THOUGHTS

Ava Reid is obviously someone who loves YA dystopia, and I mean that in the best and worst way. She knows how to write an engaging story, how to weave familiar tropes into a startling apocalyptic landscape. This book is fun, but... it isn't very good at being dystopia. It has all the elements. It has all the tropes and genre conventions, but it lacks one crucial factor: a strong critique of the contemporary social world. Was it a bad read? Not by any stretch. But it doesn't live up to what dystopia can (and should) be.


PROS
Environmental Doom: As much as Reid is playing in a familiar dystopian playground, this book does add a new element to the usual routine: environmental catastrophe. This world, or at least the crumbling rural outskirts where Inesa lives, is drippy. It is wet and moldy and rotten. It isn't sustainable, and the floodwaters are reaching higher every year. The soggy atmosphere mingled with a sort of environmental doomsday undercurrent creates a great backdrop for a dystopian regime.

Cyclical Poverty: Though I've complained that this book doesn't really hold a critique of the contemporary social world, it does at least nod toward one. So I can give it kudos there. There's a certain cyclical nature to poverty in a world run by oligarchs, oligarchs who want and need an impoverished class to exploit. And I think there's something particularly interesting about setting this book in the waterlogged remnants of Appalachia as well, if we've got poverty on the mind... It's hard to get out of debt once you're in it, and it's even harder when the world is designed to keep you there.

Media Frenzy: Another compelling component to the backdrop of this plot is the absolute media frenzy that's happening during this bloody Gauntlet. Online chatter can't keep up. Streamers are live-reacting. Interviews comingle with merch drops, and it all feels very familiar... and very end-of-the-world. There's a sort of reluctance in the publishing world to acknowledge the power that this form of digital-age media (livestreaming, social media content creation, et cetera) has, and I like to see it acknowledged here in this book. Maybe our written work should do more to capture this facet of contemporary life.


CONS
Nonsense: As much as I liked some of the background components of this book--the climate catastrophe, the cyclical debt--the actual, main dystopian crux of this story didn't make sense. In The Hunger Games, there's a lot of groundwork laid to make it make sense that people would watch children die on television. There's severe dehumanization of the lower classes. There's very strong propaganda. And there's competent leadership manipulating human impulses. This book doesn't have any of that. I buy the cycles of debt. I buy, to some extent, being willing to sell yourself (or your closest kin) to relieve yourself of that debt. But I don't buy people watching it. And I don't really buy the debt itself, not fully, because it doesn't seem like the poor here are providing anything to the company that's keeping them in debt. The Capital needs the districts, because the districts provided resources and labor. Caerus doesn't need these outliers because they're just going more into debt with every purchase (i.e. not providing any sort of capital to the company), and they're not returning any labor at all, except for the occasional blood sacrifice to the Lamb's Gauntlet. So... What? Why would Caerus want these debtors around? I don't get it.

Motivations?: This book is as much a love story as it is a dystopian survival competition, and there's honestly a lot that gets lost in the shift between these two plots. Because the "love story" as it exists makes no sense. At least not with how the characters are initially set up. The motivations here, the way they suddenly shift to allow the romance to blossom, just doesn't feel consistent. There's character development, and then there's rapid character assassination to shove them into a romance. And this book is definitely the latter. And the motivations of those in the background working to keep the actual competition plot alive similarly make no sense. I just couldn't figure out why any of these characters would be doing any of these things, and that... Well, that's a problem.

Mutation Misunderstanding: There's a commonly held misconception about mutation, about evolution, that springs from the idea that we're constantly evolving. And, I mean, we are. Like, as a whole. Not on an individual level. So the fact that this book perpetuates the myth of evolution at an individual level just irritated me. Fast-acting evolution like that just isn't a thing? No scientific study has ever said it is a thing? It really doesn't matter how much radiation one it exposed to. You're getting cancer, not becoming a new lifeform. But you know what? I could have forgiven this if the author made up some excuse. If Ava Reid just thought this was a cool element to add to the world, the mutating creatures out in the wilderness, and gave some slapdash reason why they're all evolving so quickly, I would have let it slide because this is a book. This is fiction. Anything can happen, even if that anything doesn't reflect real life. But there's no justification whatsoever. It's just a flimsy plot point propped up by bad science, and I don't like that.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/10

Fans of Julianna Baggot's Pure will like this new world of gnarly mutations. Those looking for their next dystopian fix after Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games will like this new deadly, not-so-voluntary competition.

