Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fable for the End of the World had a lot to live up to, being compared to The Hunger Games. Unfortunately, this title totally missed the mark for me. It reads more like Hunger Games fanfiction than a real novel.

For starters, Reid handles a lot of serious themes— capitalism, sexism, climate change, cyborgs and bodily autonomy—that fail to be covered in depth. The result is a jumbled, fast-paced narrative that is very surface-level. Maybe the book would have been better if everything was drawn out into a longer book, so we could get more of those themes? But, I didn’t like the ending either. The ending is not satisfying when it comes to the interesting parts of the story, meaning Carrus and their greed. It would be nice to see Inesa wanting to get revenge on Caerus.

Melinoë being a government-trained cyborg was interesting, but I wanted her to be even more cold and calculated. Apparently she’s been programmed to have barely any emotions, but she’s falling apart at a glimpse of someone’s eyes?

It’s been about a week since I finished the book and I had to reread a little to remember what happened. Just not one I would recommend.

A wonderful Sapphic dystopian novel about a society where debt incurred could mean you're sacrificed by your own family to have a televised murder. I didn't really know how to feel about this book when I started reading it, I'm so used to Ava writing more fantastical and academia worlds that this dystopian one set me off my rhythm. She, again, performed excellently with the character development and relationships, making them feel like people I had in the room with me. Every character Ava writes feels so real and true it's hard to let them go when the story ends. I hope there is more in this world, because I need to know that's not the end of their story.

This book almost took me tf out and all I want to say is thank you Ava Reid. I very much hope that this story resonates with folks the way it did with me. Things are scary and uncertain but we have to hang onto our humanity and to each other. I loved this book!

Another good book from Ava Reid. Complex characters and good world building! Thanks to her publisher for the eARC.

DNF at 50%.

Unfortunately I had a major problem with the plot and the choices that the FMCs made throughout the book.

I loved the opening of the book where we learned about a very small portion of the world and how Inesa is a taxidermist hell-bent on preserving the memory of normal wildlife that hasn't mutated yet. We also were introduced to The Gauntlet which sounded like such an interesting way to keep the public occupied and entertained instead of rebelling. The credits system was also interesting where you could rack up debt and then nominate someone for The Gauntlet to make up for that debt.

This is where the book starts to fall apart though. For such a strong setup, the book seems to not really understand itself. Inesa is nominated and is chosen to be the Lamb in this Gauntlet. If she lives for 13 days, she's free and wins, but that's unlikely with an Angel hunting her down. Why then is it made clear by EVERYONE that Angels normally kill their prey within the first day? Why bother making it 13 days? It makes no sense that the hunt would last such a short time. The public would literally not care at all and wouldn't be glued to the competition for something so quick and lame.

Inesa also makes no sense as a character with her constantly worried about becoming a murderer WHILE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO KILL HER. What??? She has no concept of self-defense and would rather see herself dead than actually put up any semblance of a fight.

Melanoe is probably my favorite character, but yet again, she falls prey to a pretty set of brownish/green murky eyes? And decides to throw everything away for said eyes. It. Doesn't. Make. Sense.

So yeah, I loved the concept. The idea of this book is so good, but the execution is lackluster and when a book doesn't make sense, I can't continue on.

Basically queer hunger games?! I’m in 😀

Snapshot📸
-sapphic romance + enemies to lovers 🏳️‍🌈
-dystopian + survival + social commentary about classism & capitalism
-dual point of views, clear voices/distinction between characters

I loved the concept of this book, was different than I originally expected. It did land flat in some areas for me, I honestly think it just needed to be longer to flesh out the world building and romance a little more. I thought the ending was bleak but realistic, pretty open ended, I want a sequel!!!!


Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC! 💜

Sapphic version of the Hunger Games? I loved this book even though it took me forever to read, that is because I am a mood reader, not because the book is not good.

I thought this was a very well written YA novel that focuses on a dystopian world. While not my favorite of Avatar Reid’s work, I will say she painted a world that doesn’t feel too off from what we might inherit.

Your heart aches for these characters and their situation.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys this genre.

Ava Reid has done it again and I’m absolutely obsessed! I adore the artwork and the author never disappoints! <3

I really thought I'd reviewed this already! I read this very quickly and excitedly; I'm a big fan of Reid's other work, and was anxiously awaiting her go at sapphic YA dystopian (we clearly were raised on the same source material, cultural references, and fandoms). There was a lot to love here--the characters were fun, the prose strong, the worldbuilding promising, and some very interesting political and societal critiques around it. Unfortunately, it didn't all quite hit, and I think needed a little more baking to flesh out the off-balance pacing and rushed character development. As my current Goodreads review reads:

3.5 stars rounded up? full review to come. lots to love here, and a heartfelt love letter to a genre due for a resurgence, but something felt missing and empty at the core. if this were setting up a series, i’d have fewer complaints, but it’s meant to be a standalone………

This Dystopian YA novel follows Inesa, a taxidermist fighting for her and her families survival in the cruel realities of society run by mega corporation, Careus, who winds up in ‘The Gauntlet’, a live-streamed hunt to the death. The dual narration also follows Melinoë, the ‘Angel’ trained and cyberpunk style altered to kill the sacrificial lambs like Inesa.

This story had a lot of promise, a lot of intriguing aspects. It was a commentary on a lot of popular dystopian concepts; class differences, witness/sport of death and tragedy, social media, bodily autonomy, climate change, etc., etc. Unfortunately there was so much swirling around that there wasn’t a lot of depth to really examine or critique any of these. In addition, our main protagonist Inesa as a character wasn’t overly intriguing beyond the typical archetype of YA dystopian characters that any readers who have picked up foundational books in the genre (read The Hunger Games) would be familiar with. Even in her sibling relationship, I found her brother’s help during her Gauntlet to be the more compelling aspect of their dynamic and was intrigued by his decisions more than hers.

