This thought-provoking book is a reflection on a friendship -- it's meaning and power in our lives, and how hard it is to move on from it -- told through the lens of an apocalyptic, sci-fi, time-loop narrative.

Bertie, a cartoonist for a Silicon valley tech firm, and Kate have been a constant presence in each other's lives since high school and have seen the advent of the apocalypse together. Moving forward in life, Kate gets a job offer and decides to move to LA, leaving Bertie behind in her depressing job.

Taking a trip to Paris as one last friendship hurrah, they get invited to a private showing of the Louvre where things quickly start getting weird. The museum isn't acting right and Bertie's living the same day over and over again. When she and Kate get separated in this new, unstable reality they're experiencing, Bertie traverses the multiverse -- blending past, present, and future in unexpected ways -- to find Kate.

If you're a sci-fi fan, I have some bad news for you: The focus of this book is NOT on the sci-fi, time-looping narrative. It's more of an introspective look at Bertie, her life, and her relationship with Kate. Large portions of the novel focus on her job and what it would look like if certain things did or didn't happen in her past. As a fan of character-driven narratives, I actually appreciated this and thought that the deep-dive into the inner workings of friendship and the grief one feels when a friendship ends or changes was very eye-opening.

Celt's writing is also stunning -- I could picture the world she spun here perfectly and felt that her characters really leapt off the page. I can't wait to see what else she writes!

I will say my only complaint is that Bertie meets and begins dating someone partway through the book and I feel like, at the point, the narrative shifted away from her friendship with Kate and more toward her romantic relationship, which I didn't care about nearly as much. I wish these sections would have been condensed or re-focused.

I also thought some of the mechanics of the time loop became confusing, but maybe that's the point! How much control do we have over our past, present, and future trajectory? Where will we go when the world ends? Who will we spend our final moments with? If we could live in a day, a week, a moment forever onward, would we? All of these are mind-numbing questions brought to the forefront by this book.

An interesting read if you like character stories with a sci-fi twist.

I think the idea behind the book was great, but the relationship aspect seemed to overshadow the plot from the blurb, and the relationship was not great. I couldn't take the gaslighting and had a hard time reading it.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

End of the World House by Adrienne Celt is a surprising meditation on friendship with an apocalyptic Groundhog Day slant. It's definitely original, though the absurdist elements are certainly high concept.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Interesting. Unusual. Weird. A bit nostalgic at the end. Full of possibility, maybe?

Our main character, Bertie, makes a significant choice that I don't quite understand why she would, which drives the thrust of the tale.

Set against a dystopian version of our world, which makes an interesting landscape to set the novel against. Also gives an excuse for throwing in every modern day, fear-mongering trope such as anti-Americanism, anti-oil, "gender studies", environmentalism, and more. Does do a nice play on the perceived morality of tech companies while they are just making money like everyone else, which was intriguing to see.

Overall enjoyable, but not super enthralling. Great if you like the mind-bending aspect of potential outcomes of time loops. And Bernie is a sweet character one can root for while following her story.

A bit of a disappointment for me. I loved the concept but felt there was too much focus on the characters' friendship, rather than the science fictional element of the plot, which was the main reason I was interested in reading it.

I very much appreciate being gifted this copy of End of the World House
by Adrienne Celt, and the opportunity to read & review it. Thanks to the publisher.

This book was heavily anxiety-inducing for me. Despite this, I enjoyed it. The book takes place in a near-future (or parallel future?!) apocalyptic world that is basically the reality we’re living in now. Which was probably the source of my anxiety.

Anyways, this story was a very interesting fever dream. Nothing makes sense, so readers who like to go with the flow will enjoy it. If you’re a reader who dislikes when things are incoherent and unexplained, this isn’t for you.

The main storyline of Bertie and Kate’s friendship is really good. I enjoyed The Louvre as a character in this story. Dylan is weird, sinister, and tbh kind of unnecessary. I couldn’t figure out what his intentions were, and I still have no idea.

There are some beautifully written lines in this book, as well as ruminations on human nature in the face of pure terror, which will be relevant to some readers, especially after these last three years. All in all, I enjoyed this book and will read other books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this free ARC! I love a good time loop story and this one was definitely a different take than I've seen before. You don't see the same part of the day every time and you also see a lot more of the backstory of the characters. Plus a little more involvement of multiple timelines and multiple loops. And multiple people! I really enjoyed the book and also the look at how our world could fall apart.

