The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold tells the story of Liz, who has already gone through the end of the world once and is set to do it again. I really liked the concept of this book and the characters were intriguing. Unfortunately, the writing was a little too rough for my tastes and I can't say that I'd recommend it.

Thank you Delacort press for and advanced reader copy of this book.

An interesting take on a dystopian novel. It reminded me of that movie “The Happening” mixed with a Lord of the Flies concept. I enjoyed the characters and the way they grew. I also enjoyed the dystopian world that the author created. It was a fast paced read that kept me hooked until the end.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. The Last Bookstore on Earth is a post-apocalyptic story with the apocalypse event being acid rain. The main character was more realistic than most dystopian stories because she had no fighting skills, no building skills, and no real survival skills that seems like more people would be like Liz than not. She survives on her stories in the bookstore and on the trade from people who use the store as a mail center of sorts and the escapism of the stories. Liz can be a bit much, but it was a readable story.

I wanted more. Sapphic distopian romance is a win but the storyline lacked something. Maybe just more time with the characters together? More world building?

I received a digital copy as an arc but couldn't get into it. I ended up waiting until it was released on audio to try again. It helped but I listened at 2x speed because I felt like the story was moving too slowly and I wanted to get to the action.

Some things just didn't make sense. (SKIP IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS) Why would she stay in the bookstore if the roof had a huge hole in it? Why would people be living outside in the woods if the apocalypse was weather related?

Overall not a bad read just not great.

Thanks to Random House Children and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for my review.

This story is about what happens after The End of the World. But it's not your average zombie, outbreak, esque story. In fact it was acid rain, simply called The Storm, that wiped out how people once lived. The story centers around teenager Liz and the bookstore she's holed up in since The Storm. It was where she worked before and takes refuge around the familiar, clinging to the once was while trying to deal with the what is. Her life is predictable, trading books and favors to those that come and go. But it changes when Maeve, a stranger, breaks into her home one night and ends up staying. Things are rough to begin with as these two very different girls find common ground and deal with danger looming both on the horizon and in the nearby woods.

I liked the spin this story took on the usual survival tale. It's not an adult with a military background, or a group of people scrapping by. It's a teenage age girl, dealing with the grief of losing everyone and everything she loved. She clings to the bookstore, despite it probably being the worst choice, but without it she would feel adrift. It's almost to the point of absurdity and I did feel a couple times like I wanted to shake Liz to get her eyes to open, but then I realized, she is just a teen. Just having graduated, she had no real life experience and everything she knows is gone. Clinging onto the familiar, when it's the last real remnant of your past, does make some sense.

Maeve and Liz's realtionship is the epitome of opposites attract. Where Liz has holed up inside the bookstore, Maeve has moved around and done whatever she needed to do to survive. Even if it wasn't always moral. Where Liz thinks in quotes and movie facts, Maeve is calculating and pragmatic. But they both find common ground with getting the bookstore ready and keeping one another alive.

Overall i really enjoyed this story and the different take on this kind of tale.

In a post-apocalyptic world,Liz Flannery, a young girl finds shelter in a small bookstore which becomes a message center and a place that people stop on their way to someplace else. She lost her entire family in a world ending storm of acid rain that killed anyone outside and burned holes in roofs and has created a safe space in the store. With threats of a second storm, even worse than the first the bookstore is visited by a mysterious young girl who earns the trust of Liz and eventually her love. Dark but well-written this is a story about survival and creating love in the midst of danger and chaos.

I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date, but my cohost claimed it before me and recommended it instead.

Unfortunately I had to DNF midway through this one. There is not enough worldbuilding that would be expected knowing the read-alikes this is compared to. It wasn’t ever gripping me. The only thing I liked were the literary references in the beginning.

e Last Bookstore on Earth is a poignant and atmospheric debut that masterfully blends post-apocalyptic survival with a tender queer romance. Braun-Arnold's writing is both introspective and evocative, capturing the desolation of a world on the brink and the resilience of its characters. Liz's sardonic narration, filled with literary references and dark humor, adds depth to the narrative, while her evolving relationship with Maeve provides a beacon of hope amidst the chaos. The novel's exploration of grief, identity, and human connection is both timely and timeless, making it a standout in the YA dystopian genre.

Oh boy, this is going to be a bit of a rough review.

I originally requested an ARC of this book because I thought it was right up my alley. I generally really like dystopian novels and I especially like reading books which are about books. This did have the touch of a bookstore as a primary setting and a main character who enjoys books BUT it very much failed on the dystopian part of the equation.

