This world was very nostalgic for me. Took me back to my childhood of dystopian books. I just wish there were less plot holes and more explanations as to how the world worked. Maybe if it were a duology, it would have more time and space to be built upon.
Another thing is that the romance was technically there, but I didn't understand how they even liked each other (or others before each other).
On a positive note, I like the ending. I like that it doesn't necessarily end in a happily ever after. Leaving room for another book, maybe? Also, I could not stand the mother. Wish she didn't get her happy (?) ending. But then again, sometimes that's just life.
I cannot wait for this book to be released to the public because there are a lot of conversations to be unpacked.!

4.5 stars

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid is an addictive dystopian fantasy with sapphic elements.

The elites have created a “Gauntlet” that the citizens can livestream… the “Angels” are beautifully deadly: part robot, part human girls who have been programmed to kill. The “Lambs” are citizens who have been offered up by family members in debt — the timer counts down and the Lamb tries to survive being hunted & killed by the Angel.

In this world we have Melanoë as our Angel
& Inesa as our Lamb — this gauntlet does not go as planned….to say the very least.

I love love loved getting to know our two FMCs with the dual POV. I really appreciated immersing myself in the dystopian society. It’s crazy to think about what it would be like to be in that situation….

If you are a fan of The Hunger Games you’ll love this!! Especially if you are looking for a dystopian fantasy that isn’t focused on the romance.

Thanks so much to HarperCollins & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

✨thank you netgalley for the arc✨

ya know, this felt very nostalgic and gave me that same feeling as all our OG dystopian YA novels gave us. an ode to the hunger games, divergent, the uglies, and other books that shaped pre-teen me.

but this fell quite flat for me. it was very insta-lovey, and their relationship (if you could even call it that) was shallow and formed based on nothing. the world building was so surface level, and i think because of that there were a lot of plot holes. this really left me wanting more, and i think if given more, this could have been a great book!

overall, it was a quick and fun read. the idea is there, i just wish it could have been executed with more detail, more lore, and more exploration of the characters and world.

Ava Reid never misses. If any book feels like the true successor to Suzanne Collins’s legacy, it’s this one.

I'm a little torn on this one. I loved the world, the dystopian setting, the stakes. I enjoyed watching our two characters see each other as humans instead of just cogs in their societal machine.
Unfortunately, as much as I loved following our characters, I wanted more. I always felt like we were at the cusp of getting more depth from them, just to be teased. There was also a solid stretch of time that felt very stagnant. I like that we got a little of time for Inesa and Melinoe to get to know each other and grow, but the middle third could have moved a tinyyy bit faster. I think that would've helped the ending not feel so sudden.
Overall, I love Reid's work. While this isn't my favorite of hers, I would still recommend.

🌿 Dystopian
🌿 Stand Alone
🌿 Sapphic romance
🌿 Hunger Games vibes
🌿 Young Adult

Fable for the End of the World is a dystopian novel by Ava Reid that comes out March 4! I was lucky to get an ARC from @netgalley.

Spoiler Free Review:
Fable for the End of the world features a dystopian world full of debt where families can offer their loved ones as a sacrifice to fulfill their debt. This book fulfills its promise of survival, sacrifice and love that risks absolutely everything. Pick this book up on March 4!

It’s been a long time since I stopped in my tracks during daily life and pondered the book I read by night, but Fable DID THAT.

This was my first Ava Reid book, and let me tell you, this is one of those that has me immediately pushing the author’s entire backlog to the front of my TBR.

Dystopian science fiction is back and I couldn’t be happier.

From the very start, the story heavily leans into inspiration from Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, yet stands on its own as a modernized warning and commentary on current issues such as climate change, corporate greed, and government run by capitalism. (Work that political science degree girl!)

World building is masterfully interwoven in a character led story, in my favorite format, multiple POV. You have complex characters, a unique post (climate change and capitalism driven) apocalyptic state, and a story that feels fresh. I love love love when an author leads us to a world without info dumping and spelling it out for us. This has been done in such a way that true dystopian fiction demands: you discover the horrors of the world along with the characters…who already thought they knew it so well.

I’ll be haunted by this story until Ava Reid gives us a sequel, which seems likely. One quote in particular will stay with me a while: “She could have anything she ever wanted-except her freedom.”

I couldn’t put this book down! To compare it to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes wouldn’t do this book justice.

Set in a future, dystopian New England where the government is controlled by the corporation Caersus, having credits (money) is what gets you anywhere in life. Inesa lives in the very outskirts of civilization in a town that is half under water with her mother and younger brother Luka. After their father disappears, their hypochondriac mother runs up debt for medical treatment she doesn’t need. While Luka hunts the last of the remaining non-mutated wildlife and Inesa practices taxidermy to preserve them for the wealthy to buy and display, it isn’t enough to cover the debts their mother owns.

