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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
mysterious
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I’m going to be honest with y’all right now… I went into this book thinking it was a straight up contemporary. Why? Because I clearly forgot about that fact after signing up and I like to go into books without really reading the synopsis. So imagine my pleasant (if somewhat confusing) surprise when, as I read the book, I started getting those distinct, thriller vibes!
This story follows our main character, Olivia, who is a painfully shy young woman who is trying to come to grips with the fact that the atmosphere of Earth will become unlivable in a few short months. She doesn’t know what to do or, rather, she knows she’d like to travel and come out of her shell, but she feels powerless to do so. Enter Natasha, her mysterious cousin who Olivia didn’t even know existed. Soon, she’s taking risks she never would have before and trying to live it up as best she can before the world ends. But Natasha isn’t everything she seems to be.
Even though I went into this book with the completely wrong mindset, I found myself enjoying it! I loved the sinister tone that flows throughout the story. It made reading this book an adventure in tension, lol. There were several times that I could feel myself getting anxious as we followed Olivia and Natasha on their adventures. I loved it, though! I also really enjoyed the writing. It flowed rather well and made this book an incredibly easy read. I flew through the pages! If you’re looking for a fast and compelling book that you can more than likely read in a day, this would be a good pick.
I also thought that Olivia was a fantastic character. She came to life on the page! I could feel her anxiety and all her varying and wavering emotions. I did have the urge to shake her a few times, but it was intriguing watching her relationship with Natasha develop. It was just fascinating and, I think, my favorite part of the book!
I will say that a lot of the plot was pretty straight-forward. I saw most of it coming, which isn’t ideal for a thriller, but I still had a good time reading it. And the fact that I really enjoyed Emily Barr’s writing makes me want to give her other books a go.
Final thoughts: This was a tense, dark young adult thriller that is fast-paced and intriguing. Though the plot is pretty straight-forward and the twists weren’t all that surprising to me, I still found myself really enjoying the writing and the complex main character. Emily Barr has a way with words that will make you feel almost as anxious as Olivia as you follow her story! If you enjoy thrillers that also feature a coming-of-age plotline, I think you would really enjoy Things to Do Before the End of the World!
I’m going to be honest with y’all right now… I went into this book thinking it was a straight up contemporary. Why? Because I clearly forgot about that fact after signing up and I like to go into books without really reading the synopsis. So imagine my pleasant (if somewhat confusing) surprise when, as I read the book, I started getting those distinct, thriller vibes!
This story follows our main character, Olivia, who is a painfully shy young woman who is trying to come to grips with the fact that the atmosphere of Earth will become unlivable in a few short months. She doesn’t know what to do or, rather, she knows she’d like to travel and come out of her shell, but she feels powerless to do so. Enter Natasha, her mysterious cousin who Olivia didn’t even know existed. Soon, she’s taking risks she never would have before and trying to live it up as best she can before the world ends. But Natasha isn’t everything she seems to be.
Even though I went into this book with the completely wrong mindset, I found myself enjoying it! I loved the sinister tone that flows throughout the story. It made reading this book an adventure in tension, lol. There were several times that I could feel myself getting anxious as we followed Olivia and Natasha on their adventures. I loved it, though! I also really enjoyed the writing. It flowed rather well and made this book an incredibly easy read. I flew through the pages! If you’re looking for a fast and compelling book that you can more than likely read in a day, this would be a good pick.
I also thought that Olivia was a fantastic character. She came to life on the page! I could feel her anxiety and all her varying and wavering emotions. I did have the urge to shake her a few times, but it was intriguing watching her relationship with Natasha develop. It was just fascinating and, I think, my favorite part of the book!
I will say that a lot of the plot was pretty straight-forward. I saw most of it coming, which isn’t ideal for a thriller, but I still had a good time reading it. And the fact that I really enjoyed Emily Barr’s writing makes me want to give her other books a go.
Final thoughts: This was a tense, dark young adult thriller that is fast-paced and intriguing. Though the plot is pretty straight-forward and the twists weren’t all that surprising to me, I still found myself really enjoying the writing and the complex main character. Emily Barr has a way with words that will make you feel almost as anxious as Olivia as you follow her story! If you enjoy thrillers that also feature a coming-of-age plotline, I think you would really enjoy Things to Do Before the End of the World!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Part eco-thriller, part mystery and part coming-of-age tale, Emily Barr’s Things to Do Before the End of the World is an odd book to categorise but, in spite of that, a compelling one to read.
As the title suggests, Things to Do Before the End of the World takes place in a near future setting where humanity’s negligence has resulted in potentially irreversible environmental catastrophe. Melting polar ice caps and the subsequent rise in carbon dioxide levels is going to wipe out the majority of life on earth and, as the novel opens, its main character Olivia is having to come to terms with the fact that not only will the world most likely end but, more specifically, it is going to do so in precisely nine month’s time. Which rather puts her inability to socialise with her classmates at the school dance and her worries about her exams into perspective.
