I enjoyed this book, but at the same time it felt very realistic.

It’s set years into the future, after COVID, in the aftermath of a ‘superflu’ pandemic. It feels like an alternative version of what could’ve happened in the last 2 years.

I adored Jamie and Andrew! Ugh, they need to be protected at all costs! I loved the slow burn relationship - and I usually hate that!

The ending was just *chefs kiss* - it felt just right for this book even though I really wanted to know what would happen with Henri!

Overall, well written and interesting book - just a bit too close to home at the moment for me.

All That's Left in the World is a novel from Erik J. Brown that has really impressed me. This is set in a world where a deathly virus has wiped out most of the Earth's population. This is that tale of Jamie and Andrew, two lonely survivors who have banded together on a mission. Jamie is holed up himself, an outcast who has lost his mother to the illness. Andrew has lost everyone but has a positive outlook. Together, they form a friendship that may just keep them both alive.

The relationship between these two characters was written so well. We see both perspectives in their POV chapters and this really show the anxiety but hope in this hostile world. Brown gives this relationship incredible value and doesn't fall into the trap of necessity. Throughout the chapters we really see how much these characters care for each other in how authentic and real the chemistry is portrayed.

This book was paced very well also. There was never a boring moment or any part where I had to stop reading. This could have easily been read in one sitting if I was able to. The mixture between plot and character driven writing really showed the development and maturity progression for both the story and our loveable duo. The dynamic between the two was top notch and I can safely say it was my favourite part of the book.

I'm not a massive fan of dystopian storytelling but this was more than that. Brown gives us distinctive characters, a fearful plot and such pure and heartfelt romance between these characters that stuck with me until the end. This was an impressive debut and one to add to your TBR.

I loved this wonderful, at times heart-stopping, book about two boys facing up to their feelings for each other during an apocalypse. Great writing, and characters I didn't want to leave at the end of the book.

Absolutely adored this from start to finish. I went into this with some trepidation being a story set in a time where a pandemic has decimated the population. There is always that worry that mentions of a pandemic would hit too close to home and the story isnt strong enough to take you out of it. Well this is not the case with 'All That's Left in the World'. The friendship, and later romance, between the two protagonists is so pure, so excellently written, and addictive, that you are swept away in their adventure, the gnawing anxiety of pandemic-stressed a mere flutter at the back of the mind. I did not expect to love this book as much as I did and it is now a genuine favourite. This is a must read for young queer people, but also everyone who loves a thrilling love story. Cannot wait to read what Erik J Brown writes next. 5/5

“I said I was willing to fight for him, but I want to live for him, too.”

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

All That’s Left In the World by Erik J. Brown is published 8 March from @HachetteKids (@teambkmrk). Thank you for my early copy via @NetGalley.

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Jamie and Andrew are strangers, and two of the last people on Earth. They don't know what they'll find on their perilous journey… but they may just find each other.
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This is a post apocalyptic action packed slow burn romance with humour and love, but has some really distressing situations. There were genuinely times my heart was racing because the tension and dangerous situations the boys find themselves in was terrifying!

I can’t tell you enough how much I love our two protagonists in this book, Andrew & Jamie are characters to just fall in love with and make you wish the book would never end. From the first chapter, I just fell in love with Andrew; his humour is very me - very sarcastic and he is written so brilliantly throughout.

The two boys are initially strangers - each alone in the Superflu world. Andrew is injured, and although initially sceptical of him, Jamie helps him and the two become inseparable friends who’ll go out of their to protect each other in the ruined world where anyone you come across could be friend or foe.

As the two journey south in the hopes of getting help from the EU, revelations about each others past come to light and could ruin this new found friendship or bring them closer than ever.

Although the title suggests it, Jamie & Andrew are in fact not all that’s left in the world, but the world has changed and trusting people can be deadly. This is your content warning for graphic violence!

My only critique and the reason I haven’t rated it higher is because I felt some of the mysterious plot details fall a little flat, and some of the dangers are overcome through “plot armour” - for want of a better explanation, some situations just get overcome in unlikely ways I.e. escaping captivity from a militia.

I really recommend this book, the author has done a great job really fleshing out these characters - they feel so real and I love them both so much. The ambiguous ending was really well done and let’s your mind wonder over the countless possibilities of what happens next.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Blurb:

When the Superflu wipes out most of the population, Jamie finds himself completely alone in a cabin in the woods - until an injured stranger crosses his path.



