Book: This Is the Way the World Ends
Author: Jen Wilde
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with an ARC.


This is an end of the world book, in case you didn’t pick that up in the title. In this one, we follow Waverly who goes to an elite school in New York City. This is the place where anyone who is anyone goes and everyone wants to go to their school. She does not fit into this role. She is autistic and doesn’t come from a rich family, like pretty much everyone else. She becomes friends with the dean’s daughter. The school has this big fundraiser every year and it is a masquerade ball. Waverly and Caroline change places. Waverly goes to the ball and is in awe at everything. However, this awe is only a mask for a much darker backdrop. As Waverly comes to learn, behind all of the glitz and glitter, there is more than meets the eye and that it very well be the end of them.

This setup is amazing. There are so many moving parts in this story. We have characters who are part of this world and know everything. There are others who don’t fit into this role, but find themselves in situations that don’t fit them. Then, we have high society turning up dead or being found in a coma. We don’t know what is going on. We don’t know what is happening. We do know it is all connected to the school. This may just seem like a normal murder book, but it’s not. There is more than what meets the eye. We have secret societies, who will stop at nothing to make sure that they get what they want-even if that means killing their own.

We all of this setting up, but it was rather underdeveloped. The main plot did not become clear until about halfway through the book. Even then, it wasn’t always clear. The stakes are very high, but there were times that I could not feel it. The ending is a cliffhanger, so maybe there will be a second book that will explain what happens. The characters could have also been good, but like with the plot, they were underdeveloped. While I do appreciate the diverse cast, I feel like the author was trying to include everyone and lost the story in the mix of it. I would have liked to have more.

Overall, it was a middle of the road book for me. It needed something more to drive it home. The biggest thing was that it needed to be developed a little bit more.

This book comes out on May 5, 2023.

This book did not really do it for me. The beginning was a bit slow, and then all of a sudden, things started getting wild. The problem I had, though, was that I never felt like all these different instances, including the ending, were explained enough for me to see a whole picture.

This is just my personal opinion, and I feel like other readers could potentially really enjoy this book!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Waverly doesn’t fit in at Weber Academy. As a scholarship student from Queens, she’s taking on tutoring gigs to help pay her way to her dream of Yale Medical school, a dream that Weber can definitely help bring to fruition. So, when super popular socialite Caroline asks Waverly to attend the Weber Academy’s ultra exclusive annual ball in her place, Waverly awkwardly accepts, hoping that this glimpse into the rich and famous society of Weber alumni, donors, parents and students will be the chance she needs to finally reconnect with her ex-girlfriend who ghosted her months ago. But Waverly doesn’t expect is to see someone murdered, or to hear the nefarious plans the founder of Weber, and its dean, have for the future of Weber, and the future of humanity. Waverly has to find a way to get the Weber community to believe her, and to save the world in the process.

“This is the Way the World Ends” by YA author Jen Wilde was interesting, but I think it did take me a while to actually read this one. While I was initially interested in Waverly and her story, especially because she was a diverse character, she and the other characters were not developed fully. I became more invested once Waverly witnessed the murder, but the ending felt a bit rushed. The plot did feel a bit clumped together so it was difficult to tell what it was supposed to be exactly.

Overall, it is not a terrible story, and I hope to see more diverse characters like Waverly.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for this ARC.

This book started strong and didn't let up until the final page. I adored our MC, Waverly; she's autistic, queer, and poor, and attending an elite private school on scholarship where her parents work. In a Cinderella type turn of events, she gets the chance to attend a high-dollar dance where Waverly discovers an incredible conspiracy that makes her question not just who she can trust, but her place in this world. ⁠
This book is neither a light read nor a slow burn. It's fast, filled with adrenaline, and ⁠lots of WTH moments. It's part thriller, part high-tech, and it's hard to believe the majority of the book takes place in one frightful night. The cast of characters are wonderfully diverse, and I definitely recommend this YA thriller for your TBR!

3.5⭐s

TW/CW: There are probably some I forgot. I'm gonna do my best to list them all:
End of the world, separation from family, parent with chronic pain, mention of doctors not listening to patients when something is wrong, murder (three times, on page, in front of our main character), death of a loved one, stabbing (of others and the MC), blood, fire, anxiety, rats, dead bodies, vomiting, drugging, panic attacks.
Rep: Autistic lesbian MC, sapphic love interest, bi Indian-American side character with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that uses a cane, Black side character, parent with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

"Only rich white men would throw a party at the end of the world."

