Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

This is my first time reading anything by Ava Reid, and I agree with what most people have said, her writing is beautiful! Her prose is flowery, it's gripping, and, for the most part, easy to understand. But the times where the writing becomes muddled in Fable for the End of the World—typically during scenes with a lot of action or high emotions, which were a large part of the book—REALLY brought it down for me. I couldn't for the life of me understand what was happening, what was going on, and why for most of this book. It was kind of jarring reading a book where all the words were pretty but that still didn't lead to an understanding of what or why. I was really plugged in for the first 40% of the book and thoroughly confused for the rest.

Even though this Sci-Fi, Dystopian Fantasy has been comp'd to The Hunger Games, I've never read or seen that series, so I can't draw connections there. But there is commentary on climate change, marginalized communities, capitalism, social media obsession, a mega corporation who owns/runs the world, and other hot topic social commentary topics that felt underdeveloped/flat. I will say that the sibling dynamic was perhaps the strongest-written part of this story, but they spend most of the book apart so it's like…what's the point in paying attention to this at all lol.

I don't feel like I have yet to pick up a sapphic romance that I enjoyed, fully bought into, and rooted for, and this was no exception. Melinoe and Inesa had NO CHEMISTRY and it seems like Reid knew this because at least one of them felt inclined to show a romantic display towards the other (I can't remember which one of them it was) but they said something along the lines of not knowing why they felt like they needed to do that. Like girl, are you programmed or are you falling in love? It shocked me so badly when proclamations of love came in lol.

I think the most upsetting part about this book is it lends zero hope. It didn't make me as a reader feel satisfied that I'd spent this time with these characters. The concept of angels vs humans wasn't at all captivating, and the villain was a little too mustache-twirly for me. I would've loved to see more world building and a more thorough explanation of how the mega corporation came to be in charge. I think if you enjoy books with gauntlets and a feeling that time is running out, you'll enjoy this, but it didn't work for me.

2.5 ⭐️s

If Ava Reid writes it I will read it! Fable for the End of the World only solidifies Reid's genius for me. This YA dystopia give homage to The Hunger Games and its impact on Reid's writing and an entire generation that grew up with Collins's story. At the same time it adds Reid's particular flavor of horror and anti- institutional resistance. Mix in a hunter/prey sapphic relationship for romantic tension and you have a beautifully told romantic story with amazing atmosphere and stakes. While my personal favorites of Reid's are still A Study in Drowning and Juniper and Thorne, I would still highly recommend this book to anyone who is up for an emotionally moving dystopian tale.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have lots of thoughts on the resurgence of dystopian YA as Suzanne Collins revisits the Hunger Games with prequels and fantasy authors like Reid and Chloe Gong make new entries into the tradition. Despite being written 2 years back, their prescience captures the inevitability of corporate influence on government, environmental decay, and the monetization/degradation of our cognition by tech/AI. Reid takes these aspects to their brutal end in Fable for the End of the World, her sapphic, sci-fi dystopian romance that centers on Inesa, resident of the New Amsterdam underclass, who is consigned to a livestreamed death gauntlet to satisfy the debts of her callous mother. She is paired with Melinoe, the manufactured-for-tv assassin who must kill her, while contending with the system that cruelly shaped her.

The dystopian premise is great, both chilling in its relevance and social critique, where megacorp Caerus has become de facto government and subjugates society through enslaving debt, then mines societal attention through a livestreamed death match–an obvious nod to the Hunger Games which Reid transparently converses with. I also see similarities with Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy. Reid explores bodily autonomy in the age of AI, how internet/livestreaming culture has festered in an increasing crisis of empathy, and ways we are radicalized/victimized in the interests of an oppressive state. However at 400 pages, there are constraints to worldbuilding and developing an “enemies-to-lovers” romance that Reid doesn’t quite overcome. The quick reversal of Melinoe’s/Inesa’s relationship required wider suspension of belief, and sometimes the world felt partially formed.

Despite this, the pacing kept me glued and I enjoyed this a lot. Is it a groundbreaking entry into the dystopian genre? Not really. But it doesn’t set out to be. Rather it’s a love letter to the genre, a meditation on hope and intimacy in a collapsing world, that will resonate with readers who prefer character-driven narratives over earth-shattering, dystopian epics.

Ah, this was so amazing! Ava Reid has done it again! Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, this dystopian world also has televised murdering of teens... except this time with stone-cold cyborgs and a delicious, enemies-to-lovers sapphic romance. Both characters were absolutely amazing to read from their dual POVs, and I couldn't put this book down. Despite the dual POV, a consistent underlying tone is kept, making it incredibly readable for folks who may usually pass on dual POV- it was very well written. The world-building was insane; I loved the way tech, both contemporary and imaginations of the future, were used. This would also make an amazing fable for warning teens of the dangers of credit card debt and global warming. I highly recommend this book for teens and fans of dystopian YA.

