Cover Image: Things to do Before the End of the World

Things to do Before the End of the World

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Member Reviews

I have mixed feelings about this book.
I went into it thinking it was going to be an ' end of the world ' story . One where people rush to make the most of the remaining days left.

It did have that element but it turned into a story of a conwoman and for a decent portion of the book it lost the end times vibe. Then at the last page it circled back to the last day of human life.

It wasn't quite the book for me but it was different and I did enjoy the slightly unsettling nature of the relationship between Libby and Natasha .

I revived a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by the nature in which I received this book.

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There were aspects of this book I really enjoyed. Olivia reminded me of myself at that age, although I’d like to think I wasn’t quite that naive,
The end of the world set up was an interesting premise, but I expected this to be more central to the plot than it was and I felt more could have been done with it,
I loved the travel aspects - Barr really captured the feeling of being young and travelling solo for the first time, I also liked that the Uk setting was a place I know pretty well!
I was bothered by Olivia’s relationship with Natasha. There were so many red flags that it didn’t feel entirely realistic that Olivia would be that easily led.
I didn’t really get the family secrets aspect of the plot, Olivia turns 18 during the book and she supposedly has a really good relationship with both her (separated) parents and their new partners that it felt strange that they would keep such big secrets from her,
I also struggled to suspend my disbelief when it came to the twist at the end, It didn’t feel likely to me that people would act they way they did if they knew the world was about to end.
But overall I did like this book. It kept me reading even when not much was happening plot wise because I liked seeing Olivia’s character develop and I wanted to know how it was going to turn out. The romance sub plot was also cute.

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This was a great story. I really got into it very early. It certainly kept my attention as it was interesting. It was fun, and you could tell something was going to happen it was building up. I would have loved a stronger ending as it just kind of fizzled out a bit. I loved the characters they developed well. My favourite section has to be the hotel section as you knew it was too good to be true. There were definitely a few shocking twists. I definitely recommend reading this book. Even if you are not a young adult, it is great as it reads really well for an adult book.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such an interesting story. I will definitely be reading more from this fantastic author. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/things-to-do-before-the-end-of-the-world-by-emily-barr-penguin-4-stars and my new blog https://ladyreading365.blogspot.com/2023/06/things-to-do-before-end-of-world-by.html under my name ladyreading365

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Things To Do Before the End of the World is a fascinating combination of genres, it’s a YA thriller, it also has elements of a contemporary YA, and a dystopian backdrop. All these elements together make for quite an odd reading experience, as the reader you are not quite sure about what you are reading. I enjoyed this level of mystery, it added to my enjoyment of the novel, and the puzzle we have to unravel.

I love the idea of this novel: how would you spend the summer if you knew humanity would be wiped out in August? Honestly I have no idea how to even begin thinking about this question, let alone answering it, so I was intrigued as to where the author would take this novel. However, despite such a promising premise, this novel soon leaves the realm of dystopia and “last days on Earth philosophy” and turns into a fairly regular thriller. I found this a little disappointing, but then perhaps I went in with completely the wrong expectations!

I would have loved much more background to this humanity ending event. What has caused the lack of oxygen? How long has it taken to get this way? What did humanity do to try to stop it? There were mentions of people creating bunkers to live in, rigged up with oxygen supplies. Could we get more info about them? I love a dystopian novel so maybe I just went in with too much enthusiasm!

The thriller and mystery element of the novel revolves around Natasha, Olivia’s cousin. From the very first page I disliked her, and I found myself getting infuriated by Olivia and her naivety. That was my main issue with the novel really, I didn’t like or connect to any of the characters. I didn’t feel sorry for Olivia, or happy for her when she went adventuring around Europe, I just felt non-plussed about it all.

I did enjoy the descriptions of places. Barr has a lovely writing style for describing places and landscapes, and I did enjoy the descriptions of small cafes in squares, and the galleries and fountains the girls visited.

Overall I did enjoy Things to Do Before the End of the World. It was a quick read, which had an interesting mystery running through it.

Thank you to The Write Reads and Penguin for having me on the blog tour!

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Thank you so much to #TheWriteReads, Penguin and the author for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVE thrillers. I enjoy dystopia. So a thriller set before the imminent end of the world seemed right up my street. Indeed, I loved the atmosphere of the impending doom as the day when the awful gases trapped beneath the rapidly melting permafrost will kill the whole human race gets closer and closer. Given the issues with such rapid climate change, this felt like an incredibly plausible end to the world and it made me feel quite uncomfortable and rather freaked out. I think this is testament to Barr’s writing style as the end of the world was very much the backdrop and a catalyst to the action that unfurled during the book. It was never the main focus, but an ever present threat.

I really enjoyed the character of Olivia. I could see a lot of my teenage self in her – very little self esteem and having to create herself a persona to enable her to have the confidence she needs in front of others. Throughout the book, her personality shone through as she became increasingly independent. I also like the sub-plot of the Sapphic romance as I think it’s important that other young women reading this can see themselves reflected in the main character.

The main tension of the book comes from the relationship between Olivia and Natasha which had me puzzled until the final 100 pages when all the pieces started slotting into place. Natasha is Olivia’s long lost cousin who has come over from the US to spend the summer with her estranged family before the end of the world. She is a complete enigma. Confident, outgoing, performing street magic and palmistry for money. She is the antithesis of Olivia. But she is concealing a nefarious secret. I liked how all this action culminated at the end of the book and I found the ending wrapped the whole story up well.

I must say that while I was reading the book, I wasn’t totally convinced that it was for me. YA isn’t my go to genre as teenage angst can rub me up the wrong way. I was quite torn with this book as it was quite a mishmash of genres, but I can’t really pinpoint exactly what it was that didn’t gel with me. Nonetheless, I was on board with it by the end, especially after the big reveal. I think that if I read this book as a teenager, I would have absolutely loved it and there were certainly aspects that my adult self thought made the book really good. I would not hesitate to recommend it to my students or to other fans of YA.

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The blurb of this book did not really match anything that was within the pages.

I persevered though but now i wish I hadn't bothered. It was not an enjoyable experience.

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This wasn’t really what I was expecting from this book, I thought it being post apocalyptic would be central to the story, but it didn’t seem as if the end of the world was a major event to be concerned about !! . When the book opens, a doomsday date is announced, but then the story seems to just focus on everyday life and because of the lack of focus on the more critical aspects of this, I don’t feel it was really needed, it could have been any other contemporary novel.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

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Loved the idea of this book when I read the premise, but felf it didn't really take off and I found myself struggling to maintain interest.

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After reading the title, I was looking forward to getting stuck into a pre-apocalyptic story, so you can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that it wasn't the central theme of the book.
This was a bizarre read. Initially, I was interested in the story and liked the general direction that it was moving in, but it got stuck in the middle and never really took off. It really didn't need the apocalyptic themes; I would've been happy without them as the story is actually more about the main characters' anxieties than it is about the impending end of the world.

An intriguing concept but a big letdown for me.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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A really solid addition to the YA thriller genre; reliable, if a little predictable in places. Would recommend if you know what you want from this sort of book, as it definitely delivers that.

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Thank you to The Write Reads for organizing and inviting me to participate in this blog tour. Thank you, Penguin Platform and Net Galley, for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This coming-of-age story takes place during the lead up to the end of the world, and it was unlike anything I’ve read before. The premise of this book seemed promising, and I really wanted to love it, but unfortunately, I could not suspend my disbelief enough to fall in love with the story.

My favourite thing about this book was the main character, Libby. Libby is shy. She’s the kind of shy that plans out conversations in her head before having them, and she often doesn’t have the courage to have the conversation she planned. I found her shyness to be relatable, and I enjoyed watching her grow and become more confident and comfortable with herself. However, I found her too naïve at times, and I wanted to throw some red flags at the book to help her out during some parts.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan of the other main character, Natasha. I don’t want to say too much about Natasha, but a lot of her actions made me uncomfortable and anxious, which took away from my enjoyment of the book.

