A beautifully-written story full of heart and an honest human portrayal on the meaning of time and connection. Two voices are heard in this novel through each chapter dedicated to Lucinda and Simon's narrations. Taking place during pre-apocalyptic time, as the end of the world is coming near Lucinda and Simon are tied together during their final weeks to seek answers of their mutual friend Tilda's sudden murder.

From the beginning to the end, every moment in this book was carried with grace and perfection. Mats Strandberg's brilliance resonates through strong character developments delivering the heartfelt yet flawed human-interest stories. He writes with such nuance effortlessly interweaving thought-provoking sociopolitical commentaries on climate change and race relations with a touch on philosophical quanderies. This book truly made me ponder what it is to live meaningfully and the acceptance in the face of death. Originally written in Swedish and translated by Judith Kiros. The translation was wonderfully done in conveying the intented message and its tone. I am introduced to Mats Strandberg's work with this book and this won't be my last. I am very impressed with this YA novel and was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this novel and how deeply invested I was with this story and the characters.

Thank you to Net Galley and Arctis Books for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance reader copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review

The End is an apocalyptic story by Swedish author Mats Strandberg. I believe it was published in Europe a few years ago, and this release is a more recent English translation. Apparently Strandberg has been called Sweden's Stephen King - I don't see the similarity in this book, but maybe some of his other works do.

In this book, NASA detects a comet heading for direct impact with Earth. It will result in the extinction of all life on the planet. With 2-3 months of advance warning but nothing that can be done to prevent the disaster, we follow society's reaction through the eyes of two Swedish high school seniors.

I gave The End four stars on Goodreads. There wasn't a great deal of action in the story, but I did become invested in what happened to the characters while also contemplating what my reactions would be under the same circumstances.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book! I was not expecting it to be as good as it was, honestly, so I was very pleasantly surprised. The story is set in the few weeks prior to an asteroid hitting and obliterating Earth, but it doesn't really read like a sci-fi novel. It's more of a mystery/thriller set against a sci-fi backdrop, since the central plot centers around two kids, Simon and Lucinda, who are trying to figure out who murdered their friend Tilda. The relationship building in the book is truly spectacular, and I especially loved the dynamics between Simon and his two moms and sister, and between Lucinda and her dad and sister. The family relationships were truly what made this book great. If you like YA mysteries with great family dynamics and a bit of romance, you will enjoy this book. Definitely recommend!

The End follows the story of Simon and Lucinda during the weeks leading up to the end of the world, connecting the two characters is Tilda who is found murdered and both Simon and Lucinda try to figure out what actually happened to her and what her life was like leading up to her death.

The book was not bad, the writing style was okay, and I quite liked the characters and the discussions that take place in the book. I just found the book really boring; it was not the murder mystery I expected and dealt more with the character’s day to day lives leading up until the end. I also did not really see the point of Lucinda’s perspective as it did not add much to the story, the characters do not meet and start solving the mystery until the second half of the book and most of the first half to me was pointless. The book has a slow pace with not much happening in terms of the plot, everything seemed dragged out and although I liked reading about the characters and their emotions it did seem like it was endless – pages and pages of the same stuff.

2/5

Not your usual end of the world novel. Although it is not by any means an edge of your seat read, it held my interest by describing the varying reactions of the characters and those around them when faced with the impending destruction of the earth. A quarter of the way in a mystery is introduced and the pace picks up. I would recommend it for older teens only as there is sexual content.

The timing of this book was hard for me. Normally this is exactly what I love. But when it feels like the world is on fire, thinking about how you'd spend the end of your time on Earth is a little too real. That being said it was a great book for discussions, even though I felt emotionally spent after. I'd recommend for people with more emotional umph than me and a good book club read for variety.

Thw cover and the description were everything but when I read it, I didn't liked it, it was nothing that I expected to be, but that's just my personal thought

Mats Strandberg’s novel about the end of the world was published two years ago in Sweden and is now being translated into English. This book doesn’t bear the hallmarks of a literary classic, but it is a riveting story. On a beautiful Spring day, the world finds out that a meteor is headed toward Earth and that the planet will be destroyed. "The End" is about how people deal with this knowledge. The rules and institutions that have kept the world running have collapsed. People are suddenly faced with deciding what they want to do before they die. How should one spend his/ her last days on Earth?

