The Only Light Left Brubing by Erik J. Brown

Release date: 28th May

I remember seeing the cover to All That's Left in the World on one of my first visits to a local library after it received an impressive renovation. Something about the cover drew me in. Once I read that it was a dystopian YA about two young boys finding safety and love in one another I immediately grabbed it. I devoured it in a few sittings. I gave the first book 5 stars, even though the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped. This book takes that ending, throws it in the bin and gives us the ending we thought Andrew and Jamie deserved.

I was reading The Only Light Left Burning at the same time as a few other YA dystopians. The others were very reminiscent of YA I read as a teen, hitting all the typical marks. But this one gave me the most anxiety. It stood out as a book not afraid to make young (and older) readers squirm. So, thank you? I still cringe thinking about THAT animal scene.

Andrew and Jamie's relationship is already established, so it was a shock AND refreshing to see them already struggling to communicate in the first chapter. Jamie wants to go back to the cabin, Andrew wants community. This is a big theme of the book and drives both of them to make rash and sometimes deadly decisions.

There were times when I couldn’t put the book down because I HAD to know what happened next and other times when I was scared to keep reading because I was so invested in every character.

Top tier YA queer dystopian duology. Looking forward to rereading them both in the future.

Rating: Obsessed = 5 stars.

eARC provided by Hachette AU via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a great second book. It's past faced and has a lot of twists and turns, some I did not see coming.
This book feels like what happens after you get your happy ending, and it was nice to see the characters again and see where life has taken them
It's good to see what's happening in Andrew and Jamie's world
if you enjoyed the first one, you'll love this one just as much :)

I will be honest - I wasn't sure we needed a sequel to All That's Left in the World after they got to their final destination. They had found nice people and all was good right?

I am very happy to say that I was very, very wrong and we absolutely needed a sequel to this story. I might even go so far as to say that the sequel was better than the original...by the smallest of margins because I adored the first book. I finished it in a day because I could not stop and I probably would have finished this one in a day too, if not for the fact that I started it late in the afternoon.

We are introduced to a bunch of new characters which now own my heart as much as Andrew and Jaime do and old hurts/injustices are settled. I really loved the way this ended and while I know that there are no more books in this series because poor Andrew and Jaime have been through enough, I would not be unhappy if there are more books with different characters.

Thoroughly recommend this series. Thank you to Netgallery and Hachette for the ARC - you made my day!

D*mn Erik, how did you dare to let me cry at 14% already? And then that scene with Andrew! I cringed and got nauseous because of the pain he must have felt. And Jamie only showed his hardened outer shell, living with so much anger and frustration. I really wanted my favorite cinnamon roll back.

I loved the mingling of teen-related themes with all the action in the scary and heartbreaking apocalypse world, themes like learning to trust others and build upon one another, not talking about insecurities, doubting about proceeding sexually, etc. I constantly sat on the edge of my seat and wanted Andrew and Jamie to stay together and alive so badly, so I rooted, and I gasped, and goosebumps crawled over my body when Henri … and my hands were shaking while reading this sequel. And the Kid, OMG, the Kid. That seven-year-old is my favorite side character in this series.

Erik, your storytelling is sublime, and I need far more of your writing! Of course, I rated this beautiful sequel five stars! And can we please get a treequel (does this word even exist)? We both know that Albie should be the main character in that one!

The Only Light Left Burning is a phenomenal follow-up to the successful book All That's Left in the World. We return to Andrew and Jamie's story some months after the end of the first book, where they've found friends and work in their new community. But things aren't all roses, especially when Jamie isn't settled and doesn't want to put roots down, whereas Andrew thinks of the community as family and wants to stay.

But trouble comes knocking, and the two boys and their closest friends are soon on the road again. Much like the first book, there's a lot of post-apocalyptic problems the group has to deal with, from nature to unfriendly communities to relationship problems. Despite the cast of characters having expanded, it in no way retracts from the core of the series - Andrew and Jamie themselves.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it did not let me down for a single minute. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat, and the pages just fly by as you hope desperately for the good moments to come for the characters. A must-read!