This book is good, but it's just not really the book for me. I know the synopsis mentions religious parents, but I had no idea how huge of a role religion would play in this story. Not only are both sets of parents extremely religious/traditional, Milo is also staunchly Christian, and since Milo is the narrator, I found that a difficult barrier for me. Yes, I grew up Christian and have my own religious trauma, I guess I just don't care much to read about it. I recommend this if you're looking for a contemporary m/m romance that centers on religion with a natural disaster side-plot, but if you think that sounds weirdly specific...you're right.

Milo Connelly is a mild and unassuming senior at lowly Crick High in Port Orange, Florida, a suburb of Daytona. He’s a well-esteemed member of his Presbyterian church, teaching in the youth classes because he aspires to become a teacher—even if he assumes his strict and religious parents might find that a low aim. Milo’s dearest friend, Vanessa, who goes by Van, was a member of the church, but stopped going a few years ago—falling out after her mom’s bitter divorce and the less-than-helpful advice offered them by the former pastor. She’s not actually welcomed in Milo’s home, though his parents do not forbid their friendship. Honestly, Van is Milo’s only friend, and he keenly feels what a socially isolated life he lives. Milo refers to himself as a turtle. And, he’s certainly not ready to stick his neck out of his shell when a blast from the past, Marcos Price, turns up at Crick.

Marcos met Van and Milo at bible camp three years ago. Marcos and Milo were roommates, and Milo soon realized that Marcos’ vocal atheist beliefs made him an instant pariah at the camp. So, he befriended Marcos, rather than allowing him to be lonely, and they included Van in what activities they could, as well. Still, there was plenty of roomie time spent bonding over Golden Girls reruns, Milo’s favorite show. And, when a mini-disaster in the room had them sharing a bunk, Milo was just being a good friend. Unfortunately, their growing intimacy had Milo experiencing novel, very unusual, and—to his mind–borderline unacceptable, feelings about Marcos. After two weeks, Milo was ALMOST so out of his shell that he could have kissed Marcos. That is, until Marcos disappeared without a word with a week of camp left. Milo was sure he was yanked away by divine knowledge of the unsavory desires Milo had developed, and he repented as best he could, deeply disappointed in himself and distraught that his new friend was gone. So, Marcos, having now moved to Port Orange from Orlando is an unwelcome reminder of the trauma Milo suffered back then. And, well, Marcos is as stunningly beautiful, and irreverent as always. Milo is struggling to accept Marcos as a friend, which is complicated by Van including Marcos on their hangouts. And Milo can’t even get any peace at church, because Marcos’ dad moved them to Port Orange to become the church’s treasurer. So, avowed atheist Marcos is in the pews every Sunday.

The intersection of Milo and Marcos’ lives isn’t only emotionally traumatic for Milo, it seems to be causing a cosmic disturbance as well. The first day of school while they’re off-campus having lunch, a sinkhole develops in the school parking lot where Van’s car had sat before the trio departed. And, later while attending his first-ever party, only because he’s trying to prove he’s not such a goody-goody, a drunk-ish Milo admits some of his secret crush to Marcos who’d confessed his own attraction. Which is followed by a massive blackout. Sure, all a coincidence, until they have a near-miss of lethal proportions while attend a GSA-sponsored dance at a nearby high school. Milo is sure that God is punishing him for falling for Marcos and that Milo’s unwelcome desire for another boy is so at-odds with God’s plan that he’s hurling all sorts of disasters in their path to avert it.

It’s all a huge metaphor, however, for Milo’s own self-hate and self-sabotage, feeling that he’s letting his parents and church down by experiencing a fulfilling attraction for Marcos. He’s afraid to confront his truth, and to reveal his truth once he accepts it, because he doesn’t want to lose his parents’ love. Nor does he want to lose Marcos again, and Marcos’ father is radical enough to threaten gay-conversion therapy when he gets an inkling that Milo and Marcos have something deeper than a friendship brewing.

