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geekwayne's review
4.0
In 'An Etiquette Guide to the End Times' we learn that just because the world is slowly unwinding and there is disruption and chaos, this is no time to lose our civility and manners.
It's 2028 and global warming has made Toronto a very warm place. There are food and water shortages and surviving is kind of a full time gig. Olive has an etiquette blog on the internet, except now there is not internet. On top of that, "friendly" government officials come knocking and bribing her with pastries. They want her to work for them and help spread the word that everything is great, when the evidence seems to be otherwise. If that's not enough, Olive's grandfather Fred has gone missing and she's going to have to go through some food bribery of her own to get him back.
I really loved this book. This is an apocalypse with no zombies, but lots of character. Olive's dilemmas and adventures are wry and intelligent. The clever title alone got me to read this and I'm so very glad I did.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by Maia Sepp and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me the chance to review such a delightful book.
It's 2028 and global warming has made Toronto a very warm place. There are food and water shortages and surviving is kind of a full time gig. Olive has an etiquette blog on the internet, except now there is not internet. On top of that, "friendly" government officials come knocking and bribing her with pastries. They want her to work for them and help spread the word that everything is great, when the evidence seems to be otherwise. If that's not enough, Olive's grandfather Fred has gone missing and she's going to have to go through some food bribery of her own to get him back.
I really loved this book. This is an apocalypse with no zombies, but lots of character. Olive's dilemmas and adventures are wry and intelligent. The clever title alone got me to read this and I'm so very glad I did.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by Maia Sepp and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me the chance to review such a delightful book.
queencleo's review
3.0
What if the apocalypse doesn't hit at once? What if it's a slow burn and one day you wake up and realise you're in the End Times?
Olive writes an online etiquette column, and one day, silently the internet is switched off. These are End Times indeed
Cute & funny, a quick read. Has chickens.
Olive writes an online etiquette column, and one day, silently the internet is switched off. These are End Times indeed
Cute & funny, a quick read. Has chickens.
beentsy's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this novella. That feeling of how people will be/change/bend in difficult, and deteriorating, situations. A bit of a recent Margaret Atwood feel about it that I liked a lot.
And hey, just because the world is crashing down, it doesn't mean we have to be rude.
And hey, just because the world is crashing down, it doesn't mean we have to be rude.
rainbowsick's review
5.0
What a charming little read. It was a nice refreshing look on the post apocalyptic genre. A look at how the world can end slowly and gradually, instead of in one sudden moment.
I was sad to get to the end, and felt it was a tad rushed. But glad to see there's a prequel (?) to read in the same universe. Looking forward to reading anything else by this author
I was sad to get to the end, and felt it was a tad rushed. But glad to see there's a prequel (?) to read in the same universe. Looking forward to reading anything else by this author
thefictionaddictionblog's review against another edition
5.0
In Maia Sepp’s novella An Etiquette Guide to the End Times, Olive writes a blog answering etiquette questions for well-mannered survivalists in the semi-collapsed society. Just because the earth grows warmer every year, beachfront property is now underwater property, and infrastructure has all but collapsed, there’s no reason we have to be impolite about it. Olive only mentions a few recent headlines, inspiring the reader to imagine other potentially awkward social situations in a world where hoarding solar panels is an etiquette breach.
Read the rest on my blog
Read the rest on my blog
jeanz's review against another edition
5.0
INITIAL THOUGHTS
Not sure what to expect is it going to be a list of do & don't etiquette related lists or is it a dystopian/post apocalyptic short story/novella? From the blurb it seem's like it will be the latter.
MY REVIEW
This novella is set in a post apocalyptic future. The year is 2028 and the place is Toronto. Someone turned off the internet, and this novella shows how the people of 2028 have to cope with that. Only the "Core" have electric cars. the "Core" is the "government/ rulers".
People have had to go back to a more basic way of living. Energy saving by having solar panels, growing their own vegetables in their gardens. A bartering system is in place as money has lost it's value. People keep chickens in their back yards but to have them they have to have permits. Anyone found to have more than they had applied for and been grant permission for could and was confiscated.
The main character is Olive O'Malley, at the beginning of the novella she is up on her roof de-tangling and re-connecting wires to her solar panels that the racoons have chewed through! Olive hears a car pull onto her road which is highly unusual. After taking a curious gaze at the car she decides it must be people from the "Core" and that they have dropped by to confiscate her two extra illegal chickens.
When the people get out of the car, there are three of them. Two Me and a woman. It's the woman that speaks to Olive and tries to make an offer Olive cannot refuse. The "Core" want Olive to use her popular agony aunt style column to say good things about the "core". Olive will continue as she has been writing, they will check and perhaps edit/adjust what she has wrote prior to publishing. Olive's first instinct is a resounding NO! but then she gets to thinking that perhaps the Core could help her find her Grandpa Fred. Fred had gone visiting the resting place of a family member prior to storms etc and now Olive hadn't heard from him for . . for too long. It's not like Olive can pick up a mobile phone as all or most of the networks are down. What should she do?
Olive's neighbour discusses what she should do and offers to ask some slightly shady sea men she knows to help find Fred.
Fred and Olive have their ups and downs but Olive is really worried about Fred. So who should Olive trust to help find Fred . . . . The "Core" who could easily find him and bring him back home, they'd also lavish them with precious things such as actual hardback books, not to mention having plenty of food. Or should she trust the shady sea men?
I could waffle on and on about this novella as I really enjoyed it. You feel Olive's confusion as to who to trust and what to do. Olive seems stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Core would censor her writing to the point she probably wouldn't recognise her own work. She wouldn't have the freedom to say as she wanted to.