The land is flooded, and the people are shackled to Caerus, their corporate overlord, with crippling debt. For some, the only way to pay this debt is to sacrifice themselves or another as a Lamb to the Gauntlet, a televised reality TV competition where they must survive 13 days being hunted by an Angel, a cybernetically enhanced assassin in the service of Caerus. Few do. When Inesa is chosen to be the Lamb, Melinöe is charged with her execution.

What follows is a story of two girls in a drowning world, doing what it takes to survive another day. As always, Reid nails her atmosphere and political themes. While I'm not always a fan of YA dystopia and preferred the fantastical settings of her other books, her writing still had me hooked. The world is just so easy to sink into with relevant commentary on the state of things, inspired by Hurricane Sandy and The Hunger Games, as noted in her author's note. I was a bit less enthused with the execution of the romance. There were some good bones, especially with some of the meaningful conversations that Melinöe and Inesa shared, but it didn't quite stick the landing for me.

I imagine that the last act of the story will be controversial, and it certainly left me feeling some type of way, but it's certainly apt in my opinion. Overall, this book balanced hope for a better tomorrow and despair at the state of the world beautifully, and I'll probably be thinking about FftEofW for a while.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I was enthralled by the world building and characters, and as someone who hasn’t read the hunger games, this made me want to read that series if this was inspired by that style. I loved these characters so much. I do wish we had more of Luka. And the only reason this wasn’t a 5 star is because I needed more from that ending 😭 thank you to the publisher for the e-review copy.

Oh my god, I will never be the same after this book. I haven’t felt this emotionally attached to a book in so long, maybe even since first reading the hunger games oh so long ago— what can I say, these stories just get me.

The social commentary of this book was just CHEFS KISS. Sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt, the view of debt, both monetary and social, and the discussion of technology and society’s hunger for violence and entertainment (sometimes one in the same) was just soooo good. The cameras and whole gauntlet as a metaphor for society is NOT very far from real life which is actually terrifying— okay let’s focus on the book review and NOT fall down that rabbit hole.

“The six-sided white gemstone. Or maybe it’s a die. Wealth and fortune, or luck and chance? I’ve never known. No one has ever told me.”

The romance?! Hello, sapphic TRUE enemies to lovers?! From literally trying to kill each other to fighting FOR each other??? The pining, the internal battle between mind and heart, the care they had for each other while still not fully trusting each other, AHHH! Just so so good.

“I wonder, and the wonder turns to hope.”

The ending??? Had me gasping, crying, biting my fingers to stop from SCREAMING— yes, I do get very emotional over books, why do you ask?? Seriously, what a perfect ending. No spoilers here, just very satisfied with where we ended. Although a second book is needed like yesterday please and THANK YOU Ava Reid!

Overall I cannot recommend this book enough. I still am in shock that I received an e-arc for this book (thank you HarperCollins Canada and NetGalley, ily). All opinions are my own (and boy, do I have opinions as you can see!) PLEASE pick up this book if you loved the hunger games, if you love sapphic enemies to lovers, if you want a critical yet dare-I-say-fun commentary on society, or if you just want an adventurous, action-packed, emotional, pack-a-punch novel that will have you wanting to scream at the pages.

I will now turn back to page 1 and relive this magnificent story, if you need me. ✌️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All opinions in this review are my own.

”Sometimes you don’t even realize that you’re drowning until the water closes over your head.”

4 taxidermied stars!