"The End" is told from the alternating viewpoints of Simon and Lucinda. In many ways, they are typical teens, although their lives aren’t typical. Simon is the son of a recently divorced lesbian couple that reunites to spend their last days as a family. Lucinda is a victim of the same cancer that claimed her mother’s life. After hearing about the meteor, she decides to stop chemotherapy and spend her remaining days like a “regular” teen.

As might be expected, some of their friends start to experiment with sex, drugs, and other risky behaviors. Others, “Truthers”, turn to a strict new religion. Simon’s girlfriend, Tilda, a beautiful and super -competitive swimmer, begins using drugs. She ends up murdered in an alley, and Simon is initially suspected in the crime. Ultimately, Simon and Lucinda unite to solve her murder, and their investigation gives some purpose to their final days.

This book is highly recommended for students in senior high school due to its mature content. Adults will also find something to think about in this book; what legacy would you want to leave behind if the world was coming to an end?

This is an interesting book. There's a meteorite that will collide with the world and take earth out of existence. They have a few months to prepare for it but how do prepare for the end of life when you feel fine?

Arctis Books and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published on October 6th.

This written from the perspective of teenager responses. There are families that commit suicide. Some of the teens turn to drugs Relationships bud, some of them die. People lose their tempers. It's a great feeling of unrest.

Simon is in love with Tilda. She dumps him when the news on this broke. Then she's found dead and people think he's killed her. He didn't but he begins searching for the killer. It's better than waiting around to die. He finally finds out what happened to her with just a couple of days left.

This author does a good job showing all the various emotions, how quickly they can change from joy to sorrow and back again. Their basic character really shows in crisis moments.

So many interesting dilemmas then came up like: how do you complete your bucket list when everyone else wants to do that too and there is no one left to pilot planes or take your train ticket? What happens to the prison guards who say they no longer want to go to work—are the prisoners let out or left there to starve? Then there was a dilemma closer to home: Simon’s pregnant sister, Emma. I was heartbroken at her planning for the future yet knowing that the child would never be born.

**I received an e-ARC from NetGalley for an honest review**

I enjoy reading end of the world/dystopian/apocalyptic stories, so I was really looking forward to the book Especially when the summary told me there would be a murder-mystery twist.

With the ending of the world at hand, you get to see the wide range of emotions and actions taken by people. Some become religious, some live out their bucket list, etc. Nothing really new there. The solving of the murder felt a little too easy, Really, what saved the plot overall was the depth of the characters. Emma, by far, stood out beyond the rest as a memorable character.

I wasn't a fan of the overall writing style, as I generally prefer books from one point of view. I also felt the book ran a little long and was overly padded in some places.

Overall, it's a solid 3/5 for me. I'm glad I read the book, and if someone asked me about it I would tell them. If I knew someone was a fan of this type of work I would recommend it.

On May 27th, the world learns that a comet, Foxworth, is heading towards Earth, and that all life will cease to exist on September 16th. A few months later, with only a few weeks left until the comet hits, Swedish teen Tilda is found dead, and the town is convinced her "obsessed" ex-boyfriend, Simon, is responsible. He joins forces with Lucinda, Tilda's former swim-team mate and best friend, in order t find the true identity of Tilda's killer. Will the two of them find out what truly happened that night, or will the end come without them ever knowing peace?

So, I might be in the minority here, but I truly did not enjoy my experience reading this book. However, that being said, I am able to recognize aspects that can appeal to other readers. So to start of with some things I did find interesting, there is a lot of social commentary found both on the page and between the lines. The end of the world is near, and the book truly highlighted different ways people cope. Some turn to religion for a sense of community, while others shift to the extreme end of the spectrum and follow a radical extremist group that promises life after the end for believers. Some aren't able to cope at all, and end their lives before the comet can. Some take advantage of the time they have left and do things they've always wanted, while others stay at home to avoid any danger. There is a lot to unpack and I believe that some great conversations can be had with topics brought up in this novel.

For some of the things I didn't enjoy:

Writing style - this is written in dual POV, following Simon as a narrator, and Lucinda, who is writing on TellUs, a platform used to preserve the last communications of Earth's inhabitants to be read by other worldly beings in the future. What I noticed was that Simon's sections focused primarily on action and moving the plot forward, while Lucinda's focused primarily on giving the reader context and background to the story. If this was intentional, I noticed, and it felt jarring when it switched from present day action in Simon's POV to character history in Lucinda's. If this wasn't intentional, I felt that there could have been more of a balance between the two points of view.

