this is an ARC review - fable comes out 3/4/25

to preface, i want to say as strange i feel cutting into a book like this, especially when it’s before release and i was granted early access for free, i believe reviews and feedback are valuable and important beyond just when they’re positive or diffident, and honest reviewing is a nonnegotiable.

with that said, this is a rough one so if you don’t want to hear criticism about the book or want to read it & would rather go in knowing nothing, feel free to skip this review

for the rest of you:

⚠️ spoilers ⚠️

fable being sapphic YA heavily influenced by the hunger games (& its other comp title being one of my favorite games, the last of us), i had such high hopes for how it would play out & how much i would like it. reading and finishing it, however, i found myself continuously disappointed.

the author’s note in the beginning of the book establishes early on how majorly influenced the book is by the hunger games, which felt like a step in a good direction in contrast to a book like powerless, which more or less blatantly ripped off details from popular 2010s YA dystopian books (including the hunger games). rather than finding the execution well done, though, i recognized the derivation of things in the hunger games within fable that failed to uphold the intentionality & meaning the hunger games imbued such ideas with, and fell short on individuality or ingenuity in fable’s take on them. the comparison only emphasizes how far fable falls short.

the book maintained an ever present lack of nuance and felt so insipid. the silhouettes of impassioned themes are there, but the almost perfunctory execution muddles & dilutes them greatly. fable tries to make ambitious commentary on several complex, modern day relevant topics, including sibling relationships, corporate monopolization, eradication of secular government, means and justification of survival, misogyny, power imbalance, rape, grooming, difficult parents and parentification, poverty, objectification, addiction, rampant consumerism, access to healthcare, pollution, exploitation, systemic violence and class conflict, mental health, sacrifice, modernization and standardization of people life & personhood, climate change, targeted erasure of history, opulence, oligarchy, lack of individuality and community, and reliance on technology—but every last one felt superficial. there were no significant ideas or nuances brought to them, only the implication or acknowledgement of their existence, leaving no true mark and holding no substantiality. the conversation on fear, revulsion, empathy, etc was stale from only stating their presence rather than describing the effects of their existence. there was such weak conviction and so many ideas convoluted rather than explored, without the time or emotional depth for the characters to have believably understood each other or fallen in love. the book is marketed as an enemies to lovers but they never actually hate each other or largely challenge each other's values, and their partnership turned relationship rarely if ever experiences any conflict or strain from their characters' core (manufactured) opposition; it's much more insta love than anything else.

there was no real exploration of the society & its pointed detriments. you never actually feel the evil of caerus; it’s only ever described and never shown, like its cheap take on militaristic force and live streamed slaughter along with the half baked climate-ravaged society and its classism. for example, the book mentions more than once that it hasn't snowed in inesa's entire lifetime, and when it does for the first time in at least 17 years there’s no commentary or revelation on what that might mean for the climate or climate doomers or anything at all--it seems to have been written in just so inesa and mel can be vulnerable in their wonder and physically close together because it makes them cold. none of the characters ever feel real or afraid. another example is the implication that <spoiler>azrael slept with (possibly raped) mel and then wiped the memory. mel has "almost memories" seeing azrael's bare chest and having his body over her</spoiler> but no further comment, conclusion, or effect on the character is ever drawn, like it never really mattered to begin with. mel's erased memory & the concept of the wipes could've been so interesting but the book never delivered on the potential of her instability and loss of identity.

fable also suffered from the writing attempts to build characterization by heaping on “i wonder” or “really” or “not really” into the narration as a substitute for actual opinions or affect from the mcs but in actuality came across as a cheap bid for authenticity or identity. this is paired with an absurdly incessant repetition of certain words or descriptions, including but not limited to leaf pulp, deciduous brush or trees, green brown indescribable unnamable hazel eyes (literally is this fanfiction, what is mel's hyperfixation with inesa's eyes), "a metamorphosis takes place," and "my skin/my blood/my veins turn to ice."