I have mixed feelings about this. As you may know, I have been obsessed with Jen Wilde books since I first read Queens of Geek in 2017. In my review for Going off Script , I even mention that I began anticipating their next release as soon as I finished it. Four years later, I was thrilled to get an ARC of that next book.

I hate to say that it didn't live up to my expectations. Maybe thrillers/end of the world stories just aren't my cup of tea. While this isn't my favorite Jen Wilde book, I still enjoyed it. Once I really got into it earlier this week, I finished it in a few days.

This book will make you anxious. I had to take a few breaks from reading once things started to get intense.

The point of this book was well done, and going back to the epigraph after I finished reading made me tear up. I loved the characters we were supposed to love, and hated the ones we were supposed to hate. There's one death that I know was meant to make us feel something, but I didn't feel close enough to the character to really care.

I enjoyed the mystery aspect of it! There were some things I kind of saw coming, but some I was genuinely surprised by.

Does anybody else feel like they need a map of this place? I was so confused by how rooms and hallways and elevators connected to each other. Also, I need a short story or sequel or something because I have so many unanswered questions!

Overall, while This is the Way the World Ends doesn't live up to the hype I've had for it, it was still a good book and deserves a chance!

Quote is from an early copy and may not reflect the final version.

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC of this!

This book wasn't quite what I expected it to be but I did have a fun time reading it. It did take me about 40% into the book to really get into it though. The first part was a little slow but I did appreciate some of the background info in general though. I also really love the diverse representation in this book. Not only did we have LGBTQ characters and nok white characters but we had disabled and autistic characters at that. I love seeing that as our world is more full of diversity than shown at some times. I just wish this book would have ended with more info on what was going to happen on the future of this story. It felt to open ended for a book that does not look like it is going to get a sequel.

“This is the way the world ends”~Jen Wilde

Got this as an ARC, quick YA read about a girl who goes to a private school on a scholarship ends up able to go to the prestigious gala as someone else to meet up with her ex. She stumbles into a secret meeting and realizes some aren’t who they seem. One thing leads to another and a whole lot of chaos but the world does seem to be ending around them as technology is crashing , they are trapped and who knows what awaits once they can escape the insane reality be created for them.
⭐️⭐️💫
Pretty predictable…

#julesbookshelf #netgalley #arc #bookstagram

I loved the idea of this one but the pacing felt very off to me. There wasn't enough character building for my liking. Also, Sunnyside is a middle class neighborhood so the way Waverly talked about coming up from poverty didn't ring true to me as a New Yorker.

I was so excited going into this book, but the ending is lacking so much. The author had this big build up and then it all came crashing down at the end. Very disappointing.

This is the Way the World Ends has an auspicious plot but the ending leaves you wanting more.
Waverly is used to not fitting in at the prestigious Webber Academy in New York City. Not only is she on scholarship but she is also gay and autistic. Waverly is getting by on tutoring gigs and the charity of the school’s kind dean. Thus, she never expects to go to The Masquerade—the school’s biggest and most prestigious fundraiser. But when one of her tutoring clients offers to let Waverly go in her place, Waverly agrees as her ex will be there.
At first, The Masquerade is the opulent party Waverly dreamed of. But there is something sinister in the air. She sees whispered arguments with a girl no one knows, the adults are all called away and the building is shut down. What was once a fantasy has become an apocalyptic event. And the people inside the building are in more danger than they know.
I enjoyed the setup of this story. Jen Wilde twists the stereotypical uppity high school ball giving readers more to care about than just the brats who live out our fantasy lives. I just wish that the characters had more depth. Several side characters grow but the main characters are only shown as their tropes: the queer autistic, the disabled girl of color. They never move past these descriptors. Waverly uses her neurodivergent talents to figure things out, but this is not the first (nor second time) I have read this plot creating an autistic cliché. As a reader with a disability, I wanted more from the characters than the stereotypes put on them by the writer.
I’m going to be honest; I knew reading this there was no way to have a conclusive and hearty ending. The setup is too huge. Even when the story just handles the problem at hand, there are so many loose ends. This wasn’t satisfactory as a stand-alone novel. But this needed to be a new series.
Wilde creates a mystery that leaves teens fighting for their lives. Though well-thought-out, the plot is much bigger than the book can be.