This book is a dark, twisty, poignant gem in a world that needs its commentary so badly. The characters have depth and you can really feel their emotions pop off the page. This book will have you yelling and yearning all at the same time. I’m so glad a sequel has been hinted at, because this has been my favorite novel of the year.

I loved the dual POV's which kept me engaged the whole time. I loved the world and felt immersed in it while reading. I really enjoyed this dystopian adventure and the writing is excellent. The only reason I am taking off a star is because of the pacing in the middle. I will continue to read all works by this author.
4 stars

"But I think individuals are capable of compassion. Actually, I know they are. And maybe that's all it takes--at least at the beginning. Just a few people who care. And that caring matters, even if it can't cool the earth or lower sea levels or turn back time to before a nuclear blast."

Oh, Ava Reid, this book and your brain. This book is honestly a lot to handle with our current political climate. It's a YA dystopian novel (a clear love letter to The Hunger Games, as Ava states in the forward), but right now it feels more like a look into the not-so-distant future. Something that I love about Ava's writing is their consistent message that there is strength in being soft, in being emotional, and in loving deeply.

4/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

this was a fun, fast paced read. i wasn't sure to expect hearing sapphic hunger games but this took a different twist to the whole trials plot!

i will say that the connection btwn the characters felt sooo rushed and the enemies to lovers was nowhere in the room with us!

but i had fun and would recommend for a fast paced read

thank you to netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review

Inesa and her brother Luka are barely making ends meet with their taxidermy shop. From the outset, their mother is an unlikable character. Not only is she not providing for them, but she is racking up debt, ultimately leading her to decide to offer up one of her children for the assassination gauntlet. Inesa feels helpless because she knows that at some point, something like this will happen, but she still can't believe her mother would do something like that. Melinoë is such an interesting character, and as she hunts Inesa, she begins to question everything she has been taught. We get to see both girls grow and realize that life could be different. While also coming to terms with their sexuality.


Thanks to the Publisher and Net Galley for the arc!

This book brought me back to grade school when I first read The Hunger Games series and I loved every second. The writing is beautiful and I enjoyed engaging in both Inesa’s and Melinoë’s points of view. It is definitely heavily influenced by THG, so if you enjoyed that series, you’ll love this book. It does touch more on apocalyptic, climate change, and the circumstances of obtaining debt. Thank you NetGalley and Ava Reid for the early copy!

Ava Reid wrote Fable for the End of the World as a love letter to The Hunger Games and the YA dystopian genre as a whole and it certainly shows. As someone who grew up on YA dystopian, this book feels familiar and nostalgic but stands on it's own. I think there are a lot of teens who will love this story.

Initially, the comparisons to The Hunger Games overshadowed my reading experience and couldn't help but compare them in my mind. There's a lot of overlap (a central sibling relationship, a violent game turned into entertainment, a romance), but if you're looking for a book that feels exactly like The Hunger Games, this isn't it. This story is quieter and more character focused (very much in line with Ava Reid's other works). While it's not a Romance, the romance between Inesa and Melinoe is ultimately the plot. Once I understood what Ava Reid was doing with this book - telling the story of two teen girls discovering that they want to live not just survive - it really worked for me. Ava Reid's writing always draws me in and I somehow found the romance believable despite how fast their relationship developed. I particularly loved the ending which emphasized love and hope amidst the bleak dystopian reality. While the door is open for Ava Reid to return to this world, I'm not sure it's needed.

Thank you to the publisher for my arc!

" it's a shame we've started believing that credits are worth more than a life."

Hi so I'm in love with this book? to me it felt like therapy and a mirror of what our world could actually turn into and I could not put it down. I loved Melinoe so much and i will riot if there's not a follow up to this book because you really see her struggle with her own humanity and sexuality and just realizing just how bad of a situation she's in when she meets Inesa and their worlds collide and just AHHHH

the use of government propaganda in this and seeing how bad it is. its like Reid held up a mirror to the reader and was like HERE LOOK. this is what our world is turning into and AHH i loved it so much.

WOW!! This is truly a love letter to the dystopian Greene from the mid 2000s to 2010s era. But at no point did it feel repetitive or like anything I’ve read before. I am absolutely in love! Every page made me want to keep going. The characters and their lives are so great that they could have lead a more character driven story and it would’ve still been great. But the action?! It’s incredible. I cannot say enough about this book! If you love dystopian books or are a fan of the hunger games, you have to read this!

