okay if you look at this objectively and just read it for how it is it’s a fun time. but if you even start to think about this a little bit, things start to fall apart.

first is the blantant copying on the hunger games. like i know it is the blueprint and ava even references it at the beginning to maybe make it seem less bad but….there are simply too many similarities for me to ignore it. a vacant uncaring mother, absent father, sibling, poor falling apart town, animal mutations, a hometown bestie who clearly has feelings for her, showing projections in the sky, a televised event of death, even a cave scene!! like it’s just a lot

the parts that weren’t copied were interesting! i love the idea of the “angels” and the parts of the gauntlet that were unique. the writing is also incredible. i have never lost faith in ava’s writing ability, it is always so beautiful.

and the romance was just….misplaced. like idk personally i could never fall for someone, one in a span of three days, and two who is TRYING TO KILL ME! maybe she is just way more trusting than me but i could never get so close to this person, even if she’s swears she won’t kill me and we need to work together….i wouldn’t buy it. so idk made the relationship hard to root for…it’s like if katniss decided she wanted cato.

and i’m not sure if this is planned to be a series, but i feel as though it needs to be bc that ending was wildly unsatisfactory.

again if you don’t think too hard about it, enjoyable for sure. but maybe dystopians need to stay in the 2010s.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me the arc in exchange for an honest review ◡̈

I definitely feel like I chose the wrong time to start this book as someone dealing with constant existential dread and spiraling about the future. That being said, Ava Reid once again created an amazing world in her new dystopian YA book Fable for the End of the World. This book very obviously called out the future if humanity continues down the road we’re currently on without changing. The world this book is set in is a futuristic America called Caerus in which the lines between government and corporation are blurred. Caerus is a result of the ongoing debt crisis, climate change, AI, and nuclear warfare.
First Im gonna talk about what I really enjoyed and what I felt really worked in this.
- This book started really strong and I was fully invested in the world building leading up to the Gauntlet. The debt and credit system Ava Reid created was extremely unique and such a different take on a dystopian novel.
- The Lambs Gauntlet started off really strong with Luka and Inesa coming up with a game plan to survive. I absolutely adored Luka and Inesa and their relationship. They very obviously would do anything for each other and that’s shown throughout the novel. Luka is the epitome of ride or die for his sister. While in the beginning he may not seem that way, as soon as Inesa is named the next Lamb, he does absolutely everything he can to help her survive.
- I really loved Mel as a character. She was so complex and well thought out. In the beginning she feels very robotic but as the book continues, she slowly starts to humanize as she works through the trauma she’s endure as an Angel. Her character arc was honestly one of my favorites through the book, reading about her dismantling everything she knows and has been told. Getting to see her trust in Azrael wither as she spends time away from the cameras allowing her the chance to unpack her memories was incredible.

Now moving on to some of the things I wasn’t a huge fan of/felt could have been worked on more.
- Inesa as a character fell flat if i’m being entirely honest. Especially when comparing to Mel and flip flopping between their POVs. She was just kind of there and nothing more. She comes off as too compassionate and empathetic which leads to her having absolutely zero survival skills when it comes down to fighting for her life. If Luka wasn’t with her for the first part of the Gauntlet, it would’ve been over within minutes. She was just very idealistic and I just couldn’t help but feeling I wanted more from her. Her background and family dynamic could’ve added so much to her character but while it’s talked about, it definitely didn’t feel very explored on.
- I also felt the relationship felt forced? It started off strong but started to feel very rushed, especially when you think about the timeline of the book. The Gauntlet is scheduled to last 14 days but due to events in the book, it ends up being accelerated in the end with only 2 days left. Thinking about it, this means the relationship developed over ~4-10 days?
- Also thinking about the timeline, it also feels hard to have Mel work through her trauma from being an Angel in that timeframe as well. The only way this could work I guess is since it’s all tied to memory. So as she recovered memories it allowed her to work through the issues I guess? It kind of worked but I do wish the overall timeline was longer for this book.
- The ending left my very unsatisfied. The way I felt finishing this was similar to how I felt finishing 1984 and i’ll leave it at that.
- Also this is a minor critique but while I understand this takes place in a futuristic America, the use of the same names we currently use for areas or geography really took me out of the story. The Adirondack’s, Catskills, New England, and Lake Champlain were all named and used to describe land/territory and every time it just really pulled me out of the story. I don’t see any other critiques about this though so it may just be a me problem.
I did fly through this book though so while I have some critiques, they obviously don’t mean too much considering I struggled to put this one down. Ava Reid will forever be an auto buy author for me.