This story took a lot of unexpected twists, what with the natural disasters, revivalist showdowns, and a rather traumatic coming-out experience. There are moments that really made me pause, because Milo is such a heart-on-his-sleeve narrator and his pain is so acute. I was honestly scared that this was all going to go very wrong. I was also worried about the internalized homophobia Milo suffers and how that might affect young and questioning readers. Milo’s journey was one of necessary self-love, and once he fully embraced himself, he became a much more powerful character. Marcos is the rock he needs, a bulwark of acceptance and love that will allow Milo to climb up, stand higher on his own two feet. I loved how Van supported and held Milo’s hand, sometimes literally, as he rose beyond the darkness of his self-hate. Interestingly, the current minister of the church is not a hate-monger, and he gives Milo and Marcos counseling that is compassionate and affirming. It is the membership of the church that have some issues to resolve, notably Marcos’ overbearing father.

I feel like this is a good, but tough read. It’s YA, and has age-appropriate situations, including alcohol use. Expect affection and some light physicality, but none of it graphic in a “romance” way. There is definite emphasis on the emotional journey, especially for Milo, and the ending is decidedly happy.

This was a bit of a slow-build romance/dark comedy. Patient readers will take their time to uncover why Milo and Marcos work and be rewarded.

I’m not sure how Snipes did it, but they managed to take heavy topics like anxiety, religious trauma and internalized homophobia and wrap it all up inside an endearing love story between two teens given a second chance at a HEA.

While this feels like a dystopian novel, once you start to delve deeper into why these earth shaking events are happening, and how they line up with the plot line, it becomes an interesting metaphor to how life kind of rocks you in unexpected ways.

I loved this book and have honestly shoved it at anybody who asks for a queer contemporary book rec.

Trigger Warnings: Religion/Presbyterian, anxiety, Republicans, Bible camp, misogyny, racism, toxic masculinity, internalized homophobia, religious shame/guilt, past off page sex, underage drinking, vomit, past death of a grandparent, bigotry, lying, mega church, homophobia, religious trauma, coming out, slurs, bullying, vandalism, fighting, violence, natural disasters, fire, sex, hospital

Representation: Vegetarian, Cuban American, Atheism, Puerto Rican, Gay, Agnostic

Milo and Marcus at the End of the World is a contemporary YA romance with apocalyptic elements. The story surrounds Milo and Marcos, two high school boys who meet at a summer Bible camp. Milo is the good, church going Presbyterian who does what his parents wish and tries to be a good person. Marcos is an atheist who doesn’t get along with his parents and is stuck at camp because his dad made him come. When the boys share special moments together, Milo is confused about what it could all mean and then Marcos abruptly leaves camp early. Three years later, the boys are reunited and some odd natural disasters occur whenever they are together.

I really liked this book! I do want to preface that it is not for anyone with religious trauma and may be triggered by homophobic Christians. The story delves into the struggle that I think many of us deal with if you were raised in a church including the hatred you are taught for anyone who is different or not what the church leader deems “right.” As someone who was raised in a church, I could completely relate to Milo who prays to be “normal,” meaning straight. I also felt his hesitance to come out was so relatable to so many for fear of the unknown. The characters were actually quite interesting because Milo was so similar to my closeted self and when I first came out, and Marcos is so much more like who I am now.

I think it’s important to emphasize that this story is about being closeted and growing up gay and religious. It is not about queer joy, although there are a few scenes that do express it. I loved the dance scene and the boys truly are in love! The author does all of this in such an elegant way that the book is realistic and not depressing. I also loved the incorporation of the natural disasters! It was so creatively done and the ending was so sweet!

When Milo and Marcos reunite three years after a Christian summer camp, they begin to reignite feelings for one another. Except there's one problem: the world is trying to kill them in the process. From sinkholes, to meteors, to hurricanes, they just can't seem to win.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. I requested it a long time ago on NetGalley and then wasn't as excited about it anymore as I've moved away from YA, but I found a lot of things in here still very enjoyable and above the "YA stereotypes." Specifically, the content related to Christian religious trauma for queer people was handled with care and is typically not content that is covered in young adult books as much. It was also handled in a way that was kind of fun, raising the stakes to being "the end of the world" really allowed for the message and nuances to still be there but also not feel so heavy or triggering for its audience.