within the first chapter, we meet inesa and luka’s mom, introducing us early on to the flat characterization of the story. there was no depth or humanization in her character or actions, even in the final parts of the book. as the causation of the inciting incident and a contributor to inesa and luka's lives and perspectives as one of the main characters and her supposed driving motivation, you'd expect their mom to carry more weight or complexity as a character than a caricature of "the narcissistic parent."

there was also a noticeable absence of urgency even in the technically high stakes. it's paradoxically not at all fast paced; things did move fast--too fast to let them marinate or harbor any meaning or impact on the story or characters--but reading it felt so slow and like nothing happened or mattered. the plot stagnated rapidly and the characters honestly have no significant character arcs at all, further elucidating the lack of evolution from start to end and the inconsequential nature of all that happens between. one of the main contributions to this is the husk of "threatening" antagonists. lethe and azrael are further example of characters who never come to life on the page, the former of which violently falls into the stereotype of childish and shallowly jealous girl nemesis who's never actually fleshed out or effectively established outside of being an obstacle for the mc, and the latter being a stock image of all powerful <spoiler>insidious father figure with bad intentions</spoiler>. rather than being complex characters showing another side of caerus, the angel program, and azrael's own cruelty, they're like gnats i could never take seriously and i wanted to swat away. azrael never felt anything more than self involved even though we were meant to believe he might actually <spoiler>care about mel</spoiler> and lethe was like a toddler in her characterization and not a teenage girl at the crux of years of trauma grooming and exploitation. this was further exacerbated when her last big moment before <spoiler>her death</spoiler> was shrieking when she was shaken off mid fight as opposed to honing in & adapting, and then throwing her ace, as a <spoiler>"killing machine" trained and genetically altered with a specialization in daggers, using her dying breath to fling her knife at mel and going for the stomach in a nonfatal injury (they say she wouldn't have survived without interference but they save her and she doesn't die, so from the perspective of lethe who was just killed and had viscerally hated mel her entire life and was beyond practiced in fatality and throwing knives, not even having the impact on mel of actually lastingly threatening her life is just lame. the reader never suspects or worries mel might be in real danger or die</spoiler>

furthermore, each character felt interchangeable from the next to the point i simply didn’t care about any of them. they had no hold on the plot or the story itself, inconsequentially thrashed with the inevitable throes of the ghosts of storybeats. melinoë and inesa are both so generic, and plain & indistinctive of each other enough after the blurred establishment of their contrasting lives & opinions that i had to actively keep referring to the labelled pov at the top of the page to remember whose perspective i was reading. i felt like they could’ve both died or had to kill each other or something and i wouldn’t have cared much. we never really go into either girls’ trauma or values and there was no personality or driving force in their narration or characterization. i never believed in or rooted for their love or survival. the first and last time any character seemed to actually have a personality at all was when inesa remarks how she’d rather be in debt than change her name to prudence or bartholomew. i was and still am excited to be out of their heads and done with the book.

fable also fails to recreate a world where everything is available (and almost exclusively) online. the inclusion of the streamer zetamon and his contribution to the plot is so strangely done. first of all, the name zetamon itself feels like an attempt to recreate streamer handles like pokimane or the like, but it felt so hollow and out of place to me in a way i can't put my finger on why. maybe it’s similar to why the name azrael feels so obnoxious to me, because it seems more like a parody of names made up to sound futuristic fantastical and intriguing. as a character, zetamon is meant to represent this section of the internet and how equally powerful and meaningless a streamer with a large platform can be, but he felt like a placeholder from someone who didn't actually understand what streamers and content creators becoming these like pillars of online society and internet culture/customs actually looks like. the way he interacted with his chat, the lack of personality, the personification of chat & their questions, all of it came across ineffectively. he has no real impact on the story or characters, and we never actually feel that he’s popular or edgy or anything other than a plain mouthpiece for his audience, or that <spoiler>luka is in danger or even afraid. he may as well have been voluntarily interviewed by zetamon because he felt like it, completely irrelevant to the gauntlet or his sister.</spoiler>