I’m not usually a huge fan of sci fi or dystopian fiction so I went into this one not hoping for much — though I’ve really enjoyed other works by Ava Reid. And yet I adored this and was immediately hooked. My problem with sci fi is usually that it can be difficult to get into or understand — but Reid had such phenomenal worldbuilding here that it didn’t take long to grasp and sink into. The dystopian elements felt like they could be a natural progression from our current society and climate, something that is scary yet though provoking. And the sapphic romance added a great bit of hope to the story.

This book was so nostalgic for me in the sense that it brought to mind all of the classic dystopian novels I read as a teenager. It brought a new, exciting energy to the genre by incorporating so many topics that have become increasingly relevant in our world.

I was gripped by the characters, even those that were only on-page for a short time. I cannot wait to read the bonus chapters that detail Lethe and Luka's connection.

I am desperately hoping that this will become a series of some sort. This book, while ended openly and with hope for the characters, left me needing closure for the characters. I didn't need a happy ending, just one that wouldn't crush my soul quite as deeply as this did.

I was fairly surprised with how much I ended up liking this. I don’t usually read F/F romance. I liked that this had elements of the hunger games, but it was still unique and its own way. I was definitely not expecting one of the FMC to be a taxidermist. I also found it interesting how they were called angels. It kind of reminded me of the movies Charlie’s Angels, even though I’ve never seen it. I found this story to be an odd book but in an intriguing way. There was one part where I felt that Ava Reid really tricked me, and I was almost in tears when it happened. I did find it weird during that part the FMC brushed it off, like nothing, but in the end it turned out fine. I do think that the romance needed to give a little bit more, especially in building up to the romance. I kind of felt like it happened too fast without giving us the buildup. I did not know that it wasn’t just gonna be a one book thing so I was starting to get annoyed that I was almost finished with the book and there was still a lot going on. I will most likely pick up the next book.

I was a little bit skeptical about this book and how much I would end up liking it but I am happy that I did ended up enjoying it. I look forward to seeing where the next book will go.

Thank you to Ava Reid, HarperCollins Children’s , and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

3.5/5 stars. A better-than-average YA sapphic dystopian novel that's reminiscent of Crier's War and The Hunger Games. I enjoyed reading this book, much more so than I did Lady Macbeth, so that's a win in my books; that being said, there were a few things I thought could be done better.

My biggest issue with the novel is the romance. It had so much potential but it just fell flat. It needed more development in the "in-between" stage. I felt like the jump from enemies to lovers was a bit quick and abrupt. As a result, I didn't feel much for the romance. I liked both of the characters on their own and liked the idea of the romance, just not how it was executed.

The other thing was that much of the plot seemed overly convenient. I understand that things needed to happen to get the two main characters together and have a reason for not killing each other, but it just didn't seem overly realistic to me. To that point, there was a twist around the 75-80% mark that eliminated part of this "convenience" issue for me, but it didn't undo the earlier parts of the novel and how they got together in the first place.

