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A review by vonneguts
Bat and the End of Everything by Elana K. Arnold
2.0
SPOILERS
I love this series. I love Bat and his family. I love all the issues these books tackle and how they always stand firm in the perspective of a child. However, you do not get to undercut your ending like that. My mom was a wildlife rehabiltator and I grew up around a lot of animals I thought were pets and did not get to keep and often died in front of me. It was sad and I didn't always understand. one thing I enjoyed so much about this series (until now) was making Bat accept the hard reality of owning a wild animal! I know there's an afterward saying this can happen in real life but as a child who lived this everyday for years the ending of this series rang so untrue and a cheap way to get a happy ending. Uggghhh I should not be writing this this late at night but I am BUMMED out by the twist ending that left me very unsatisfied. The first 9/10th of the book set up beautifully all the steps Bat and his friends and family take for the summer ahead and the changes it will bring. But all of that tension is undercut when he gets to keep Thor! Even from a writing perspective it goes against everything, I feel, these books have been working for. there are a lot of really good heart wrenching moments written very well in this last instalment but now it all means nothing because the tension was not IF Bat got to keep Thor it was HOW does Bat move forward after Thor! He makes new friends he learns to trust a little more and even his sister gets more of an arc but it's all in services of a bland, unrealistic ending. Also I don't know what state they live in but this jargon is basically illegal and yeah animals who spent to much time around humans can't be relased but that's why it's unprofessional and often times just illegal to keep animals like that. I was not warmed by the ending I felt cheated and honestly it was a huge let down for a series I really enjoyed. I'm probably not a good judge because this series felt so much like my own childhood and Bat is such an enjoyable character that is fully realized and authentic so maybe I'm being too hard on this last installment (which is called freaking The end of everything!!! might as well call it Infinity War for what I was expecting, which might still be accurate because all the stakes are fake and you can just jump to the quantum relm where you get to keep your skunk pet.) So it's still probably great for kids and they will like when he keeps the skunk but that ain't how it works kids. you find a wild animal injured and you help, as you should, it ends sad. every time. 3 outcomes: the animal dies, you can NEVER keep it and if you do for some reason get to keep it you have failed to properly rehabilitate that animal-- uggghhh I don't like being this much of a downer and if you and your kids like the other two books you will like this one I just was hoping for a realistic depiction of the emotional fortitude it takes to care for animals. it's not pretty but that's okay, it still is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.
I love this series. I love Bat and his family. I love all the issues these books tackle and how they always stand firm in the perspective of a child. However, you do not get to undercut your ending like that. My mom was a wildlife rehabiltator and I grew up around a lot of animals I thought were pets and did not get to keep and often died in front of me. It was sad and I didn't always understand. one thing I enjoyed so much about this series (until now) was making Bat accept the hard reality of owning a wild animal! I know there's an afterward saying this can happen in real life but as a child who lived this everyday for years the ending of this series rang so untrue and a cheap way to get a happy ending. Uggghhh I should not be writing this this late at night but I am BUMMED out by the twist ending that left me very unsatisfied. The first 9/10th of the book set up beautifully all the steps Bat and his friends and family take for the summer ahead and the changes it will bring. But all of that tension is undercut when he gets to keep Thor! Even from a writing perspective it goes against everything, I feel, these books have been working for. there are a lot of really good heart wrenching moments written very well in this last instalment but now it all means nothing because the tension was not IF Bat got to keep Thor it was HOW does Bat move forward after Thor! He makes new friends he learns to trust a little more and even his sister gets more of an arc but it's all in services of a bland, unrealistic ending. Also I don't know what state they live in but this jargon is basically illegal and yeah animals who spent to much time around humans can't be relased but that's why it's unprofessional and often times just illegal to keep animals like that. I was not warmed by the ending I felt cheated and honestly it was a huge let down for a series I really enjoyed. I'm probably not a good judge because this series felt so much like my own childhood and Bat is such an enjoyable character that is fully realized and authentic so maybe I'm being too hard on this last installment (which is called freaking The end of everything!!! might as well call it Infinity War for what I was expecting, which might still be accurate because all the stakes are fake and you can just jump to the quantum relm where you get to keep your skunk pet.) So it's still probably great for kids and they will like when he keeps the skunk but that ain't how it works kids. you find a wild animal injured and you help, as you should, it ends sad. every time. 3 outcomes: the animal dies, you can NEVER keep it and if you do for some reason get to keep it you have failed to properly rehabilitate that animal-- uggghhh I don't like being this much of a downer and if you and your kids like the other two books you will like this one I just was hoping for a realistic depiction of the emotional fortitude it takes to care for animals. it's not pretty but that's okay, it still is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.