
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
If you're trying to stay away from anything that feels like the COVID pandemic, I'd recommend probably not picking this one up. While this is about a plague rather than a pandemic, a lot of the events feel very similar to what happened at the beginning of COVID. Things escalated much more quickly, too.
Anyway! I was expecting a more tense thriller kind of story with this one, and while those elements are there, it's more of a character driven story, focused on the teens in this detention center. Besides the plague and trying to survive, there's not much a plot driving the story. It's definitely the relationships and what transpires between this particular group of teens.
There's good representation here, with a variety of identities represented throughout the story. For the most part, I didn't necessarily feel emotionally invested in their story, but maybe that's because it felt too real? I can't quite put my finger on it. The descriptions of all of the measures they were taking against the plague, though, did feel very real. I did appreciate the world building and the extra pieces of news and information between the chapters. It helped build the intensity overall.
Anyway! I was expecting a more tense thriller kind of story with this one, and while those elements are there, it's more of a character driven story, focused on the teens in this detention center. Besides the plague and trying to survive, there's not much a plot driving the story. It's definitely the relationships and what transpires between this particular group of teens.
There's good representation here, with a variety of identities represented throughout the story. For the most part, I didn't necessarily feel emotionally invested in their story, but maybe that's because it felt too real? I can't quite put my finger on it. The descriptions of all of the measures they were taking against the plague, though, did feel very real. I did appreciate the world building and the extra pieces of news and information between the chapters. It helped build the intensity overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Medical content, and Ableism
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Animal death
Minor: Sexual violence, Deadnaming, and Sexual assault
Also realistic descriptions of a pandemicchildoflight's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Sexual assault, Deadnaming, and Transphobia
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