Most people and other animals are stuck in loops - essentially repeating bubbles of time. There are, however, those who live amongst them. The chosen/survivors/unlooped need to learn to survive in this new world where one wrong step or sound may release a looper, who will attack the disturber before disappearing, taking some of what they have been interacting with with them. Coco is one such survivor. The book follows her as she grows up from a lonely twelve year old girl and meets others like her, some of whom want to bring back the old world, and others who want to make a new one. But differences aside, they all recognise that preventing dangerous structures like nuclear power plants or factories with toxic chemicals from becoming unlooped is important. But as the looped world begins to fall apart - a combination of crumbling infrastructure and the surviving animals and humans disturbing loops- Coco and her friends realise that they need to find a way to restart time sooner rather than later: It is only a matter of time before something essential breaks and destroys them all, looped and unlooped alike.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book! The not quite zombies but still dangerous and to be avoided loopers provided an interesting dynamic but without taking away from the focus on human reactions and relationships. I'm still a little confused about how things got the way they were, but it was an interesting world to spend some time in and I enjoyed reading about it.

The story switches between current events and diary entries to fill the reader in with what happened. While this was a clever choice to allow the story to take over a long period of time, I do feel like it potentially took away from the character and relationship development. The more fleshed out [arts focussed on what was most important for the plot and we got filled in with (usually very short) "oh by the way, this happened since the last chapter" segments. I feel like these part in particular could have had a bit more emotion to make up for the amount of time they sometimes represented. Although I feel like the individual character arcs could have had a little more depth at times, I did find the societal arcs to be rather believable. I found myself wondering several times which side of things I would have started on - both had good points - and I wondered where Coco would have ended up has she met Forrest first. I definitely feel like most people would have moved to some kind of middle ground as they did as the survivors developed new communities with homes are resources and relationships with the other survivors around them, and even started families. It's definitely easier to have more set in stone beliefs when you have nothing to lose. Although I do think that it would have been interesting to have seen the more gradual approach to this instead of the more jumpy changes we get from how the author decided to treat the passage of time. Although I do understand why - this would have been much longer had time gone more slowly.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. While I did like it, it was also a bit of a letdown. I had prepared myself for the possibility for a while since wrapping up a book like this felt like it would be difficult. I'm not sure what I was hoping for to be honest. I did enjoy the epilogues though!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own. ( )

4 / 5 ⭐️‘s

"The Never-Ending End of the World" by Ann Christy @annchristy.author

This was a really good post-apocalyptic story, different for anything I have read so far.

The world-building in this book is excellent. Christy does an excellent job of creating a post-apocalyptic world that feels both bleak and dangerous, but also filled with small moments of hope and humanity. The book's descriptions of ruined cities, abandoned highways, and makeshift settlements are vivid and compelling, making it easy to visualize the world in which the characters are living.

The plot of the book is engaging and well-paced, with plenty of action and suspense to keep you wanting more.

I listened to the Audiobook and it was excellent! Done by some of my favorite narrator’s. @plummertherese & @scflea

Out 8/8/2023!

This ARC was provided by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The Never-Ending End of the World by Ann Christy is a very highly recommended literary post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic.

Love it. Absolutely one of the best books of the year. The Never-Ending End of the World is a spectacular, un-put-downable speculative sci-fi, post-apocalyptic dystopian, and scientific mystery all rolled together in a wonderfully written novel. I love everything about this novel.

When the looping started, Coco was twelve-years-old. All the people she sees now are on a continuous loop that last various different lengths of time before they repeat - endlessly. She somehow managed to survive for years in Manhattan by mapping loops and keeping quiet. She has to map them to avoid their paths in search of food. The loopers ignore her/don't see her as long as she is silent but if she breaks a loop or makes a noise, the results can be deadly. After years of being alone, she meets another un-looped person and this sends her out of the city looking for more and a better way to survive in this strange world.

Coco is a fully realized character and you will meet some more survivors. The novel opens in year 39 of the loop and then jumps back in time to the beginning, covering the years in chunks of time - five years, 13 years, etc. until decades have passed. The narrative is written in five parts with an epilogue. Parts one, three, and five are from Coco's point-of-view and her journal entries , with parts two and four from the perspective of another character, Forrest. I was sobbing through the ending.

The Never-Ending End of the World is compelling and engaging throughout and really stands out as a totally original novel. This is an excellent choice for those who like literary novels as well as speculative sci-fi. Did I mention I love it?
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of via Campfire Publishing via Edelweiss.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2023/08/the-never-ending-end-of-world.html ( )