This story is very compelling. The end of days, Groundhog Day loop, female friendship strains and Paris as a backdrop. Lots to love. I would of loved more of all or less of them and more detail. I still have so many questions left in the air. I honestly found Bertie annoying and it was strange how the book mid way became a romance story. Overall an entertaining read but had potential for so much more.

I was attracted to the description and premise of this book, but unfortunately had a difficult time getting into it and staying interested. Somehow it felt like a "me problem" and I suspect that there will be an enthusiastic audience for this book, as it is well written and has some fascinating ideas. It just wasn't the book for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As I began this book, I realized that I'm not really the demographic to read about a BFF trip to Paris during the end of their (fictional) world. Yet I appreciated that one of the strongest parts of End of the World House is pointing the reader to how most people go on with their lives, making minor adjustments, as our world disintegrates. Likewise in the novel, Bertie and Kate figure – well, what can we do about all that? – and decide to preface Kate's imminent move to Los Angeles, away from best friend Bertie, with a Paris jaunt. If the norm, it still seems callous and clueless, but then again, what am I doing about climate change and BPAs and an ocean full of plastic and . . . . So I read on.

When Bertie and Kate get an opportunity to skip the line and be let into the Louvre before anyone else, they jump on it, and that's when the novel turns sideways. The rest of Adrienne Celt's book, full of time loops and new characters, offers a couple of answers to the end-of-the-world question. Kate accepts one answer; Bertie another, though Berte's “choice” is a flaw in the narrative, for me. She is hedged into it. And that's not good on several levels. Confusing characterizations in the two long-time friends' loyalty and love for each other add to the wobbly nature of the second half of the novel.

While the book blurb calls this book comedic, I disagree. It is such an intriguing premise, though. Not the catalyst of BFFs run off to Paris. One that to avoid spoilers I can't reveal here. See for yourselves.

Interesting premise about a woman Bernie caught up in loops where she lives out multiple versions of her life that keep starting from the Louvre in Paris. At the heart of it all is her best friend Kate. I found the book really engrossing at times and really confusing at others.

My favorite kind of sci-fi is time travel happening to regular people. People I might sit beside in a coffee shop or across from on the bus. Travel might be the wrong word but time spreading out like a slinky or breaking into pieces like a flaky croissant might be the better comparison.
This book delivered that in spades. The writing is sparse and strong and I loved the dissection of a friendship and the herky jerky momentum through time. It was funny and sad and exactly what I needed to read right now.

This book wasn't for me. It was well written and may be to many other people's liking but I wasn't really sure what to make of the story and the point of it. I think maybe I wasn't in the mood for something that wasn't very straight forward. I have no doubt that some readers will love this book, but I just wasn't one of them.

I liked the idea of this more than the actual book. The gaslighting storyline seemed off to me. The time loop hook is what drew me in but why have them stuck in an art museum when the author didn't seem that interested in art? I found that really puzzling. It was really about the women's friendship but why not set it somewhere the author knew better or liked? It felt flat.

First I want to thank Simon and Schuster , and Net Galley, for the opportunity to read and review this book as an ARC. I really wanted to love this book. The blurb compared it to a Groundhog Day meshed with a pre apocalyptic scenario. I was all in for this mix. I love books that bend and twist the concept of a linear time, and give a nod to the idea of alternate worlds , where an individual's choice can change everything. The first part of the book was excellent. Kate and Bertie have been friends since high school. They both live and work in San Francisco. Two things threaten their happy existence- a threat to world peace and security and Kate's plan to move to Los Angeles. The latter seems to be more of a problem than the former. The world is undergoing major problems, random bombings, border closures, hurricanes that devastate Texas, food shortages, etc. Kate and Bertie are concerned , and affected, but keep going on , as do most of the people around them. Kate's move to LA is upsetting to Bertie, and to combat her fears of losing her friend, she suggests a trip to Paris. It is interesting , that the world problems take a back seat to the personal ones. Bertie notes that the bombings have stopped, that there is a cease fire, peace talks are going on and some countries are reopening their borders. However, there is no real information on who is fighting, and what has caused the problems. The global problems are just there, and are dealt with, and managed.
The first section starts with Bertie and Kate on the next to the last day of their trip. They have met a strange man in a bar who has offered to give them a tour of the Louvre on the next day, Tuesday. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, so they are excited to go. They go to the museum, look at paintings, talk about Kate's impending move, and get separated. Bertie goes back to the hotel ,to wait for Kate. The next morning, it is Tuesday again, and they are both back at the hotel , planning to go to the Louvre.
This loop continues for a while, but there are always a few discrepancies from one to the next- what they ate for breakfast, the other people they see on their way. However the basics stay the same, they talk , they disagree, they get separated, until everything changes. The timeline becomes altered, Bertie has a new traveling companion, and it seems like everything we read in the first chapters was a dream, or a fantasy.
At this point it became a bit convoluted, and I had to go back and forth a bit to figure it out. The storylines, including the world turmoil, never get resolved completely. This is a problem for me, as I like loose ends tied up. However, the writing is excellent and the characterizations are really well done. I felt like I knew the 2 main protagonists. It wasn't the book I expected, but I am glad I read it. Once again. thanks for the opportunity.