Then on the other hand these shady Seamen are going to want something in return and that's if they agreed to help her. First these men wanted a good home cooked meal. Olive needed to impress them with this meal as she desperately needed their help. But food's scarce so how and where can she get the food needed for such an important meal? Unsurprisingly Olive is well thought of by her neighbours and when they hear what she need the food for they willingly trade with her.
So did I enjoy the novella? Yes, I was totally hooked and pulled into the book. I didn't want to put it down! Would I recommend the novella? Yes it is a really good post apocalyptic novella. In fact if Maia Sepp did any more books set in this post apocalyptic era that we glimpse in An Ettiquette Guide To The End Times, I would like to read them! Will I read more books by Maia Sepp? I'll keep my eyes out for future post apocalyptic titles by this author for sure, as well as checking out her other book titles.
Not sure what to expect is it going to be a list of do & don't etiquette related lists or is it a dystopian/post apocalyptic short story/novella? From the blurb it seem's like it will be the latter.
MY REVIEW
This novella is set in a post apocalyptic future. The year is 2028 and the place is Toronto. Someone turned off the internet, and this novella shows how the people of 2028 have to cope with that. Only the "Core" have electric cars. the "Core" is the "government/ rulers".
People have had to go back to a more basic way of living. Energy saving by having solar panels, growing their own vegetables in their gardens. A bartering system is in place as money has lost it's value. People keep chickens in their back yards but to have them they have to have permits. Anyone found to have more than they had applied for and been grant permission for could and was confiscated.
The main character is Olive O'Malley, at the beginning of the novella she is up on her roof de-tangling and re-connecting wires to her solar panels that the racoons have chewed through! Olive hears a car pull onto her road which is highly unusual. After taking a curious gaze at the car she decides it must be people from the "Core" and that they have dropped by to confiscate her two extra illegal chickens.
When the people get out of the car, there are three of them. Two Me and a woman. It's the woman that speaks to Olive and tries to make an offer Olive cannot refuse. The "Core" want Olive to use her popular agony aunt style column to say good things about the "core". Olive will continue as she has been writing, they will check and perhaps edit/adjust what she has wrote prior to publishing. Olive's first instinct is a resounding NO! but then she gets to thinking that perhaps the Core could help her find her Grandpa Fred. Fred had gone visiting the resting place of a family member prior to storms etc and now Olive hadn't heard from him for . . for too long. It's not like Olive can pick up a mobile phone as all or most of the networks are down. What should she do?
Olive's neighbour discusses what she should do and offers to ask some slightly shady sea men she knows to help find Fred.
Fred and Olive have their ups and downs but Olive is really worried about Fred. So who should Olive trust to help find Fred . . . . The "Core" who could easily find him and bring him back home, they'd also lavish them with precious things such as actual hardback books, not to mention having plenty of food. Or should she trust the shady sea men?
I could waffle on and on about this novella as I really enjoyed it. You feel Olive's confusion as to who to trust and what to do. Olive seems stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Core would censor her writing to the point she probably wouldn't recognise her own work. She wouldn't have the freedom to say as she wanted to.
Then on the other hand these shady Seamen are going to want something in return and that's if they agreed to help her. First these men wanted a good home cooked meal. Olive needed to impress them with this meal as she desperately needed their help. But food's scarce so how and where can she get the food needed for such an important meal? Unsurprisingly Olive is well thought of by her neighbours and when they hear what she need the food for they willingly trade with her.
So did I enjoy the novella? Yes, I was totally hooked and pulled into the book. I didn't want to put it down! Would I recommend the novella? Yes it is a really good post apocalyptic novella. In fact if Maia Sepp did any more books set in this post apocalyptic era that we glimpse in An Ettiquette Guide To The End Times, I would like to read them! Will I read more books by Maia Sepp? I'll keep my eyes out for future post apocalyptic titles by this author for sure, as well as checking out her other book titles.
thebritishdoll's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
estherjoybelle's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book, "a zombie-free dystopian novella" set in 2030 Canada when global warming has well and truly taken hold. It was fascinating, moving, and a little scary to read one person's interpretation of what life might be like in such a future, as a possible answer to the author's question (written in the acknowledgements) of "what if the Apocalypse sneaks up on us?... How will people behave when the lifestyle we've all worked so hard for starts to disappear?" Or, as the main character puts it, "It would definitely be simpler if the end times had had a kickoff party or some sort of ceremony marking them, instead of this maybe-time, when we're all stuck between the past and the future."
Another favourite quote came when the main character is visiting the luxurious government offices with outrageous eco-unfriendly indulgences. She asks herself, "Who am I if I like it here?"
I'll definitely check out more from this author!
Another favourite quote came when the main character is visiting the luxurious government offices with outrageous eco-unfriendly indulgences. She asks herself, "Who am I if I like it here?"
I'll definitely check out more from this author!
hopesmash42's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book to be disturbing, but in a good way, if that makes sense. It hit very close to home. It was set in Toronto, not too far from home, and takes place in 2030 which is not that far off. Global warming has hit and things take a realistic and upsetting turn for the worst. I think what I found the most unsettling was how plausible it all seemed. It was well written and believable. I found that the ending was a bit rushed, but still relatively satisfying. Definitely an interesting take on the dystopian future, a recommended read for fans of that genre.
thefictionaddictionblog's review
5.0
In Maia Sepp’s novella An Etiquette Guide to the End Times, Olive writes a blog answering etiquette questions for well-mannered survivalists in the semi-collapsed society. Just because the earth grows warmer every year, beachfront property is now underwater property, and infrastructure has all but collapsed, there’s no reason we have to be impolite about it. Olive only mentions a few recent headlines, inspiring the reader to imagine other potentially awkward social situations in a world where hoarding solar panels is an etiquette breach.
Read the rest on my blog
Read the rest on my blog
More...