Overall I loved this novel but could it have been a bit better executed for all the themes crammed into it? Yep.
Did the ending make me infuriated because marketing has this as a romance when it doesn't even hit the ONE RULE all romances must have in order to be one? Also yep.
Did I enjoy it all anyways because of the vibes, the characters, the story, and the IRL parallels? Absolutely yes.

To start, I am going to say I really enjoyed both Inesa and Melinoë as main characters and I love how they were each others foils. Sure the romance was obviously insta-lovey and quick (a matter of days) but I kind of already had the expectation going into this standalone that it was going to be like that. Inesa is what I would consider a soft FMC, she has a quiet strength and I found that to be refreshing. There were a couple of times that she was a little too helpless, but that didn't impact the enjoyment I had of this novel. Melinoë's journey of finding herself and breaking the shackles put on her to become her own person was empowering. Overall I loved them and their romance (despite the ending which I'll get to later) and I also loved Inesa's and Luka's sibling relationship and how they fought for each other all the way through, even in the quiet moments.

I did also enjoy all the themes and commentary (of which there were A LOT) and how starkly parallel it is to today's world. I've saved so many quotes from this novel and it all really drew me in. The vibes and the setting were all there. I didn't even care of some of the worldbuilding needed some more fleshing out, it was enough to tell the story in my opinion. I would honestly love a sequel especially after that ending. Speaking of endings...

I know this isn't the fact of Ava necessarily, but marketing has got to stop marketing it as a romance. They know, along with the rest of the publishing world as well as readers, that a romance book REQUIRES a HEA/HFN, there is no getting around it. It is the ONE RULE thats been around since the dawn of time practically. The ending wasn't a HEA/HFN, it wasn't even hopeful, it was TRAGIC. The MCs aren't together at the end, one is even married off to a sleazeball of a man, and nothing changes in the world for them to end up together by the last page. They are worse off than when they started actually. It was pretty infuriating and it was the biggest thing that impacted my enjoyment of the novel and knocked it down a whole star. I honestly could've lived with the tragic ending if it was clear that this was going to be a series but it is marketed as a standalone. It may end up with a sequel (there is clear potential for it) in which case I will happily read it of course, but as is it does set up the wrong expectation and is again, infuriating instead of hopeful like I think was intended.

I would like to end this review to give a notice on what should be in the content warnings for publication and for anyone else reading this review to decide if it is best for them to read. There is obviously way more than what I will list here, these are just the ones that were the most impactful to me as a reader. This novel has very clear references of pedophilia, child porn, AI generated content specifically around children, and the fade to black sex scene between the two underage FMCs was broadcasted live to millions of people unbeknownst to them at the time. This obviously all harks back to the commentary and themes the novel portrays about this dystopian society but it still something to be noted for those that would like a heads up about this content.

well umm I actually kind of liked this like yeah it’s not never seen before worldbuilding which is okay. I’m fine with reading stories that are similar to others but sometimes we gotta admit we can’t even come close to a masterpiece. it’s very hard to write a story that gives hunger games vibes and then being able to hold a candle to this. this book doesn’t come very close. as I said I did like this but I feel like this story would’ve been told much better in multiple books with more plot. and don’t talk to me about the ending cause I can’t stand it.

3.5 stars 💫 | review posted on goodreads

I cannot write this review without spoilers, because I need to rant, I need to vent out what I read here. Because what the hell was that ENDING?! I'M UPSET. This was one of my most anticipated reads, and to say the least, it disappointed me so much. All that pent-up tension, that chemistry between Inesa & Melinoe, ALL OF IT was only for them not to end up together at the end?! The ending was rushed, there could've been more to the story. The pacing was slow, the story's direction was lacking. All I know is that ending left me hanging. I don't know if I will ever write a full review later after this book gets published, but for now, these are the only things I can say, or rather I could manage to say about this book.

what to expect:
🍃 Dual-POV
🍃 Dystopian
🍃 Enemies-to-Lovers
🍃 Sapphic romance
🍃 Forced Proximity
🍃 Hunger Games-inspired
🍃 Live streamed deadly game