I enjoyed aspects of this book such as the world building. I’ve always loved the way Reid can make the surroundings come to life and make me feel like I’m right there. I liked our main character and her brother unfortunately it was the romance that fell flat for me. The instant love connection after what they go through just didn’t make sense to me, and the build up wasn’t there. I loved how it ended though.

What an incredible, beautiful, absolutely perfect book. Fable for the End of the World is a sapphic dystopian book, but it's also so much more. No book has ever been able to give me the same edge-of-my-seat feeling as the Hunger Games since I read it as a budding teenager...until now. Inesa and Melinoe are fleshed out so perfectly that you can't help but keep reading. The plot was tense, the stakes were high, and every relationship felt real. This was my first read of Ava Reid, and you better believe I'm now rushing to grab her other books and devour them. I loved this book SO much and it will easily be a favorite read of 2025.

This book is incredibly ambitious, and I have a lot of respect for what it is trying to do. I’m just not sure that it is successful in achieving it.

I’m very pro-criticising capitalism and for profit government and climate inaction and objectifying children and spectator detachment and—

However, I think a lot of these were ideas thrown at a wall to see what would stick, and there’s not a lot of robust worldbuilding underpinning them. How your reality was created shouldn’t be revealed 84% of the way through the book as a part of a twist (??). If the whole crux of the novel is that the televised death of a person is worth 500,000 credits to a corporation, why are those deaths not of the people we spend tons of time villainizing for being ‘weak’ for being trapped in the debt-ridden hellscape, not their innocent children? Where is the supposed viewer buy-in to see dead kids? What satisfaction do they get from that? It just doesn’t make any SENSE. Especially once we see that there is actual viewer SYMPATHY for the victims. Also I can’t get over the lack of collectivism, the lack of community or solidarity present. This tries to be hunger games without the philosophical heart that Collins put in that book.

The characters are interesting, the romance and pacing feels off, the vicious trained killers…fail to kill anyone successfully. Idk man. The big scary corporation pulls a lot of punches for something supposedly all powerful and ruthless. There’s no actual consequences for failing to carry out the will of said corporation.

And at the end…what has truly changed?

I’m sure there are people out there that will love this one, but it wasn’t for me.

It pains me to write a less-than-stellar review because this was a highly anticipated release for me and I love this author and several of her books, but this one didn't work for me.

This is a sapphic YA dystopian story, about a girl named Inesa who lives in a flooded and irradiated post-nuclear town. She and her brother survive by hunting non-mutated deer and taxidermy-ing them to sell. Their mother is a hypochondriac who rakes up enormous debts, and to settle those debts she gives Inesa up for The Gauntlet, a televised event where an "Angel" (a teen girl who has been surgically enhanced for beauty and battle) hunts and kills the indebted. Melinoe, this Gauntlet's Angel, has not been performing properly though, and this Gauntlet does not go as planned.

Pacing was an issue; once you get past the initial set-up of the book, very little occurs. The Gauntlet turns out to just be running around in the woods, and really would have benefitted from having some structure.

The worldbuilding felt lackluster, with many of the details of the world/characters feeling a bit random. I hate to say it but a lot of it felt like it was chosen to make this book seem different from the obvious inspiration of The Hunger Games, rather than having any sort of internal logic to the story.

The romance between Inesa and Melinoe goes from enemies to lovers in a blink, and didn't feel believable.

And without spoiling the ending, I did find it quite frustrating that we didn't get more, from the romance to the world to everything. None of the threads felt like they were tied up. It felt like part one of a duology, but everything I've seen online has called it a standalone.

Maybe this will appeal more to younger readers, I do want to acknowledge that I am older than the intended audience.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ava Reid's fifth novel, Fable for the End of the World, is a dystopian tale that is set in a world where a country is led by a giant corporation, and each citizen must offer a sacrificial lamb to join a live-broadcasted manhunt called Gauntlet to repay severe debts. Inesa is one of the unfortunate souls sold by her mother to be sacrificed on said hunting event, and as she struggles to survive against her chosen pursuer Melinoë, she discovers that there is more to the bleak system than meets the eye; she must choose the best ways to survive—for herself, her family, or the enigmatic chaser who is just as vulnerable as she is.

When it comes to the premise, it's more akin to The Running Man than The Hunger Games: a dystopian America in which individuals in less fortunate socioeconomic conditions have turned to violence by participating in a televised chase in which they must survive a swarm of killers. Under Reid's control, those in financial hardship are swapped for those who are in debt, and the free will to participate in the game is replaced with the assignment of sacrificial lambs to the hunt in order to pay off the debts in full. It's violent and mad, and as the world changes, it's becoming more relevant. With automation and digitalization taking full force, consumerism is at its worst point, and people are more focused on individualized survival than on solidarity.

