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jenarae's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, Body horror, Misogyny, Gore, and Medical content
Minor: Bullying, Religious bigotry, and Hate crime
bookishflower's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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? No
5.0
“This cute boy saved my life, gave me food and now stories. All you need indeed.”
•••
“YES!’ I shout and roll the window down. ‘America! He knows Back to the Future!”
•••
And just like Back to the Future there is no better opening than the power of love. (See what I did there?! *wink, wink!*)
This book broke my heart then mended it again (repeat this stage a lot), made me fall back in love with the dystopian genre, and made me laugh out loud the whole time.
Jamie and Andrew are the sweetest, I immediately fell in love with their characters and the way they support each other. The slow burn, grumpy/quiet and sunshine trope hitting all the marks! This is the dystopian, gay representation that was sorely missing in the height of 2010s with a fresh twist for post-pandemic life.
Erik J. Brown is one of the few writers who can not only successfully, but expertly incorporate pop culture references into their writing. Nothing felt forced with the added bonus of being hilarious, while not shying away from the realities of what post-apocalyptic life would be like e.g. the ugliness of human nature and capitalism.
I haven’t seen much hype online around this book since arcs were released (with a very cool marketing strategy too!) which needs to change! (For reference, I bought my copy, this review is completely unaffiliated if there’s any confusion).
This book is criminally underrated, go read it now!
P.S.
(Someone needs to make the ultimate ‘all that’s left in the world’ pop culture guide with all the music, films, tv shows mentioned in the book- everyone needs to have Miss Congeniality and Nina Simone in their lives!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
book_loser's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Death of parent, Death, Animal death, and Child death
aspring's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
this hit a little close to home with the state the world is in. but this book, through all of its angst was interlaced with hope and i adored it. the writing was intoxicating and i could never tell which direction the story was going to go. i feared for all the characters separately and i absolutely fell in love with them all and this piece of writing. a very beautiful book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Animal death, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Misogyny and Homophobia
rachratesreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit and Animal death
librariangeorgia's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
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 enjoyed this book, but at the same time it felt very realistic.
It’s set years into the future, after COVID, in the aftermath of a ‘superflu’ pandemic. It feels like an alternative version of what could’ve happened in the last 2 years.
I adored Jamie and Andrew! Ugh, they need to be protected at all costs! I loved the slow burn relationship - and I usually hate that!
The ending was just *chefs kiss* - it felt just right for this book even though I really wanted to know what would happen with Henri!
Overall, well written and interesting book - just a bit too close to home at the moment for me.
It’s set years into the future, after COVID, in the aftermath of a ‘superflu’ pandemic. It feels like an alternative version of what could’ve happened in the last 2 years.
I adored Jamie and Andrew! Ugh, they need to be protected at all costs! I loved the slow burn relationship - and I usually hate that!
The ending was just *chefs kiss* - it felt just right for this book even though I really wanted to know what would happen with Henri!
Overall, well written and interesting book - just a bit too close to home at the moment for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Vomit, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Murder, Bullying, Death, and Gun violence
betweentheshelves's review
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.5
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of this to review! There is a definite lack of gay post-apocalyptic fiction, so I'm so glad that this exists. I'm also happy to report that this lived up to my expectations, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I think I saw somewhere that this is being pitched as David and Patrick from Schitt's Creek as teenagers at the end of the world. That absolutely describes Andrew and Jamie's dynamic so well. Jamie is much more reserved, level headed like Patrick. Andrew puts himself out there more, like David. They have bickering, they have sweet moments. The romance definitely isn't lost in this post-apocalpytic novel. But it also doesn't take away from the seriousness of what's happening around them. It feels realistic, given the circumstances.
The only reason this isn't getting a full five stars is honestly because I was a little taken out of the story by the mentions of COVID. I get the importance, and appreciated the author's note at the end about it. I'm still of the opinion that it feels too soon to put COVID in books. Does anyone else feel this way?
Anyway, this is definitely a very character driven novel, as there's not necessarily a central conflict driving the plot except for the apocalypse. Personally, I'm a fan of this kind of story, but always feel like it's helpful knowing that before you go into the story.
All in all, if you're looking for a good character driven post-apocalyptic novel, this is for you! I also appreciated the Tom Holland references, because of obvious reasons (or maybe not obvious, if you haven't seen my posts about Spider-Man). This might be one I add to my personal library when it comes out in March!
------
------
I'm so happy this lived up to expectations for me! It checked a lot of my favorite boxes. Full review to come next week!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Excrement, and Violence
tepidgirlsummer's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Homophobia, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Bullying
thelittlestmermaid's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? N/A
5.0
* Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! *
All That's Left in the World is a wonderful post-apocalyptic novel that takes place after a superflu has wiped out ~80% of the population. Andrew is heading south from Connecticut when he steps in a bear trap and then stumbles upon Jamison's cabin. To his surprise, Jamison gives him first aid and shelter while he heals. When they no longer feel safe at the cabin they travel east in hopes of finding other survivors immune to the flu.
Just about everything in this novel is extremely well done. I loved the dual perspectives and getting to read everything going on from either character's point of view. Both are well written and very entertaining to read. I never felt like I wanted to skip a chapter to get back to a certain character's POV, which I normally want to do when reading novels with multiple perspectives.
The world felt incredibly realistic, especially since COVID is currently still very prominent. Despite not having been affected too much by COVID myself, a lot of the pandemic related stuff in this novel felt rather frightening to me. I also loved that the author chose to mention COVID in the book. It set the story sometime in the future and I felt that it was a nice touch.
The romance was very nice and not insta-love which I adored. So many YA novels have insta-love romances and I almost always dislike those stories. It was nice getting to see them going from strangers who were suspicious of each other to friends and eventually to boyfriends. It felt realistic and they were a very sweet couple. They're probably one of my favorite couples in a novel.
I really loved this book. It was a little slow for the first few chapters but it never felt dull. The characters were entertaining enough that even during the slower parts of the novel their inner monologues and dialogue were able to keep the story moving. This was a very enjoyable book all around and I will definitely purchase a finished copy when it's released.
5 Stars
All That's Left in the World is a wonderful post-apocalyptic novel that takes place after a superflu has wiped out ~80% of the population. Andrew is heading south from Connecticut when he steps in a bear trap and then stumbles upon Jamison's cabin. To his surprise, Jamison gives him first aid and shelter while he heals. When they no longer feel safe at the cabin they travel east in hopes of finding other survivors immune to the flu.
Just about everything in this novel is extremely well done. I loved the dual perspectives and getting to read everything going on from either character's point of view. Both are well written and very entertaining to read. I never felt like I wanted to skip a chapter to get back to a certain character's POV, which I normally want to do when reading novels with multiple perspectives.
The world felt incredibly realistic, especially since COVID is currently still very prominent. Despite not having been affected too much by COVID myself, a lot of the pandemic related stuff in this novel felt rather frightening to me. I also loved that the author chose to mention COVID in the book. It set the story sometime in the future and I felt that it was a nice touch.
The romance was very nice and not insta-love which I adored. So many YA novels have insta-love romances and I almost always dislike those stories. It was nice getting to see them going from strangers who were suspicious of each other to friends and eventually to boyfriends. It felt realistic and they were a very sweet couple. They're probably one of my favorite couples in a novel.
I really loved this book. It was a little slow for the first few chapters but it never felt dull. The characters were entertaining enough that even during the slower parts of the novel their inner monologues and dialogue were able to keep the story moving. This was a very enjoyable book all around and I will definitely purchase a finished copy when it's released.
5 Stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Animal death, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, and Death
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