Life is dangerous now and, armed with a gun, Jamie goes to pull the trigger. But there's something about Andrew… something that stops Jamie in his tracks. Jamie takes him in, and as Andrew heals and they eventually step out into the strange new world, their relationship starts to feel like more than just friendship…


But trouble isn't far behind. As the boys make a perilous journey south, they'll come face to face with a world torn apart and society in ruins. And who, or what, will they find waiting for them at the end of it all?

I adored this book for so many reasons. I’ve struggled with genres that are not fantasy or romance for many years, and I’ve been waiting for a good queer dystopian to come along. I used to read so many post-apocalypse novels, like the Fifth Wave, when I was younger, and there was always something missing from them. All That’s Left in the World, has that something!

I flew through this book in less than half a day, which I have never done before, not even when I was a crazy teen reading 20 books a month. There was something so calming about the beginning of the story. I loved the moments Jamie and Andrew shared in the cabin. If you focused on the sweet parts, you could almost forget that there was an apocalypse happening outside. The first half of the novel felt more like a romance set in a post-apocalypse world, while the second half delved into the action/adventure I was expecting from a book of this genre.

Both Jamie and Andrew had their past demons they were keeping from each other in fear of it changing their relationship. I loved watching them slowly open up and understand that knowing the more intimate and hard parts of each other actually helped their relationship blossom into something far greater.

I am so astonished by the quality of the writing. This book was phenomenally written. The characters were authentic and believable, with real depth. The romance blossomed so slow and perfect. The plot felt so accurate to what probably would go down if something like this happened in a post-COVID world. Everything was just so good. I’m deeply looking forward to whatever comes next from the author.

When I was younger, I read so many dystopian novels, and all of them were straight. So, the fact that, in the past couple of years, there has been an increase in the number of not-straight dystopian novels? My 14-year-old self would be very happy.

All That’s Left in the World is a book I would call a dystopia romance, really. It doesn’t have a big, overarching, world-saving plot. It’s quieter, all about two boys working their way out of hell and finding redemption along the way. And if they fall in love along the way, who’s to stop them?

Personally, what I thought best about this book was its characters. It’s hard, when you have a dual POV book where both are in first person, to make the characters distinct, I find, but it’s so well done here. Both Jamie and Andrew leap off the page, as do the side characters who dip in and out of the story. It’s also a book where I can say I couldn’t pick a favourite POV to read because I liked both of them equally. Which is always a good sign.

And in general, this was a book I enjoyed. I liked reading it. I had fun. It’s probably a 3.5-stars-rounded-down-to-3 book on balance, but I felt nice and went up to 4 instead.

I also read it in the midst of a minor book slump where everything I read maxed out at 3-3.5 stars. So. Take that part as you will too. Maybe in another mood I’d have loved this even more! Maybe, maybe not.

Basically, as this mess of a review may or may not tell you, though, this was a good book. And one I would definitely recommend, whether dystopia is your genre or not.

First of all, The Walking Dead could never.

Before going into this book, you should be aware that it is set in the aftermath of the ‘superflu’ pandemic and there are brief mentions of Covid. It follows Andrew and Jamie who are trying to survive and navigate their lives in this new world. I have the actual attention span of Dory but this book kept me hooked from start to finish. The post apocalyptic plot was so fresh and intriguing and it all flowed perfectly. It was unpredictable and at times so tense that it had me on the edge of my seat.

There’s this recurring issue that i seem to have with some newer YA books, the issue being that they all use similar cheesy phrases and pop culture references which make me cringe so bad that i get a sudden urge to launch the book across the room and out of the nearest window. This book did include some of that, HOWEVER, it works! I wasn’t annoyed by it or put off at any point, in fact, i even enjoyed a lot of the movie references.

Your honour, these boys need to be protected at all costs! They were so real and fleshed out and the author did a great job of showing their personalities and emotions. Now, I’m super picky when it comes to romance but somehow this cute, slow burn relationship was portrayed so brilliantly and authentically that it gave me everything i wanted.

All That’s Left In The World was funny, tense, emotional and heartwarming all at the same time. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a queer, post apocalyptic read.

All That's Left In The World is a young adult novel about surviving the apocalypse and falling in love, after a superflu devastates the world. Jamie and Andrew are two of the survivors in what is left of the USA, with Jamie holed up in his family cabin and Andrew trekking through the woods until he gets injured and turns up at Jamie's door. As Jamie helps to heal Andrew's leg, they start to form an alliance, all the more important now that people seem to have turned on each other. As they embark on a journey south, in the hope of anything better, there's danger waiting, but also they start to realise they have feelings for each other.