If you enjoyed the movie Palm Springs, the premise of the show Loki, or anything pseudo-time-travel-y and dystopian-adjacent, then you ought to read this book. It's truly hard to narrow it down into a synopsis, but here goes: Bertie and Kate go on a trip to Paris. They decide to go visit the Louvre on a day when it's closed thanks to the invitation of a random dude that hit on Kate the night before. All alone in the museum things get kinda weird, and then when Bertie wakes up the next day, that same day repeats. That's all the information I can give without then breaking into the spoiler-y facets of the story!

I was pretty hooked with the story from the start. It's the story of two friends who are about to go their separate ways, and Bertie is having a hard time dealing with that fact. There are twists and turns, things that made me angry at characters, things that made me nervous, and an interesting ending. I was a bit surprised that all of that was crammed into a shorter book. Definitely recommend if you want something dark and not quite genre-specific!

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-ARC.

I'm sorry Adrienne Celt I couldn't finish your book. I wanted to love it but I couldn't follow along. Perhaps I've been too distracted in my life lately or perhaps you are too clever a writer and the back and forth was too much for me right now. I liked the setting - the Louvre and Paris and the mentions of the girl's hometown back in the States. With all that has gone on in the world over the past two years, I just couldn't get into your references to border closings, rationing, bombing, fighting, etc. I will never be the girl to watch the "end of days" type of movies.

The cover is wonderful - very bright and inviting. I would have picked this book up if I saw it at a bookstore or library!!

PS I didn't share my notes here because I didn't think it was fair to you.

Two young women find themselves in the edge of their friendship on a trip to Paris, as the world around them falls apart.

This was an entertaining read, highlighting how female friendships tend to exist on many layers simultaneously and how that concludes to the varying behaviors relating to even people very close to them. The ending does upend some of the build-up between the women but I think it works as a comment on the apocalyptic premise.

Celt takes on a Groundhog Day-esque time loop in her forthcoming novel, following two friends on a trip to Paris as the world teeters on the brink of sociopolitical collapse—casual. Yet, the writing is somehow as funny and charming as it is existentially depressing. That might not be the vibe for everyone right now, but I found it cathartic and thought-provoking!

I included this title in my round-up of winter and spring 2022 books for Book & Film Globe: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/seven-novels-to-read-in-2022/

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was drawn in by the unusual premise of this book. Stuck in the Louvre while the world is starting to fall apart, getting separated from your friend and trying to find her with a time loop angle thrown in? Sounds fascinating. Unfortunately, the story did not live up to the premise. What I thought was the main story is sidelined for far too long about a less interesting (and frustrating) story, and that made it hard to get to know the characters. And the one character you do get to know is strangely passive, so that greatly hampers the readers ability to really get into the story. Very little actually happens in the story in terms of plot, and very little is ultimately revealed about the puzzle of the situation. So without character depth, or an exciting plot, or a solvable puzzle, the book ultimately ends up being unsatisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Schuster for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

(I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

End of the World House is about the power of friendship, and about the choices you make, and about the banality of the end of the world, and about getting stuck in old patterns and trying to break free. Also, it's about time loops.