Characters - I felt like there was a fair amount of character growth for our two main narrators SImon and Lucinda. Simon goes from partying the end of the world away to spending time with the people in his life who actually matter, and Lucinda learns to let people in instead of pushing them away, and that even though she is sick she is still capable of love. However, a lot of the side characters felt heavily underdeveloped, and I kept mixing them up in my head. Several times I switched Miranda, Lucinda's sister, with Molly, Tilda's cousin, Simon's friend group, save for Johannes, was just a conglomeration of teenagers, and I forgot that Lucinda's dad was still around because he's mentioned so little except for when him and Lucinda are fighting.

Plot - For the most part I did find the plot engaging, and I agree that adding a murder mystery twist on an end-of-the-world story made it stand out. My issues lean towards how the mystery is actually solved. Simon and Lucinda had a list of suspects, and each time they decided to interview those suspects they immediately knew the context of the situation and provided information about why they didn't commit the crime. Then out of nowhere, one line leads them straight to the answer. Personally it felt stilted and rushed, but that might be preference more than anything.

In the end, I am grateful for the opportunity to have read a copy of this book. I truly believe that readers who want an end-of-the-world story will find something to love in this novel, and I hope they do. It just did not work for me.

The world is ending on September 16th, Mats Strandberg's novel explores the lives of teenagers in Sweden who have a definitive end date to their lives -and the planet. Tilda, Lucinda, Simon and their friends and family navigate the end of the world. Some turn to religion and deny the truth, others turn to drugs to forget, and some finally start to live again. The End is an interesting read - especially in the middle of a pandemic where the parallels between the end of the world "truthers" and virus deniers rings especially poignant. The twists that bring Simon and Lucinda back together bring another level to the novel and kept me engaged to the end. It's a book about the end of the world, yet the importance of family, friends, and understanding yourself are applicable at any time.

I had a million different feelings while reading this book. The idea that you're only given 4 months before the world ends is truly terrifying. What would you do? Who would you spend it with? That's the struggle the main characters, Simon and Lucinda, are originally struggling with. Then a close friend to both characters dies. It seems like she was murdered. So to make sense of their final days Simon and lucinda team up to try and solve it. My one annoyance with this book, which isn't really an annoyance, is that its so slow. But the fact that it's slow makes the reader really feel the helplessness of the characters. They know they're going to die. The countdown is present every day for them. So having to be constantly reminded as a reader was both good and bad. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone interested in it (and friends and family). I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The ending is satisfying and unsatisfying all at the same time. 5 stars. I've already got my sights set on Strandsberg's other novel- Blood Cruise!

I think this should be more NA or even adult. It has the themes for it and I think it would have been able to delve deeper into some of those areas where as a YA book it couldn't.
The murder mystery at the end of the world was a creative and quirky concept. You know what is coming but you are still intrigued by the mystery. It's a fine line to walk and I believe it is done well. The dual POV gives more information and moved the story along well. I just wish it was marketed as NA or Adult.

First of all, thank you netgalley for providing me an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

"When will the world end? With Foxworth, a massive meteor, hurtling toward Earth, humanity now knows the exact date.

Seventeen-year-old Simon wants to spend his last weeks with the people he cares about most, especially his goal-oriented swimmer ex-girlfriend, Tilda, who dumped him shortly after the news broke. Since Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer she’s, retreated into herself preparing for the inevitable. Suddenly facing down a death that makes her the same as everyone else, she longs to connect again but doesn’t quite know where to start. Reaching out to her former best friend Tilda seems like a good first step. Then Tilda is found dead and accusations start circling that Simon is the killer. As the days tick down, Simon and Lucinda only want to know the truth, but the more they uncover about the final days of the girl they both cared for deeply, the clearer the things that really matter become."