Olivia – or Libby as she tends to be called – is shy, awkward and suffers from almost crippling social anxiety. Adept at planning out conversations and dreams in her head, she struggles to enact these in real life. Hence why despite her eloquently composed emails to the girl of her dreams, they’re going to sit unread in her drafts for what will quite possibly be the rest of Libby’s life.
Until, that is, Natasha turns up. Confident, easy-going, and extroverted, Libby’s long-lost cousin is everything that Libby isn’t – and everything she wants to be. So when Natasha proposes an all-out ‘end of the world’ road trip, Libby decides to throw caution to the wind and go out to explore the world she feels like she’s been hiding from her whole life. But is Natasha everything she claims to be? Or are there secrets to be discovered before the end of the world?
There is quite a lot going on in Things to Do Before the End of the World – possibly a little too much at times if I’m honest. Starting out with the imminent threat of ‘The Creep’ (as the rising levels of carbon dioxide come to be called), the book takes a turn into more comfortably YA ‘coming-of-age’ territory with an increasing focus on Libby’s insecurities and her budding romance, then switches modes into a Pretty Little Liars-style thriller/mystery as Libby’s doubts about Natasha develop, before ending back as a ‘coming-of-age’ story as Libby discovers the truth behind all the mysteries.
Whilst all of these strands are interesting in and of themselves, the sudden lurches in tone were occasionally jarring and I did feel that some of the most interesting elements of the premise – most notably the threat of the ‘The Creep’ – were side-lined as the story continued in favour of more well-worn tropes such as the thriller and romance elements.
That isn’t to say that Things to Do Before the End of the World isn’t an enjoyable read however. I rattled through it over the course of a couple of evenings and very much enjoyed my time with it. Libby makes for a likeable and interesting protagonist and the development of her unease about Natasha and her motives adds a creeping sense of unease to the proceedings that ensured the pages kept turning. But the ending did feel a tad rushed – with such a lot going on, there was a lot to wrap up – and whilst the ‘end of the world’ premise added a unique and interesting backdrop, I felt that element – emphasised quite heavily in the blurb and at the beginning of the novel – was underutilised in the rest of the story.
That said, the ending does manage to be both heart-warming and poignant – no mean feat given the many layers and complexities of the plot – and I did really enjoy seeing the way in which Libby develops as a character over the course of the book.
Offering plenty of drama and suspense and with a premise that, whilst not wholly realised for me, added an additional layer of complication to the well-trodden YA ‘coming-of-age’ narrative, Things to Do Before the End of the World makes for an interesting and unique addition to the YA thriller genre – and a fantastic way to while away some summer evenings or a sunny weekend!
NB: This review appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com/ as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher and to Netgalley UK for providing an ecopy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
As the title suggests, Things to Do Before the End of the World takes place in a near future setting where humanity’s negligence has resulted in potentially irreversible environmental catastrophe. Melting polar ice caps and the subsequent rise in carbon dioxide levels is going to wipe out the majority of life on earth and, as the novel opens, its main character Olivia is having to come to terms with the fact that not only will the world most likely end but, more specifically, it is going to do so in precisely nine month’s time. Which rather puts her inability to socialise with her classmates at the school dance and her worries about her exams into perspective.
Olivia – or Libby as she tends to be called – is shy, awkward and suffers from almost crippling social anxiety. Adept at planning out conversations and dreams in her head, she struggles to enact these in real life. Hence why despite her eloquently composed emails to the girl of her dreams, they’re going to sit unread in her drafts for what will quite possibly be the rest of Libby’s life.
Until, that is, Natasha turns up. Confident, easy-going, and extroverted, Libby’s long-lost cousin is everything that Libby isn’t – and everything she wants to be. So when Natasha proposes an all-out ‘end of the world’ road trip, Libby decides to throw caution to the wind and go out to explore the world she feels like she’s been hiding from her whole life. But is Natasha everything she claims to be? Or are there secrets to be discovered before the end of the world?
There is quite a lot going on in Things to Do Before the End of the World – possibly a little too much at times if I’m honest. Starting out with the imminent threat of ‘The Creep’ (as the rising levels of carbon dioxide come to be called), the book takes a turn into more comfortably YA ‘coming-of-age’ territory with an increasing focus on Libby’s insecurities and her budding romance, then switches modes into a Pretty Little Liars-style thriller/mystery as Libby’s doubts about Natasha develop, before ending back as a ‘coming-of-age’ story as Libby discovers the truth behind all the mysteries.
Whilst all of these strands are interesting in and of themselves, the sudden lurches in tone were occasionally jarring and I did feel that some of the most interesting elements of the premise – most notably the threat of the ‘The Creep’ – were side-lined as the story continued in favour of more well-worn tropes such as the thriller and romance elements.