Still, there were plenty of positives. I thought the world was unique and immediately wanted to know more; I almost would have preferred if we had more world-building and more dystopia, and in exchange, less of the narrative. The concept of the book did a nice job of paying homage to The Hunger Games, as the author mentions in the author's note. It's similar enough to bear a resemblance but unique enough to stand on its own.

thank you to harpercollins and netgalley for the arc!

fable for the end of the world is the perfect combination. sapphic, dystopian, and written by ava reid? sign me up.

this book was so engaging and one of my favorites of the last few months. i instantly became incredibly attached to the characters and both couldn’t stop reading but also didn’t want to see anything bad happen to them. i loved the characters both separately and together and was (and still am tbh) obsessed with their romance. the dystopian aspect felt very true to the genre and purposeful. i've definitely read some ya dystopians that seemed to use it more as an aesthetic than to make a point and this was in no way like that. it seemed like a terrifying but possible reality. i cannot wait for this to be released so i can yap about it even more <3

Having enjoyed Ava’s previous works, I was excited to dive into this one. The novel is often described as a blend of The Last of Us and The Hunger Games, and for the first time in a while, I feel that’s an accurate comparison.

The story begins in a dystopian world where we meet Inesa, a taxidermist, and her brother Luka, a hunter. To avoid falling into debt with the powerful Caerus corporation, they hunt ordinary deer and taxidermy them for city dwellers willing to pay for the lifelike creatures. However, their mother, a hypochondriac, sinks into debt from endless medical bills and tests. When the debt becomes too much to handle, she offers Inesa as a tribute for the Lamb Gauntlet.

Entering the Gauntlet means Inesa must fight for her life as Melinoe, a Caerus Angel, relentlessly hunts her. The question is: Can she survive the Gauntlet and return home, or will Melinoe succeed in her pursuit?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While the beginning was a bit slow, it did a solid job of setting up the rest of the story. There's a romantic subplot, but it’s subtle enough that even readers who aren’t usually fans of romance would likely find it appealing. This book is perfect for anyone who loves dystopian worlds or is a fan of The Hunger Games.

A special thank you to NetGalley and publisher Harper Collins for the advanced reader copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Rating: 4/5

Fable for the End of the World is a sapphic dystopian novel set in a ravaged post-war society, reminiscent of The Hunger Games, but with a darker edge. Those in the dregs of society are suffocated by crushing debt, to the point where families can willingly choose to send their relatives to the Gauntlet to be slaughtered against the ethereal assassins – known as Angels. All for the purpose of entertaining the masses, of course.

Inesa is 17 and works at her families taxidermy shop, barely scraping by with the help of her brother, Luka. Their mother, mentally ill and addicted to buying things she doesn’t need, is consumed by debt and spends well beyond their means. As a result, her mother offers her up as a Lamb for the Gauntlet – sent to the slaughter and broadcast to millions.

“Don’t you try and make me feel guilty.” Mom’s pitch rises, and color comes into her cheeks. “It’s my right, as your mother. Neither of you would be here without me.”

Melinoë on the other hand is a man-made weapon, made to kill Lambs for the enjoyment of all those watching the livestream. She’s cold, calculating, and has never failed to kill a mark. Together, they’re pitted against one another in a stunning, brutal gauntlet – and as the timer ticks down, so does their fleeting time with each other.

However, the corporation backdrop in this is an eerie reminder of the current state of the world. Caerus controls all in this riveting dystopia – all the products you buy, what you search, what you talk about – all to sell you more products, to keep you subservient and in debt. Furthermore, the corporation backdrop was also laced with subtle feminist sentiments. Melinoë struggles with her marks, but also has the drive to continue due to the “decommissioning” process all Angels eventually go through.

“Once I realized it was a fight for survival. Every Lamb I kill is more distance between Visser and me, more distance between a final Wipe that will turn me into an empty, mindless doll, opening my legs numbly for a husband three times my age who I barely know and could never love.”

It was heartbreaking to see both sides of the story, from both perspectives. One turned more machine than human, and the other scrambling for survival in a world that spits on their lives, the only value being their death for entertainment purposes.

What I truly enjoyed about this was not only the budding romance and watching Melinoë and Inesa fall for each other against all odds; but the courageous fight they put up for each other and against Caerus. Their love for one another was sweet yet defiant, a ray of sunshine peeking through on a cloudy day.

“It’s a privilege, really, to desire, to imagine, to believe.”

The ending was left quite open, and left space for another book – potentially a series? Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair, unbiased review. *

I read this in one sitting. This is a dual POV story that takes place in a dystopian future where companies and governments have encouraged people to take on large amounts of debt. But when debts grow to big they use it as sport to hunt and kill someone to erase a persons debt via the Gauntlet.