The other thing that I liked about this book was the travelling. I haven’t done very much travelling in my life, so I always like to see different places through the eyes of fictional characters. I enjoyed the descriptions of Spain and France, and I enjoyed exploring these places with Libby.

One thing that threw me off with this book is that the end of the world didn’t seem like it was that big of a deal. At the beginning of the book, a doomsday date is announced, and a large portion of mundane, everyday life continues to go on as usual. I don’t read a lot of books about the end of the world, especially right now with the current global health crisis, but it felt unusual to me.

Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was the family secret aspect of it. I enjoyed trying to piece together what happened with Libby’s Uncle and the truth about that portion of her family. I wasn’t a huge fan of what was going on with Libby’s mum during the second half of the book because the trope where an adult refuses to tell their almost-adult child the truth is one of my least favourite tropes; however, that’s a personal taste thing for me, and it probably doesn’t bother most people.

The main reason why I rated this book three stars is because there was an aspect of the story that I could not suspend my disbelief over because I’ve worked in a law firm for the past five years. It’s a very specific thing that probably won’t bother most readers, but it bugged me because of my personal experience. I don’t want to say anything specific about it because I don’t want to spoil anything, but if that portion of the story didn’t exist, I likely would have enjoyed this book more.

Overall, I enjoyed the twists and turns in this book. Some aspects were predictable, but other parts kept me on my toes. The story itself was interesting, and the characters were memorable, but unfortunately, I couldn’t look past some moments.

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I really enjoyed this book, it was interesting, beautifully composed and took me away from my run of the mill life for a few hours.

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Absolutely loved reading Things to Do Before the End of the World, a complete page turner and a pleasure to read. The world is about to end - humanity has a matter of months left to live before the End of Days hits. Olivia is a shy 16 year old who wants to find the words to tell the girl she loves that she exists, who wants to be noticed, who wants to be able to speak up rather than drowning in shyness.
Olivia and her family decide to go to Spain for the summer and have a final idyllic break together. An email from her estranged cousin Natasha arrives and the two cousins start confiding in one another, before moving on to meeting in real life. With Natasha beside her, Olivia finds herself becoming the person that she always wanted to be, more confident and self assured
The book perfectly sums up the angst of being a teenager (in normal times let alone with the world ending) - and the twists in the tale are beautifully pitched.
I will definitely buy it for my daughter, she'll love it.

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I have not read anything by Barr before so do not have enough knowledge to compare this to her other work, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this as a standalone book. The plot is unique and the looming apocalypse serves as an interesting background to the story. I would definitely recommend this.

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This is an odd book and I'm not sure what Barr fans will think of it but I really enjoyed it and didn't predict the manner in which Natasha throws the main character under the bus at the end or even the unusual and inconclusive ending. I liked the way that she has mashed together a thriller within an apocalyptic story of a different kind and I'll be interested to see what my older readers at school think of it too.

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DNF @ 53%

The writing style of this book is engaging and immersive and it has a very intriguing premise but I just couldn’t read it

The plot and the characters are pretty bland and I found myself very easily distracted when i was reading this book, I was also subconsciously skim reading it which is never a good sign

This book great potential and can be a great read for anyone who likes slow thrillers but since I don’t, this isn’t for me

However if you do find the premise interesting then give it a go, many of my friends have enjoyed reading it and maybe you’ll too

This DNF is purely a “it’s me not you” kind of DNF

And since I cannot post my review without a star rating I’m giving this a two star but take that with a pinch of salt

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Book source ~ Tour

It’s the end of the world. Or soon to be. There’s only so much safe air left to breathe and you’d think people would be panicking, rioting, living it up. But they aren’t. For the most part they’re just going about things, business as usual. Even though there’s less than a year left before everyone croaks. Weird, right?

