The Quiet at the End of the World

The Quiet at the End of the World - Lauren James

Genre: Sci-Fi

Release Date: 7th March 2019

The world is ending as we know it . After a virus sweeps through the world causing mass infertility, Shen and Lowrie are now the youngest people left on the planet. Surrounded by their ageing community who protects them from the small pocket of London they've called home, they spend most of their days treasure-hunting around the formet bustling city, learning and collecting. It's not ideal, but they're happy. But of course, a secret that was keeping their life calm suddenly comes crashing to the surface and it's not just their family that's in danger now - it's the entire future way of life for humanity. Now, in the quiet right at the end of the world, they find that they need to make some impossible choices - who deserves to stay? Who deserves to live? and what makes somebody truly human?

This was a perfectly unique take on a dystopian society, and while I hold Lauren James to very high standards I was not disappointed at all. Lowrie, Shen and their unconventional family were totally lovable from the moment we're introduced to them and it was impossible to not get instantly attached to them all. I loved seeing the characters casually throwing around complex science, and they were all so diverse and unique. The universe crafted was vivid and well-described, and I loved the way the characters provided exposition using old websites and social media archives rather than just info-dumping through a huge chunk of text.

In certain aspects, this story didn't move quickly but there was no dead space between key points of the story. Compared to many apocolypse novels I've read, this wasn't the grim and dark tale that most are, this is a kinder, reflective take on it that looks into the different aspects of humanity and kindess in a bittersweet but uplifting way.

This was a twisty tale that kept me guessing all the way through.

Yes, it's full of futuristic science (you'll have to read to find out), and dystopian settings but this at it's core is an isolated look at the reality and vulnerability of what humanity actually is.

My only issue with this book is that I will never get the experience of reading it for the first time again.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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