Kelly McWilliams

"Sixteen-year-old Agnes must escape a cult and a Prophet as she attempts to save the world from a pandemic"--

Agnes at the End of the World

The Handmaid's Tale meets Wilder Girls in this genre-defying novel about a girl who escapes a terrifying cult only to discover that the world Outside has succumbed to a viral apocalypse. Agnes loves her home of Red Creek--its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet. Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek? As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

sophia michaela

trixie

I was teetering between 3.5 and 4 stars, and I finally decided to give it 4 stars.

The story is about two sisters - Agnes and Beth, who grew up in a cult (they don't know it's a cult though). Agnes is the obedient, devout sister who doesn't question anything and is content living in the cult. While Beth is the polar opposite, she questions everything and would rather be anywhere but there. In a weird twist of fate, the obedient sister starts questioning everything, while the troublemaker decides to become docile. With the power of the patriarchs growing and a plague wrecking havoc in the outside world, the sisters have some serious decisions to make.

That is the essence of the story without going into spoilers. I liked the plot because it was an easy read. I read the story in a day, and the fact that it is a stand-alone makes it 100x better. The story is a bit predictable though, but YA and fantasy books are essentially the recycling of the same overarching plot. So...

I enjoyed it. I liked the characters, their character growth was good. I felt the sisters were pretty fleshed out, as were a few other characters. Reading a book that made zero effort with character development just a few days ago, this feels like a huge reprieve.

I do have a problem though. I don't know exactly what religion they practice, but I do realize it is an Abrahamic religion. Probably something related to Christianity as they mention the Bible a lot. But reading about something I was familiar with - even though the book is fiction, felt weird. I felt like I couldn't connect with that part of the book. If this doesn't bother you, then you should definitely read it!

nuha ✨️

I was teetering between 3.5 and 4 stars, and I finally decided to give it 4 stars.

The story is about two sisters - Agnes and Beth, who grew up in a cult (they don't know it's a cult though). Agnes is the obedient, devout sister who doesn't question anything and is content living in the cult. While Beth is the polar opposite, she questions everything and would rather be anywhere but there. In a weird twist of fate, the obedient sister starts questioning everything, while the troublemaker decides to become docile. With the power of the patriarchs growing and a plague wrecking havoc in the outside world, the sisters have some serious decisions to make.

That is the essence of the story without going into spoilers. I liked the plot because it was an easy read. I read the story in a day, and the fact that it is a stand-alone makes it 100x better. The story is a bit predictable though, but YA and fantasy books are essentially the recycling of the same overarching plot. So...

I enjoyed it. I liked the characters, their character growth was good. I felt the sisters were pretty fleshed out, as were a few other characters. Reading a book that made zero effort with character development just a few days ago, this feels like a huge reprieve.

I do have a problem though. I don't know exactly what religion they practice, but I do realize it is an Abrahamic religion. Probably something related to Christianity as they mention the Bible a lot. But reading about something I was familiar with - even though the book is fiction, felt weird. I felt like I couldn't connect with that part of the book. If this doesn't bother you, then you should definitely read it!

Shawna Delellis

This book was way more religious than I thought it would be but I actually really enjoyed it. The characters were great and the it kept you on the edge of your seat at times

McKenzie McWhorter

** spoiler alert **
           This was just not the book for me. I didn't realize it was a religious awakening story vs. the escape from a cult and apocalypse story I thought it was. 

It started really strong, I was intrigued by the cult aspect and Agnes needing to help her brother. 

But, using the virus as a background plot point purely to have this girl dig deep in herself to find her prophetic powers felt weird. 

There were just a lot of parts to this book and I don't think they came together well.

The Handmaid's Tale meets Wilder Girls in this genre-defying novel about a girl who escapes a terrifying cult only to discover that the world Outside has succumbed to a viral apocalypse. Agnes loves her home of Red Creek—its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet. Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek? As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

Sara Bean Duncan

I loved Wilder Girls, have a slightly unhealthy obsession with the stories of the downfalls of religious cults, and well-documented love of women who save the world storylines, so where did Agnes at the End of the World go astray?

