I’m just back from the bookshop after buying this book for my husband and then to be passed on to my daughters as I read it on kindle and absolutely loved it. A world where 90% of men have died is unimaginable but the author has imagined it and reinvented how women’s roles could change. It’s a book that really makes you think ‘what if ...’. The fact we are living in a pandemic and post pandemic period makes this book even more relevant. I can’t recommend this highly enough except to say that I have read over 150 books this year and this one is in my top five.

Terrifying yet brilliant in its prescience, this is a phenomenal read. Uncomfortable, yes, especially given the last 15 months or so. But thought-provoking and riveting all the same.

I absolutely FLEW through this book.
I didn't know what to expect going into it, but reading it during 2021, after a year of a global pandemic, this book couldn't have come at a better time.
The title alone is enough to make me want to read it, but while I was expecting some kind of scathing prose around how useless men are, instead I found an incredibly compassionate, sad and compelling imagining of what would happen if this happened.
The characters each have their own well rounded personalities and stories, and getting insights into each one was excellent. Even the shorter, one time only, appearances of characters such as Katya or Tanya just really added to making this story as rich as it was.
The amount of angles the author has considered around what would happen if this happened was fantastic, it's clear how much thought and research has gone into this book.

The year is 2025, and a mysterious virus has broken out in Scotland--a lethal illness that seems to affect only men. When Dr Amanda MacLean reports this phenomenon, she is dismissed as hysterical. By the time her warning is heeded, it is too late. The virus becomes a global pandemic--and a political one. The victims are all men. The world becomes alien--a women's world.

The events and emotions the author describes in this book seem very believable and frightening. With the rapidly mutating and increasing variations of concern, I had to wonder if a gender-specific strain could be possible. I devoured this book so quickly, I can not explain how much I loved it!

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Oh. My. Goodness. This book is totally my cup of tea (unlike in this book, it has both tea and milk in it). I’ve always been drawn to science fiction, dystopian and apocalyptic styles of novels ever since I read Stephen Kings The Stand as a teenager. The End of Men drew me in and had me checking the news outlets, just to check that Covid-19 hadn’t taken a turn for the even worse - and I’m not joking here. I did question whether reading a book about a global pandemic during a global pandemic was a good idea, and then I told myself to shut up, sit back and just enjoy it (much the same as when I read Last One at The Party by Bethany Clift!). And I really did!

This is told from multiple perspectives. There are mostly recurring characters, such as Dr Maclean, some scientists, the anthropologist, intelligence and government types, interspersed with ‘ordinary’ people who were also affected and lost friends and family. We see perspectives from all over the world. The voices of these people all seem so real: their pain, confusion and determination coming through in their own voices, as their stories are all told in journal form.

The End of Men had pretty much the same effect on me as World War Z: I was checking the news and the windows (just in case), completely preoccupied with the book whilst I was reading it, and I predictably experienced a stonking book-hangover when it ended.
This is science fiction for people who wouldn’t normally pick up science fiction (a bit like a gateway drug!). It reads like contemporary fiction - the here and now.

This novel had me on the edge of my seat and in tears - and a bit angry at times, truth be told. This doesn’t feel like you’re reading science-fiction, it has a tinge of the non-fiction about it. Perhaps that’s because of the times we’re living in...
Would I recommend it? You’d better believe I would!

This was a very well written book, however I think it was a poorly timed read for myself as the subject of the pandemic hit slightly too close to home. I understand a lot of writers took on this style of story line, greys anatomy, etc have done this also, but it was a slight put off for myself.

This was certainly spicy stuff to read towards the end (hopefully) of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. However, my main regret on finishing it was that I had put it off for a year out of fear, and I found it such a cathartic read I wish I'd read it sooner (the author actually *finished* it in April 2020, which is just weird).

I ended up reading quite a few pandemic novels during this time including:
Station Eleven - The Georgia Flu has a very high mortality rate, but with the action set ten years after it, there are a lot of bleached bones but no bodies - it's an oddly decorous world, despite the hunting and killing
Last One at the Party - Bridget Jones meets The Stand, with bodies everywhere and cliffhangers for days. Hilarious and disgusting in equal measures.
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue - Flu pandemic, actually happened, early twentieth century Dublin.

Here, the mortality rate is about 50% - because the pandemic only kills men. There are so many amazing characters in this book I couldn't begin to pick a favourite, though as a queer woman, I love that one of the plot points is the lesbian Dr Lisa Michaels holding the world to ransom for a vaccine rather than just handing it over for free. Lisa doesn't make her discovery until about two years into the plague, and the horror and heartbreak sometimes gets a bit relentless, particularly for the main two heroines, academic Cat and doctor Amanda, whose whistleblowing attempts are thwarted by misogyny and mental health stigma.

However, especially towards the end of the book there is also some sly humour - no men means no Boris Johnson (the prime minister in this book more resembles Theresa May) more jobs (one civil servant, a scholarly black middle-aged woman nearing retirement, pretty much ends up running the country) car seatbelts and body armour that fit, more lesbians (hooray) and less male abusers. (One Eastern European woman, disgusted at her abusive husband's immune status, quietly murders him and has him carried out in a hazmat suit).

None of this is for the fainthearted, but the writing is superb and there is one subplot about a man stranded on an Icelandic cruise and his wife's determination to rescue him which could make a book or movie on its own. Deserves to be up there with the pandemic classics. Whether you're able to hack it or not is up to you.

I found this book very thought provoking and indeed, where would we be in a world without men or very few men? There were similarities no doubt to the current pandemic. At time of writing this review we are awaiting June 21st to see if it is the end of the current lockdown (I have my doubts). The story is written from different viewpoints which I always enjoy and at times was very emotional, however it showed how the world carries on regardless of the devastation it leaves behind.

In theory this appeals to me as I like post apocalyptic fiction and was drawn to the premise. And in places it was really interesting and reminded me of World War Z, by Max Brooks, where there’s almost a journalistic dipping-into the pandemic experience in different nations and from different peoples perspectives. However all in all it was too disjointed for me to really lose myself in it and while I was interested enough to finish it it actually took me longer to read than any other book in recent memory.

Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review

As with any pandemic book read whilst experiencing a pandemic, this was pretty heavy. Not so long ago I would have scoffed at the idea of a deadly disease like this, at the idea of people ignoring warnings, at the idea of society breaking down so quickly. Now not so much. It truly is scary when science fiction becomes so frighteningly close to science fact.

The End of Men is written from multiple points of view, almost all of them women. This is an interesting and refreshing choice to see how all these different women react and cope with a deadly disease killing only men. I only wish there was perhaps a little more variety in the characters. There was a couple of them that seemed very similar and who I got mixed up between a few times. It would have been really interesting to perhaps read from the point of view of a child or teenager.

I really enjoyed how this book spanned the whole of the pandemic from beginning to end and beyond. Many books of this kind end far too early but here we get to see how the world reacts and adapts and tries to rebuild even once a vaccine is found.

The short chapters with multiple points of view makes this book hard to put down and very much has a "just one more chapter" feel. The writing is well paced and the characters seem really genuine.

This book is heavy and thought provoking whilst also an entertaining and interesting read.

I wish - just for myself - this book had a before and an after. A read and review of this story before the Covid pandemic and my review now. I can imagine the before would have thought it a brilliant concept, but probably not something we would realistically ever see in our lifetime. Now it's a whole other ballgame isn't it. A lot of it comes pretty close to what we have experienced and are experiencing at this moment in time.

Dr Amanda Maclean recognises the significance of a deadly fast-spreading flu-like virus that hits her emergency room one day. All the victims, both young and old are male. She tries to warn official channels and finds her concerns blown off as the virus spreads to other parts of the country. Ignoring and dismissing her comes at the cost of many lives.

Rather cleverly when you look beyond the virus and a little closer at the implications of the gender specific nature of said virus, it shines a spotlight on certain downfalls of a patriarchal society. One of those things is the constant silencing and gaslighting of women by men. But perhaps the most poignant point of all, whether one gender needs the other to survive or is a small minority sufficient and does history change when it's no longer being written by men for men.

I was intrigued, and possibly a tad concerned, by the way the author saw the virus changing the world. The policies, laws and procedures put in place to contain it. The necessity of vaccination and the lack of vaccination then dictating the steps forward in regards to survival. Very much an eye-opener.

It's a riveting dystopian premise, but perhaps more so because fiction has become melded with too much reality in the last year or so. Very much an author to watch.

The End of Men tells the story of a global pandemic (ring any bells!) in 2025 which runs amok through the male population. I'd love to have seen the authors face when Covid started!

It introduces us to Dr Amanda Maclean, who works in A&E and is the first to notice several deaths, apparently unconnected, with worrying similarities. But she struggles to have her concerns taken seriously. We then follow the story from the perspectives of several other women from around the world (though the story is mainly UK-centric) as 90% of the male population is wiped out.

I enjoyed this book – it was fast-paced and engaging, and I liked most of the characters. The author really got across a sense of the urgency and panic, and also the heartbreak felt by them during the story. I liked Amanda and felt as though she was the closest the book has to a central character. There was also an enjoyable humour throughout – from the little touch of Scotland being an independent Republic, to the rapid promotions of some of the women.

Christina Sweeney-Baird started writing a novel set in the near future about a pandemic in September 2018.
Here is the synopsis:
Glasgow, 2025.
Dr Amanda Maclean is called to treat a patient with flu-like symptoms. Within three hours he's dead. This is how it begins.
The unknown virus sweeps through the hospital with deadly speed. The victims are all men.
Can they find a cure before it's too late?
Can they stop the end of men?
I was fortunate enough to see an online event where @christinasweeneybaird talked about The End Of Men. Having read Station 11, The Power and World War Z she started to think, what would the world look like if 90% of men simply weren't there any more. I found this aspect of social change in the book fascinating, how would the balance of power in the world suddenly change? What does a world run mostly by women look like?
The novel follows five key characters affected in different ways by the pandemic; doctor, virologist, government official but also people personally affected by the 'plague'. There are some heartbreaking sections as people's fathers, sons, brothers, husbands and colleagues catch the fast acting virus, and it makes for chilling reading. I liked following each of the characters storylines over time and seeing how they reacted to the changing world around them.
I found this a gripping read and as an aside loved the fact that in the novel, Scotland is an independent nation.

This book is about a pandemic that sweeps the world. Despite it being written before we'd heard anything about Covid, the events that occur are now sadly familiar. In this book, however, the virus only strikes down men.

It's thought-provoking and often a heartbreaking read, although I found the insights into a world run mostly by women fascinating.

The aspect of the book I liked less was the multiple perspectives. I'd personally have preferred to keep to two or three points of view and show the stories through those characters.

Woah Nelly! What a cracker of a read this one is! To be honest if you’re a bit of a “tweaker” with all the Covid malarkey going on now then this may not be the book for you at the minute 😂 however I’m not and so it was perfect. Loved it....what a fast paced and truly chilling book this was, I seriously couldn’t put the thing down 🙈 brilliant, I just loved it; the plot, characters and everything about it....great storyline, I tore through it like nobody’s business!

10 Stars ⭐️

This fictional debut about a global pandemic was written before the current global pandemic, but its release comes while we’re still in the throes of masking up and social distancing. So, it definitely comes with mixed feelings, a familiarity and resonance the author probably never initially intended.

Of course, the fictional virus – nicknamed the ‘Plague’ – in this story has a much higher fatality rate and has the added complication of only affecting men, but still there’s some parallels between the world we currently live in. Basically, this debut creates a more brutal 2020 and sprinkles it with a strong dash of feminism, and the result is a clever, unique and multi-layered story.