similarly, the book had such an indescribably underwhelming ending (although i will say i don't hate <spoiler>that it’s open ended with a hopeful air, which offers a bit more substance/how the story and characters are actually impacted by things rather than jumping to the book's conclusions with no logic</spoiler>. reaching it, i felt like nothing happened at all, which especially became noticeable to me when we met zetamon and realized <spoiler>caerus had luka</spoiler>. the book tries to be really introspective and present these advanced ideas meant to prod at an extreme representation of where our world could end up or hyperbolize and emphasize poisonous qualities in our own dystopia but it, again, has such a weak exploration and conviction that it falls epically short.

overall i found this to be relentlessly mediocre. i don’t know if it’s just this book or if i’ll clash this much with all of ava’s writing but i still would like to give a study in drowning a try. i’m hopeful that it’s just either this book or ava's first person narration that fell flat for me.

one thing i will say is, as much as i did not enjoy this book, i still appreciate the concept of it. when requesting the arc, i said "YA dystopian is the genre that made me love reading growing up, and i’ve never read a dystopian WLW book before. as a sapphic myself i was so beyond excited when ava shared fable’s premise and i realized two major parts of my identity could exist in the same story." regardless of efficacy or quality, the sentiment that queer and dystopian media can coexist is something i'd never seen represented before, and that matters regardless.

sorry this was so brutal.. such high hopes became critical disappointment i guess

some spoiler-free quotes that held promise (however fleetingly):
✧ I'm just afraid. I'm afraid all the time. And maybe that's the real reason I refuse to watch the Gauntlets. I don't want it to feel real.
✧ But behind closed doors, I'm still the one protecting him. I take Mom's bullets every single time.
✧ It's so much harder to kill in the light, when I have to see everything, with all the human parts of me that are still left.
✧ while others [memories] slip away, eroded by time. Why certain ones get buried in us like shrapnel so we can't move without feeling the pain of the thing that's killing us slowly.
✧ But there's no tension to watching a Dog take down its target. It's like watching the wheels of a car turn a skittering creature into roadkill. Ugly and inevitable. Being struck down by an Angel is meant to be a beautiful thing: riveting, theatrical, perfectly paced.
✧ Rifle in my hands, back against the cold metal table, knees digging into the shower tiles, water running over me, real and not real.
✧ As much as people like the Soulises want it to be, anger isn't strength. Hate isn't power.
✧ It feels like all I've ever done is cared for things that everyone else has left to rot.
✧ Even a wolf can be gentle if it wants, but you should never forget its teeth.
✧ But I can't make myself hate them. I never have. They're just surviving. Even the Wends are just surviving. Who knows what they would do, if they had another choice? If they knew they were safe? If they were free?

As a big Ava Reid fan, someone who LIVED for the Hunger Games and other YA dystopian series in my youth, and as a queer girl, I genuinely can’t begin to explain how much I loved this book.

It took inspiration from the Hunger Games, but Reid applied so many issues facing society today that this story was entirely its own thing.

The love between Inesa and Mel made my heart full and also so broken. It captured queer love in exciting and exploratory ways, without any of the “this is wrong and shouldn’t be” thinking I’m tired of seeing (at least in the sense that it’s wrong because of their genders, not the fact that they are the assassin and the target which is more acceptable to be a little weary about).

I also have to give it up to Reid, she was able to establish such imaginative and descriptive world building in such a small amount of time, all while making it simple for the reader to understand, not flooding us with information that will just go in one ear and out the other (something I find so many dystopian and science fiction books tend to do).

I truly loved this story, this world, this love, and I am so happy to see one of my favorite authors venture into my beloved YA dystopian genre. It reignited a love for it that I seem to have gotten away from as a grown older, so thanks for that,

Honestly, this is the most attention I have given a Netgalley review before. The reason I say that is because I am a bookseller, I often get flooded with arcs and oftentimes find joy, but not usually to a larger extent. I truly appreciate Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this copy in advance.

