This is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Little, Brown Book Group UK, Atom in exchange for an honest review.

This book is not what I expected.

This is the Way the World Ends bills itself as a YA thriller of sorts, at least from the vague description, but it is more of a dystopian than I was expecting. When Waverly gets the chance to attend an exclusive party she could never afford, she jumps at going. Unfortunately while she is there, the world literally starts to end and she discovers there has been an evil plot by the elite and wealthy to make sure only the 'appropriate' kind of people survive.

I must confess, my favourite part of this book was before any of the party stuff happened. I was enjoying reading about Waverly and her friends, and I found the reveal that the world was literally ending to be jarring and not what I wanted. Yes, it's there in the title but so many titles like this are metaphorical, especially in YA. It seems to be trying to come across as much more of a Gossip Girl/Pretty Little Liars vibe from the blurb, and this is not accurate at all.

Putting that aside however, this book was fine. I think it skews close to the unbearable in terms of the 'wokeness' for me, and I say that as someone who adores representation in books. The rep was just a bit too deliberate and obvious in a clumsy way, with it being brought up almost constantly in ways which were unrealistic and didn't make sense. This is compounded by the villains, a bunch of old, white rich men. I hate people like that as much as the next feminist, but it was lacking the depth and realism to stop it being cartoonish. I support the intention, I just think the execution wasn't the best. This is especially clear when it comes to Freddie, the nice guy best friend who is just genuinely a nice guy for the most part, but gets punished by the narrative for...being male?

It also ends on a cliffhanger/sequel hook and that was a real pet peeve for me. The pacing felt a bit odd while I was reading it, and it was painfully clear by the end that it was purely to leave material for the next book. It didn't feel like a complete story by itself and that is always disappointing.

Overall, this book is a ton of fun in parts and it was nice to see such a wide range of representation. I just wish it had all been executed a bit better, and also that the blurb of the book told me more what kind of genre/experience to expect

Overall Rating: