Just to start, I love that this is a stand alone novel. As much as we all love an amazing series, it does sometimes feel nice and refreshing to have some resolution. I really enjoyed this book, as chilling as it was. While being very dystopian, it somehow also feels like a potential path we will take as a people, lending to the feeling of suspense and anxiety. Inesa & Melinoe were wonderful. We deserved a lesbian Hunger Games, and we got one ladies.

Fable for the end of the World is the YA dystopian romance I didn’t know I needed in my life.

The story follows two young women living in a world ravaged by climate change, mutant animals, and a social media/entertainment obsessed society that is organized around debt. Caerus is the corporation that controls this society.

Inesa is a young woman who lives with her younger brother and her seriously in debt mother. Inesa and her brother have their own taxidermy business that helps them scrap by and take care of each other. Their father left them years ago. Their mother’s debt leads to Inesa becoming the “Lamb” in Caerus’s game of sending an assassin to the poorer area to kill the lamb in exchange to get debt wiped out. This assassination is live streamed and a large portion of society tunes in to watch the killing of the Lamb.

The other perspective is a young woman named Melinoe, an “Angel” modified from a young age to be one of the assassins in Caerus’s games. Melinoe is suffering from a previous game in which she had to kill a young girl. Inesa’s assassination is Melinoe’s chance to show Caerus that she is still ruthless and suitable to her role as an assassin.

Inesa and Melinoe are expected to fight each other to the death, but they find themselves weary of the roles this world has put them into. They begin to question their role in Caerus’s game, if there is more to the world they live in, and also how they feel about one another.

This dystopian world felt very unique to me. I loved the ideas this novel takes on. Debt, social media, climate change, and violence as entertainment are all very real and relevant ideas in society today and I think this book explores these ideas in a very interesting way. I felt like this story was different from anything I’ve read, but this book really did remind me of the dystopian books I loved as a young reader. The romance was also so cute! I love that Inesa and Melinoe's relationship transformed in a realistic way. YA romance can be somewhat cheesy at times, but I felt like the romance here was well done.

I would highly recommend this if a dystopian romance appeals to you!

I wanted to love this—dystopia? check. sapphic slow-burn? check. rage at capitalism? triple check. And for a while, I was hooked. The vibes? Immaculate. But then…it just stalled. The pacing dragged, the romance didn’t hit emotionally, and Inesa kind of faded into the background. Cool concept, important message—just didn’t land fully for me. Still glad I read it, though.

gays + capitalism + romance = fable for the end of the world

while not my favorite ava reid book, i'm a sucker for her and all things gay. i enjoyed the aspects of future plus present ideas and can totally see where she was going with this. unfortunately, the book overall fell a little short but i will still eat up anything she writes.

Fable for the End of the World is a searing commentary on climate change, class warfare, and propaganda, humanized by the two main characters. The Gauntlet pits femme fatale assassin Melinoë against sacrificial lamb Inesa--all in the name of distracting and entertaining the masses. When their Gauntlet goes offline, the two enemies are forced to team up for survival. As feelings between them grow, they both wonder if there's more to life than what they've always known. But only one was ever meant to survive!

I always try to give books a chance so I hardly ever DNF. But if I hadn't been listening to the audiobook for this one, I might have DNFed it.

The concept seems pretty cool but I just didn't like either leads. The romance felt too convenient and "clean" considering the circumstances. Everything felt very superficial (their feelings, the plot) and somehow both fast-paced and slow-paced (a lot of time passed but nothing actually happened until the last few pages).

Hard pass.

I was really looking forward to reading Fable for the End of the World, but I have to say it wasn’t what I was expecting. I was hoping for more intimate conversations and depth, but I feel like they didn’t get to know each other well and the story took place over a short amount of time. There was also no trust building between them, which made the romance harder for me to believe. There was so much potential, but it needed to focus on a few ideas and develop them more.


This is a good read if you want a sapphic romance in a Hunger Games/Battle Royale-esque world, but keep in mind it won’t be as fleshed out as HG.

I love Ava Reid and have read all of her work. She was able to once again write something that was so meaningful, a fabulous throw back to The Hunger Games, and also something unique and new added to the dystopian world. Mel and Inesa both have a special place in my heart and the ending of this will sit with me for a long time.