There were a couple things I was craving in this book (mild spoilers ahead). While I was very impressed with the books ability to make me sympathize with Milo even though he would make decisions I very much disagreed with, I didn't find much justification for his anger towards Van near the ending. I wanted to know more about how that relationship fell apart and then came back together, other than for the convenience of the plot. I also felt that we never got closure on why all these disastrous things were happening, which left the messaging of the book with something to be desired.

Overall, this was really a great read; it was quick, exciting, and while I'm not sure where the messaging about religious trauma really landed at the end of the novel, it still managed to dive into things I don't see young adult books ever really do.

If you are looking for a good pride month read. This book covers themes of homophobia, anxiety, and how to acknowledge your sexuality. This book also deals with religious trauma. I do love how the main characters did get together in the end. I did like this book. But if I am being honest I do not think this is one I am going to be reading again.

This was honestly a really quick and fun read. Despite not rating this higher, I loved the exploration of religious homophobhia and different perspectives.

However. this was marketed as a YA-dystopia but was honestly more contemporary with the occasional random disaster. The events weren't clearly explained (even in the end) and while I was fine with the closure they got, it left me feeling confused and wanting more.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. There were some sweet and funny moments throughout the book that I really liked. It was different from what I imagined, thinking it might be a more dystopian book based on the summary. However, in the end, I really liked this book a lot, along with the writing style.

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World follows Milo, a good Presbyterian boy, and Marcos, a newly discovered Atheist with a very strict Presbyterian Father. Milo and Marcos first find each other at a Bible camp - one that Marcos was forced to go to, but Milo was very much looking forward to. The moment Milo meets Marcos, his new roommate, he is immediately informed that Marcos is an Atheist and nothing anyone can say can change that. The first night at the camp causes them to share a bed... but even as the issue is resolved they continue to do so for the rest of the camp. Milo comes to an important, life-changing realization about himself, but before he can act on it - Marcos is gone without a trace.

Fast forward to three years later, on the first day of his senior year, when Milo catches Marcos and his best friend Van walking out of the school building together... and thus starts the beginning of the end of the world.

Spoilers below!

I think one of my favorite parts of this book is Milo's internal anxiety driven monologue. As someone that also struggles with anxiety, i couldn't help but chuckle at some of the ridiculous thoughts running through his head. On the flip side of that coin, hearing his inner struggles of dealing with his homosexuality and inner conflict of his religion deeming that he's, "not normal", was incredibly painful to watch over and over again. As frustrating as it was to watch him start to accept himself and then flip back from a setback, it's entirely realistic. Trying to unlearn a bad behavior like shunning all gay people to die in the eternal flames of hell, especially after finding out you are one of said heathens, has to be unbelievably stressful. And it shows.

I was a big fan of the different family dynamics and how when he was told to speak with his pastor, the pastor told him this is who he is and it won't be going away, instead of telling him to "pray out the gay". While Milos parents were certainly unsure of how to deal with his sexuality, they did seem to be taking steps as best as they could. On the other side, Marcos dad was completely unable to accept him, but his Mother was able to stand up for her son (thank god they wanted to send the kid to a conversion camp wtf!!).

When i initially started this, and even while reading it, I was convinced that the events that were leading up to the end of the world were all Milo's internal feelings and not actually happening. I really like how it wrapped up at the end... it just worked really well!

Rating 3.5 but its pushing a 4. I like how much it was really representative of queer characters and it spoke to me and allowed me to see more within myself while also getting to experience 2 people fall in love. It wasn't the most amazing thing ever but it was a good time.

This is a thoughtful and heartfelt story about first love. Milo largely keeps to himself. Other than spending time with his best friend, Milo tries to lay low and hopes to keep it that way until he graduates from high school. Everything seems to be going smoothly until Marcos shows up as the newest student at Milo's high school. Milo and Marcos had grown close at a summer camp three years before, but Marcos disappeared without any notice before the end of camp and Milo has not heard from him since. While Milo is at first determined to be standoffish with Marcos, soon they pick up where they left off. As they spend more time together, Milo cannot help but notice that his town seems to be experiencing more than its share of disasters, everything from a sinkhole to hailstorms to a blackout to a meteor -- making Milo wonder if there is some larger force trying to keep them apart.

