Things to Do Before the End of the World by Emily Barr || Coming-of-Age at the End of Times

Things to do Before the End of the World

One minute you're walking in the park, hiding from a party. Then you discover that the next nine months will probably be your last. Everyone's last. You realise that you happen to be alive at the time when your species becomes extinct.
You have to decide whether to go with it meekly like you usually do, or to do something brave, to live your last months with all the energy and bravery you can muster, to rage against the dying of the light.

Olivia struggles to live her real life as fully as she wants to. She plans out conversations and events in her head but actually doing them and interacting with other people is hard. When the news breaks that humans have done such damage to the earth that there's only nine months of safe air left everybody makes bucket lists and starts living their best lives - everyone, that is, but Olivia who is still struggling to figure out who she wants to be.

Then out of the blue comes contact from a long-lost cousin Olivia didn't even know exsisted. Natasha is everything Olivia wants to be and more. And as the girls meet up for their last summer on earth Olivia finds Natasha's ease and self-confidence having a effect on her. But what if Natasha isn't everything she first appears to be . . . ?

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Perfect for readers who want:

• A coming-of-age story with a shy, introverted protagonist.
• The end of the world as a backdrop.
• Which raises all sorts of interesting questions about how humans handle “The End”.
• A thoughtful look into what it means to face imminent death you can’t avoid.
• Secrets and betrayal.
• Sweet family bonds.

Many thanks to Penguin and TheWriteReads for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

I’m a sucker for any sort of apocalyptic setting. Cheesy end-of-times movie? Bring it on. World ending in literature? Yes, please! That’s what immediately drew me to this book, for better or worse. The idea of potentially dark and dangerous secrets was an added bonus.

Things to Do Before the End of the World is a contemporary coming-of-age story about a shy, introverted girl who finds herself as the world is ending. It’ll leave readers with plenty of things to contemplate about how people approach the end differently.

I think this was a case of this book not being for me. I had thought the sci-fi, apocalyptic elements would play more of a role, and they didn’t. It was just kind of a convenient backdrop to set up the coming-of-age story. It’s also not much of a thriller. It’s really just a contemporary coming-of-age, and I think it holds a lot of promise for people who enjoy that genre. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much my least favorite genre, so it just didn’t work for me, which is more of a problem with me than the book.

What would you do if the world were ending? Barr presents a series of interesting and varying approaches that will leave readers with plenty to think about.

I love books that make you think, and this is no exception. Barr has such a lovely way of writing, especially deep, philosophical passages that get at the heart of the struggle. I mean, imagine finding out that you have nine months before everyone likely ceases to exist. The emotions! The turmoil! It’s absolutely delicious and delicate and precious. There were times I was frustrated with how people were handling the end times, but it’s so true to real life. Not everyone approaches it the same way, and there will always be those who refuse to admit it’s happening. Barr captures all the complex, raw, emotional aspects of facing the end of the world.

This book is perfect for fans of coming-of-age stories. Libby really comes out of her introverted shell, and her journey is enjoyable to read.

I don’t think it’s going out on a limb at all to assume that most of you reading this are introverts. At least a good portion of you? So it might be easy for you to relate to Libby and her reluctance to go to parties or travel or exist in crowds. That seems reasonable to me, at least. Throughout the book, Libby is forced to come out of her shell or go to her death carrying all sorts of regrets. Not a particularly nice choice, but also not a particularly difficult one. It was nice seeing her become more confident and growing not only into herself but into the idea that she may not have long to live.

Despite having a depressing backdrop, this story manages to be wonderfully uplifting and ends on a perfect note.

You know how I usually say I hate open endings? Well, the semi-open ending of this book is absolutely *chef’s kiss*. This is an example of it working absolutely perfect. This book is not all doom and gloom, which is pretty impressive. There are plenty of absolutely beautiful moments that really tug at your heartstrings. The world doesn’t exactly just give up and cease to function just because it’s likely going to cease to exist. People have very different philosophies, and it leads to some beautiful scenes as people struggle to make sense of it all. That’s not to say there aren’t dark moments, because there are, but the overall feeling is one of hope rather than resignation.

The plot relies on an awful lot of conveniences, not all of which made sense to me.

There were a lot of scenes where I thought, okay, but WHY did that character do that/believe that? I mean, obviously the plot required it, but I wanted more solid reasoning. This was mostly a problem in the last 25% or so of the book, where it felt like every time something new was set in motion, I didn’t understand how or why the characters had gotten there. I questioned a lot of character reactions, which made it hard for me to fully buy into all the things that happened. I wish there’d been a little more build-up around this part of the book, since this was the culminating part and it felt a bit rushed and not well justified or grounded. The plot twists were also pretty obvious from early on, which just made me wonder why it took the characters so long to reach the same realization that I had 100 pages ago.

If the inability to have more kids is a sensitive issue for you, I would caution you about picking up this book. This may have triggers for you.

Of course, it may not. It may have just been me. I still want to caution anyone to go in with a degree of caution if this might bother you.

Libby really doubles down on the idea that she’s miserable about who she is, and she would definitely be a different, more capable person if only she’d grown up with a sibling. This is brought up multiple times and is a repeated mantra for Libby. Putting aside the idea that it’s just false in general (which was annoying enough for me to start with), it’s a perspective that really frustrated me and a potential trigger.

As the parent of an only child who desperately wanted siblings, and having had several miscarriages and knowing I’ll never have more kids, this line just made me mad every time it came up. I understand it’s Libby’s perspective and she wants a sibling, but gosh was it awful to keep reading. This isn’t a throwaway line in the book, and I understand it does serve a sort of purpose to the story, but honestly, if this hadn’t been a blog tour book, I probably would’ve set it aside the first time this came up.

About Emily Barr

I started out working as a journalist in London, but always
hankered after a quiet room and a book to write. I managed,
somehow, to get commissioned to go travelling for a year,
and came home with the beginnings of a novel set in the
world of backpackers in Asia. This became Backpack, a
thriller which won the WH Smith New Talent Award, and I
have since written eleven more novels for adults, one novella,
and three book for Young Adults, published in the UK and
around the world. I live in Cornwall with my husband Craig
and our children.

Website | Twitter

Other Reviews:

• The Artsy Reader
• Books, Occupation … Magic!
• A Book. A Thought.

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