Thank you to the Author, the Publisher, and Netgalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First of all, the world-building is incredible. Growing up on dystopian novels, I’ve come to appreciate a well-thought-out world, one that not only showcases the creative (and sometimes ugly) ways people choose to survive but also offers an in-depth look at how that society came to be. The depiction of class divisions and how they manifest in day-to-day life gave me the same feeling I had while reading The Hunger Games series. It delivered sharp commentary on injustices present in our world today without feeling heavy-handed or repetitive.
The unique dynamic between the main characters was another highlight. An enemies-to-lovers arc I did not see coming! It added an unexpected layer of tension and tenderness that kept me fully engaged. While a couple of twists were somewhat predictable, the journey to those moments was thoroughly enjoyable.
Overall, this was an immersive, thought-provoking read that I’d definitely recommend to fans of dystopian fiction and complex character-driven stories.

When I first heard of this book, I can’t say I was expecting a dystopian novel. I honestly haven’t read one in the longest time, but I ended up flying through this. I have only read one of her other stories and this is completely different in a good way. This story captivated me from the start. Both Inesa and Melinoë have such sad backstories. I was devastated reading about Mel’s past. Knowing you are missing so much of yourself… It’s no wonder she felt so lost.

I really enjoyed seeing their dynamic. Mel is actually so scary at first when the Gauntlet starts. I loved seeing how they understood each other and both began to see some hope for their own future. I found Caerus and their control over the world to be so interesting and felt the world building to be really well done.

Overall I really enjoyed the plot and pacing of this story. The angel and her lamb was a dynamic I really loved reading about. I will say the ending was not satisfying to me at all. I wish that the plot had gone a different direction at that point. I also wish this was longer. We were introduced to such a cool and corrupt world, I feel like so much more could have happened through a series or that some of the plot could have been fleshed out more.

I am so excited to read Ava’s other books as even though the ending wasn’t satisfying, I overall really liked the story.

I ate this up!! YA Dystopian is back baby!! Seriously what an excellent read that gave me all the 2010 dystopian vibes that I read in HS. And now we get to make them queer!! Seriously the mechanics of the Gauntlet were great, the villains were perfectly creepy but unfortunately realistic, I was rooting for the main characters. Would love to see this turned into a movie to complete all the hunger games feels. I hope we get sequels! Ava Reid is a gem!!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an arc of Fable for the End of the World!

I fell in love with Ava Reid’s writing last year. She has a gift for crafting stories that feel like dark, mesmerizing fairy tales. When I saw she had a dystopian novel coming out this year, I was eager to get my hands on it.

Fable for the End of the World gave me serious Hunger Games vibes, but I enjoyed this much more. In this world, citizens are manipulated into staggering amounts of debt, and every so often, one *lucky* individual is randomly chosen to fight in a deadly game. They’re hunted by what is essentially a superhuman assassin, and if by some miracle they survive, their debt is wiped clean (plus a little extra). But, of course, the odds are next to impossible, and the whole thing is just another way for a major tech company to rake in profit.

On top of the high-stakes tension, there’s a sweet sapphic romance woven in, which made me love it even more. I was hooked from start to finish!

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid is a standalone, dystopian fantasy that follows Inesa, a young woman trying to make ends meet as the world seems to sink around her. Due to circumstances beyond her control, she ends up being the unwilling participant in the Gauntlet, a televised program where she is being hunted. Will she escape?

I really enjoyed my time reading this book. I flew through it in less than a day and found it to be super intriguing and fast paced. This book is very inspired by The Hunger Games which is a comp I hesitate to make. Because of the social and political commentary in THG, it is hard to replicate and I don’t think this book does that so don’t go into it thinking it is super similar.

There is an oppressive government and people are being hunted down for entertainment so those elements are there. There is another perspective in the book as well as side characters that really fill out the story that I really enjoyed. I think the world itself was really interesting. I do wish this would have been an adult book because I feel like it was missing something.