Thank you Harpercollins and Netgalley for the ARC!

This is not my favorite of Ava Reid's books, but I still loved it. I think the concept of the Gauntlet and the destruction of the world, along with the way it is approached like a reality TV show was interesting. I also think it is intersting but perhaps not intentional of Reid is the commentary on how parents often feel like they "own" kids.

I know a lot of people didn't like the ending, but it was the only way it was going to end. Unless there is a book 2, they weren't going to bring down the system in one go. I do wish it hadn't ended up Mel being SA'ed, which is why I took of the star, without a potential end/safety in sight. But otherwise, I enjoyed it!

This sapphic YA dystopic novel is like the Hunger Games but if your loved ones nominated you to be hunted down by a genetically enhanced sniper.

I found this book to be pretty action packed right from the start. In a fantasy/dystopian story, it can be tough to do much world building in a standalone, but I think the author did a pretty good job here. In addition to the world and story building, there were also characters that were easy to cheer for. I did find the romance to be a little odd/felt a little forced at the beginning but it got better! Overall enjoyed it, easy to devour quickly.

the gays vs capitalism

Ended up using this one for my summer reading book talks this year and once you get past explaining the world building a little bit, the kids were super invested into the plot. I really feel that interest in dystopian title is coming back around especially with the current state of the world. Reid does a good job of balancing both past and present, the how we got here and where we are going of it all. While it did feel a bit like a rush to the end, Inesa not getting a perfectly happy ending felt right. We are currently living in a world where there may not be a happy ending but keeping things hopefully and worth fighting is the message that will hopefully keep our younger generations engaged with fighting for a better future or at least I hope it will.

Lesbian Hunger Games. This was nostalgic YA dystopian at its finest. I do wish the romance was more fleshed out and slow burn. Really enjoyed.

This book gives everything I wanted it to give. If you, like me, had an obsession with Neal Shusterman you'll absolutely love this book. This book felt like a combination of this Hind from Sarah J. Maas' Crescent City and and Neal Shusterman's Scythe universe.

This book includes:
- narcissist parents
- sapphic love
- deadly games
- survivalism
- dystopian future world
- oligarchy

This book uses themes and inspiration from Hunger Games to image a dystopian future where a single, greedy monopoly as destroyed the environment and turned New York into a jungle of poverty and despair. Instead of children reaped from districts, these games run almost non-stop throughout the year and feature a single disenfranchised individual (or the child of one) and watches them be hunted by biologically enhanced individuals called Angels. Once human, these Angels are ripped apart and rebuilt as beautiful killing machines and are left with no knowledge of their former lives after all of the modifications and training are complete. Dare I say this book is almost like the Lorax meets the Hunger Games meets the terminator?

I think it is likely that some readers will come across this book and be offended that it is a bit of a fanfiction of HG, however, it did not bother me. All media that is a "reimagining" are just fanfiction. The Lion King is Hamlet fanfiction. Wicked is the most blatant The Wizard of Oz fanfiction. Percy Jackson is Greek mythology fanfiction. Doesn't really bother me as long as it injects something new and interesting into the original story and no ones work is being ripped off too aggressively.

"Fable for the End of the World" is beautifully written with dynamic characters. Its honest in its portrayal of humanity and challenges the reader by holding a mirror to us and forcing us to decide how we would react in such a broken version of our future. It reflects a likely reality of what the United States can become under continued leadership by horrible crooks. It is boldly political and takes the opportunity to showcase queer women as heroes. I liked it!

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Ava Reid, and HarperCollins Children's Books for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863 and it will be posted to my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/ and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Dystopia girlies we are so back!!! As always, I'm in awe of Ava Reid's writing. The bleak, grim, dystopian setting was very different from her other books, but it was still written just as vividly. I loved the themes of this book and how they were handled, the plot, and of course the characters.