This was an original and often insightful book. The characters are well drawn and the premise -- what is the meaning of the series of disasters -- is an interesting way to explore the anxieties and pressures Milo and Marcos face from their parents and community.

Highly recommended!

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World by Kevin Christopher Snipes explores the experiences of queer youth in religious conservative Florida. Milo is a "good Christian" who attends church every weekend and even went to bible camp. His parents barely tolerate his friendship with Van since she left the church three years ago and he can't help but panic over the thought of them finding out that he's had feelings for a boy. So for three years, he's hidden it and pretended he didn't. To be fair, Milo panics about everything and is deeply concerned about other people's opinions of him. Then, Marcos, the boy who "broke his heart" three summers ago at bible camp moves to town and starts senior year at Milo's school. They can hardly hide their feelings for each other, but every time they're together, weird things happen: sinkholes, meteors, and lightning. Milo is convinced these are acts of God and signs that he and Marcos are doing something wrong. Marcos doesn't believe in God and thinks they're strange coincidences. Either way, Milo and Marcos need to decide if their love is worth the consequences--especially the consequences from their deeply religious families. Snipes' plot is engaging and the premise has promise, but I found Milo deeply unlikeable and not in the quirky morally grey character kind of way. This may have been okay if he wasn't the narrator, but hating the narrator is distracting. Milo is dealing with a lot of religious trauma, internalized homophobia, and fear, but he could've been written in a way that made him more sympathetic.

Such a cute story about love in troubling times, perfect for fans of We Are The Ants and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

Ever since almost confessing his feelings to Marcos at summer camp, Milo felt like he could keep his feelings hidden. So far, his plan was working. Until Marcos moves back to town three years later. Per Milo’s calculations, it’s probably because he was due for some teenage catastrophe, anyway.

Now, Milo is forced to confront the feelings he had for Marcos three years ago. The only problem? Every time the boys start to get close, something strange happenes. Meteors, sinkholes, blackouts. For Milo, it seems like there’s a force trying to keep them apart. A force that could possibly bring about the end of the world. They have to decide, is their love worth the risk?

Thanks to HarperTeen and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! From the description, I absolutely knew that this was a book that was right up my alley. And I’m so happy I picked this up! I would continue to read about Milo and Marcos for as long as Snipes wants to write about them.

Let me start by saying if you’re looking for a post-apocalyptic romance, this isn’t it. There are some natural disasters and weird things that happen throughout, but it’s not an end of the world kind of situation. Honestly, I would actually compare this to Shaun David Hutchinson’s books. It almost has that kind of feel to it, with all of these strange things happening. I wasn’t disappointed by this, though! The events all had their part to play, and they fit Milo and Marcos’ story well.

Milo and Marcos! And Van! The characters in this were phenomenally done. Especially Milo, and Milo’s voice. From the beginning, I was hooked. I didn’t want to put this book down. Snipes nails Milo as a character, even if his internal monologue is sometimes hard to read. Growing up religious, he can’t reconcile his feelings for Marcos with his beliefs. Snipes does a great job putting the reader in his head and putting them through his thought process.

The side characters were just as well done. Marcos speaks his mind, is ready to stand up for himself and for Milo. Van is Milo’s best friend and goes above and beyond for him. As a little trio, I love them and desperately want another book about them.

All in all, if you’re looking for a strong, character driven MLM romance, definitely pick this one up when it comes out later this May!

4.5 stars

I think this book is a phenomenal piece on queer Christian religious trauma particularly for those in conservative homes and areas. Milo's conflicting relationship with his religion as a devout Christian and his queerness really resonated with me. You really want to see Milo heal and work through his internalized homophobia and build a healthier relationship with others. I also think the book does a good job at encapsulating the personalities of both Milo and Marcos by really getting across how out of place they are from their peers without trying too hard to get a modern feel.

Even though a large part of the main story of internalized homophobia is centered around Milo, you can also see Marcos struggle to not internalize the homophobia he's faced and consistently resist his father's pushes to internalize it.

I also think the relationship between Marcos and Milo is very well handled, you can easily believe how they ended up getting together and why they struggle so much as a couple. You really want to see them happy and see them succeed even if it isn't necessarily together.

I think the book does a great job in encapsulating the unique trauma that is southern hyper-proselytizing far-right conservative American Christianity.