I chucked with joy and excitement when I saw this described as hunger games/last of us but sapphic. It truly lived up to that! I think this really ran off of taking what we readers enjoy, whether that be tropes, but adding the uniqueness that author's need to make their story their own (to say trope is a stretch here because there was not really anything out of the norm.)

At first, it was a little hard to get into for the first 20ish pages. It picked up pace rather quickly after. This story line, from the start, was very much about the character's journey and not the world building. I often find myself preferring those stories but I would not recommend it to those who prefer the opposite.

It had great representation for traumatic and negative parental relationships. I liked to see how those experiences brought the siblings closer together and why it was so hard for the brother when Inesa got dragged into the Gauntlet.

Mostly, what I stuck around for was the romance. That is why I picked up this book. I knew it was going to be sapphic and it was amazing to see it in such a popular trope like world. I loved the complexity of Inesa and Melinoe in their romance. The only thing I wish was different was the ending. I was disappointed with it. I wish it ended with Inesa locking eyes with Melinoe instead of us just know Inesa went to try and find her. We need that last touch with them -- even just their eyes meeting. I am glad it did not fall into the "bury your gays" category but I do wanted a little more from the ending. I need to know their story did not end because it still feels like a death.

I am so happy Reid wrote this and I hope she continues to write stories like these!

Much of this was way too relevant and relatable, unfortunately. I think the corporation taking over the world and getting everyone in severe debt was a realistic take on the whole Hunger Games situation. Also the flooding and the climate change. The aquatic animals that turn people into zombies if you eat them was especially sinister and probably one of the aspects that pushed past believable, including the cyborg Angels themselves. There was a lot of relevance to the way people consume both products and entertainment and the people, especially women, who get consumed in the process. Also the whole I was sent to kill you and now we're falling in love--never gets old. Excellent drama. It did have a major loose-ends kind of ending. I'm not sure if that's how it's staying or if the author is planning on a sequel, but that too feels realistic--a future not tied up neatly in a pretty bow. Hopeful, but open-ended.

Ava Reid's commentary and unique storytelling has never failed to keep me reading, and this book was no exception. I enjoyed this book for the most part and will be recommending it! I'll go through what I liked and what I think could've made the story stronger:

LOVES:
- The world. Reid creates an impressively immersive world in a short span of time. I am hoping she writes in this universe again because the world of Caerus was one of the most intriguing parts of this novel to me.
- The love story: SO endearing and heartbreaking. Both character's described feelings felt so honest.
- Melinoe!!! I wanted to learn more about her past!

Likes:
- The character development: I think both Inesa and Melinoe developed in a way that was emotionally satisfying, endearing, and believable
- The sociopolitical commentary: nothing groundbreaking but still insightful, and never tried to be deeper than it actually was (we love self-awareness!)

Areas of Improvement:
- Pacing: I understand that the relationship needed to be developed, but I think a little bit of the middle could've been cut, and the ending could've been extended
- Repetitive Descriptions!! These could be cut down, especially Inesa's physical descriptions of Melinoe that seemed to be the same thing over and over

I don't really know where to place my feelings about the ending, I found it a little unsatisfying, but I understand if thats the point. It also made me hope that she will write in this universe again!!!

Thank you so much for the ARC, I will continue to follow Reid's work!!!
3.75/5 Stars

2.5 Stars rounded up to 3 Stars

To say this book was disappointing to me would be an understatement. A short disclaimer and a little background: I am huge fan of Ava Reid. I have rated all her past books favorably with Lady Macbeth being my lowest rated to date. That is to say, I have an opinion on what is Reid's best work and what her writing is like when she is at her peak. Fable for the End of the World is decidedly not her best.