About 2/3 of the way through.

I was hanging on every word until that point, and then something shifted in the writing, the plot, and the characters.

Devout and sequestered away (mostly) from the rest of the world, Agnes grows up to be a pious and diligent member of Red Creek - a town run by the religious teachings of The Prophet. Agnes takes her first step outside of the town to help her ailing younger brother with medicine not allowed within her fundamentalist cult's stringent rules. While a pandemic starts to burn through the world outside Red Creek, internally Agnes finds her breaking point and escapes with one of her siblings...and then we shift from plot-driven to...I'm not quite sure. 

Agnes at the End of the World would be a great read for those looking for a book that will leave them with some meditations on what it means to lead, to grow, and to understand their connection to their faith. For those looking for the gore and foreboding factors of  Wilder Girls  - you might want to explore other options.

Liz Griffin

A chillingly viable ultra-conservative cult in a post-plague dystopian world? Almost belongs in the “Current Events” section. Through Agnes and Beth, readers will glimpse hope and unity, faith and strength. For fans of The Last of Us franchise or The Village.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Agnes at the End of the World

Author: Kelly McWilliams

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: Dystopian, Cult, Doomsday, Religion

Publication Date: June 9, 2020

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 417

Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, violence, child abuse TW, child marriage and child rape TW, Cult TW, religion)

Synopsis: Agnes loves her home of Red Creek--its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet.

Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek?

As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

Review: Holy cow this book was absolutely amazing! I loved the premise of it and the story was riveting! I loved how the author wrote this and I loved the dual povs between the sisters. The character development was amazing and I enjoyed the world building. And while the virus was a bit of a mystery I think it was well suited for this book.

My only issue is the ending. The ending/solution to the problem felt a bit too clean and a little preachy, but it was still a great read.

Verdict: Highly Recommend!

Belle Ellrich

*I WAS PROVIDED A PHYSICAL GALLEY BY THE PUBLISHER IN RETURN FOR MY HONEST REVIEW. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION*

I had quite a few expectations for Agnes at the End of the World, especially because it's comped for fans of After the Fire by Will Hill. While this chunky read was decent to me, I did feel a little let down by it.

This story is told in dual, third-person POVs between sisters Agnes and Beth. Agnes has become the parentified sibling, meaning she's essentially become the "mother" of her kid siblings, even though her own mother is still alive. This is due to some pretty traumatic things her mother went through that are later brought up.

I thought that the beginning of this book started out really strong. We got to know Agnes and Beth fairly easy, and the hook and grab that the author produced did its job. I thought that the character development in the first parts was done very well, and the story seemed to be moving along nicely.

However, it was around parts three and four that the story began to dull. This book is very slow burn, so much so that I considered DNFing it because I was just bored! I actually chose this book for a class assignment though, so I had to finish it. And low and behold, it ended up just about the way that I thought I would.

Throughout part four, I found myself skipping over paragraphs and skimming parts because the drag on was leftover build up that really wasn't necessary. What was thought to be a story of two strong girls finding their ways out of the lies and evil of the Red Creek cult turned into "religion is important!" 

Don't get me wrong, I grew up Christian, and I still believe in certain things to an extent, but where this plot was surmised to be going and where it ended up were in two separate directions, and it didn't really connect for me. It didn't help that the ending was essentially a summarized epilogue.

All in all, this book was okay for me. I wasn't overly wowed by it, nor did I dislike it enough to rate it down further. Maybe if this book had been shorter, I would've liked it more. For that, I rate it 3 stars.

Manon van Heumen

I was just so excited to dive in. And let me tell you: this book did NOT disappoint. It actually creeped me out a little, as a life-threatening virus plays a big role in this novel. It felt a little too real. But all in all, this book has an amazing plot, and characters that felt very real to me. I can highly recommend it!

Agnes at the End of the World

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