I think the side characters were really well-handled. I adored both Van and Marcos's mother and many of the smaller characters we meet along the way. I also didn't feel that strongly either way about the Latine rep, although I still reserve room for critique from people actually from the same countries as Van and Marcos.

I also do really like the way the story resolved, the pacing of the book, the flashback section, as well as the overall trajectory of the story.

While I really enjoyed the way this book as a whole there are two key problems that I could not overlook in this book. First, the constant conflation of Christianity was absolutely exhausting. So many of Marcos's critiques are centered around Christianity which would be fine if that was the language used but his critiques are treated as critiques of religion as a whole. This becomes an issue when you reach Marcos talking about how religion enables white supremacy which is absolutely not true for Judaism, an ethnoreligion explicitly targeted by white supremacy, and many other religions. This could be so easily fixed by just swapping out the word religion for Christianity.

The other issue that left a really bad taste in my mouth were two incredibly out of pockets about date rape made by Van, the quotes in question are "Every guy on that team is a date rapist in training" and "Jared Resnick is one roofied drink away from being the next Brett Kavanaugh" These comments were entirely unnecessary, add nothing to the scene, and come completely out of left field. I don't know if these comments were intended as a joke or not but either way, they were wildly inappropriate and uncomfortable to read. What really sucks is these lines could be removed and almost nothing would change.

In general I think this a pretty great debut book but it still has quite a few things that should be fixed.

Rating: 2.5
I kind of liked the characters, but they would have been better if they had more personality. One character was a feminist, one was battling with internalized homophobia and religion, one was an atheist, and that was pretty much each of their personalities. The friendship in this book seemed like it wouldn't even exist without The Golden Girls. I thought this was going to be more about an apocalypse and it really wasn't. Maybe if you have ever struggled with religion and your identity existing within it, you might like this, or you might want to stay away from it.

WOWIE okay. This book was absolutely nothing like the plot summary, and if readers know ANYTHING coming into this book I want it to be that. The plot summary and cover suggest that this book is about an apocalypse, and two boys falling in love who begin to think they've caused it. Yes. Very simplistically, without any nuance or mention of the main plot struggle, this is what the book is about. But what the book is ACTUALLY about is a boy who is deeply involved with the Presbyterian church and reckons with his religious guilt and internalized homophobia after falling for a boy. The whole apocalypse thing serves more as a plot device/metaphor to show the guilt that Christianity puts upon queer people. THIS BOOK HAS MANY TWs AND IS PRETTY INTENSE. Please take caution when reading, especially if you are queer person with any type of complicated relationship with religion!!

This book really stunned me, in that it was nothing like what I expected, captured many nuanced depths of religious guilt as it relates to queerness, and tells a beautiful, but painful queer love story. I literally read the entire book in one sitting, about 4 hours. The protagonist struggles extensively with accepting his queerness due to the homophobia his parents and the Church inflict upon him. This struggle is exasterbated by the fact that every time the MC and love interest have an intense moment, such as their first meeting, their first slow dance, etc, a freak accident happens such as a meteor striking the love interests car, or a sinkhole opening on the road in front of them. These coincidences add up, and serve to convince the main character that maybe God is punishing him for being gay.

I thought the way the author wrote about the main characters religious struggle as well as the effects of being queer in a small, religious town was beautiful. It was so nuanced and heart wrenching. Though there are moments of joy between the protagonist and love interest, I would not say this story highlights queer joy at all--whether you look for that in a book will definitely impact your enjoyment. Personally, I like reading all ranges of stories, from the joyful to the tragic, so it wasn't a con for me.

The relationship between the two boys is very well written; both characters have different beliefs and motivations, and their relationship is messy and authentic in a way that only queer relationships can be written. The main character is struggling with his religious guilt, while the love interest is an atheist with diehard religious parents. Following their journey made me so angry for both sides, because both have such valid points and experiences, but ultimately the very fact that they exist as queer people with different viewpoints on being out and what sacrifices they're willing to make to be together makes their relationship difficult.