Reid succeeds in creating an ominous environment so that each possibility the protagonists would like to pursue for survival diminishes their optimism rather than increasing their pleas for escape. It's a scary world that's becoming more believable as we compare the novel to real life.
Reid, however, is not just discussing autocratic governments (or perhaps technocracies, given how much technology and machinery are used there), but also pointing out that excessive consumerism is both the cause and the result of this development; people are so eager to acquire the newest and greatest products that the industry must operate at a high speed to keep up with demand–the quicker the production, the quicker the chase in great lengths, and the easier to fall into debts because of the actions caused by the fear of missing out (FOMO). It is indeed a cruel cycle of hell.

As one of the book's main protagonists, Inesa embodies the true survivalist spirit, akin to Katniss Everdeen. This is why the main character makes some sort of spiritual reference to The Hunger Games trilogy. There is little else the two characters have in common, though, aside from that spirit: Inesa is far more sociable and has a background in crowd mentality, whereas Katniss prefers to be alone. Her resentment of the administration was obvious from the start, but Inesa never engaged in any revolutionary movements, even during or after the hunt. This is the biggest difference between Fable and The Hunger Games.

This brings us to our second major character. Despite being portrayed as the government's heartless killer, Reid demonstrates that Melinoë is neither of those manufactured and marketed identities. She is compassionate yet has a temper, and she appears confused and unsure of herself. Reid reveals that this distortion has existed for a long time, even before Melinoë's fatal mistake, which exacerbates the discord—a telltale sign of someone who was raised in a manipulative environment with the sole purpose of training mindless killing puppets.

The relationship between Inesa and Melinoë is fascinating, whether it's about them, each other, or the government that sends them to a dangerous arena. Despite having similar feelings about their circumstances, their origins lead to distinct reactions when faced with threats, as they have no safe haven to hide behind: Melinoë's solitary training has transformed her into a passive shell who almost understands nothing about how to achieve happiness, while Inesa's vision of attaining freedom is to go far away from the system that takes them to this fate.

I enjoy how Reid is handling the narrative between the two characters, particularly their developing romance, by giving them a tragic star-crossed romance with no possible way to reunite and be happy together. Reid intentionally creates the impression of a potential reunion at the end, but it's widely recognized that the likelihood of such a reunion may be minimal due to the nation's strict control over them, leaving little hope for their eventual freedom. Some may object to the ending, which is likely due to the well-known pattern of preventing sapphic romances from having happy endings in fantasy and science fiction genres, as opposed to gay ones. Although I normally agree with this viewpoint, in the case of Fable, it is the only ending that seems to fit the stories of Inesa and Melinoë. Is it too harrowing? Maybe. However, not every story like this requires a happy ending or an actual revolution to be appealing.

Overall, I had an absolute blast reading Fable for the End of the World. It is my very first Ava Reid book, and I can say that it meets expectations. For those who love any kind of sapphic story, this one's for you. I can't wait to explore more of her books.

Ava Reid is becoming one of my automatic read authors. This book will remind you of "The Hunger Games" with its high stakes televised competition and sweet romance, but Reid builds a unique world that had me racing through the pages. In the Shallows the goal is to survive without accumulating too much debt. If you fall into debt you can't repay, the Gauntlet is an option, but mostly a death sentence. "Angels" are trained to hunt you in the Gauntlet. If you can survive these robotically enhanced hunters, you go free, if not, they kill you for the watcher's amusement. In the middle of this chaos, a sweet, sapphic romance blooms that will have you hoping that this gauntlet can end without bloodshed. I rated this 5 stars and really hope that Reid has a sequel planned.

If “sapphic enemies-to-lovers Hunger Games” intrigued you as much as it did me, you should definitely pick this one up.
Ava Reid pays a beautiful homage to the books that inspired her and created a story that kept me hooked the entire way. The dual point of view lets us see all the way women and more generally poor people are exploited by society in this dystopian world. From the start, you cannot help to root for Inessa and Mel to find a way to survive.
I loved the fact that Inessa is not the traditional badass heroine. She does have survival skills, but her way of rebelling is hope. That’s what being human is all about in this book: hoping and surviving.
I was moved by Inessa’s words, outraged when reading Mel’s. The experience was enhanced for me by the beautiful work done by the narrators of the audiobook.
The only reason I give it only four stars and not five is because the ending felt a bit week for a standalone. I get that Reid went for a bittersweet ending, but I wanted more out of it.