To me a dystopia is a commentary on the world as it is now. Perhaps it is slightly exaggerated, maybe set in the future or placed in a different setting entirely. Much like dark academia it is a genre that exists to talk about things that are happening right now or will in the near distant future. This book attempts to address these things: classism, climate change, debt, misogyny. It doesn't discuss many of these things with much success. Most of it is borderline surface level and what isn't is....confusing. Why are we allowed to sacrifice close relatives to the Gauntlet in order to wipe our own debts clean? Simply for spectacle? We'd have plenty of that just by having someone chosen for the Gauntlet, especially since we're told Lambs are very carefully selected in order to be assigned a specific Angel, and for them to build a narrative. I could have been convinced to let this go if Inesa had been that compelling of a character. I will say I loved her backstory and the set up with her family, but backstory is only half the equation with character building. Melinoe truly wipes the floor with her in terms of character depth.

I won't even bother addressing the issue with animals "mutating" or whatever sort of unrealistic evolution they're going through. It's silly and took me out of the book with every mention.

Ultimately, this book suffered from some of the same issues that plagued Lady Macbeth in that a lot of the commentary feels very shallow. It's not as obvious as it was in Lady Macbeth, but it's very much still present. Not to mention the reason this rating is knocked so low for me: the ending.

It should also be noted that this book is missing the prose that sets Reid apart from other authors. It's very straightforward in a way we haven't seen from her yet. I'm sure this choice was a conscious part on the author's end, but it took away a large aspect of what I personally love to see from her.

As someone who has never read the Hunger Games series (I know, I know) I can't really say whether or not this book is a pale imitation or a good homage to it. It was a very easy and digestible read. I am trying to give grace when I can as this is a Young Adult novel, but from an author like Reid that is capable of much better, this was a swing and a miss.

I received a digital review copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fable for the End of the World is a Hunger Games-esque stand along dystopian novel following Inesa as she is chosen for the Gauntlet. In a world controlled by Caerus through its lower class citizens’ debt, Inesa works with her brother to make ends meet at their taxidermy shop. When Inesa is offered to the Gauntlet by her own mother, she must run and survive one of Caerus’s most deadly assassins, Melinoë. These assassins, called Angels, have been modified and reconditioned to become weapons. While trying to survive, Inesa wonders if her missing father really did find a place to live outside of Caerus’ control; and Melinoë questions her place amongst the Angels and wonders if she can do more than just kill.

This book took me back to middle and high school and I can only hope that perhaps dystopian novels come back. I enjoyed this book, but I am wondering if I would’ve enjoyed it more not as a standalone. I felt there was a lot I wanted to know about Caerus and how it started and I totally wanted Inesa to find somewhere else to live outside of Caerus’s control. But alas, that is basically the Hunger Games and I should just go reread that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the preview. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

Wow! Ya know, I actually wasn’t sure I was going to be mentally able to read this at first; the echoes of everything going on in the world right now in this book were overwhelming. But then it just hooked me and I couldn’t put it down.

This is a love letter to The Hunger Games, and at the same time an indictment of the worst parts of our consumerist culture. It made me rage, made me sad, made me despair, and made me so emotional in general.
The sapphic longing/star crossed love story of hunter and prey was on point. Mel and Nesa were an amazing pairing.

This isn’t an easy or a happy book. But it makes you feel and it makes you think. And it pays a wonderful homage to a beloved series.
Highly recommend.

The author mentions being a fan of The Hunger Games, and I can really see it reflected a lot in this book. There is a clear divide between the rich and the poor depicted, and they have dehumanized one another because the gap has grown so wide.

Melinoë is a particularly interesting character because she comes from inside the wealthy "city" class, but is still a prisoner in her own way. I liked seeing her transition from the ruthless killer they want her to be to becoming more human and letting herself think and feel her own dreams.

The book was a bit darker than I was expecting at some points as well, there is a lot of undertones and even some blatant mentions of sexual abuse happening. I wasn't necessarily expecting that level of depth for a YA book, but I found it a pleasant surprise, the book does not shy away from difficult messages.

Although I did mostly enjoy this story because of the great character building and exciting premise, there were some parts I didn't love as much.