Mel is an Angel, a state sanctioned hunter to take down a sacrificial "lamb" for entertainment. Angels are taken away from their families at a young age and horrifically modified, physically and emotionally to turn into the most entertaining hunters possible. Enter lamb, Inessa. She lives in the part of New Amsterdam that's poverty stricken, with limited resources, a terrible awful mother, and a brother who she would die for (but as all siblings do, never verbalize that or any sort of affection ofc). Unsurprisingly, her trash mom nominates her as a Lamb for The Gauntlet, a reality show of sorts where an Angel (Mel) will hunt her down, purely for entertainment but also monetary gain for her terrible mom. Her brother Luka (who I absolutely loved) is furious and tries his best to help her as the hunt almost immediately kicks off. As the hunt takes an unexpected turn, Mel and Inessa end up having to work together for survival.

I will say, the reason it's not a 5 star read for me is that the pacing, while quick, was almost TOO quick. I felt like I just sat down to read it and somehow I was already more than halfway done, and then a few more blinks and the book was over. Things were moving at breakneck speed lol and while I do like a fast paced book, I actually would have liked if things slowed down a bit. The plot and romance both felt super quick.

Also, with they way it ended I really hope there's a sequel! I think it's near impossible to write a satisfying dystopian standalone, and there seems to be much more to explore with this world!

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for the ARC!

I genuinely could not put this book down and finished it in one day. I was completely invested in the story arc which followed incredibly structured settings, worldbuilding, and characterization that made this book so well written. I would recommend this book to teens and adults, particularly if they were fans of other big dystopian series which feels so similar to this title. I absolutely loved every minute of this reading experience!

3.5 Rating

Thank you to NetGalley and Harpercollins for an e-arc to review.

Okay, let’s talk about A Fable for the End of the World. First off—what a premise. A dystopian society where debt collection has escalated to this brutal, almost gladiatorial spectacle? Absolutely wild in the best way. It immediately drew me in with how creative and terrifyingly plausible it felt.

That said, I did feel the world building didn’t quite live up to the brilliance of the concept. The bones were there, but the details of how and why the world ended up like this were sprinkled in pretty late. I kept waiting for more context to ground everything, and when it finally came, it was almost like, “Ah! There you are.” I just wish it had come a bit sooner.

Now, about the romance—it’s definitely a slow burn, and there’s a bit of that enemies-to-lovers vibe going on. But I’ll be honest, I had a hard time feeling that deep connection between the characters. Maybe it was the pacing, maybe it was the emotional distance, but something about it didn’t quite click for me emotionally.

But let’s talk about that ending. Whew. It totally stuck the landing in a way I didn’t see coming, and despite the few things that didn’t fully work for me, it has me seriously hyped for the next book. Ava Reid definitely knows how to leave a reader wanting more.

Given Miss Reid was inspired by the dystopian queen Suzanne Collins I can say those that enjoy her will enjoy this story.

If you like
-lgbtq relationships
-enemies to lovers
-hunter vs prey
-dystopian
-Middle fingers to the Capital vibes
-cyborg(esque) strong female bounty hunter?
Than this book may be for you
Trigger warnings
-murder/violence
-mental health
-absent parents
-parentification of eldest daughter

Iridescent Fairytale's March 2025 Pick

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a review copy of A Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid in exchange for writing an honest review and promoting the novel.

A Fable for the End of the World is a haunting, lyrical tale set in a world teetering on the edge of collapse, where myth and reality intertwine. This story is perfect for anyone who just finished watching the Last of Us and cannot get enough of the dark dystopian world. With A Fable for the End of the World, Reid blends of dark fantasy elements and stark emotional tugs, this story latches on to the reader and won’t let go until you reach the back board of the book.

If you liked this, then you might like…
The Last of Us
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Elements:

-LGBTQIA+
-Apocalypse
-Found Family
-Morally Gray Characters
-Emotional Storytelling
-Dual POV
-Enemies to Lovers
-Sci-fi
-Humans with supernatural abilites



- Please note exact ratings are not shared with our audience on social media. They are only used when considering whether a book will be one of our monthly picks.

Ava is so good at weaving worlds that suck you in. They create these characters who require growth and learning how to be strong and she has basically perfected it at this point. This book was very much inspired by hunger games with obvious differences.

I loved Luka and the sibling relationship him and Inesa shared.