I also found myself much more drawn to Melinoë’s point of view and the more nuanced conversations her character and her position invited regarding the bodily autonomy cyberpunk / futuristic dystopian aspects of the story. While this is only said to be a stand alone I felt like the ending left a lot open for Melinoë’s character and a potential sequel.

I listened to the audio version of this and the narrators were incredibly talented. They kept me much more engaged in the story than I think I otherwise would’ve been.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

If Ava Reid writes it, I’m going to read it. This wasn’t my favorite of hers so far, but it was still good by all means.

Especially with the resurgence of discussion on Dystopia as a genre with the release of Silver Elite, FftEotW delivers on all aspects that you want from a dystopian world: commentary on climate change, social class, and greed to name a few. I like that we get two perspectives, one from each side of the class divide, and I think the timing of perspective change throughout the book was done really well.

Another thing that Reid does really well in this story is developing relationships and characters. It’s really easy to get to know the different players without feeling like it’s forced. One of my qualms is that even with how well-developed the characters are, they sometimes wouldn’t make full use of their skills. While I could understand their emotion reasons for making a decision, I couldn’t always understand capability limitations that created dilemmas which really didn’t end up being a factor in the end anyways.

(I’m sorry if that doesn’t make sense now, but I really try to have spoiler-free reviews)

This is a book I would have loved as a teen or young adult, and it’s one I would recommend to my teenage sister if she was looking for a book. I tend to avoid YA just because of the sometimes immaturity of the characters, but that wasn’t a problem in this story.

4.25 🌟 I actually thoroughly enjoyed this book & was surprised to see the goodreads rating for it. My first thought when I started this book was that it reminded me of a Black Mirror episode. Every aspect of this book feels very Black Mirror coded. This book is often described as a lesbian hunger games and honestly after finishing it I can see it 😂. I loved every aspect of this book & the romance subplot. I’m really loving the lesbian representation in this book and it makes me want to read more!!

If you’re looking for something fun and will keep your attention I def recommend this book! Inesa and Mel’s story was beautifully heartbreaking and it’s making me want a second book!! Seriously tho that ending broke my heart 💔

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for an eARC!

This was bleak in the best way possible. Dystopian novels are inherently depressing, but I truly loved seeing Ava Reid step into sci-fi, take the reality of our world and push it to the extreme in such a way that was so wonderfully done. Ava Reid is an incredible author, and I think she is so incredibly talented at enemies to lovers romances. The ending to this hit hard. While it's not the most satisfactory ending, it makes sense and felt like the natural conclusion for this book.

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid brought me back to the dystopian genre, and I loved every minute of it. Even though this book was written for a Young adult audience, Ava's writing always pulls me into the story, and her characters are well-written. I felt myself feeling the way I did when I read The Hunger Games back when I was a teenager so the nostalgia was a wonderful feeling.

unfortunately i did not get a chance to read this book when it was given to me. the cover is so beautiful and the story sounds so good, i am moving to my tbr for later this year! i will update my review once i have had the time to read it :)

3.5⭐️

***MILD SPOILERS***

I enjoyed this book! The story was very interesting and creative. I love dystopian books, so I was really excited to read this.

Inesa lives in a society that has been taken over by a single company called Caerus. When one incrues large amounts of debt to Caerus, you can volunteer someone to be a “Lamb” and be killed on a livestream event called The Gaunlet, to pay off that debt. When Inesa’s mother volunteers her, she has to survive the Angel (the skilled assassin who go after Lambs) who is assigned to her. But this Angel, named Melanoë, has her own battles to face.

This story was so interesting and I felt really immersed in the world. I didn’t really feel the connection between Inesa and Mel, but I can also believe in fast love between teenagers so it wasn’t that much of a problem haha I also felt like once Inesa and her brother got separated, like she has this whole romance thing while he’s missing and she thinks he could be dead. Like ??? Idk it felt weird to me lol but again, not that big of a problem

Good book to read if you’re a fan of dystopian books!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for my review!

This novel had all of the same dystopian and teenage angst as The Hunger Games and Divergent which I didn't know that I had been missing so much. I think this novel took a lot of the tropes that we all grew up with from dystopian novels and came up with something pretty engaging. Since it's a YA novel the book moved really quick and was a fairly short read. I would have liked to see more world building to get a better feel for the world that they were in. But Melinoë and Inessa's presence in the novel made that seem like such a minor point. Both characters are strong females battling their own demons and trying, in their own ways. to stay alive in the process. The cat and mouse chase really amped up their storylines and kept me on the edge of my seat. This book definitely read like a YA novel and I felt as if the ending was rushed. I would have liked to have the story be longer to really end the novel properly instead of just glossing over points at the end.

Overall it was a really good read and I can't wait to read more by Ava Reid!

A Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid is well written and an exciting read for anyone who is a fan of dystopian worlds and The Hunger Games. The world building was fantastic and vivid however I felt that the characters felt a little flat and at some points too similar to The Hunger Games. I do think that the story has its own charm as Ava's writing leans towards a more fable and mythical quality. Overall I enjoyed it and think its a wonderful read for anyone interested in YA, queer, or dystopian novels.

REALLY promising start, however, by the halfway point this book fell through so so much. Loved the set up, and the initial potential of the characters.