This is a slow burn romance in an apocalypse novel, that takes the current situation and imagines a future that's much worse. The pandemic in the novel isn't COVID—which is mentioned early on as something people didn't learn from—and we don't learn much about it, with the focus being much more about the survivalist situation that is now America, rather than what happened to get the country (and, it seems, the world) to this stage. The focus is much more on the characters, both their romance and their inner feelings and guilt, and on their journey south.

The narrative follows a predictable trajectory of travel, running into people who might be friendly or dangerous, and then moving on, with an ending that has hope tempered with the possible realities that might face them. The romance is good, a classic "don't want to say anything" type situation, and the stakes area always high. Some of the plot elements—like hints towards other characters' backstories—feel unfinished, as the focus is on the perspectives of the two protagonists, but I think a lot of people will be drawn in by Jamie and Andrew so maybe won't mind. At the start some of their interactions were a bit grating, especially references to a recent-ish film that wouldn't've have been recent at this point, but this settled down once the book wasn't just them in a cabin talking to each other.

This is a sweet romance with dangerous stakes, though it's worth bearing in mind the fact it's about a flu-like pandemic before reading it, as some people might find it a little too chilling to consider. It's a great example of the fact that you can have a book in which in the romance isn't particularly dramatic, but everything else can be.

All that's left in the world was an enjoyable, fast paced post apocalyptic love story, that perfectly balanced disaster and hope.

The main character's Jamie and Andrew were well written, they had clear characters and it was obvious which pov I was reading without having to go back and check. Jamie was the bravest of the two, and more likely to take charge as he was practical and prepared, whereas Andrew followed orders, and cowered away from conflict. He reminded me a lot of Eugene from the walking dead, sacrifices everyone and cries...a lot.

Despite the chaos of the world ending due to the superflu, the book was quite lighthearted, and had a lot of wholesome moments. The relationship between Jamie and Andrew was really cute, and developed nicely. The small things like trading in a can of mushrooms, or sharing a bed because they were worried about each other in a literal cult house, were all very cute moments and added to the romantic tension.

My only complaint about the book would be that it was in danger of becoming quite repetitive and predictable. They would reach a new city, a new person would either threaten or help, a problem arose, they would leave and go to the next city. I felt as though the story could have been a little more apocalyptic (given the current situation I understand some people would not appreciate that) and the journey a little less convenient for the characters.

The ending was perfect, and ambiguous, which leaves a lot of hope for the characters and the world, which after everything they have faced, feels like the right ending for them. I really enjoyed reading this, and would like to thank netgalley for giving me an arc, and introducing me to a new author.

The story of two boys through an apocalypse with twists and turns and scenes that will have you biting your nails and praying things to turn out okay. I haven’t read an apocalypse set story in a very long time, so I was slightly wary about heading into this one, but there was no need.

In terms of the main characters, I fell in love with Andrew basically on page one. His humour and personality got me hooked, though sometimes I wanted to slap him because why leave the nice boy in the cabin to go wandering around the country? Oh yes, because you wanted to ‘keep him good’, how did that turn out? Jamie is precious. My heart ached when he talked about his mum, who by the way seemed like such a badass. He was so caring for Andrew when they’d just met and throughout, I fell in love with him more and more as he tried his best to keep Andrew safe. Their relationship was absolutely gorgeous. With the small time jumps, it wasn’t instant love, and you understood the protectiveness they felt over each other, especially in the world they lived in. Something I really appreciated was Jamie’s sexuality and how it wasn’t really a big deal. He thought about it once or twice but other than that, he just went with the flow. In a lot of books, half the plot is a character trying to understand their sexuality but with a book in this setting, it wouldn’t make sense for Jamie to be worrying over his sexuality, especially when there are bigger problems in the world. I liked the addition of characters, with the two meeting up with others along the way, sometimes for small moments like Henri or for longer periods like with Cara (who I was wary of at first but then grew on me, bless her heart).
The situation with the Fosters felt a little disappointing. I thought it was going to be a severely major plot point throughout the whole book and yet it wasn’t. As though for the past weeks and months Andrew had a mission and then it just ended quickly and without much of anything happening. However, my heart felt for him entirely when he spoke about his backstory with them, and I wanted to hug him at the thought of him going miles to see their family with part of him hoping they’d be alive and want their revenge. I liked how he ended up telling Jamie about what happened with them and how Jamie didn’t judge him at all.
Fort Carolina practically killed me off. I was so scared for them throughout that entire plot point. The scene where Jamie kills Harvey made my heart leap out of my chest. Watching him fall down and being so shocked at what he did hurt. Yet I loved it, I loved that he did what Andrew hated himself for, and I love that he did it to save Andrew (I’d have shot him too).
When I realized Jamie had been shot, for a long time I thought he was genuinely going to die. I held my breath for so long begging he’d be okay. It broke my heart entirely. The switching perspectives with first-person worked throughout the book, you got to see their different thoughts on the situation and on each other. In this plot point, it worked so well. With Jamie’s perspective ending as he blacks out and Andrew’s trying to save him and help him get better. Through this you got to see how Jamie was feeling, the pain and misery and fear of dying but also how his injury was affecting Andrew. It made it utterly heart-breaking.
When it comes to the end, I’d never hoped for a book to end with an ‘it was all a dream’ line in all my life. It didn’t, the ending was a little more realistic. I loved that it ended with not everything perfect, with them not entirely trusting the settlement, especially with what happened with Fort Carolina, but they were with each other, and they’d made friends and they were okay. I practically cheered with joy realizing Henri’s daughter was safe and with a baby and I liked the idea that they were going off to find Henri hopefully. I also liked when Amy mentioned how her baby was immune and how the settlement was large and they didn’t have any bugs, it gives hope that the bug was dying and hopefully they can get the world in a better shape.
Overall, I really liked this book. It was tense and funny with so many cultural references throughout which I loved, and sometimes heart-breaking. I really took to Jamie and Andrew and their relationship and wanted to wrap them in a huge blanket and keep them safe. There were a few loose ends but nothing dramatic and the book was easy to follow and so well detailed. I could see so many of the scenes, like with the lion or when they take the car or even just the abandoned streets. Definitely glad to have broken my dystopian story break with this book.