Pub date: 5/9/23
Genre: YA thriller
Quick summary: Autistic scholarship student Waverly is just trying to fit in at prestigious Webber Academy - but when she attends a doomed masquerade ball disguised as the school it girl, she'll uncover a huge conspiracy.

This book description sounded so good - I love a YA thriller. Unfortunately, this one wasn't quite what I expected. It took a while for the story to get going, and once it did, things got kind of confusing and over the top. The ending didn't really make sense to me. I do appreciate that the author had good queer, disability, class, and BIPOC representation in the characters.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm honestly sad that I didn't like this book. Gossip girl? Good. Apocalyptic thriller? Good. LGBTQIA+ and autism rep? Great! But somehow when it was all mixed together, things fell apart. I think part of it was that we spend the entire time trapped in a sewing factory, when all of the really interesting things are happening outside of it. It's possible that this was trying to set up a sequel in some form, but I can't be sure. I did like the female friendships throughout, though we maybe could've done with 1 less. The plot itself felt too fantastical for me to get really invested in it though.

*Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

"Fans of One of Us Is Lying and The Hazel Wood are cordially invited to spend one fateful night surviving an elite private school's epic masquerade ball in Jen Wilde's debut thriller, This Is the Way the World Ends.

As an autistic scholarship student at the prestigious Webber Academy in New York City, Waverly is used to masking to fit in - in more ways than one. While her classmates are the children of the one percent, Waverly is getting by on tutoring gigs and the generosity of the school's charming and enigmatic dean. So when her tutoring student and resident "it girl" asks Waverly to attend the school's annual fundraising Masquerade disguised as her, Waverly jumps at the chance - especially once she finds out that Ash, the dean's daughter and her secret ex-girlfriend, will be there.

The Masquerade is everything Waverly dreamed of, complete with extravagant gowns, wealthy parents writing checks, and flowing champagne. Most importantly, there's Ash. All Waverly wants to do is shed her mask and be with her, but the evening takes a sinister turn when Waverly stumbles into a secret meeting between the dean and the school's top donors - and witnesses a brutal murder. This gala is harboring far more malevolent plots than just opening parents' pocketbooks. Before she can escape or contact the authorities, a mysterious global blackout puts the entire party on lockdown. Waverly's fairy tale has turned into a nightmare, and she, Ash, and her friends must navigate through a dizzying maze of freight elevators, secret passageways, and back rooms if they're going to survive the night.

And even if they manage to escape the Masquerade, with technology wiped out all over the planet, what kind of world will they find waiting for them beyond the doors?"

Gossip Girl goes Escape from L.A.!

Thank you so much Netgalley for the chance to read this advanced copy in exchange for a review!
I was very excited when I was approved for this read! Could not put it down!

I love the representation in this book! The Character development was done so well.
The book did lose me a bit at times, but over all I did enjoy the read.

I love a good LGBTQ+ love story but this isn’t just that. It’s more end of the world survival while also trying not be a part of a cult. I was surprised how fast I got into this book it was funny, lots of woah moments, and even OMG moments throughout. However with all that I still kept thinking couldn’t Ash and Waverly make it and be together? I rooted for them the whole time. This was a really good I am fierce female hero. Also love that the main character is Autistic and that you see a much different side of Autism and how strong Autistic people are through all the things they deal with on a daily basis even just walking into a store.

This book has good autistic rep, along with the lgbtq+ rep. I enjoyed the characters in this book, lots of people to know and like.

Where this book went wrong for me was how outlandish the premise was for me. I don’t know if it’s my age maybe, but I had such a hard time believing the plot of this book. So much going on in one evening.

I would put this novel in my classroom as I feel my students would love it.

I wanted to like this book, but I felt like it started very slowly and didn't pick up at all until almost halfway through. I would have been okay with that if I felt like the action and ending was worth the build up, but I didn't. This book has a lot of diversity, which I appreciated, but the plot just wasn't strong enough for me.

DNF. Very Messy. I'm disappointed—This author cares more about being "woke" and catering to every person on the planet than writing an authentic story from her heart. I probably won't read another book by this author.

This Is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde had me drawn in from the very beginning. I finished the book quickly because I wanted to find out what happened. I appreciated how layered and complex the characters were for a YA novel and it grapples with some pretty heavy themes beyond the end of the world. Waverley especially felt vey real and like a girl you would find in any school and I was immediately hooked on her adventure at the ball.