I really liked Kate and Bertie's relationship, with their old habits and affection for each other, but also how it definitely felt that, as things were, they were probably going to stop being friends and go their separate ways. It felt right, and was well written and developed.

The time loops were really cool, and well done, and the way the mystery built was intriguing. I don't want to give too much away, but I just enjoyed the heck out of that whole aspect. I love time loop stories, and this was one of my favorite kinds of time loop story.

The ending was...kind of frustrating. It made sense, given how the rest of the story happened, but it was not my favorite. And despite so much happening in the story, it also kind of felt like not much happened at all, which I have gone back and forth on how I feel about several times while writing this review.

I think I'd recommend it to someone looking for time loop stories, though, or ones about declining friendships. Also: the cover is gorgeous.

I really enjoyed this book-the “near future” sci-fi/dystopic type stuff is always really interesting to see which societal knobs an author is going to choose to turn, and this hit the spot. An interesting rumination on interpersonal relationships, the opportunity (burden?) of being able to try a life over again, and the ways in which beauty can still move us, even at the end of the world.

I did find the Dylan character so precisely horrible that there were a few moments where I got angry at Bertie for even considering him, I think perhaps the author was getting at making the same mistake again and again? Though I’m not sure I found that a satisfying way to move the plot along. All in all, an interesting read

What the h-ll did I just read? In the very best way. This story is a mind ending voyage into a future that hits too close to home. A page turner from moment one, it will not disappoint!

The world-building in this story was wonderfully done, and the story keeps you guessing - it is full of surprises. It was an odd story, but one that was well written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the chance to read this book!

3.5 stars!

What would you do if you knew you could restart your life?End of the World House presents that question to the main character, making it a truly bizarre novel.

This book has a friendship tip-toeing the line of too close, multiple selves from different timelines, and a look at what the end of the world could look like (bombs, food shortages, etc.)

End of the World House reads like it’s literary fiction but the plot is one you wouldn’t necessarily associate with that genere. Celt does a really good job of with world-building and personality creating.

My biggest issue is just how bizarre it is. I can’t understand the motivations behind any of the characters.

END OF THE WORLD HOUSE by Adrienne Celt is totally distinct and unlike anything I've read. Based on the logline a reader might imagine what s/he is in for upon starting the book, but it is a genuine surprise where it goes and what it's ultimately about. It's not often that we're surprised in this way! Thank you for the opportunity to read.

Bertie and Kate are best friends - or are they? Throughout much of this book, Bertie questions her friendship with Kate, a woman she met when they were in high school and who was "out of her league" as a friend. They reconnected after college and eventually moved in together. But now Kate is moving on to Los Angeles leaving Bertie in the South Bay - and devastated by her absence.

In a not-too-distant future, with bombs going off in cities around the world and multiple international climate crises, the two women plan to buy an "end of the world" house where they can live out whatever happens together. But Kate crushes that dream when she announces she is moving to LA. The two travel to Paris to see the Louvre and eat pastries before Kate moves and the world ends but when they get stuck in the museum, suddenly, they can't leave. Separated, Bertie finds herself reliving the visit to the Louvre again - and again. But each time something different changes.

Eventually Bertie is reunited with a young man she had been seeing - or not? - in the museum and with a snap of his fingers they are back in northern California, seriously dating, and Kate is nowhere in sight.

To continue describing the plot of this story would be giving away many of the twists and turns. This book is designed to be felt rather than read - it's not until I finished the entire story and had some time to reflect did I understand how it was structured and what it all meant. It is sad and sweet and for so long I hated Kate but then I understood her and felt far more empathy.

I don't know anything about this book, its provenance, so to speak, so I'm not certain if this was written prior to or during the start of the pandemic. If before, the author was prescient in anticipating the dichotomy of reactions to massive crises: Bertie wants to ignore the world by continuing doing the same things with her life - go to work, see her friends, make her art, while Kate wants to stop time and close the world around her- keep out everyone and everything that remind her of the crumbling world. We don't realize this until the book's conclusion.

How many of us have discovered that the people we love and trust are vastly different from us when confronted by a crisis? People don't always expect the way you think they will - and you don't necessarily expect the way you think you will!

I loved this book. Haunting, thought-provoking, melancholy - and Paris! Oh my goodness, I want to travel to Europe.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.