If you've been on socials at all the last while, you've seen people talking about this book, looking forward to this book, hoping to get to read it. You've probably been wondering 'hype or worth it?' I have to say, for me at least, it was worth it. (with the exception of one small element which I will explain below.)
First, be aware; this is set in the aftermath of a pandemic with a death rate somewhere in the region of 99%. It's explicitly not Covid, but Covid is mentioned (in the context of "we thought we knew how to deal with pandemics after Covid, but we hadn't learned our lessons."). If you, like many people, need to not engage with that kind of mention, don't pick up this book.

However, it is very largely not about the actual pandemic. There is some discussion and some of the protagonists talking about things that happened during the pandemic, but the major part of the story happens afterwards, as the survivors begin to pick up the pieces. It isn't said, or I didn't realise it, how long after the pandemic this story is set; not as much as years, but more than just a couple of months, I think. The bulk of the story has to do with the different ways people deal with and move on from this kind of tragedy. Our survivors encounter a lone woman going through the motions, a group who are well on the way to being a cult if they aren't one already, one who seem to be much more open and friendly, as well as a handful of others. They also see some of the ways people chose to die when they knew the end was coming.

Now, the issue I had. It's a minor thing, it's one of those things that probably doesn't bother people apart from me, so this is your warning: you can ignore it if you want to.



This isn't just for this book; we see this trope all the time, in movies and tv shows and other novels, but it really caught my eye here because of orientations. Andrew is gay and has been openly gay for some years. Jamie has always considered himself straight and has never doubted that about himself. But after a while in each other's company, they are hot for each other. I know this is supposed to be a heartwarming, 'they found their soulmate even through everything' situation, but for me it always feels a little bit like they just settled for whoever was the closest person.


But this is absolutely just my personal opinion and it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.

Because I did enjoy it, very much. I liked the characters, I liked the story - I would have liked more about the actual pandemic, but like I said that isn't at all the point of the story so it makes sense that we didn't get much. I loved the surprise third character who joined our boys after a while. I'd love to read more of their adventures, and I'll definitely be looking out for more books by Erik J Brown in future. Fantastic.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a classic, post apocalyptic, road trip survival story, but with really great central characters and a gripping plot. The central romance between Andrew and Jamie built slowly and deeply, and was really moving and lovely. By the end I was so wrapped up in it I was seriously worried that they wouldn't survive long enough to finally understand how much they loved each other (no spoilers if they did or didn't). The premise of a deadly flu pandemic that has killed over 90% of the population was handled well, although obviously parts of the story are quite dark, and the author did a great job of conveying the balance between grief and horror, and the need to survive and keep going. The road trip narrative means the pace of the book is great and the situations and people they met along the way were interesting and varied, and prompted thoughts of how different types of people would approach a catastrophe of this magnitude. I would definitely recommend this book to YA readers who like this type of genre.or who are looking for a great queer romance story.