I was easily gripped by the story and the more the world building and characters came together the more engrossed I was.

I loved that it gave hunger games vibes but was unique in the style. And I loved a sapphic enemies to lovers. Plus this is a great social commentary on the state of capitalism, climate crisis, and the lack of empathy present in a chronically online society.

Listen. I would read the phone book if it was written by Ava Reid. So I immediately rushed to request this ARC the second it became available.

Reid’s foray into sapphic dystopian fiction is all I ever wanted. Their writing is both atmospheric and grounded, creating a dystopian future that feels both removed from reality and also too close for comfort. The characters she created felt so real that their emotions became my emotions. The love story is the exact kind of love story that can emerge in a terrible scenario under crushing circumstances in a rushed time period. The hopefully ambiguous ending ripped my heart into pieces but in a good way.

In all honesty, I could be considered a Professional Ava Reid ARC reviewer at this point, with this being my third I’ve been blessed to receive. But there was something deeply special about this book. Something so fantastical and yet so grounded. Something that could make you sit and think “wow this could happen tomorrow”. And at the core of this book are two girls whose relationship, which is so beautiful and tragic, you desperately root for.

3.75 ☆'s
"So here we are, hating each other, repulsed by each other, both standing to gain from the other's demise. And yet-I owe her my life. And she owes me hers."

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an eARC. I had a fun time with this one despite its flaws.
Ava Reid's dystopian romance takes place in a society destroyed by debt and corporate greed. Our main character, Inesa, is offered up in a gauntlet to be hunted by an Angel named Melinoë who is still trying to recover from the trauma of her last kill. The cat and mouse game soon turns into an alliance between the two and they start catching some feelings for each other as the story goes on. Melinoë has been programmed to kill since birth, and is described as cold and emotionless while Inesa is the type to have faith in everyone even while society is crumbling.
Luka is another character in the book, and the younger brother of Inesa. He was also an interesting one and I'm excited to read his bonus novella once the book is officially released.
This story is heavily Hunger Games inspired and it has an intriguing concept, but I just wish we got more out of it. The pacing of the overall novel (especially at the midpoint) and the ending should heavily suggest a sequel since the story feels too unfinished. I really do hope we get a second book because I need to see these characters again and the way the plot can be headed is promising <3

I really enjoyed this book - it's exactly as advertised and Ava Reid's writing is beautiful as usual. My only complaint is that I wanted more. There were some parts of the story that I felt didn't get enough of a chance to breathe. It could've been twice as long I still would've devoured it!

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid.

This gripping, post-apocalyptic story combines thrilling action, rich world-building, and a heartfelt exploration of human connection. Set in the sinking city of New Amsterdam, the novel follows Inesa, a girl forced into the deadly Gauntlet after her mother incurs an unpayable debt, and Melinoë, the Angel sent to hunt her.

Reid’s prose is stunningly vivid, bringing to life a world ravaged by environmental collapse and corporate control. The tension between Inesa and Melinoë is palpable, and their growing connection feels organic and deeply emotional. The story is packed with high-stakes moments, but it also finds time for quieter reflections on survival, identity, and resilience.

Fans of dystopian fiction will appreciate the novel’s mix of fast-paced action and thought-provoking themes. Fable for the End of the World is a gripping and heartfelt read that lingers long after the final page. Highly recommended!

“You can hate the person who imprisons you, but you can’t hate the person who sets you free. So what do you do when they’re one and the same?”

⭐️⭐️

Fable for the End of the World is Ava Reid’s first foray into dystopian, YA romance. Heavily inspired by The Hunger Games, the story centers around Inesa, a teenage taxidermist who lives in a frequently underwater, impoverished town, and Melinoë, a genetically and surgically modified angel of death who’s been trained to kill the unfortunates chosen for the Lamb’s Gauntlet.