There is a romance in this book that I really liked. I liked the way the two characters came together and how they chose to pursue their relationship. I also think the end was done very well. For an Ava Reid book, this was a little more straightforward than I was expecting but I had a good time. I think young adult audiences will really enjoy this one.

I loved this book. I was sold the moment I read “lesbian hunger games.” I really liked both Inesa and Melinoë. I felt emotionally invested in both characters and knew they had so much at stake, I wanted them both to be successful. But the only way for one to succeed was for the other to die.

But ugh what a well written slow burn. I loved how Inesa and Melinoë pulled back the layers and the way they started to lean on each other and trust one another. I know this is a standalone but I want another book! I liked the ending but I want to see what happens next.

Another excellent novel from Ava Reid! This fed my dystopian loving soul. I had high hopes and those hopes were met! I lowkey wish this wasn’t a standalone novel and that there was more to come.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

this is by far my favorite read from ava reid, without a doubt!!

fable for the end of the world is a sapphic dystopian that is most certainly heavily influenced by the hunger games, although in this dystopian world, people are nominated into the gauntlet by those closest to them to repay their debts. these people are called the lambs, and they are hunted by angels who have been surgically and hormonally enhanced to put on a show for those streaming the gauntlet.

if you don’t know me, just know i am obsessed with the hunger games, and reid has done a phenomenal job with the “bread and circus” theme with the angle of people being allowed to go so far into debt before they must nominate a family member to be murdered on a live stream for the debt to be repaid. there is a lot of commentary about consumerism, both materialistically and with online content, and how perhaps we’ve become alarmingly desensitized. not to mention, i really found the “wiping” interesting, as it reminded me of when the capitol hijacked peeta.

also, i found a specific line to be VERY twilight coded, for all the twilight girlies out there: “…they are very interested in the narrative you’ve created. the angel who fell in love with the lamb.” UGH like hellooooo edward and bella anyone? ate it up.

overall, 10/10 world-building and character development. again, i personally feel this is reid’s best work, and i hope she explores the sapphic genre again!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

Interesting take on a dystopian future where one company controls all aspects of society. Inesa and her brother live in a half drowned neighborhood where they run a taxidermy shop and try to stay out of debt. However, their mother has a huge debt and offers Inesa as a tribute to a Hunger Game type show--Lamb's Gauntlet where a half cyborg assassin hunts the person to erase $500,000 of debt. Melinoe is the assassin who is questioning all she has been trained for. Great story .

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Fable is set in a near future corporatocracy plagued by climate change, mutated animals, and nuclear fallout. Inesa ekes out a meager existence until her mother offers Inesa up for a Hunger Games-like gauntlet where she must survive for 13 days while being hunted by Melinoë, a cyborg “angel”. Melinoë’s evil corporate overlords with two things : hunting down Lambs like Inesa and making it a good show to the millions of people who watch in real time. Failure will be met with a dire punishment: being memory wiped and sold off as a corporate concubine. As Mel pursues Inesa, lines between hunter and hunted get muddled as both young women struggle for survival.

I think Fable can be read on two levels. On the surface, it’s a quick, standalone read about two girls falling in love under dangerous circumstances. "Lesbian Hunger Games" sounds pretty rad, though as a lot of reviewers mention, the worldbuilding is minimal (how do deers grow webbed feet??) and the romance happens too quickly.

But. While I don’t think fictional stories have any obligation to be didactic, I think we as readers owe ourselves to think seriously about the media we consume and how it impacts us.

The more I thought about Fable after finishing the book, the more distressed I was. Reid acknowledges in her introduction that this book was heavily inspired by The Hunger Games. That’s clear in the gauntlet event, the characters’ understanding of how their actions will be spun in the media, and so on. I don’t begrudge anyone their tribute to a beloved series, but I struggle with why this one exists and what it adds other than a remarkable dark pessimism.

