Lesbian Hunger Games. This was nostalgic YA dystopian at its finest. I do wish the romance was more fleshed out and slow burn. Really enjoyed.

This book gives everything I wanted it to give. If you, like me, had an obsession with Neal Shusterman you'll absolutely love this book. This book felt like a combination of this Hind from Sarah J. Maas' Crescent City and and Neal Shusterman's Scythe universe.

This book includes:
- narcissist parents
- sapphic love
- deadly games
- survivalism
- dystopian future world
- oligarchy

This book uses themes and inspiration from Hunger Games to image a dystopian future where a single, greedy monopoly as destroyed the environment and turned New York into a jungle of poverty and despair. Instead of children reaped from districts, these games run almost non-stop throughout the year and feature a single disenfranchised individual (or the child of one) and watches them be hunted by biologically enhanced individuals called Angels. Once human, these Angels are ripped apart and rebuilt as beautiful killing machines and are left with no knowledge of their former lives after all of the modifications and training are complete. Dare I say this book is almost like the Lorax meets the Hunger Games meets the terminator?

I think it is likely that some readers will come across this book and be offended that it is a bit of a fanfiction of HG, however, it did not bother me. All media that is a "reimagining" are just fanfiction. The Lion King is Hamlet fanfiction. Wicked is the most blatant The Wizard of Oz fanfiction. Percy Jackson is Greek mythology fanfiction. Doesn't really bother me as long as it injects something new and interesting into the original story and no ones work is being ripped off too aggressively.

"Fable for the End of the World" is beautifully written with dynamic characters. Its honest in its portrayal of humanity and challenges the reader by holding a mirror to us and forcing us to decide how we would react in such a broken version of our future. It reflects a likely reality of what the United States can become under continued leadership by horrible crooks. It is boldly political and takes the opportunity to showcase queer women as heroes. I liked it!

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Ava Reid, and HarperCollins Children's Books for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863 and it will be posted to my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/ and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Dystopia girlies we are so back!!! As always, I'm in awe of Ava Reid's writing. The bleak, grim, dystopian setting was very different from her other books, but it was still written just as vividly. I loved the themes of this book and how they were handled, the plot, and of course the characters.

Mel is an Angel, a state sanctioned hunter to take down a sacrificial "lamb" for entertainment. Angels are taken away from their families at a young age and horrifically modified, physically and emotionally to turn into the most entertaining hunters possible. Enter lamb, Inessa. She lives in the part of New Amsterdam that's poverty stricken, with limited resources, a terrible awful mother, and a brother who she would die for (but as all siblings do, never verbalize that or any sort of affection ofc). Unsurprisingly, her trash mom nominates her as a Lamb for The Gauntlet, a reality show of sorts where an Angel (Mel) will hunt her down, purely for entertainment but also monetary gain for her terrible mom. Her brother Luka (who I absolutely loved) is furious and tries his best to help her as the hunt almost immediately kicks off. As the hunt takes an unexpected turn, Mel and Inessa end up having to work together for survival.

I will say, the reason it's not a 5 star read for me is that the pacing, while quick, was almost TOO quick. I felt like I just sat down to read it and somehow I was already more than halfway done, and then a few more blinks and the book was over. Things were moving at breakneck speed lol and while I do like a fast paced book, I actually would have liked if things slowed down a bit. The plot and romance both felt super quick.

Also, with they way it ended I really hope there's a sequel! I think it's near impossible to write a satisfying dystopian standalone, and there seems to be much more to explore with this world!

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for the ARC!

I genuinely could not put this book down and finished it in one day. I was completely invested in the story arc which followed incredibly structured settings, worldbuilding, and characterization that made this book so well written. I would recommend this book to teens and adults, particularly if they were fans of other big dystopian series which feels so similar to this title. I absolutely loved every minute of this reading experience!

3.5 Rating

Thank you to NetGalley and Harpercollins for an e-arc to review.

Okay, let’s talk about A Fable for the End of the World. First off—what a premise. A dystopian society where debt collection has escalated to this brutal, almost gladiatorial spectacle? Absolutely wild in the best way. It immediately drew me in with how creative and terrifyingly plausible it felt.

That said, I did feel the world building didn’t quite live up to the brilliance of the concept. The bones were there, but the details of how and why the world ended up like this were sprinkled in pretty late. I kept waiting for more context to ground everything, and when it finally came, it was almost like, “Ah! There you are.” I just wish it had come a bit sooner.

Now, about the romance—it’s definitely a slow burn, and there’s a bit of that enemies-to-lovers vibe going on. But I’ll be honest, I had a hard time feeling that deep connection between the characters. Maybe it was the pacing, maybe it was the emotional distance, but something about it didn’t quite click for me emotionally.

But let’s talk about that ending. Whew. It totally stuck the landing in a way I didn’t see coming, and despite the few things that didn’t fully work for me, it has me seriously hyped for the next book. Ava Reid definitely knows how to leave a reader wanting more.

Given Miss Reid was inspired by the dystopian queen Suzanne Collins I can say those that enjoy her will enjoy this story.

If you like
-lgbtq relationships
-enemies to lovers
-hunter vs prey
-dystopian
-Middle fingers to the Capital vibes
-cyborg(esque) strong female bounty hunter?
Than this book may be for you
Trigger warnings
-murder/violence
-mental health
-absent parents
-parentification of eldest daughter

Iridescent Fairytale's March 2025 Pick

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a review copy of A Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid in exchange for writing an honest review and promoting the novel.

A Fable for the End of the World is a haunting, lyrical tale set in a world teetering on the edge of collapse, where myth and reality intertwine. This story is perfect for anyone who just finished watching the Last of Us and cannot get enough of the dark dystopian world. With A Fable for the End of the World, Reid blends of dark fantasy elements and stark emotional tugs, this story latches on to the reader and won’t let go until you reach the back board of the book.

If you liked this, then you might like…
The Last of Us
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Elements:

-LGBTQIA+
-Apocalypse
-Found Family
-Morally Gray Characters
-Emotional Storytelling
-Dual POV
-Enemies to Lovers
-Sci-fi
-Humans with supernatural abilites



- Please note exact ratings are not shared with our audience on social media. They are only used when considering whether a book will be one of our monthly picks.

Ava is so good at weaving worlds that suck you in. They create these characters who require growth and learning how to be strong and she has basically perfected it at this point. This book was very much inspired by hunger games with obvious differences.

I loved Luka and the sibling relationship him and Inesa shared.

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.