The gauntlet is a televised hunt where an “Angel” is sent to kill a sponsored “Lamb” for the viewing pleasure of the masses. “Lambs” are most often offered up by family members who have accumulated debt past the allowed threshold with the ruling corporation, Caerus, which controls all aspects of life.

When the hunt goes awry thanks to forest cannibals, good ole’ fashioned PTSD, and a rifle-savvy younger brother, Inesa and Melinöe are forced to rely on one another to survive.

But every moment they spend together allows for doubt to seed and sprout, rooting out fearful assumption and mistrust, making room for something tentatively hopeful to bloom.


~*~


To begin the review, let’s discuss the positives.

The premise of this book was interesting, if not very original or imaginative. Reid is a very technically sound writer with adaptive prose and a talent for keeping your attention. So, no issues with the baseline of storytelling here.

I also very much enjoyed the romance between both of these girls. It came off a little rushed, but that’s the nature of a standalone. Overall, watching them puzzle out one another’s feelings, as well as their own, was sweet to witness.

Melinoë’s chapters were especially compelling. Her pursuit to understand herself and her purpose was what kept me turning pages even when other aspects of the story made me falter.

Luca was a standout character to me, as well. A fierce younger brother, with a hidden, tender heart. His determination in the face of insurmountable odds made it easy to root for him.

On to the, unfortunately, numerous negatives.

Reid tried to fit a lot of social commentary into this one book. You’ve got corporate greed, global warming, the pitfalls of artificial intelligence and the ways it’s being used concerning pornography, society’s collective decline of empathy, female exploitation and abuse…and that’s just too much for this storyline to handle adequately. I was left feeling like I was being spoon-fed little mouthfuls of something profound, only for the book to end and for me to find myself still hungry.

In that same vein, Reid doesn’t allow for much subtlety, if any, in regards to those aforementioned issues. The characters all but clobber you over the head with “the point.” I very much miss the time when author’s allowed us to, instead, infer meaning from the text.

Another big issue for me was Inesa’s characterization. I believe she was meant to be a softer, more relatable character, but instead she comes off as weak and utterly inept at preserving her own life. She’s cursed with so much empathy and misplaced guilt that she quite literally almost gets her face eaten off by a cannibal because she can’t bring herself to use lethal force. This lack of action (and courage), also nearly gets her brother killed—which is something unforgivable to me, as an older sister myself.

Inesa seems to view the world as black or white and is unable to conceptualize a very real grey area where all living, thinking things exist. It’s almost as if Reid was trying to say that survival isn’t as important as being unfailing kind and selfless, and while that works in fiction, it doesn’t translate well here into reality.

(Potentially mild spoilers below, please tread carefully.)

Lastly, this story never comes to any conclusion on any issue or struggle that comes up within it. None of the characters succeed in what they set out to do. Nothing is resolved. This in itself, doesn’t bother me. I read The Poppy War trilogy (if you know, you know), and am a firm believer that not all stories need a happily-ever-after to be worthwhile.

However, the fact that there’s not even a mildly hopeful open-ending, or at least one character that I felt learned something significant, sat wrong with me. Nothing that happened to these characters was leading up to any real change or realization; it was just an exercise in futility.

Rating Explanation: Two stars for Reid’s superior writing form as well as for Melinoë’s compelling characterization.

(Thank you sincerely to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Ava Reid is such an amazing storyteller! Ahhh I loved this book. Dystopian, atmospheric, wonderfully told story. I will be highly recommending this one to anyone who will listen.
I felt so many emotions and I love that from a book.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and Ava Reid for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Listen, I'm not usually a fan of the dystopian genre, but I absolutely adore this book. Very rarely do I read a book, and there are no parts that I find to be slow, and this is one of those. There is such good world building and character development. Honestly, I just wish this wasn't a standalone. I need to know so much more, that ending was CRIMINAL (in the best way).

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

The blurb for Fable for the End of the World wove a fascinating story - in a world where one corporations owns and controls every facet of society, being in debt can be deadly. After accumulating enough debt, a person can go into the Lamb's Gauntlet, where they try to survive against a trained assassin who is hunting them.