Amanda Maclean is a doctor in a busy Scottish hospital. When a man dies suddenly on her watch from what appears to be an incredibly fast-acting flu, she knows something isn’t right. She traces the illness back to patient zero, and immediately tries to quarantine any at-risk patients and raise the alarm.

But, like with real whistle-blowers and well-meaning doctors in these situations, Amanda isn’t taken seriously, and virus rapidly escalates across Scotland and beyond. It kills, young, healthy men and boys within in a matter of days. There is no known treatment or cure.

The story is told through multiple narratives, mostly women, each dealing with the pandemic in their own way. Some are doctors, virologists and government officials, others are regular members of the public. Through the chorus of voices from many countries and walks of life, the author paints a picture of the pandemic and the medical, personal and political problems it brings. This narrative really works to provide an overview of the world at crisis, but the constant changing of narrative and scattering of news articles did feel a little disjointed at times, and meant it was a little difficult to connect with all the characters on a personal level, although there were definitely some standouts.

I did really enjoy the writing of this novel. There’s no flowery or superfluous language here – each character’s narrative is raw and to-the-point. It really feels like these people are talking to you directly, and that they’re at breaking point. I could feel the sense of panic and the descending chaos in the earlier chapters. It’s reflective of how we’ve all felt at points since the beginning of 2020.

“Surely they’ve got it all figured out but I don’t think anyone knows what to do. Nothing like this has ever happened. We’re all blindly stumbling around in the dark and none of us knows a thing.”

The story follows the entire pandemic over years, from initial breakout through the development of a vaccine and attempts to rebuild society. I have to admit the last few chapters felt a little anti-climatic to me as endings go – but I guess I should know there’s no hard and fast ending to a pandemic. But what it does well is challenge ideas -particularly around the role women play in society – and ask some thought-provoking questions around the issues of relationships and repopulation (with a serious lack of sperm).

This was a really impressive, thought-provoking novel. I’d be curious to know what the author’s job was before she wrote this as the book feels knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects. And, of course, I’ll be looking out to see what she does next.

This is an incredible gripping debut novel and chillingly prescient. I could not put it down. It is mind blowing to believe that this was written pre-covid and many of the scenes that unfold in the early chapters are eerily close to what we have all experienced in the past year.

The pandemic in this instance is killing off men, sons, fathers, and brothers. Just stop and think about this concept for a moment and all its consequences. From the very first page the pace is chilling and relentless – matching the speed of the escalating global virus. The story is told from the perspective of different characters from around the world including survivors, doctors, government officials and many others, similar in style to the brilliant World War Z. Each of the stories add to the emotional depth of the book and they are fascinating and heart breaking.

This is story telling at its most imaginative, dissecting a high concept of a world without men in a way that is both thoughtful and emotive and never played for cheap thrills. I can only hope that some of the human spirit in this book bleeds into our real-world situation.
Explosive, timely, emotional summer thriller 5 out of 5

This is a must read. What an amazing book, A brilliant debut novel. I could not put this down and did not want this to end.

Just wow! I absolutely LOVED this book!!

That it was largely written in 2018-9 is incredible, foreshadowing as it does some of the situation the world found itself in under 2 years later. It has one of the most gripping openings of any novel I’ve ever read, as we see how swiftly this deadly pandemic sweeps the Earth. Short, snappy chapters jump from one person’s perspective to another, from country to country, tracking the spreading devastation, government actions, scientific progress (or lack thereof) and the losses and struggles of individuals.

A “Plague” that only affects men I found to be a fascinating scenario, and I really enjoyed how the author explored what this might mean, and how societies might function differently with significantly fewer males, particularly in positions of power.

Ultimately, reading this book made me feel grateful that COVID-19 is not quite so terrifying a virus as The Plague, and for the incredible scientists who have worked tirelessly to find and manufacture a vaccine. It also showed me that I should definitely read outside of my comfort zone and try out different genres more often!

With thanks for this digital copy to review.

The hype is greater than the book. Although reasonably well written the storyline was full of holes. Not for me.