Unbeknownst to Luka and Inesa, their mother volunteers Inesa for the Lamb’s Gauntlet, a nationally televised event in which a Caersus assassin hunts down the lamb for the sport of the nation starting from the “lamb’s” hometown. This is practically a death sentence as the chances of surviving the fourteen days while being hunted by a modified and highly trained, barely human who is numb emotionally, are slim to none. With the help of townsfolk, Inesa and Luka head out in an old car to try and put as much space between them and Melinoë, the trained assassin assigned to Inesa. Can they escape the assassin, avoid the mutant humans and animals, and maybe even find a way out of Caersus’s control?

I appreciated the duels perspectives of Inesa and Melinoë. Topics of global warming, fascism, human rights and love come into play in a world that doesn’t seem that far removed from our own, which is definitely scary to consider. I never felt like there was a slow spot, the pacing is extraordinary and there wasn’t a moment I was bored.

This is not your dystopian tale where the leads fall in love and walk off into the sunset. Is love even enough at times when the world is against you and humans are reduced to our primal animalistic nature? I didn’t see the ending coming!

This is YA with only some kissing involved and anything else physically that happens is behind closed doors. This is also not a story in which Inesa struggles with her queer identity as there doesn’t seem to be homophobia within this society. In fact, Inesa’s relationship with a female only serves to further boost the views on the live broadcast as cameras follow Inesa, Luka, and Melinoë around.

I will be recommending this book for YA and older because while it is most certainly not a feel good, love story, it is beautifully written and very thought provoking with topics we are facing today.

Do I even need to say this book was absolutely amazing?! In my mind Ava Reid can do absolutely no wrong and this book was no exception. It was dark and twisty even for a ya novel which I loved. This is definitely a book I would recommend.

Fable for the End of the World is a sapphic dystopian novel set in a (no too) distant world where the earth is ravaged by the fallout of nuclear war and climate change and where we’ve exchanged our government for a monolithic capitalist corporation called Caerus. Our two fmcs live in drastic opposition to the other yet both are inarguably fodder for the monopoly that runs every aspect of their lives. Inesa, a taxidermist living a bleak life of survival in the outlier colonies with her brother and mother finds herself offered up as a lamb to the slaughter in a televised death game called “the gauntlet” where few lambs survive as half human half perfected machine beings called “angels” prey upon the unlucky. Melinoe, our angel, has never failed a gauntlet, never lost a kill, yet her most recent foray into the death game has left her haunted and traumatised, something no angel should ever feel. And now she's been given the perfect chance to prove herself and forget her weakness once and for all. All she has to do? Kill Inesa. This world, its story and these characters gripped me very easily it's a world with a familiar dystopian vibe not too dissimilar from the world of the hunger games and i think Reid has done a wonderful job of paying homage to that world while still grounding her own story enough to be something different enough to not be drawing constant comparisons. Inesa and Melinoe’s slow fall towards each other, Melinoe’s deprogramming of the vile things that have been done to her memories and thought processes in the name of cold perfection, and the world and atmosphere itself both dreary and bleak were all things i thoroughly enjoyed throughout this book. BUT i will say when i read dystopia i always hope for a bit more social commentary on well anything really. I kept hoping all the threads of themes Reid has left bread crumbs of throughout this story would end up forming into a more solid think piece but i feel only half statements were made and nothing really drove home any big notions of anti capitalism, anti war, or the ever growing reality of climate change and its drastic fallouts. And without spoiling too much I also really really wish it had ended in almost any other way especially if this is a standalone. I fear the helplessness, hopelessness and uncertainty of a young girl's fate after so much fighting for something different left a bad taste in my mouth (but feel free to write a sequel and prove me wrong!!). I’m also just not one for vague open endings but if you are don’t let this scare you off! overall a solid dystopian read but the ending muddied my enjoyment a bit 3.75 ⭐ thank you to netgalley and harpercollins for the e-arc copy of this book in exchange for honest review!

4 ⭐️

I adore Ava Reid! This was an incredibly addicting novel and I really loved it. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the hunger games inspo really worked for this story. I thought it was still really unique, but weaved in some of those classic dystopian plot points. (Especially Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes). The two main leads are written SO well and I found myself rooting so hard for them.

The world building definitely could’ve been a bit stronger, but I still think it was enough to create an interesting world. I thought it was a good mix of the Last of Us and the Fall Out video games. The climate change themes are lowkey too realistic to where I was uncomfy!!! But that’s what is so amazing about fantasy/dystopian books!! Ava Reid’s writing is always super fascinating to me and I haven’t found any other authors like her.

I really enjoyed the romance, although she could’ve dug a bit deeper and maybe made the book a bit longer so we could really see these characters together for more time.

I made sure to take my sweet time reading this book. I absolutely love Ava’s writing and I felt so lucky when I was approved to read an E-ARC!

It was a little slow paced for my liking. But I did like the world building. It was a dark read. I wasn’t expecting it to be so dark. Definitely some triggering topics so make sure to look those up before you read this.

I was very surprised by the ending. I’m wondering if we will be getting a sequel 🤔

Thank you so much NetGalley, Ava and HarperCollins Children's Books for the E-ARC!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication Date: March 4 2025

#FablefortheEndoftheWorld #NetGalley

4.5-5⭐️

inesa runs a taxidermy shop while her brother luka hunts. they live in lower esopagus (spelling unsure of) which is slowly drowning due to climate change, warming temps and rising water levels.

Caerus is a company that holds credits / debts over all its people while everyone needs them to survive as water is undrinkable and food is harder to come by (basically imagine if amazon takes over everything and is eviler than it already is …).

the gauntlet are games where ‘the lamb’ (nominated by whomever to wipe their own debt) is hunted by angels (girls taken and trained, modified as well). it’s essentially their version of sport where technology and streaming has taken over so everyone is always glued to their tablets.

i adored ava reid’s writing for this book and the alternating view points. i was completely sucked in from the start and the last 30% i had to finish in one sitting. while at times the relationship might have been a bit fast paced for the amount of time the story took place over

i would like to note i have not read hunger games in well over a decade and thought this was a beautiful love letter to it and still its very own story. i don’t read books in this genre often like ‘games’ and apocalyptic situations so to me this was fresh and an enjoyable read.

4 stars!!!
Thank you to Ava Reid, Harper Collin’s Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC!!
THIS MADE ME SO SAD
Why did the lesbians have to have a sad ending? They don’t deserve this!!!
Either way, this book was incredible. I love Ava’s writing so much, and this honestly felt real and authentic
The world they live in is eerily close to ours, but also different. They live in a world where everything is monitored, and the Gauntlet, a tournament, is closely watched by millions.
The plot of this story is refreshing for me, giving me a good break from the fantasy. I loved the characters, and felt the emotion from them and the scenes that came out of it. I loved how Mel and Inesa were able to get along despite the differences, and teach each other things that the other didn’t know. Inesa got to give Mel the chance to experience humanity again, and Mel gave Inesa a love she never expected, and told her about Caerus.
The plot was a bit slow in the beginning to set up the middle and climax, but the rest was incredible!! The emotion was high, the story was pretty well developed and it made me cry :( But overall I loved this!!

So this is my first read by Ava Reid and let me start off by saying I was OBSESSED with the world building. I’m partial to authors who info dump and then build upon that dump. Like, give me ALL the deets and then show them to me.

Inspired by The Hunger Games, I vibed heavily with that. The sense of hopelessness, determination, and guilt was so heavy I felt as if it were my burden to carry.

The characters were raw and unfiltered and multi-faceted. The story did drag in a few parts but the entirety of the tale was so epic it barely took from it.

I’m impressed y’all.

An intriguing premise that never quite lives up to its potential.

Inesa lives with her brother and mother in a town slowly being swallowed by rising sea levels. Together, they run a taxidermy shop, barely scraping by. When her mother accrues a large amount of debt, she submits Inesa to the Lamb’s Gauntlet, a televised spectacle where people are hunted for sport. Melinoë has trained since childhood to kill the Lambs who enter the Gauntlet, and knows nothing but survival. When the two become trapped in the woods, they must work together to survive the mutated creatures lurking within.

Fable for the End of the World is a cautionary tale about what happens when everything goes wrong. The story tackles several relevant themes, including the rise of fascism, the oligarchy, class inequality, climate change, and more. While I appreciated how these issues were incorporated, they weren’t always developed in ways that felt fully realized. One subplot explores streaming culture and the apathy that arises in online comment sections, which is undeniably important. However, this element felt out of place in the dystopian world Ava Reid has crafted. The inclusion of streamers made me physically cringe every time it was mentioned. Am I supposed to believe that people who can barely afford electricity are sitting around with tablets, watching Twitch streams?

While I understand the intended purpose of the Lamb’s Gauntlet, its execution felt inconsistent. If you rack up enough debt, you can essentially sacrifice anyone to have it forgiven? Can it be anyone, or just a family member? In theory, could I spend money I don’t have and then nominate some random guy from the city to enter the Gauntlet on my behalf? And why does the Gauntlet take place everywhere instead of it being confined to a specific space? The idea that people could be going about their daily lives and casually witness someone being sniped in the street is baffling. I couldn’t quite grasp the Gauntlet’s ultimate purpose. Was it meant to keep people in line or distract them from their own suffering?