The world is not doing well in End of the World House by Adrienne Celt. War is rampant, the climate has had enough of humanity, and the economy is devastated. And yet, life continues mostly as normal. People go to work, they hang out in bars, and they argue with their roommates over whose turn it is to take out the trash. The biggest concern in Bertie's life is that her best friend Kate is moving to another city. As one last hurrah and, Bertie hopes, for a chance to change Kate's mind, they fly to Paris. Travel is a luxury, but now that the ceasefire is in place, it may be their last chance before the world ends. One very strange day in the Louvre, and it all changes. Somehow the day keeps repeating itself, but it takes Bertie a while to figure that out.

This book was... interesting. It was confusing and when I thought I had it figured out, it completely flipped on me. A bit existential, a bit of a mindf... well, you know what I mean. Maybe the world doesn't ever actually end. Maybe we don't ever die. Maybe where we are right now isn't where we actually are right now. Maybe this book made me a little dizzy, but I kind of liked it. The choices we make are the foundations of who we are. If we make different decisions, maybe we turn out to be different people.

This book wasn't what I was expecting, but I still liked it. You should give it a try and see how it makes you feel. It could be very intriguing.

I wish the writing was stronger, but I do love a weirdo dystopian with female friendship! Felt a little young at points for me.

The low ranking is not a reflection of the work itself, but rather speaks to the fact that I selected other books over this title. My TBR is too long and had to cut titles from my list!

What a fun, inventive novel with gorgeous prose and such well-rendered emotion. Looking forward to what Adrienne Celt does next!

Thanks so much to the publisher for the e-galley.

This is a really interesting concept and I was excited to start reading it. I enjoyed the future setting and that it took place in Paris, but I just could not get into this one. Sadly, it was DNF.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital ARC!

This book is about two girls trapped in the Louvre museum in a time warp repeating the same day over and over. It is relatable at first with an estranged friendship and a last ditch effort at rekindling what they once had - over a fun vacation to Paris! But, when the girls meet a stranger who gives them secret access to the museum, their worlds change forever. While I thought the plot was unique and interesting, I had trouble connecting with he characters and keeping up with the plot. I was hoping the plot would suck me in harder than it did...I think there was still opportunity to make this more suspenseful and engaging for the reader.

This is a very "trippy" book that at times reads like straight sci-fi, and at other times like a fever dream. For anyone who has ever wanted a do-over, gotten lost in Paris, or mourned the death of a best-friendship.

This book featured such a unique storyline so I was definitely intrigued going into it. The story was well-written and the characters were well-developed. This book was interesting and I really enjoyed the time loop.

Thank you Simon & Schuster ​and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.
Promising story line but I didn't love the execution. Maybe I'm just not a huge fan of science fiction. I picked it up because of the synopsis said it was similar to 'Severance' and 'Ground Hog's Day' - again, interesting premise but I didn't love the way it played out. I was confused at times and then it seemed to abruptly end. I noticed a lot of people didn't finish and I could see why it wouldn't be a favorite. Keep at it though, Adrienne. I think you're on to something!

End of the World House is a fascinating story about the dynamics of incredibly close friendships among the implosion of the world. I was immediately sucked into the story but found that it lost me later on. The primary storyline and its focus on Kate and Bertie's friendship was amazing, but I had no interest in the romance plot that tried to unfold simultaneously.

Friends since high school, Bertie and Kate head to Paris for a last hurrah before Kate moves from San Fransisco to Los Angeles. Set in the not so distance future, with a world war and famine raging, they head for a private tour of the Louvre given by a gentlemen Kate met at a jazz club the previous evening. During their exploration, Bertie loses Kate and starts to repeat the same day with subtle changes. She must find Kate and a way out.

I’m not completely sure what I just read. I found End of the World House confusing. It had difficulty keeping my interest for long, as I tried both reading and then listening to it. I’m sure the author had an important point to make about the current state of our world, but it was completely lost on me.

Never had a chance to read as the license expired before I could read it. ………………………………——————————————///////———//////////////////////———————————————————————————///////////////—————////////////—————-///:://///////—————————————————————//////////////////////—————————————————-////////////////—————————————————————