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A review by cheye13
End of the World House by Adrienne Celt
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The synopsis and pitch does this book a huge disservice.
I had hoped for a literary exploration of a millennial female friendship under the duress of the current (real!) political, ideological, and climate crises. Perhaps with the groundhog day premise as a little spice. An "end of the world house" fantasy is extremely relatable just as a concept. The story has nearly nothing to do with that at all. Instead, the story presents high concept science fiction premise to explain a why a friend breakup isn't as painful or life altering as it should be, because there's a manipulating male love interest.
The story is set in the "near-future" where warfare and climate issues are even more immediate, but I didn't see the point. Perhaps it's to make the time-science more believable, but that's unnecessary. Moving things into the future distances and sensationalizes the crises which are very much already present today. The science fiction walks a blurry line between being too much for a literary story and not enough for a pure scifi - I'd have liked it to choose, and I think dialing back the future aspect would've helped.
Despite all that, my main issue is the introduction of the male lead. In a story where I'm expecting a focus on a platonic female friendship, a sudden introduction of a male love interest is already unwelcome. However, this story does it in the most egregious way possible. The man replaces the best friend, is inherently manipulative due to his involvement in the time-science, and comes truly out of nowhere because of the nature of the scifi premise. This could have been a nuanced exploration of a woman choosing between platonic or romantic relationships, but instead it's a blunt plot instrument that the synopsis also ignores.
The writing was beautiful. The subject matter - time science related directly to current (ie REAL) geopolitical conflicts - was also intriguing, and I think we need more books that do things like that. But the execution of this story mad me furious. I finished the book because the prose was beautiful and I hoped the ending would redeem the rest or at least answer some questions, but I was again let down.
I had hoped for a literary exploration of a millennial female friendship under the duress of the current (real!) political, ideological, and climate crises. Perhaps with the groundhog day premise as a little spice. An "end of the world house" fantasy is extremely relatable just as a concept. The story has nearly nothing to do with that at all. Instead, the story presents high concept science fiction premise to explain a why a friend breakup isn't as painful or life altering as it should be, because there's a manipulating male love interest.
The story is set in the "near-future" where warfare and climate issues are even more immediate, but I didn't see the point. Perhaps it's to make the time-science more believable, but that's unnecessary. Moving things into the future distances and sensationalizes the crises which are very much already present today. The science fiction walks a blurry line between being too much for a literary story and not enough for a pure scifi - I'd have liked it to choose, and I think dialing back the future aspect would've helped.
Despite all that, my main issue is the introduction of the male lead. In a story where I'm expecting a focus on a platonic female friendship, a sudden introduction of a male love interest is already unwelcome. However, this story does it in the most egregious way possible. The man replaces the best friend, is inherently manipulative due to his involvement in the time-science, and comes truly out of nowhere because of the nature of the scifi premise. This could have been a nuanced exploration of a woman choosing between platonic or romantic relationships, but instead it's a blunt plot instrument that the synopsis also ignores.
The writing was beautiful. The subject matter - time science related directly to current (ie REAL) geopolitical conflicts - was also intriguing, and I think we need more books that do things like that. But the execution of this story mad me furious. I finished the book because the prose was beautiful and I hoped the ending would redeem the rest or at least answer some questions, but I was again let down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent