So obviously I have to be super careful with not really revealing spoilers about this book. But here is what I will reveal..... A Boy and His Dog at the End of The World is a tragic yet hopeful tale of loyalty and loss. The loss of a beloved pet, the loss of an unknown world. The loyalty of a dog and it's owner. It's slow and steady wins the race with this tale. There's lots going on but very little happens! What's important is it's a touching and engrossing novel. Gris will stay with me for a long time.

Griz is growing up in a post-apocalyptic world where mass-infertility has decimated the human population. His community is tiny and life is difficult. When a stranger steals the family’s dog, Griz sets out to get her back, on a journey that will take him from his tiny island on the Outer Hebrides across Scotland and Northern England. Perfect for fans of The Road and Station’s Eleven.

Griz is our main character and protagonist. In a post apocalyptic world Griz lives pretty isolated with his family and dogs. When a stranger comes to their little strip in the world and takes his dog he must go out into a world he has never ventured into to reclaim his dog. Armed with the stubbornness of the young, his boat, his other dog and some food he chases after the thief. Heading to the unknown, danger is everywhere and the reader follows through Gritz written accounts of all he endures and survives whilst trying to get back what belongs to him.

It starts of relatively slow, builds up and offers the reader a different slant on the apocalypse, it is well after the event and we get snippets through Gritz telling. Whilst we have slow build up we do have a fair amount of action, scenes that push some darkness and reminded me of a few of the apocalypse movies/books I have came to love over the years. That said I felt I had a lot of questions that for me didn't have answered how I would have liked. I am very much in the minority as this book is loved by so many and I would absolutely recommend reading it and seeing how you find it.

There are so many great things that really adds to the solemness and emptiness of our world without being over the top and in your face. The situations Gritz finds himself in, the reactions and actions mirror the age of the character and yet some have you thinking he is far older. We see Gritz go on a journey of personal growth, starting out as a reckless kid and becoming closer to an adult after the exposures and hardships along the way.

Whilst there were things I enjoyed and the writing engages you quickly I was left underwhelmed by the things I would have liked addressed or explored further. As I said I am in the minority as this book is overwhelmingly loved by so many and I can be a picky fussy muppet with some aspects of books and I think this time it was definitely me, I needed more. I would absolutely read this author again and even this it would be awesome for them to revisit this world/characters again, 2.5/5 for me this time.

How much do you like dogs? If someone stole your dog, do you love it enough to take off after the thief through a dystopian wasteland with little idea what waits around every corner? DO YOU?

Well that's just what our protagonist Griz did - and let me tell you - this story is one that you need to pick up.

There is a lot that can be said about this book, and I'm not sure I'm going to do it justice, but here goes.

First of all, Griz. I absolutely loved this character (and not just because of the book nerd connection). The progression of Griz, and the changes in personality as they learned about what had become of the world were fascinating. These changes in personality and feeling are easy to see due to the diary format. We have a straight look at how Griz has reacted to every situation or what they think the future may hold. For a book that isn't overly long we are brought on a fantastic journey with our protagonist. While there are very few other characters (more on this later) each one of them is incredibly important and well written.

The setting reminded me a lot of The Road - but then again this is quite common in the genre. I liked how this one is set in areas which I am quite familiar with, and the description of deserted streets of Blackpool and more. Traversing through these now depopulated streets gives us a stark example of what the world will become once humanity has departed.

The storyline of "how did we end up here" borrows a little from Children of Men (as far as I know, I have only seen the movie). The population of the Earth has shrunk after almost everyone (99.999%) of people are affected by a virus called The Gelding which sterilised the population. This is built on through Griz and what little information we gather throughout. Obviosuly, some of the information given to Griz may not be true....

As for what else happens. You'll just have to read it - I'm already entering too much into spoiler territory.

I thought this was brilliant. If dystopian fiction is your thing, I think you'd love it.

Highly recommend.

Imagine living on a remote island with only your parents, sister and 2 dogs - there's nobody else left in your little part of the world as the number of people is increasingly low as the birthrate has fallen dramatically. This is the position that Griz is in - hearing stories of life in the lands beyond but never able to go there. That is until someone steals his beloved dog, and his only thought is to jump in a boat and follow! It just showed the bond created especially when your world is so uncomplicated and focused on those around you.

