Fable for the End of the World coming March 4th, 2025 from HarperCollins; 384 pages
Content Warning: Foul language, death, mild sexual content
About the Author: “Ava Reid is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of gothic fantasies, including A Study in Drowning, Juniper & Thorn, and Lady Macbeth. She lives in California” (Bio from author’s Goodreads).
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In dystopian New Amsterdam, a debt to Caerus can be deadly. If you rack up half a million debt credits, you’ll have to sacrifice yourself—or someone you love—to the Gauntlet. Inesa and her younger brother, Luka, have taken care of their hypochondriac mother ever since their father left without a trace. Although they have hardly scraped by in the impoverished county of Esopus Creek, their one unspoken rule is to never rack up debt, which they follow by running a taxidermy shop. Little did they know, their mother had already sponsored Inesa as collateral for her unnecessary medical debts. When Inesa is marked as the Lamb and her televised Gauntlet begins, she must not only survive being hunted by a genetically modified human “Angel” designed to kill but also escape the chemistry between them.
Fable for the End of the World began with a curiously unique storyline that unraveled into an intricate tale of love and survival. In the best possible way, this novel reminded me of The Hunger Games with its high-stakes plot and dystopian setting. Although there are moments and details where it may seem a bit too similar to Suzanne Collins’ series, I didn’t find it to be unoriginal. Reid did a wonderful job of slowly introducing the reader to the New Amsterdam society and incorporating the overwhelming power of Caerus while seamlessly moving the story along. There are many powerful themes within the pages of Fable for the End of the World, and the intricate enemies-to-lovers trope between Inesa and Melinoё made this book impactful to me. Throughout the novel, Melinoё’s internal battle between living with human emotion versus surviving as a man-made weapon is quickly made apparent to the reader, and the way that Reid uses the chemistry between her and Inesa to bring out her humanity is extremely powerful for the overall message of the story. Not only did I find the emotional connections in Fable for the End of the World to be complex and enlightening, but I also found that the unique setting and well-explained intricacies of Caerus, as well as the apparent power struggles in New Amsterdam, make this story an absolute must-read.
Fable for the End of the World releases on March 4th, 2025.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Callie Andrews, Pine Reads Review Writer, Social Media, and Web