A central part of the plot, and a central reason why I didn't end up really enjoying this novel, is that the main character had a bad past memory that was being kept from the reader. It was hinted at and mentioned over and over again and though the scene where it happened was a bit fraught it just didn't seem like it was "enough" for the main character to feel so bad. It should have been revealed earlier.

Also, a lot of the details of the situation made no sense. The fact that so many characters weren't taking cover in buildings even though the biggest danger was natural disaster. The fact that running water was still a thing even months after the electricity had gone out. It was all just weird and didn't seem entirely "dystopian" enough.

The pacing was also off. I thought the backstory was interesting enough, seeing how it was an event that was somewhat predicted but then it all got jumbled. I think the premise is still a good one, I just also think there needed to be more development of the situation and descriptions.

Loved the premise and was hooked from the beginning, but my interest sort of fizzled out the further along I got. The protagonist is kind of aggravating, and at first I thought that was intentional and leading towards some sort of growth, but by the end, she was still playing the part of damsel in distress and had little to contribute towards solving any of the problems she was facing. Didn't find the romance convincing either, though to be fair, I'm almost never a fan of YA romances.

While the comp titles and premise of this novel appealed to me, the story didn't grab me as I'd hoped. By the halfway point, not much had happened, and I didn't have a firm grasp of the world-building. The details of the storm and how it came about aren't well-explained. As someone who works in healthcare, I doubt Liz would have survived such a serious injury from the generator. That being said, I liked Liz and Maeve and their contrasting personalities even though their actions crossed into juvenile territory a few times.

If you've got to take cover somewhere in this situation, a bookstore isn't a bad choice. This is a novel I'd recommend to the younger YA crowd.

I wish I liked this one since the premise is so cool, but it was a DNF. I found the beginning didn't really capture my interest and it was hard to be sucked in.

I love a dystopian setting and this was a lovely journey. I especially loved the references to popular books in the bookstore. Liz learning to trust Maeve and seeing the things Eva had been hiding from her along the way was so beautiful woven that I had a hard time putting the book down at times. The pacing lulled a little in spots and it was tedious getting through some of the world building through flashbacks.

This felt like a book I should have enjoyed but I could not connect to the characters to care enough about what was happening.

Read if you like: dystopian, end of the world, queer rep, a bookstore as the main location, survival

If you've read some dystopian novels you know what you're getting into with this. It's well written, it has a main character who may be neurodivergent (though this is never said outright, so keep that in mind) who stays in a bookstore after an event kills off most of humanity. There was a moment that I thought it was going to go a different direction than the standard expectation, but this is for the most part your standard story of world's end and now time to survive. If you enjoy that, you'll enjoy this.

Great premise but I just did not like this book. It had some funny bits but it didn't do much with its excellent concept. No chemistry between the leads. The bookstore could have been any shop - the story had nothing to do with reading or books. A lot of stuff didn't make sense. You can't get sucked into a generator - it's not a jet engine. Liz's injury should have had consequences, especially in the setting, but it was forgotten about. Liz was helpless and annoying. The book was overall a big disappointment.

Thank you for the ebook arc. This book had huge potential but it just didn’t hit the mark for me. The Mfc just seem whiney and wants everything her way and argues with everyone she comes across that she needs to stay in the crumbling bookstore instead of heading to safer places. The story follows MFC after an apocalyptic storm wipes out a huge group of humanity and as she bunkers down with a friend at the bookstore after the friend leaves she is left alone taking care of the bookstore. Mauve comes along and tries helping her take care of the bookstore. Also the little blurbs about the alien overboard got annoying first time was funny but to mention it every time she goes on a poor me rant

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold has a very interesting premise that did not execute. The story takes place in a bookstore after an apocalyptic storm that kills a large amount of people and that is predicted to occur again shortly. Liz is living in the bookstore that is starting to fall apart, with little supplies, when Maeve appears and changes Liz's life.
The story is so slow that you wonder if anything is ever going to happen. The event that occurred that destroyed the town is slowly meted out in memories so it's impact is minimal. There is very little conflict or struggle for people living in a post-apocalyptically time. It's more about the romance between the characters and that is even minimal and vague. It just did not live up to what I expected it would be. It seemed almost like a shell of a story that wasn't fully formed but perhaps you will see something in the story that I didn't and enjoy it more.
Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press for the advanced copy.

Solid YA post-apocalyptic story with a slow burn sapphic romance.
Could have used more wold-building and depth. The switch between pre and post-apocalyptic event added to the mystery but was frustrating at times to lack important information. Appreciated the morally grey characters and realistic take on humanity - from half of Liz's family blatantly ignoring all the warning signs leading up to the toxic rains to Maeve's actions in present day to Liz's complete lack of survival skills.