Let me explain. I think a key theme of YA dystopia is how one person (with a combination of dumb luck, skill, loved ones, an attractive love interest or two, and more dumb luck) can change the world for the better, even if it’s at great cost to themselves. Without spoilers, the end of this book is a thorough letdown in that respect. There’s a tiny bit of hope, but it’s at a personal level, and the world functionally remains unchanged. In this real political climate, in this world where so many have been conditioned to think only of themselves and their loved ones, I think that’s profoundly sad. It’s like the passion of 2010s YA dystopia, with all of its youthful zeal, is no longer even a spark and there’s no hope of getting it back. While I don’t think a 2010-style novel would hit all that well today (see, for example, the reception to the movie adaptation of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies), this novel hit me like a baseball bat filled with despair rather than an invitation to probe the genre and its origins. It’s not dissimilar to critiques I read about the same author’s novel Lady Macbeth, which claims to be a feminist retelling but strips the Lady Macbeth of the agency that made her such a compelling character. Yes, play with the genre conventions, but do something interesting deliberately. This felt rudderless.

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

First thoughts: Raw, dystopian and almost too close home; a love letter to Hunger Games.

Summary: By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society. Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.

Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs but she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption. As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing. And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.

Review: Let me tell you something. This is Reid's best book to date, and I'm pretty sure this is the one that we will remember her for. It was yummy as in I wanted MORE and MORE. World building is top notch, and that first 30% of the book you get so much info and jaw dropping details. And the pacing of that first half? Chef's kiss. Once we get to the actual Gauntlet things change, and you have NO IDEA of what's gonna happen. Melinoë give serious Hannah vibes, and the Masks (and again Melinoë) have some resemblance in my head to Mother from "Raised by Wolves". Deliciously dystopic, and Caerus (AKA the Tyrell Corporation, IYKYK) feels almost too real. Let this be a cautionary tale.

#FablefortheEndoftheWorld #NetGalley

Reid crafts a chilling world dominated by the corporation Caerus, where debt is a weapon and the ultimate entertainment is the Lamb's Gauntlet, a televised bloodbath where debtors are hunted and killed. This premise alone sets the stage for a tense and emotionally charged narrative. We're immediately drawn to Inesa, a young woman struggling to survive in a half-sunken town, and Melinoë, the seemingly heartless assassin tasked with hunting her.

The dual perspectives of Inesa and Melinoë are masterfully handled. Inesa's desperation and resilience are palpable. She's not just a victim; she's a survivor, resourceful and determined to protect her brother. Melinoë, on the other hand, is a complex character grappling with her past and the conditioning that has turned her into a killing machine. Reid skillfully peels back the layers of her icy exterior, revealing a vulnerable and conflicted individual. The contrast between their worlds – Inesa's fight for survival in the wastes and Melinoë's life within the corporation – adds depth and intrigue to their inevitable collision.

The romance that blossoms between Inesa and Melinoë is a slow burn, born out of necessity, respect, and a shared understanding of their harsh realities. It's a delicate flower pushing through the cracked concrete of their dystopian world. Their connection feels genuine and earned, adding a layer of hope to an otherwise bleak landscape.

While the action and suspense are expertly woven throughout the narrative, it's Reid's exploration of themes like class disparity, corporate control, and the human cost of entertainment that truly elevates Fable for the End of the World. The world-building is immersive and detailed, making the stakes feel incredibly real.

Fable for the End of the World is a powerful and thought-provoking read. It's a story that will stay with you long after you turn the final page, leaving you pondering the nature of survival, the power of love, and the potential for hope even in the darkest of times. Highly recommended for fans of dystopian fiction, romance, and stories that explore the complexities of the human spirit.

This was a mixed bag of feelings?
The characters were great and the YA dystopian atmosphere gets 100% but that was where it fell apart
I wish the world building was more intense. I felt this book glossed over the world building by trying to make the reader think it's a typical dystopian world and few details would be enough. It isn't. Who is the Caerus CEO? Why mention them so much if you're not going to give a bigger story?

But I still liked the writing and I enjoyed reading it. The ending was not what I was expecting so that was a surprise

3.5 Stars