As Griz explores deserted towns and cities we get a real feeling of just how different the world is - Griz can only imagine things we took for granted and it's brilliantly told as Griz speaks to us in each chapter of what life must have been like in our 'crowded world'. Griz is extremely brave in taking on this pursuit and just shows the lengths we'd all go to save those most important to us - be they human, or animals!

The innocence of Griz is the main thing I took from this book - - his wonder at hearing birdsong, wondering what life was like full of noise, cars, even seeing animals in zoos. Being so remote on the island with his family, everything new he sees while exploring is a revelation and his time opens his eyes to a different way of seeing things .

It's difficult to really say much more without giving away too much, but I thoroughly enjoyed being in the world of Griz and loved the twists and turns that awaited him and me as a reader! A book that takes you on a dark but memorable journey!

Brilliant. Given the title it won't be a spoiler to reveal our story takes place in a dystopian future where the land is empty apart for a few survivors. It is my first foray in what I suppose is a whole genre of literature (literature to strong a word/). The autobigraphical style , the road trip through an empty land. Brilliant, loved it. The twists and turns along the way kept you fully engaged on Griz's adventures.
A small criticism, and appreciate that our raconteur was a semi-educated, juvenile and there needed to be a level of consistency. However, the number of times that the next twist was pre-announced in some way, "Little did I know then", "Luckily, because what happened next" that kind of reflection increases the wordage but doesn't enhance the reader's experience. It's a small point, that doesn't stop the whole book from being a great read.

Goodness me was this a tense book, one that I had to keep putting down so I could catch my breath! The author has asked specifically for nothing to be given away so this will be quite vague.

Poor Griz, his dog Jess is stolen and he’ll do anything to get her back, including leaving everyone and everything he loves and knows! I really admired Griz as I’m not sure I would have been that brave. Living in a dystopia you don’t know what you’re going to face do you? I’m such a wuss and hate confrontation, but then I did love the dogs I grew up with so who knows, maybe in my impetuous youth I would’ve felt the same way as Griz and set off to rescue my dog!

As I mentioned above this was such a tense read. The pace wasn’t fast but rather a slow burn as the author built up a fascinating post collapse world. I loved journeying along with Griz as he chased the thief and discovered the ruins of the world. I was constantly wondering if he would he find his dog and what would happen if he came face to face with the thief again. Would the thief gave her up without a fight? Would Griz be able to get back home again?

If you want to find out what happens you’re going to have to read it, and if you do I hope you’ll enjoy the last line as much as I did.

If you enjoy dystopian novels I thoroughly recommend this one.

‘Maybe if this were a proper story it would start out calm and lead up to a cataclysm, and then maybe a hero or a bunch of heroes would deal with it.’

This is an enjoyable, fast-paced addition to the dystopian novel genre, knowingly nodding along the way to its predecessors, and has at its centre the likeable character of our narrator, Griz. The book is in the form of a journal, and tells the story of a stranger coming by boat to the remote Scottish island on which Griz and his family live, in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event which takes its time to unfold, something having left the human race unable to reproduce. So, as it now stands the human population is estimated to be only 8,500. The stranger is welcomed into the home, but by morning he has gone, and has taken one of Griz’s two dogs (Jess) with him. Unthinking, Griz sets off in pursuit, accompanied by his other dog, his faithful companion for the book, Jip.

You pretty much have to suspend your disbelief as the chase develops, as Griz finds a map that he uses to track down the stranger, Brand. Along the way he meets a French woman, and there is some fun to be had in their linguistic confusion to understand each other (Griz thinks she is called John Dark, which is of course a play on Jeanne d’Arc), and he encounters dangerous situations and wild animals along the way.

I won’t go into the plot, and the twists along the way (including one that is a stonker!). There are some serious themes here, which makes the book seem to hover somewhere between a YA read and a more adult one, but it rattles along at a fair pace and will have you siding with Griz in his pursuit to recover his dog. From page one the theme of the book is obvious:
‘If we’re not loyal to the things we love, what’s the point? That’s like not having a memory. That’s when we stop being human.’

I did enjoy the book. OK, it’s not highbrow lit-fic, and maybe doesn’t add anything new to our current obsession with dystopian fiction, but it is clever enough in its own way, and you will find yourself hoping for as happy an ending you can get in an end-of-the-world kind of book!

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

The world (as we know it, at least) has come to an end - not with the bang of a nuclear bomb, but a whimper as humans lost the ability to reproduce. Babies were born to only the fortunate few, and as the population aged and died, the number of people left plummeted.
A generation or so on, Griz lives on the island of Mingulay, almost but not quite the most southerly island of the Outer Hebrides. It's a hard, barely above subsistence level, life, but above all, it's lonely. Apart from immediate family of parents and siblings, Griz has seen only a handful of people. The nearest neighbours live far away on Lewis, the northern-most island of the chain (if you're not familiar with Scottish geography, look at the weather forecast map to see series of islands off Scotland's north-west coast to grasp the distance between the two). To see anyone else is extremely rare, so when Brand shows up in his red sailed boat, he's given a cautious welcome, but not entirely trusted. Unfortunately the family are not on guard against his charm and seeming good nature, and the next morning he sails away with Griz's beloved dog, Jess. Filled with anger, Griz isn't prepared to put up with this underhand stealing of Jess, and before the rest of the family are aware of what has happened, Griz is in a boat and underway, chasing Brand - at first through familiar waters off the Scottish coast, then on foot across a country reclaimed by nature.


I seem to have been reading quite a few post-apocalypse books recently (more reviews to come) and this is one of my favourites. It's nice, for starters, to have such a novel set in locations that are familiar to British readers. And it's nice to not be constantly criticizing the ways in which the characters have managed to survive during and after the wiping out of civilisation. I tend to get too involved in the practicalities of post-apocalypse existence, ready to spot anything I consider a mistake, and I was delighted to see Griz's parents having taken some of the measures I would have considered (though I'm a land-based person, and would never have thought of acquiring boats)


The story, as told by Griz in an account scribbled down at a later date, is engrossing and compelling. Despite Griz having set off on what frankly appeared to be a wild goose chase, I really wanted to see the rescue mission succeed and Jess brought home again, but there were just a few little things that let the book down as a whole. I've heard others refer to this as more of a YA, than adult, novel, and in some respects I'm inclined to agree. The plot structure was just a little too simple for me - a sort of straight run from A to B to C etc, with adventures and surprises along the way, but no real unexpected detours - and somehow it was all just a little too upbeat, not the unrelieved misery that I half-expect from an adult post-apocalyptic novel. Otherwise, it's a great read. Enjoy it, then pass it on to your teens.

Sometimes a book comes along that takes you completely by surprise. It starts off as one thing, but then takes you on a journey that goes in a completely different direction to the one you expect it to. A book that moves and inspires and makes you think, touching you right to the depths of your soul. This is one such book.

I don’t know quite what I expected when I started A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, but it most definitely wasn’t the incredible and beautifully written book that I got. I’ve been lucky enough to read several debut novels over recent weeks, all of which have been strong and impressive reads, but this one takes it to a whole new level. A stunning book that captured my imagination from the very first page, this was a story I did not want to end.

It’s been some time since I read a book set in a dystopian future and A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is right up there amongst the very best. I fell in love with Griz from the start. His strength, loyalty and dogged determination to find and rescue his four legged companion stole my heart as we travelled with him into an isolated and unknown world.

This is a difficult book to review as I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I also want to do this book justice. It’s impossible to put into words just how much I was moved by Griz and his story. It tore my heart into tiny pieces, shocked and devastated me, but also made me think about what it means to be alive and what our own legacy will be.

Griz felt so real to me that I actually felt a real sense of loss when I turned the final page. It felt like he had written this book just for me, that I was the person he was talking to as he told his story.

C.A Fletcher has written a poignant and memorable debut that will stay with me for a long time to come. In fact, I don’t think I will ever be able to forget Griz and the incredible story he told. Only very rarely does a book come along that has such a profound effect on us. A book that makes us think and gets under our skin in ways we never thought possible. A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is one such book. To read it has been a privilege and an experience I will never forget.

