Scan barcode
A review by sauvageloup
All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
queer and apocalyptic - perfect for me!
pros:
- loved the set up and the characters, the boys both have their own struggles and their voices came through pretty clearly, esp at the start.
- enjoyed the side characters, like Henri and Cara, when they popped up.
- I liked their slow burn romance and how love crept up on both of them, it didn't feel forced.
- the world building that there was was good and interesting.
- the dialogue overall flowed well and I didn't find it cringe considering its portraying teens.
- of course I enjoyed the queer spin on the apocalypse, with it being highlighted the dangers of coming out to strangers/being clocked as queer in such an unpredictable environment, and having the romance be queer.
cons:
- I wouldn't say the writing is groundbreaking, its direct and keeps up the pace and it does paint some nice scenes, but it also felt basic and a bit clunky at times. I know its aimed at a YA audience but that doesn't excuse somewhat plain prose.
- also, apocalyptic fic is fun bc of the tropes, but I also felt maybe this didn't have a lot of originality? of course the characters being queer is an important addition, but it felt like the main or only change in the typical apocalypse storyline of - everyone dies, alone ppl find others, the group is tyrannical and bloodthirsty, characters have a dark past, spunky survivalist helps them, they go searching across the country for a lost person, eating cold food, getting shot, etc. Whereas, say, station 11 had a new angle with the comic and the preacher and the travelling musicians...
- I felt the differentiation between the boys voices got lost a bit in the middle and i forgot who i was reading for a bit as they sounded the same, which was a shame as Andrew had quite a distinct and different tone at the start.
overall, I enjoyed it a lot and liked what Brown was going for, but found it a bit lacking in writing sophistication and originality at times.
pros:
- loved the set up and the characters, the boys both have their own struggles and their voices came through pretty clearly, esp at the start.
- enjoyed the side characters, like Henri and Cara, when they popped up.
- I liked their slow burn romance and how love crept up on both of them, it didn't feel forced.
- the world building that there was was good and interesting.
- the dialogue overall flowed well and I didn't find it cringe considering its portraying teens.
- of course I enjoyed the queer spin on the apocalypse, with it being highlighted the dangers of coming out to strangers/being clocked as queer in such an unpredictable environment, and having the romance be queer.
cons:
- I wouldn't say the writing is groundbreaking, its direct and keeps up the pace and it does paint some nice scenes, but it also felt basic and a bit clunky at times. I know its aimed at a YA audience but that doesn't excuse somewhat plain prose.
- also, apocalyptic fic is fun bc of the tropes, but I also felt maybe this didn't have a lot of originality? of course the characters being queer is an important addition, but it felt like the main or only change in the typical apocalypse storyline of - everyone dies, alone ppl find others, the group is tyrannical and bloodthirsty, characters have a dark past, spunky survivalist helps them, they go searching across the country for a lost person, eating cold food, getting shot, etc. Whereas, say, station 11 had a new angle with the comic and the preacher and the travelling musicians...
- I felt the differentiation between the boys voices got lost a bit in the middle and i forgot who i was reading for a bit as they sounded the same, which was a shame as Andrew had quite a distinct and different tone at the start.
overall, I enjoyed it a lot and liked what Brown was going for, but found it a bit lacking in writing sophistication and originality at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail