I absolutely loved the autism rep and the way the story took a dystopian turn. I love prep school settings and thrillers and this had everything I crave in a YA thriller! Top Notch!

Waverly is a scholarship student at one of the most prestigious schools in New York. Wanting nothing more than to fit in for a night, Caroline gives her a chance to attend a masquerade as her. What begins as a perfect deception turns into a night that no one sees coming.

This book starts out realistic before diving into a dystopian world. The book contains a variety of characters from all different backgrounds. A must read for teenagers/young adults.

The beginning of the story starts off so awesome and sucked me in but the second half just wasn’t for me. I loved the diversity, but the plot was far fetched and lacking for me.

So This Is The Way The World Ends is a YA romantic/suspense read? Not sure what it is honestly in terms of genre. I was expecting more of a murder mystery to be honest.

The first half here (maybe the first 1/3rd) is more like a cute romantic queer book.

Waverly agrees to go to a masquerade ball where everyone will think she’s rich and popular Caroline. Waverly wants go to talk to Ash her ex girlfriend who she has heard is in town and going to the ball too.

This part was fun and cute.
Then…it turns onto some climate control social commentary about the world ending and although the action picks up 100% it was so rushed and crazy and really unbelievable.

It’s a shallow plot point for me really and it is the plot. I didn’t hate this book at all, but I didn’t love it although it does have potential. 2.5 ⭐️’s and I do appreciate an early copy.

It was a quick read with fun characters.

“This is the Way the World Ends” was a page turner unlike anything I’d read in a while! Reminiscent of divergent and to all the boys I’ve loved before, this books slots perfectly in between for a fresh take on climate crisis, equity, and love. Will 100% buy for my classroom and recommend to students!

I was super excited to get into this book since it has a unique storyline but felt the description misguided my idea of what exactly this is about. Many of the main events are referenced until a good way into the novel. I absolutely love love love diverse stories but found the representation to be too forced. Overall, I just wasn’t interested in the storyline’s execution or characters.

I was drawn I to this apocalyptic dystopian book and could not stop reading it. It’s very well written and entirely plausible scenario. I was at first shocked by the brutality of what was happening, but it could happen exactly the way it’s written. Brave friends to stick together. I hope we don’t face this in my or my children’s lives.

I gave this book a four out of five stars. I really enjoyed the characters and the growth of those characters. I like the friendships that form in this book. This is my second book by this author and I have enjoyed both of them. I will keep an eye out for new things that Jen Wilde comes out with in the future.

This was definitely unexpected. I went into this one completely blindly. I honestly can’t remember why I even requested this ARC. The beginning was a little slow and took a while before anything interesting really started to happen but once it hit about the 40% mark, I couldn’t put this down! It was a fun, roller coaster ride of a book! If it weren’t for the slow start and some of the writing choices, I would have a rated this higher. Still glad I read it though.

2.5 Stars

Initially I was hooked. I loved Waverly’s character- queer, autistic, scholarship student at an elite school in NYC, and dealing with heartbreak from the dean’s daughter. She struggles to fit in and was so excited to go to the upcoming Masquerade Ball. She wasn’t invited but then the most popular girl in school asks Waverly to take her place. But then when Waverly gets the ball, the book takes a weird, dystopian/apocalyptic turn that I wasn’t excepting. I’m not going to give anything anyway but I wasn’t a fan. It was really farfetched an then it ended. The ending was very vague and left me with a lot of questions.

As others have said, this book took a turn about half way through and I opted not to continue reading.

What a ride! This story gave the elite glamour of Gossip Girl and the vibes of a great thriller. I was glued to the pages, waiting for what happened next. I love seeing Jen Wilde branch out from their usual (which I also love) and take on a different genre.

This book and I weren’t meant to be together.

Know that the synopsis gives A LOT away. I’m 35% into the book and still haven’t gotten to the interesting hook mentioned in the description.

I felt like neurodiversity was being hammered into my brain with repetition, literally reminding me over and over about her autism, rather than a natural flow with Waverly’s character.

The overall tone is very young.

Characters felt stereotypical, lacking complexities and depth.

I would describe the first third of this book as a YA contemporary (melodramatic) romance. The plot feels tired, like a yawn. Not at all what I expected. So I read some reviews with the hope of convincing myself to carry on. Apparently the story does spin into the expected murder mystery and eventual apocalyptic suspense, but I’m not feeling the call to continue.

DNF

1 star

I know when I don’t pick a book up for 2 days, it’s not my thing.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an honest review.

I first feel the need to keep it real and say I decided to read this because of the cover. It’s so pretty and feels like my exact literary aesthetic. The book didn’t match the cover vibes as perfectly as I wanted to, but the energy is still there.
The voice of this book was a lot. There was a lot of overexplaining. The tone sometimes felt like it was trying too hard. It could have been up to fifty pages shorter due to excessive words. However, the first person narrator has autism, and from what little I understand about autism, it causes many seemingly normal things to be a lot to handle in a loud mind. So all of my above complaints could just be me, a neurotypical person not knowing what it’s like to live in a neurodivergent brain.
This book also takes a long time to get to the point of the story. The blurb for the book probably explains up to the halfway point of the entire story. I still enjoyed it up to that point, but it took its time to get there, and once it was there, everything moved almost startlingly fast.
This story was less than I expected, but more than I expected at the same time. It was super campy (whether or not that was intentional, I’m not sure), which made it kind of fun, the dark glamor of it all. I was genuinely surprised multiple times; there were some great unexpected plot twists in here. It was a fun and riveting read.

I definitely wasn’t expecting those turn of events! I loved that the MC is a queer autistic teenager who lives in NY and attends a private school with a scholarship. Her character was amazing and I wish I could keep reading about her!
She tutors some of the wealthier students and one of them allows her to attend a masked ball in her place for a once in a lifetime chance to feel like Cinderella.
The party is when everything goes askew and I can’t say much without giving it away, so you just need to read it for yourself!

Waverly, is a lesbian teen who faces many daily challenges. Living in the slums of Queens,. Despite suffering from autism, dyscalculia, and panic attacks, Waverly was able to secure a scholarship for the exclusive Webber Academy. After graduation, she plans to attend Yale's medical school and become a doctor. Waverly is also a tutor who falls in. love with the dean's daughter, Ashley. They keep their love a secret. Waverly is part of a tightknit trio of friends who are misfits. Pari, Frank, and Waverly are often ridiculed, harassed, and bullied by the other students. Pari is an outspoken, bisexual girl who has mobility issues; she walks with a cane. Frank is a shy nerd who, like Waverly, has a poor family and attends Webber Academy on a scholarship. Pari and Frank are in love. They help Waverly with her Cinderella-like deception at the Masquerade Ball. The evening takes a surprising turn when Waverly stumbles into a secret meeting between the dean and the school’s top donors—and witnesses a brutal murder. Before she can contact the authorities, a mysterious blackout puts the entire party on lockdown. Waverly, Pari and Frank unite to escape the building after it turns into a fortress.

The novel has an unexpected twist that changes the whole novel. It’s a novel that I found intriguing though I found it at times not a smooth flowing novel. I did like the main characters in their friendship. It’s a novel that is unusual in what happens.

3.5 stars
This book was a YA dystopian novel with a little bit of a love story thrown in. It was engaging enough, but I felt like the author tried too hard with the main character. I'm all for diversity and disability awareness, but the main character had autism, panic attacks, and was poor and queer. It just seemed a little much. Overall the story was good though and I'd give the author another try in the future.

If it started the way it ended, I would have been all ready for it, but the lead-in was too obnoxious with the tropes about nerdy girl being taken under a wing by rich, popular girl. Nerdy girl gets to enjoy the time of her life pretending to be rich, popular girl at a mysterious party. Then all hell breaks loose. Give me the hell breaking loose sci-fi bend that reminds me of [book:The Compound|2696181].

This book had me hooked from the start! The protagonist, Waverly, is an autistic, LGBTQ loner. She provides both mirror and window elements, making Waverly a relatable character even if the reader doesn't match all of her describers. She's also a strong character, not just strongly written but a strong person, being herself even when she feels judged or like she doesn't fit in. There are a lot of interesting and diverse characters in the book as well. I thought the pacing was really well done, totally gripping, and I didn't want to put it down! Definitely will be recommending this book to my library!