Emily Barr

Timely and powerful; the new coming-of-age thriller from the bestselling author of The One Memory of Flora Banks. 1. Live your best life. 2. Uncover family secrets. 3. Trust no one What would you do when you hear the news that humans have done such damage to the earth that there might only be a limited amount of safe air left - a year's worth at most? You'd work through your bucket list, heal rifts, do everything you've never been brave enough to do before? Olivia is struggling to do any of this. What it is she truly wants to do? Who do she wants to be? Then out of the blue comes contact from a long-lost cousin Olivia didn't even know existed. Natasha is everything Olivia wants to be and more. And as the girls meet up for a long, hot last summer, Olivia finds Natasha's ease and self-confidence having an effect on her. But Natasha definitely isn't everything she first appears to be . . . I walked home. I kept hearing footsteps behind me, but every time I turned around, no one was there.

Things to Do Before the End of the World

Things to do Before the End of the World

Eleanor Luhar

Candyce Kirk

When I first read the synopsis for Things to Do Before the End of the World I was really excited, because it sounded amazing. I mean a thriller taking place while knowing the world would end soon? Yes, please! Unfortunately, this wasn't what I was expecting at all. It's pitched as a thriller in the synopsis, but it's not one at all.

The writing style kept me going and it was a fast read for the most part. Libby was an interesting character and my favorite part of this book was seeing her become more confident. Daring to open up her mouth and stand up for herself. Also, the development of the relationship between her and her parents was nice to see as well.

That's kind of where it ended for me though. Some aspects of this book just seemed to convenient and didn't make much sense. Also, not liking one of the characters that plays a big part of the book doesn't help the reading experience. Things to Do Before the End of the World just wasn't for me.

Karolina

What would you do if one day you discover that you have nine months left? Not because of a disease, but because all humankind and other species will extinct. When news breaks that humans have done such damage to the earth and that it’s too late to repair it Olivia discovers that it is the time for her to start living her life. She was always a shy person who preferred to stay at home than socialize with people. Her social anxiety was always standing in her way to make new friends or tell the girls she loves about her feelings. Now she needs to decide if she will spend her last months living in a way she did before or be brave and live her life as fully as she can. However, it’s not as easy as it’s said.

Out of blue, she discovers that she has a long-lost cousin that she didn’t even know existed. She decides to contact her, and their relations get closer each day. Natasha is everything Olivia always wanted to be. Her ease and self-confidence affect Libby, that she trusts everything she says. She convinces her that she is the only person that can help her to make her life better. However, when she joins Olivia and her family on the family trip, she realizes that Natasha isn’t everything she first appears to be.

BOOK REVIEW

It’s a little bit hard for me to review this book since I was prepared for a completely different story than that. I thought it will be written more in a dystopian way, however, it was a more teen contemporary novel. As much as I enjoyed this book, I was also a little bit disappointed.

I think the story overall is very well written, the plot interesting and the mystery very well structured. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I will like the main character Olivia, however, it’s only because I didn’t see all the qualities that we can learn about her throughout the book. I loved to watch her open and grow up. She changed a lot thanks to Natasha, and as much as she hurt her at the end I think it was kind of worth it. She broke the limits and finally started living. She spent her summer abroad learning how to forget about her fear. I really enjoyed her and Natasha running through Madrid and Paris and showing the magic tricks to people. Honestly, I would like to do it myself. Just run away to a nice city and perform to make money for hotels and food.

Well, as good as it sounds, I knew from the start that there was something wrong with Natasha. There were a lot of signs on the way that were screaming at Libby “Run”. I was so surprised that her parents let her go with her to Madrid and then Paris when they knew that there was something wrong. I think this was one of these moments in the book that I could not understand, it was just so stupid. Besides, Natasha was a very sneaky person that knows how to sell her lies. On one side I dislike her for what she did to Libby for the faults of Natasha’s father. I could feel the anxiety coming from Olivia after what Natasha did to her. If I would be in her place, I would die from a heart attack. It would be so terrifying. However, there was this one side that even I wanted to believe that she is there with Olivia just because she wants to get to know her better. I wanted her to be like a sister to her because Libby deserves to have more people that love her in her life.

The aspect of the end of the world situation was shown in this book from the perspective of “how people would behave if they know that they have only nine months left. I think that even if the chaos I expected to find in this book wasn’t there, the whole situation hit me hard. Especially in the situations when many species just started dying. This kind of situation opens your eyes because you can clearly see that there’s no coming back, no solution that will help you to survive. It was a very interesting background to show the change in the person. However, it’s very upsetting that when Olivia finally gets to the point she wants to live, she loses her time for a person that only wants to trick her, instead of with people that she loves.

I would like to thank TheWriteReads, Emily Barr, and Penguin for inviting me to join this tour. I was enjoying reading this book a lot and I was happy to review it. I hope you guys enjoyed my review and will read this book yourself soon.

Kerri McDonald

Thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m going to be honest with y’all right now… I went into this book thinking it was a straight up contemporary. Why? Because I clearly forgot about that fact after signing up and I like to go into books without really reading the synopsis. So imagine my pleasant (if somewhat confusing) surprise when, as I read the book, I started getting those distinct, thriller vibes!

This story follows our main character, Olivia, who is a painfully shy young woman who is trying to come to grips with the fact that the atmosphere of Earth will become unlivable in a few short months. She doesn’t know what to do or, rather, she knows she’d like to travel and come out of her shell, but she feels powerless to do so. Enter Natasha, her mysterious cousin who Olivia didn’t even know existed. Soon, she’s taking risks she never would have before and trying to live it up as best she can before the world ends. But Natasha isn’t everything she seems to be.

Even though I went into this book with the completely wrong mindset, I found myself enjoying it! I loved the sinister tone that flows throughout the story. It made reading this book an adventure in tension, lol. There were several times that I could feel myself getting anxious as we followed Olivia and Natasha on their adventures. I loved it, though! I also really enjoyed the writing. It flowed rather well and made this book an incredibly easy read. I flew through the pages! If you’re looking for a fast and compelling book that you can more than likely read in a day, this would be a good pick.

I also thought that Olivia was a fantastic character. She came to life on the page! I could feel her anxiety and all her varying and wavering emotions. I did have the urge to shake her a few times, but it was intriguing watching her relationship with Natasha develop. It was just fascinating and, I think, my favorite part of the book!

I will say that a lot of the plot was pretty straight-forward. I saw most of it coming, which isn’t ideal for a thriller, but I still had a good time reading it. And the fact that I really enjoyed Emily Barr’s writing makes me want to give her other books a go.

Final thoughts: This was a tense, dark young adult thriller that is fast-paced and intriguing. Though the plot is pretty straight-forward and the twists weren’t all that surprising to me, I still found myself really enjoying the writing and the complex main character. Emily Barr has a way with words that will make you feel almost as anxious as Olivia as you follow her story! If you enjoy thrillers that also feature a coming-of-age plotline, I think you would really enjoy Things to Do Before the End of the World!

Things to Do Before the End of the World

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