Olivia is an introverted teenager who decides it’s time to break out of her shell. A little bit. But then her long lost adventurous and confident cousin shows up from the US and Olivia suddenly wishes she could be more like Natasha. No, Olivia. You really don’t.

I received this book as part of The Write Reads tour (now long over) and had a hard time with it. I eventually just did a spotlight for the tour, but the book was lingering on my “currently reading” shelf so I decided to just finish it. While nearly all of the bloggers on the tour liked, even loved, this book, it was not for me. I could not connect with Oliva at all and I loathed Natasha as soon as she hit the pages. I was also expecting more of an apocalyptic setting, but it focuses on Olivia in London then Spain and eventually Paris as she goes about living the rest of her limited days. There’s nothing wrong with this type of narrative. Like I said, I couldn’t connect with the characters. So my rating is purely my feelings about the book and not about the writing which is actually pretty good. Don’t let my disappointment get in the way of picking this up though. You may find you love it!

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I haven’t read anything by Barr for a very long time. Things to do before the end of the world was a great reintroduction to Barr. So what would you do before the end of the world?. 9 months to make the most of your time left.
Libby (the lead character ) an anxious, awkward teenager takes the opportunity to reach out to her cousin after the death of her uncle. Her Cousin Natasha is cool and outgoing- everything Libby believes she isn’t.
The book charts how their relationship develops and their adventures together.
Really well written. Short punchy chapters will keep you turning the pages. Great depth of storyline. I thought I had got the storyline sussed but then Barr chucks in a curveball.

Great book. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I'm not quite sure why dystopian titles are still appealing to me considering we've been living through a pandemic for the last 18 months but at least this was a different scenario.

The scientists have discovered that the oxygen on earth is running out and given humanity an end date. Suddenly everyone wants to tick off every item on their bucket list before "The Creep" arrives. Some party, some travel (despite their being no plane travel) and some try their best to carry on as normal.

Libby is a very shy teenager who decides to take on some new challenges, such as playing Juliet to her crush's Romeo. Of course, she can't go as far as telling Zoe how she feels.

Then a long-lost cousin comes onto the scene and she encourages Libby to shake off her shyness and do everything she's dreamed of. Travel, talk to strangers, learn street magic, attend large parties in Paris... but is she all she seems and will the world really end?

Lots of twists and turns, a good story and some very well written characters to love (and hate).

A solid 4/5

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I love Emily Barr’s writing, The One Memory of Flora Banks is one of my favourite books. I was thrilled to be accepted to read this book and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. 

The end of the world will apparently happen in 9 months and shy, socially awkward Libby decides she wants to throw all her energy into making it the best nine months of her life. Then, she meets Natasha, a long-lost cousin she didn’t know existed and as they meet up for probably the first and last time ever, something just doesn’t feel right, like Natasha is not who she says she is. All the same Libby becomes enthralled with her new friend and is sucked into her positive, manipulative energy. 

I can’t explain how much I loved this book. I could climb inside of Libby’s head, feel what she felt, experience everything as she did. She reminded me of me - anxious, always feeling on the outside of everything, not happy or comfortable with who she is. 

Natasha was actually such a terrifying character. She seemed to know all the right things to say and do, but you could always tell she had an underlying motive, that there was something darker behind her actions. I didn’t trust her one bit, but even I didn’t work out her true intentions until they were thrown into my face.  

It was also scary - a plot near to a potential future with climate change and humans not looking after the world as they should. I love how the book wasn’t revolved around that - it was about what Libby chooses to do before the end, little things that might not seem big to others but to her they were. 

The writing just drew me in. I could relate and I was dragged into the story and not let go until the very end. It was addictive and beautifully put together. 

It took me on a journey through the protagonist’s eyes. All the characters were fully fleshed out and felt like real functioning people who I could easily relate to and like and dislike. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book. I can’t wait to read more of Emily Barr’s work.

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