Slight spoilers in this paragraph: I do wish the ending was more developed; I'm not sure I'm a huge fan on the overall message/execution of the apocalypse as a literary device. Was the point that God was going after them for being gay and they just decided not to care?? Was is a set of freak accidents?? This was probably left more open-ended on purpose, but I would like more care given to this narrative as I think it could be interpreted as a message about the community that isn't very good. I also think, despite leaving it open-ended, we just weren't left with enough information to even make good judgements on what message the author was trying to send. IDK maybe I'm just dumb and it flew over my head, but if it flew over my head as a 19 year old, what are the 14 year old readers going to think??

Overall, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, I thought this book was phenomenal. The writing was so good, the characters were all so well written, I loved the relationship between Milo and Marcos, and I thought Milo's struggle with religion and their very religious setting was amazing. I do wish this book was being marketed differently, as it was darker than I expected and I think these themes need to be handed with more care by the publisher. I will definitely be talking about this book on my page :) 4.5 stars.

This book was enjoyable but also pretty weird, especially towards the end. Technically the book is exactly what the summary says, but it is somehow very different than what I expected. It was a lot heavier on the religious aspect than I had expected, coloring almost every moment of the story in a way that felt a bit suffocating. Maybe I just don't understand as someone who has never been religious. On the other hand, I feel like the end of the world aspect was underplayed for a solid chunk of the book despite being heavily alluded to in the chapter titles. It was constantly teased but not really given a lot of narrative attention until near the end of the book. And once I did reach the end, I feel like it and what Milo was panicking about the whole time was glossed over.
That being said, I did absolutely love the climax of the story, though I'll refrain from saying anything else due to spoilers.
Milo is an absolute mess and I was constantly shying away from the book with secondhand embarrassment on his behalf. Is this what it was like to be a teenager? Yes. Was it still painful to read? Yes, I am absolutely one to cover my eyes and peek through my fingers when characters experience embarrassment. It was worth it to see his character development.
I enjoyed this book and would willingly read it again if given the chance in the future, but I didn't make a connection with it. This book, while good, was not made for me, and I'm sure that for someone else it will be everything they're looking for.

Thank you to Harper Collins for my physical copy of this arc and NetGalley for my e-arc in exchange for honest feedback.

TW: very heavy religious tones, religious trauma, depression, anxiety, self hate, homophobia and homophobic language, internalized homophobia, mentions of conversion therapy, racism

Okay, so this book book ruined me emotionally. I will definitely say this is not a feel good book, as you can see from the list of trigger warnings above, but it does touch on a lot of really important and serious topics when it comes to religion and queerness. Also, there will probably be some spoilers in my review, so just be warned about that.

So, speaking of religion and queerness, the intersections between religion and queerness in this book were done really well. Most of the events in this book that center around religious trauma are very extreme examples, and are definitely a lot to stomach at times. I feel like that was done to really push those connections between religion and queerness, especially since the whole concept of this book is kinda bizarre and over the top. One thing I really appreciated about it is, as someone who isn’t very religious, it gave me a completely new perspective on religion, and that’s one of the most important things a book can do; make you look at something with a new perspective and better understanding that you might not have had otherwise.

As for the characters, I really loved them because they felt so human. There were so many moments when I was annoyed at Milo or Van for their choices, which I loved, because I want to disagree with the characters sometimes, without it going overboard and becoming problematic. Especially for Milo and Marcos. Through their process of self discovery and healing, I love that it wasn’t linear, which I think is something important to show. During growth, healing, recovery, etc., there will be times when we fall back, or make a mistake, and that should be normalized more.

This is just a small thing, but I loved the chapter titles. I miss them in books, and I was so happy to see them!

I think one of the reasons why my rating isn’t higher is because I’m a bit torn about the whole concept of the ending of the world centering around Milo and Marcos. There’s part of me that wonders if the book could have achieved the same things without, and if the concept maybe sends a bad message. However, there’s also a part of me that’s really interested at the idea that the actual cause is never truly confirmed, and it’s only what Milo believes, and that sets up this idea that we can’t know for sure what’s real, or what will be thrown at us, so we have to choose what we believe in and what we put our faith in. I guess it could be up to the reader’s interpretation.

Overall, this book was an emotional rollercoaster that handled very serious topics, if sometimes pushed a little too far at moments, and made me think about the world a little differently.