That isn’t to say that Things to Do Before the End of the World isn’t an enjoyable read however. I rattled through it over the course of a couple of evenings and very much enjoyed my time with it. Libby makes for a likeable and interesting protagonist and the development of her unease about Natasha and her motives adds a creeping sense of unease to the proceedings that ensured the pages kept turning. But the ending did feel a tad rushed – with such a lot going on, there was a lot to wrap up – and whilst the ‘end of the world’ premise added a unique and interesting backdrop, I felt that element – emphasised quite heavily in the blurb and at the beginning of the novel – was underutilised in the rest of the story.
That said, the ending does manage to be both heart-warming and poignant – no mean feat given the many layers and complexities of the plot – and I did really enjoy seeing the way in which Libby develops as a character over the course of the book.
Offering plenty of drama and suspense and with a premise that, whilst not wholly realised for me, added an additional layer of complication to the well-trodden YA ‘coming-of-age’ narrative, Things to Do Before the End of the World makes for an interesting and unique addition to the YA thriller genre – and a fantastic way to while away some summer evenings or a sunny weekend!
NB: This review appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com/ as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher and to Netgalley UK for providing an ecopy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Whilst I was incredibly intrigued by the summary, at first I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about Libby and the whole situation, however, before I knew it, I had devoured the entire book within two hours! I was so gripped by Libby and her cousin, Natasha, as well as whether the world would truly end on the 17th September that I just couldn’t bring myself to put it down or go to sleep until I had finished the book.
Libby is an incredibly shy 17-year-old who has been struggling to find herself or where she belongs, and now she has the added pressure of the fact that she may only have nine months to live before ‘the Creep’ poisons the atmosphere. I liked that, although she tried to push herself out of her comfort zone when she first came to terms with ‘the Creep’, that her personality didn’t change completely. She was still shy and still struggling. This felt much more realistic and caused me to feel much more endeared to Libby. Despite this she was still trying her best to become the person that she wanted to be, so much so that when she found out she had a cousin around her age that she enlisted her help in becoming more confident.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Natasha from the start, there was just something ever so slightly off about her and in her interactions with Libby, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. She seemed very kind and very helpful, and although she just lost her Dad, she didn’t seem to be that affected by it. However, everyone grieves differently so it was impossible to tell what was really going on. When Libby and Natasha were finally able to meet, I loved seeing the two interact together and to see how different they both were. It was nice to see someone cheer Libby on even if I was questioning her motives a lot of the time. Libby seemed to be becoming more confident which was lovely to see.
The mystery surrounding Natasha truly kept me gripped, the way Barr presented her was done so cleverly, in a way where you were constantly second guessing yourself. Is there more to her than we think or is she just thrilled to find family before the world ends? I also enjoyed the way that Barr tackled the subject of ‘the Creep’ – it was always there in the background, getting closer, but never completely the sole focus which lived up to its moniker. The pacing of the novel was also incredibly well done. I liked how we would miss chunks of time but still understand what happened in that time. I thought it was a great way to show how insignificant the time they have left is and how quickly it flies by, regardless of whether you are doing everything you can to ensure survival or by living the best life you can in the time that you have left.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and it had so many layers and depths to it that I wasn’t initially expecting that made it such a captivating read. It is also a great take on the current climate crisis and has the ability to really get readers to take notice of one of the many possibilities, regardless of how terrifying they might be.
Libby is an incredibly shy 17-year-old who has been struggling to find herself or where she belongs, and now she has the added pressure of the fact that she may only have nine months to live before ‘the Creep’ poisons the atmosphere. I liked that, although she tried to push herself out of her comfort zone when she first came to terms with ‘the Creep’, that her personality didn’t change completely. She was still shy and still struggling. This felt much more realistic and caused me to feel much more endeared to Libby. Despite this she was still trying her best to become the person that she wanted to be, so much so that when she found out she had a cousin around her age that she enlisted her help in becoming more confident.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Natasha from the start, there was just something ever so slightly off about her and in her interactions with Libby, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. She seemed very kind and very helpful, and although she just lost her Dad, she didn’t seem to be that affected by it. However, everyone grieves differently so it was impossible to tell what was really going on. When Libby and Natasha were finally able to meet, I loved seeing the two interact together and to see how different they both were. It was nice to see someone cheer Libby on even if I was questioning her motives a lot of the time. Libby seemed to be becoming more confident which was lovely to see.
The mystery surrounding Natasha truly kept me gripped, the way Barr presented her was done so cleverly, in a way where you were constantly second guessing yourself. Is there more to her than we think or is she just thrilled to find family before the world ends? I also enjoyed the way that Barr tackled the subject of ‘the Creep’ – it was always there in the background, getting closer, but never completely the sole focus which lived up to its moniker. The pacing of the novel was also incredibly well done. I liked how we would miss chunks of time but still understand what happened in that time. I thought it was a great way to show how insignificant the time they have left is and how quickly it flies by, regardless of whether you are doing everything you can to ensure survival or by living the best life you can in the time that you have left.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and it had so many layers and depths to it that I wasn’t initially expecting that made it such a captivating read. It is also a great take on the current climate crisis and has the ability to really get readers to take notice of one of the many possibilities, regardless of how terrifying they might be.