For one, I thought that the romance factor was a bit rushed. The Gauntlet takes place over only 13 days, and somehow Melinoë and Inesa go from trying to kill one another to falling in love in such a short time span. Despite the seemingly short timeline, it would have been almost believable if there had been even just a few more scenes between them before things turned romantic. I loved the progression of their relationship right up until their first kiss, and then it just felt way too accelerated for my taste.

In addition, the story does not end in a HEA for our two characters. I'm not usually a fan of books without a happy ending, although I can see why it would work for this story even if it's not my preference.

Overall, the book conceals some powerful messages beneath an exciting and queer love story. I am unsure if there will be another book, but I think there is potential for a lot more story for Melinoë and Inesa and would love to see more of them in the future. 4.1/5 stars.

Fable For The End of the World is a nod to the Hunger Games, the early 2010s dystopian genre, but with sapphic vibes. I love Ava Reid's bleak worldly description; of the Angels, the Wends, and even the Outliers.
The book is very intimate with its dual POV and can be very dark at times but I still enjoyed it for the most part.
Given the situation in which Inesa and Melinoe meet in, I wasn't really invested in their romance. I was more rooting for their own survival. People have to do what they gotta do in order to survive. I really liked the message the book was trying to convey.
The ending did have me question if it was truly a standalone but because of the nature of the book, it's actually very understandable why it was written that way.

Thank you so much Harper Collins for the ARC!

Ava Reid. I can't. I loved this. i am reeling. I am unwell.

This dystopian novel rings of a lesbian hunger games to me. I felt that it was clunky or slow at times but I truly devoured this book. Thank you for letting me into your world, Ava!

This was such an intriguing and accelerating read! I was completely invested in the plot, characters, and setting; everything about this book had me hooked. The story centers on Inesa, who is chosen as a sacrifice to settle her mother’s debt, and Melinoë, the assassin tasked with hunting her down. As Melinoë pursues Inesa across the wastelands, their paths cross in ways that kept me on edge.

From the moment I started reading, I felt easily transported into this dystopian world Ava Reid created. The world-building is vivid and immersive, and the dynamic between the two leads is both tense and captivating. The pacing kept me on the edge of my seat, balancing suspense, action, and emotional depth perfectly. If you love dystopian, atmospheric reads with morally complex characters, this book is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this! Fast-paced and so richly written. The author mentioned being inspired by The Hunger Games and that inspiration came through. I loved the characters and how clearly they were both trapped in the infrastructure of the world. Absolutely incredible! I'm recommending it to everyone I know.

*4.5

This book is so deep! The story is a little bit too dark for me, but it’s great. I like it a lot more than I expected, I was captured by all the themes and the substrates here.
I think I have to digest this story a little bit longer.

(ARC Review - thank you Netgalley!)
This book has such a compelling concept - it's sapphic dystopian Hunger Games, but the "tribute" - here called "Lambs" - are hunted by Cyberpunk'ed hot assassin girls - the "Angels". I found myself wanting to like it more, but there were some truly weird choices made in the world building that just didn't land in the way I think the author intended. It made it hard to trust the world or take it seriously, and it made a lot of the world seem half-baked conceptually (I'm sorry, but being a taxidermist when you can barely afford to survive makes absolutely no sense. And hunting the last remaining non-mutated animals to "preserve" them?? Is an absolute waste?? Why not ..idk, farm and breed them?).
A lot of this patchy world building made the first half of the book a bit of a struggle - I had to basically edit bits in my head to make the story make sense. Especially the moments that lead to our Lamb and Angel coming together, it was so quick/insta-lovey and the reasoning held together with string. One moment they are literally strangling each other, and the next they are like "well I guess we need to work together". I feel like this was missing a lot of the pressure and strain this kind of partnership deserved.

The last fourth or so of the book, though, nearly redeemed itself for me. The main characters fighting to survive and discovering more secrets to the world finally starts to feel compelling. ...and then the ending happens, which was not at all satisfying or logical. Bummer.

So overall, a cool concept with some entertainment value, but frustratingly falls flat in its world building. I do love Ava Reid's writing, but this isn't her best work.