It all sounded very Hunger Games-esque, and in the authors opening comments, Ava Reid writes that this was largely inspired by the Hunger Games and other dystopian literature. The problem is, that this book relies too heavily on YA dystopian tropes throughout.

There is little to no world building in this novel. The ravages of climate change seem to be the only effort at world building and catalyst for the events in this book, but it's as if the author thinks the audience already agrees that it's a problem and never really gets into what has happened, why or even why it's so bad. It's just there in the background for us to nod along with.

Genetically (and physically) modified assassins reminded me of the tv show Dark Angel, mutated animals, a game show created out of the deaths of children while an abundantly wealthy city thrives, felt straight out of Hunger Games, and there were other similarities with other titles but I can't think of them at the moment.

I also never really got invested in either of the main characters. They were on the edge of interesting but everything in this book felt so rushed that I never got enough information to actually care what they were doing. Truthfully, I didn't understand their relationship at all.

<spoiler>Perhaps the worst crime of all in this book though is that despite it being marketed as a standalone novel, the ending is clearly set up for the story to continue. OR it really is just a sad, confusing ending. Maybe it was the ending they deserved, but I read that last page and wondered why I had bothered reading anything that came before. I suspect if not for the ending it would have been worth 3 stars to me. But it's not. </spoiler>

I think a younger reader would have more patience for all of this than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the advanced reader copy. This book will be published on March 4.

3.75 ⭐️
I found the overall concept and the dystopian setting to be quite interesting. There are definitely hunger games-esque elements, but enough different and original aspects that make it feel unique and new. I liked both of the characters, but found the romance/relationship between them to be a little lacking. I just wish there had been a bit more tension and build up, because by the end, their strong feelings just didn’t feel really realistic/believable due to the rushed nature of it all. I enjoyed the world building and would have loved for it to have been explored even more as it was the most interesting aspect of the story in my opinion. I did feel as though the middle of the story felt a little underwhelming. Considering the characters were in the middle of the gauntlet, the stakes didn’t really feel high. There wasn’t as much danger as I expected and the moments that they were facing danger didn’t last long and seemed to be fairly easy to overcome. Overall, I had a good time reading this book and enjoyed Ava Reid’s take on a dystopian world.

I’ve been going back and forth on what final rating I would give this book but I’ve settled on 2.5 ⭐️⭐️!

I wanted to absolutely love this book because I like Ava Reid and the premise of the book is extremely interesting but in all honestly, I am just confused with it.

The premise of the book follows Inesa who lives in an impoverished town where everyone surrounding them is in enormous amounts of debt. Basic necessities are controlled through credits and if you incur too many credits in debt, you are entered into a live-streamed hunt where “Angels” (cybernetic modified humans) are tasked with hunting the selected target (in this case, Inesa) with the promise of guaranteed survival if the target can outlast a certain time period.

This is an extremely cool concept and I love the added mix-in of modified humans being used in this world.
However, I do feel this concept wasn’t carried out in a way that fully did it justice.

There were small details I felt were missing, such as, bullets not being mentioned at all. Somehow, these weapons seemed to magically just have bullets loaded at all times, with no fear of them ever running out. This is a minor detail but one that just irked me a bit. The lack of detail and description of the weapons and gear just took away from my ability to fully envision what was happening at times.

I also felt the overall “survival” experience really lacked urgency and realism, as well. It never truly felt Inesa was in actual danger.

My main issue is I never connected with either main character and their romance. The romance plot seemed to be lacking in a clear and convincing set up for the main characters and that bothered me a lot. I wanted to feel the love between both FMCs (female main characters) grow and blossom into the passion the writing expecting me to buy into but I never was able to experience this through how their relationship was set up. It felt rushed and awkward, even, and I couldn’t believe they felt as intense about each other as they claimed they did just given how fast it all moved. By the end of the book I felt I had whiplash with how quickly things had changed and the circumstances Inesa found herself in.

I truly wanted to enjoy this to its fullest and I do think there is still potential for the sequel to set things up better and fix some of the main issues. I will plan to read the sequel as the premise of this book is so intriguing!