7/10

This was an enjoyable, fast read in the format of a journal from a not too distant apocalyptic future. Due to an issue with humans reproductive abilities the world is a much quieter place and the laws and rules are slightly different from our own. One thing still stands though; do not steal a man's dog!

Griz is on a mission to retrieve his dog from some bastard dog stealing thief and sails to the end of the world (or Blackpool) and tries to hunt him down and get what's his. The journal aspect alleviates any real danger to him as it's written in the past tense so you know no harm can really come to him. That doesn't stop the use of some clever cliffhanger chapter endings to keep you going and guessing at what is coming.

At first I wasn't sure about the journal format, there were more descriptions than interactions doing the whole tell not show which should be the other way round, but once I got past that I enjoyed this for what it was. It's borderline YA but I'm still glad I read it and would be happy to read more from this author. I did like the fact the arc had a big stamp on the front saying don't spoil the twists for others but to me these didn't add much to the tale either way. Interesting idea though as it kept me thinking what could be coming up to desire such a warning.

Have you ever wondered what your current home would look like in the future?  C.A. Fletcher does a superb job of portraying a very possible future version of our world in this heartwarming novel about a boy and his missing dog.  The thoughtfully written details added into the settings are what makes the future 'Scottish Isles' a highly believable possibility.   

Set in the Scottish Isles, in a world where fertility has drastically declined and remaining people are few and far between,  Griz lives with his brother, remaining sister and parents and has lived a life involving hardly any other people.  The story is not just told through his eyes, but by his voice.  Not only did I fully experience Griz's child-like naivety, through the simple but effective narration style, I became fully invested in Griz as a character and experienced every emotion with him.  Despite his sheltered life, Griz has such introspection and his thoughts are so insightful and well matched to the his age and experience.  As a reader I was completely sucked into his world, seeing it through his eyes.       

There are so many themes in this novel that are dealt with through the eyes of a child - I don't want to mention as the author requested no spoilers in the review however I found it so refreshing to view these things from that perspective.  It's no secret that children and young adults view the world different and whilst they often seem unaffected by issues the adult world will see as devastating, children will often find beauty and pain in other things we as adults don't seem to notice. 

A Boy and His Dog is beautifully and uniquely narrated and is an insightful journey into a young boy's interpretation to the world around him.  It's a story of loyalty and love and the simplicity is refreshing and powerful but at times heartbreaking.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World actually surprised me, I’m not sure what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t this. I thought the narration style and characters were well developed all the way through. I really liked the twists and turns that I never saw coming, and the way that they pushed the story forward. You can definitely tell through the writing style that the person telling the story was younger than your usual narrator, and I loved that about A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, especially as this seems to be something that other books struggle with.

I think what I loved more than anything about A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World was the fact that it was based in the United Kingdom. So when they were making reference to places I knew where they were and could also picture what that might look like in a post-apocalyptic world. I think it made me connect deeper with the book and the characters because some of the work of having to imagine places I didn’t need to spend too much on. Plus it was a great look at what various landmarks such as a football stadium, have been imagined as once the world had ended.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World follows a young boy as he follows the man who stole one of his dogs. I have to say as a dog owner I have never felt so panicked and anxious with any book like this one. I think I kept imagining my puppy Penny in the same situation and how out of my mind with panic I would be. I don’t think anything would stop me from getting her back which is basically what this entire story is based around. I think that’s why I loved this book so much because it is definitely what I would do.

The way this book deals with death and destruction was really smart, I loved the acceptance that there was surrounding the fact there is nothing left. Especially by the children, and the way that they deal with having to “viking” through other homes. I was really intrigued by it all and wondered whether I would be as calm as that.

I would definitely recommend A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, it’s a really well written and well developed book. There was a good amount of twists and turns and the world was explained well. I loved it all and I will be rereading it once I have the time!

Full of Love, Emotion and Hope

This is one of the hardest books I have had to review recently - because to say too much about it will simply give away far too many spoilers, at the author and publisher have very clearly asked at the beginning of the book to keep all secrets close to heart - I will do my very best.

A beautifully written book sees world building by CA Fletcher that is absolutely worth the hype that follows it around. It is often hard to read a book when you have heard so many positive reviews already, I worry about my expectations not being met, but A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World is worth every ounce of the hype it receives.

This post-apocalyptic novel forces you to question humanity. After an of sterility those who have managed to survive live a frugal and careful life. Griz and his family, living off the coast of (former) Scotland, share their life with two family dogs, jip and jess.

One fateful day, a stranger comes knocking - a tall and charismatic adventurer with tales of excitement and treasure. But all is not what it seems. When the man disappears one night with Jess, Griz is determined to get her back.

But outside the safe confines of their family home, Griz will face a world he doesn't recognise and he is unprepared for what he finds.

This emotional rollercoaster told from Griz's point of view will tug at the heartstrings of those with an emotional mindset. The world Fletcher creates is so realistic and it is a book that will leave scars on your heart, mind, and soul.

A truly beautiful book and one that even those who generally steer clear of dystopian novels will truly love.
Many thanks to Little Brown and Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for including us in this blog tour.

Reviewed by EC Wilson for The Glass House Book Club.

A Boy And His Dog At The End Of The World is a beautiful, surprising story with a very moving message. It’s a book that is hard to review as I don’t won’t to give away any spoilers, which is also firmly stated at the front of the book!

The story follows Griz as he ventures out into a post apocalyptic, changed world to rescue his dog from the complicated Brand. The journey takes the reader through a world that is at times recognisable but also very different. The eerie, entrancing but isolated world is a sparsely populated one as humans have gradually died off. Some of the descriptions in this book are very beautiful and I loved the image of nature taking back control. Griz makes lots of shocking discoveries on his moving journey to find his dog and it was fascinating to travel through this new world with him where people have to scavenge to survive.

I absolutely loved Griz and warmed to him straight away. He’s only a boy but seems quite mature at times as he has all the survival skills needed to get by. He is an incredibly endearing character that seemed so clever at times that I had to stop reading to admire what he’d just done but so vulnerable on the other that I wished I could give him a hug. His love for his dog is incredibly touching and was incredibly moving to read about.

The author slowly increases the tension in this book making it very gripping. I so enjoyed going on this journey with Griz and I will be recommending this book to everyone.

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orbit publishers for my copy of this book.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is a deceptively simple story of Griz who lives with his family on a remote Hebridean island about 100 years after the population of Earth has all but died out. Only a few people can have children and this caused the long slow decimation of the population. Griz and his siblings have never visited the mainland and the family survives in the same way that generations of people survived - subsistence living. This is however supplemented with viking - sailing to other uninhabited islands and scavenging leftovers from the old world. One day a stranger sails in, looking to trade. He wants Jess, one of Griz's two dogs. Griz refuses but wakes up the next day with the stranger sailing off with Jess aboard. Griz does the only thing possible, he chases after him into the unknown. This is the start of his tale of adventure, terror, heartbreak and redemption.

This is an amazing book with so many layers. It is written beautifully and the descriptions of Britain 100 years after nature takes over are wonderful yet written in a very matter of fact style. I loved the character of Griz and his relationships with his dogs, his family, the people he meet along the way. But mostly about the dogs. Buy it, read it love it, buy it for other people. I was lucky to be given an ARC by NetGalley but I've already bought the hardback for my daughter. It's the best book I have read in a long time.

Never too sure about books centred on the apocalypse I approached this with interest but some trepidation. I liked the title but would this just be another gory depressing account of life at the end of the world?
After a slowish start (okay, admittedly no usual gory bits) this gained momentum as the main character involves the reader with his account as to why he leaves the safety of his family homestead to confront the wider dangerous world with its very few survivors. Although necessarily dealing with the hopelessness of the survivors' future due to global warming, this is narrated in such a way as to engage the reader in the adventure.
Despite my reservations and the underlying theme, I enjoyed this and wanted to discover how this could possibly end.



Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit, Little Brown Book Group (Hachette) for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Where do I start to describe this first class work of art? This is one powerful and poignant book that will pull at your heartstrings with its thought provoking narrative of a dystopian world that is broken beyond repair.

C A Fletcher has delivered a master class in post apocalyptic world building that pulls you into an emotional story of survival and hope. This well written debut is a simple but powerful narrative that keeps you focused and fully invested in Griz's journey that provides twists and turns of an unexpected nature.

This lyrical narrative gives food for thought on a world that has fractured beyond recognition where scavenging is the only means to subsist and survive. This fractured landscape created a haunting atmosphere in which to set the story upon which was a tone that led to feelings of unease and discomfort of a possible future for mankind.

Griz is a standout entity in this small cast of character creations who managed to capture and hold my attention throughout the entire plot.....I was emotionally invested in this solo journey of one man and his dog and a world at ruin.....desperately willing them on to succeed. What a story!

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is a tale that touches the heart and soul. I will be forever grateful for taking this journey and I know that this is a book that will stay with me for many years to come.

Once in a while there comes a story, a tale told that grips you from the start, holds you tight, twisting and turning you over and over with emotions. This was certainly one of those, it was like being on a walzer, going round a rollercoaster that was on a roundabout.

The story starts at the end of the tale, and then unfolds with wonderfully surprising yet believable scenarios that are full of rich emotion and tension. Griz is a very memorable Character, one of those that has you thinking about them long after you close the final pages, so you start a new book but can’t quite connect, because your emotions are still firmly entrenched in your previous book. This is the definition of a book hangover.

It took me several attempts over several days and two rereads before I had finally moved on enough to read something else. And even then, I found my mind wandering back to Griz.

The scenarios are so full of wonderfully crafted prose that you feel like you walk beside Griz, you’re firmly entrenched in his feelings, reactions. And that’s just Griz. When you add the other Characters, the connections and interactions, the situations that come up and the way the story unfolds, the heartwarming and heartwrenching surprises throughout... this is the most brilliant emotional minefield I have experienced.

The world is believable, not entirely pleasant but I expect any type of honest look at a potential Dystopian future from where we are now, would not be roses and sunshine. Very cleverly done, it feels believable and to be honest... I will admit to sleeping fitfully with thoughts of this future!

Certainly a book to add to your shelf ASAP, this is one I will remember for a very long time to come.

Griz lives with his family on a small island off the coast of Scotland. It is all he knows, all he has ever known. Aside from his elder siblings, Ferg and Bar, his weary father, an ailing mother and a family on a neighbouring island, he seldom sees anyone. New people are few and far between. After a terrifying catastrophe known as the Gelding, the world’s population dwindled to almost nothing. Except for a few rare cases, women could no longer bear children and over time, bustling cities emptied and the world turned quiet. Survivors bore their loss and evolved, working the land, hunting, gathering, trading, living as their ancestors did.

Now Griz and his family keep mostly to their island, safe, only venturing across the sea when they need to restock. According to Griz’s mother, something strange, something rotten lives out there and trips to the mainland must be taken with caution. But not all danger lies beyond, some is closer than they think. A wayward stranger arrives on their island and they are weary, careful but as the traveller treats them to stories and treasures, their trust grows. He is new and exotic, and the tales he shares about the world, the people he has met, are fascinating. Addictive, to a family who have seen so little. But stories don’t make this stranger safe and good. The next morning, Griz wakes to find him gone and one of his beloved dogs gone too. Distraught, he instantly sets off after the thief, determined above all else to find Jess. But the stranger and the world he is about to discover are far more dangerous than he ever could have predicted.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is an exquisite tale of discovery, love and determination, it marries so many emotional elements. It’s about a young boy who is utterly intent on his mission to find his dog but he finds so much more out there in the world. Griz has a vulnerability about him which, combined with his big-heart and determination, make him a character you can’t help but adore. As a huge dog lover and owner of 3 lovely and completely bonkers woofs, Griz and his love for Jess hit a cord with me.

This is a powerful journey not only for Griz but for the reader. We are snatched from the comfort of our lives and deposited in a lonely, broken, desolate world, to accompany a boy on his brave march through it all. The author creates a rich, detailed story with very poetic, emotional prose. Often nail-biting, heart-breaking, heart-warming, shocking and profoundly beautiful, this is a book that will engross hordes of readers. Wonderful!

Rich. Emotional. Stunning.