I really liked this book overall. I have a soft spot for dystopian YA and I appreciated the call backs to books like the Hunger Games while still being a unique story with a unique world. The ending caught me by surprise but I like the direction the author took it. There was enough hope to keep the story from being bleak but not so much that it made the world u unrealistic. Overall, a very good book.

Let's get this out of the way: the premise of this book is exquisite. I'm not arguing about that. The bad part for me was the execution of the premise.

Plot holes. So many plot holes. It was incredibly difficult to enjoy this book when every few pages I was asking myself, "Why don't they just do..." or "But that doesn't fit in with the established worldbuilding..."

The romance was fairly mediocre. I like an enemies-to-lovers (and in fact, I have really loved it in Ava Reid's other book, The Wolf and the Woodsman). But neither of the "enemies" at any point actually hate/want to hurt the other, then they quickly fall into lust. It's disappointing, and I really struggled to root for them.

The ending. I'm not sure if it was trying to be "We're leaving this open for a sequel," or, "We're leaving this open to be tragically mysterious," but either way I didn't like it.

A video review including this book will be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, @ChloeFrizzle.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The good: The premise of a sapphic dystopian novel had me excited. The beginning was a nice set up, and I liked the way that Reid introduced us to Inesa and her family. There were a lot of intriguing parts of this world, like the credit system and the role of Caerus. The romance had its moments, and I liked Melinoë and Inesa together. The enemies to lovers was fun to follow. I also enjoyed the way that Reid explored the reactions from the viewers and the themes of misogyny.

The not-so-good: I don’t know exactly what it was, but this book took me forever to get through. It felt slow and repetitive at times, and I did not feel invested. Maybe because it’s YA there were things that were left out and surface level? I’m not sure what felt like it was missing, but I needed more world building and background on how the world got to the point that it was in the book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts are my own!

Fable for the End of the World is an incredibly well written YA dystopian story about love, sacrifice, survival, and hope. (Very strong Hunger Games vibes).

Ava Reid is a tremendously talented storyteller. I thought the entire book's writing was so vivid, descriptive, and really pulled the reader in. I found myself truly immersed in the story and feeling connected to the two main characters, despite the setting being something straight out of my nightmares.

Some of the story's pacing felt off, and though much of the dystopian setting is discussed, I would have loved for it to have been explored in more depth. Though I thought the ending was fitting, I was disappointed because I still wanted more and had questions left unresolved.

Overall, it's a really great book! Would love if there was a sequel.

At the beginning of the book, we meet Inesa, who runs a taxidermy shop, in a town that is half sunken especially when it rains - for instance, Inesa has to take a boat home after her workday. Her brother Luka does the hunting for the taxidermy shop while Inesa does all the stuffing and selling to the rich. Due to all the climate issues and mutations of animals, owning a taxidermy natural animal is rare, which is why mostly only the rich come to the shop to buy things with their credits. In Caerus, a credit system is the way things are run and when people, typically the poor, end up with 5,000 or greater credits in debt then they must volunteer someone to the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is an event live streamed where one of the Angels of Caerus hunts the volunteered person to kill them. Unfortunately for Inesa, her mother ends up putting her up for the Gauntlet as she has been secretly using credits and is now 5,000 in debt. The angel assigned to this Gauntlet is Melinoe, who has recently been undergoing work as her last gauntlet caused her quite the trauma.

Ava Reid my girl. This is where you have truly shined. This is a nod to all of us who grew up reading books like the Hunger Games, Divergent, and other dystopian 2010s novels. This book was definitely dark at times - I still remained hopeful through the well written characters (Melinoe def gives Finnick Odair vibes from Hunger Games). I'm curious if there is going to be another book because the ending was kind of bleak and I think there is still so much more to explore in this world. The only other Ava Reid book I've read is a Study In Drowning and while I liked that, this was definitely better.

See my review on goodreads linked below and I will post closer to publish date on my instagram account: @the.bookish.dietitian