One could define this book by saying it's like a murder mistery and the end of the world had a child. I'm still not sure if it being a YA novel was the best move. On one hand, I think the themes were a bit strong (specially now) for what's supposed to be for teenagers (and because this I definitely would recommend it for older teens), and on the other hand, I also think it held back a little (maybe?). I just get the feeling that the whole end of the world scenario and all of the aspects the author explored could've been pushed further if it was something targeted to adults. While I surely think the whole atmosphere with the countdown to the meteor strike was very well done, I also feel the pacing didn't really match or help the murder mistery aspects of the story.
And that sentiment goes for everything I think. I was only really invested in the characters, the bonds between them and the dialogue because of the end-of-the-days aspect of the book. I wasn't really that intrigued by the mistery. I was plainly engaged with the apocalypse however. The different reactions society as a whole has, and the different reactions from different chracters we get to meet made it interesting and endearing. Also, the family themes were great.
Overall, a good read.

I liked the concept of this book being about an impending apocalypse combined with a murder mystery. The reader finds out in the opening chapter that there's a comet headed straight for earth which is going to wipe out everyone and everything. While in the final weeks before impact, someone's murdered and they're trying to figure out what happened. While it was an interesting concept and fairly enjoyable read, it felt a bit preachy at time with all of the religious references. There were also several incidents of drug and alcohol use as well as sex.

Thanks to Arctis Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The End is a YA “end of the world” novel and deals with friendship and the loss of love and family.

What would you do if you knew when the world was going to end? How would your family, your neighbours, or your friends react? Would you hide out in a bunker and refuse to believe the truth, or would you go out there and complete your bucket list?

Earth has just over a month left to be Earth. A few weeks where EVERYONE has to say their goodbyes and then a comet known as Foxworth will obliterate the planet. The once inseparable group of friends has split up, seemingly confused by what they want to do in their final hours. Tilda and Simon have parted ways, well, she dumped him, and she is spiralling out of control. Lots of partying and drugs and sex. Simon is still madly in love with her but she wants nothing to do with him. Lucinda is on the sidelines. Once a star swimmer like Tilda, her body now heeds the commands of cancer and she has all but isolated herself from the world. The others are all interested in their own pursuits. One of the group is murdered and Simon is blamed. With only a few weeks left to live, is it worth it to try to clear his name or will the killer take their secret to the world’s end?

The book is written from different POVs so you are able to see things from a number of perspectives. In the beginning I found the partying and excess drug abuse and sex a bit “in your face” for a YA novel, but as it progresses and you begin to understand the desperation of this being the only time in their lives they will ever get to go crazy with no ramifications, you begin to feel their emotions a lot more. The further I got into the book, the more I began to feel understand that the book was not about what acts were happening on the surface, but the underlying reasons behind them—their true emotions. It is no longer just things to do to pass the time, it now becomes a reality—one where you realise that each second that goes by is one more second closer to the last one. When you have that final time and date, it makes it a lot scarier.

So many interesting dilemmas then came up like: how do you complete your bucket list when everyone else wants to do that too and there is no one left to pilot planes or take your train ticket? What happens to the prison guards who say they no longer want to go to work—are the prisoners let out or left there to starve? Then there was a dilemma closer to home: Simon’s pregnant sister, Emma. I was heartbroken at her planning for the future yet knowing that the child would never be born.

There are a lot of deeper questions in the book and some introspection as you read. The book started out being about what people would do if they knew when the world would end, to how people would free their emotions and reveal their true selves when they knew their time was up. I wanted to race to the end of the book to see if it would really happen but I wanted to slow down in case it did. The story sometimes dragged on for a bit as it seemed the author wanted to cover something each day in the final month. Sometimes the characters’ actions based on emotions didn’t ring true, but in the end the deeper messages of the story came through. Definitely made me think…

This book broke my heart. It brought me into a world so thoroughly there were moments that I thought our world was actually being struck by the meteor (thankfully it’s not). The was so much emotion in every page and you were rooting for the main characters the whole time. It was super easy to fall into their shoes.

Highly recommend for anyone who wants to see the world ending while solving a murder. Sadie meets Life As We Know It.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review**
I'm not quite sure why I requested dystopian fiction when we're living through a global pandemic right now but at least this was about an asteroid, not a virus!
I was pleased that there was more to the story than people panicking about their impending doom, I really enjoyed the "whodunnit" storyline and the blossoming relationship between Simon and Lucinda. I didn't guess who was responsible for the death (trying to avoid spoilers) which I was pleased about.
A decent read, I'd recommend it.