Yeva is a scientist. Desperate to save endangered and overlooked snail species she travels Ukraine in a mobile lab, kitted out with money she makes offering herself up as a potential bride to desperate Westerners. One day her path crosses with sisters Nastia and Solomiya, also working the circuit, but with an entirely different agenda. Then into it all comes the war.

This is a deeply strange, twistedly funny book that is both bleak and hopeful.

Description:
Yeva is a biologist with a mobile lab, trying to rescue and breed endangered snails. Nastia and Sol are the two daughters of a famous protestor, trying desperately to get her attention after she’s disappeared. Together, they kidnap 13 bachelors, foreigners who’ve come to Ukraine as part of the marriage industry, to try and find a Ukrainian bride to take home with them. They’re on the road when Russia invades…

Liked:
Intriguing premise, setting and characters. Found myself genuinely caught up in the plight of both the sisters and the snails. It’s a pacey little book and I flew through it - entertaining till the end. I really appreciated the window into the experience of a Ukrainian abroad during the invasion; the book really feels like an attempt to get the wider world to refocus on Ukraine, and it does a good job of getting your attention without feeling preachy or maudlin. I feel for the author and her fears for her grandfather.

Disliked:
That said, something about the meta section in the middle of the book doesn’t quite work for me, and I wasn’t a fan of the yurt-makers dialogue. It’s not that meta elements were included - I think they work much better toward the end of the book - but the first introduction feels overly abrupt, and the tone a little grating. I would love to have spent a bit more time with Nastia and Sol - Nastia’s head is an interesting place to be, and I was a tiny bit unsatisfied with their resolution with their mother.

Would definitely recommend, and will be interested to read more from this author.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC of this one!

I was hooked by the premise of this book - international marriage agency meets a scientist trying to save endangered snails, all set against the current invasion of Ukraine and with glimmers of metadfiction. I mean, if you’re looking for something unique, Maria Reva’s got you. There’s a lot of talk about humour as a coping mechanism in this book, not making light of the situation in Ukraine of course, but a ‘laugh or we’ll cry’. I loved the way the author slipped in some little meta sections, talking about the dissonance she feels living and working away from Ukraine at a time where the country is under attack. Hearing devastating news from your home country, only to go to a dinner party and socialise with people for whom it may well not be happening at all. How does one persevere in such a messed up limbo?

It’s a hugely readable novel, the pace barely falters, and it runs the gamut of emotions from hilarity, futility, desperation, devastation. Definitely be on the lookout for this one when it comes out in July!

What a weird, wild ride! I loved the concept of this, and there's a section midway through that does such a great little metafictional trick that I'll be thinking of for a while. There were parts of this where the pacing didn't quite work for me, but overall a great read, and 100% one of my favourite cover designs in recent times.

Five star read! An incredibly sharp, witty and experimental read following three Ukrainian women with different motivations who kidnap a truckload of foreign men trying to find a docile wife through the marriage agency they are employed by.

The novel is interrupted by Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, which leads to a really interesting change in the dimensions of the novel. Endling also draws attention to the ongoing tragedy of Ukraine’s invasion, and how it became ‘old news’ for the international community in today’s rapid news cycle.

3.5 stars..
In a time when Ukraine fIn a time when Ukraine faces great challenges, Endling resonates deeply, offering a lens into the resilience of its people and the complexities of their struggles. Reva's narrative is both a tribute to the enduring human spirit and a stark reminder of the fragility of life, making it an essential read for those seeking to understand the multifaceted layers of contemporary Ukrainian society.aces great challenges, Endling resonates deeply, offering a lens into the resilience of its people and the complexities of their struggles. Reva's narrative is both a tribute to the enduring human spirit and a stark reminder of the fragility of life, making it an essential read for those seeking to understand the multifaceted layers of contemporary Ukrainian society.

Easily the most unique novel I’ve ever read. Wow. Set in contemporary Ukraine, Yeva is a biologist working on breeding and saving rare/at risk snails in her mobile lab. To fund this research, she partakes in guided romance tours with western men looking for love. Her arm is twisted by two other women who want to use her mobile lab to take some of the men hostage and shine a light on the industry… and so we follow their journey across Ukraine (with Lefty, apparently the last of his very rare species of snail) during Russia’s invasion. There were moments that were heavy and startling, but Reva’s writing was also humorous, and I finished the novel feeling hopeful. Impactful, wild, and absolutely one of a kind. 🐌 Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this ARC!

How do you write a novel about the Russian invasion of Ukraine without your novel becoming a bleak, despairing portrait of war? Maria Reva's debut, Endling, does so, and in doing so becomes an utterly unique, engaging, masterpiece. It is a work with many surprises, stretches of meta-fiction, sequences which are funny, sequences of despair, and moments which leave you speechless. I certainly finished this novel with the sense I had read something very special.

An Endling is the last known member of a species, but Endling never feels like the last of anything, it feels more like the beginning of something which could be quite special. I'm very keen to see what Maria Reva does next.