The best part of this book was Melinoë. She was fascinating to read about. A girl sold as a child, trained to be an emotionless killer. Through her perspective, we get a glimpse of how this world operates. We watch her wrestle with inner turmoil as she tries to reconcile the only life she’s ever known with the possibility of something more. In contrast, Inesa felt underdeveloped. She was annoying at times and lacked a distinct personality outside of her interactions with Melinoë or her brother. That said, I loved the dynamic between the two main characters. Their love story was very believable to me. Two people starved for affection, forced to rely on each other to survive in the wilderness. Of course, they would form a connection.

However, these characters were way too self-aware. Inesa, in particular, constantly made observations that didn't make sense. She explicitly states that she doesn’t watch the Gauntlets, yet she somehow recognizes the exact sound of the cameras? I don’t mind when characters figure things out through context clues, but when they seem to instinctively know everything, it makes the story less compelling.

Despite its flaws, I really liked how this book ended. It’s a world where people are doing their best to survive, yet there’s still room for hope and a belief that, one day, things might get better. That people can find solace in simple joys, like the beauty of a sunrise or the company of loved ones. I found that to be a beautiful note to end on.

Thank you to HarperCollins and Epic Reads for providing me with an early copy of this book before its official release.

Reid’s latest novel is a dystopian in which characters are often in debted due to the lack of resources after nuclear war irradiated much of the US. If you end up owing enough you join the Gauntlet where you need to survive as a modified human hunts your whereabouts. It reminded me of a bit of Hunger Games and Beasts of the Southern Wild.

This was my first book by Reid and I have to say I get the hype. The book worked for me and while some might have felt the ending lackluster, I thought it made sense. I enjoyed this one and would recommend to fans of this genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I loved this book so much. The dystopian setting, the character development, and the story progression were amazing. I really admired the dual POV and how the characters felt similar, but still very different. This book really does feel like the near future.

A sapphic, dystopian gauntlet? Sign me up!
I really appreciate all the nods to the 2010s dystopian era. Ava Reid had a beautiful mashup of a gritty world being fed by cyber voyeurism. At times, the setting even felt like a dark capitalism video game with all of the wildlife mutated by chemicals, polluted natural resources and CEO overlords.
Melinoë was such an interesting character; being part human, part android. I wanted more of her!
Themes explored:
-women in media
-voyeurism
-community
-blurred lines between corporations and government
-commodification of people
-online currency (tiktok, twitch, live streamers)

This was such a stunning yet brutal story, and truly so well paced for YA audiences. Highly recommend!

Sapphic Hunger Games? Say less

This was such an interesting read. It had a lot of familiar concepts (it is very clearly inspired by The Hunger Games--as the author's note even states), however with a fresh spin that I had never seen before. I really enjoyed the sci-fi elements of this. I specifically found Melinoë to be an extremely interesting main character, and the politics and details of her android-adjacent life intrigued me from the start. I wish this book had spent more time diving into these topics, as it was by far the most interesting part, in my opinion.

I found Inesa's family dynamic to be very interesting as well. I specifically loved seeing the brother/sister dynamic--it was a sweet reprieve from the otherwise tense story, while also adding some stakes.

Unfortunately, while I understood enough to get by what was going on with the Gauntlet, I needed a lot more details on this tournament than this provided. I was left with a lot of questions that I never really got the answer to. For example--contestants are allowed to enlist outside help. I feel like this begs the question of why people as a whole do not rally around a contestant. The answer seemingly is that people like the entertainment of being able to watch this on TV. However, you cannot convince me that Inesa is the only person in this whole society that sees a problem with this. It's very clear that many do. So why? The corporation leading the Gauntlet did not seem powerful enough to rule over this entire society. I have a lot of political questions that I wish this answered, as I was left feeling like things were kind of glossed over/many plot-holes were left for the sake of a quicker pace for the story. Similarly, there were multiple things that were mentioned once, never to be mentioned or become relevant again. For example, Inesa being a streamer at the start of the novel? Never relevant again--why did we have a whole scene of her streaming to followers we never heard of again?

I also have to say, while I enjoyed the love story (who doesn't love a good sapphic, against-all-odds love story), I don't fully understand why they liked each other so much. It seems like they developed feelings because the other was nice to them, and that's pretty much it. And let's be real here: I ate it up, I don't need it to make logical sense to enjoy a fun romance. But I feel like if all it takes to fall in love and throw your career and potentially life away is for someone to be nice to you... the bar is in hell.

All of that said though, I still flew through this, and never once did I find myself bored, so credit where credit is due. It won't stand out among favorites in my mind, but it was still a good time and I do still recommend it, especially if you love Ava Reid's writing or if you love a tournament/trials storyline.

3.75 stars rounded up

Thanks so much to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!