Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid is a sapphic enemies to lovers YA Dystopian set in a crumbling society ruled by a capitalist corporate-government hybrid that’s hyper-fixated on violence and the exploitation of the lower class.
Synopsis
In New Amsterdam Inesa lives in a drowned world crippled by the impact of environmental collapse and the oppressive system that was built following societal and economic disintegration. The result is a climate with never-ending rain, a corrupt corporation-government, Caerus, that controls every aspect of society encouraging citizens to wrack up enormous debt resulting in deadly consequences for those that exceed their limit.
Inesa and her brother Luka survive by running a taxidermy shop where Luka hunts for rare animals that haven’t been impacted by radiation and mutations. And Inesa prepares them to sell to patrons to display in their homes. They barely survive but as a general rule avoid racking up debt so they won’t face the consequences of doing so.
However, their mother who’s struggling with mental illness and emotionally fragile following her husband and their father abandoning them has wracked up a large debt to Caerus. The result? She offers Inesa as a sacrifice, called the lamb, for the government’s televised survival show The Gauntlet where Inesa has seven days to try and survive by any means necessary.
All while a genetically enhanced assassin, known as the Angel, hunts her and will execute her when she’s found. Inesa and Luka hatch a plan to run and flee into the dangerous Drowned Country, between New Amsterdam and The Dominion of New England, to evade the assassin and keep Inesa alive.
Enter Melinoë an Angel with a traumatic history. Though she’s been created and trained to be devoid of humanity and emotionless cracks begin to appear in this facade after she fell apart following her last Gauntlet involving a young girl. Despite having her memory wiped by her creator, Azreal, she’s still experiencing PTSD. She’s taken aback when she’s assigned for the next Gauntlet and knows it’s important for her to succeed if she wants to maintain her freedom and avoid being retired to become a rich billionaire’s play thing.
These two stories intertwine as Inesa and Melinoë form a startling truce after facing terrifying danger that leaves Melinoë injured. Their tenuous truce develops into a romance where they both grapple with the truth they don’t want to just survive but want to live a life beyond the iron grip of Caerus and a broken society that pits its citizens against each other.
Tropes & Representation
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Only one bed
- Hunter and Prey dynamic
- Dual POV
- Found Family
- Sapphic Romance
Content
Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid is a poignant, heartfelt story with bits of hope sprinkled throughout. Not only did Reid craft a multi-layered story with epic scope but she created dynamic characters that it felt easy to empathize with.
Key themes in this novel are:
- Corporate oppression and capitalism
- Climate change and environmental decay
- Surveillance and voyeurism
- Identity and autonomy
- Love and human connection
- Resistance and hope
Reid does an excellent job of exploring these jobs without becoming preachy or being too on the nose. Personally, the commentary regarding corporate oppression and capitalism, and surveillance and voyeurism were my favorites.
Corporate oppression and capitalism.
Reid explores how a corporation rises to power after the fallout of the Atomic Age in which their society is struggling economically with many displaced due to climate change. They take advantage of this fallen society and create a corporate government hybrid where the wealthy oppress the lower class citizens and nickel and dime them for the basic right to exist. Thus, enslaving them to a debt system where failure to pay debts led to catastrophic consequences.
This clearly shows the repercussions of building a society where human life is seen as a commodity and people are dehumanized for profit and entertainment.
Surveillance and voyeurism.
The Gauntlet is a live-streamed event created for the entertainment of the citizens and for Caerus to fatten their pockets. It dehumanizes its participants where Caerus crafts a narrative for the sacrifice and the assassin to entertain the masses.
This brings to question society’s troublesome obsession with violence and the lack of boundaries that exist between public figures and celebrities where we begin to dehumanize them and see them as a commodity. It also deftly explores the dark side of parasocial relationships and the entitlement that comes with them.
Writing Style
When I think of the key elements that make for a strong dystopian novel Fable for the End of the World hits it out of the park. There’s the strong world-building where you feel completely immersed in the story with situations and circumstances that felt realistic and hit a little too close to home.
Reid focused on three key political themes capitalism, surveillance, and climate change. They shaped the bulk of this story and provided apt commentary.
The conflict in this story was definitely high-stakes. However, the balance between the character driven elements and the action wasn’t always balanced and there was a dip midway. But its social relevance was on point. You feel as if this is something that’s apt for our society and acts as a forewarning for what potential pitfalls we could encounter in our world.
When it pertains to their romance it did feel a little quick. Did Reid allude to their attraction prior? Yes. But I still felt it all happened so soon or maybe it was the way it all came together that made me feel it was a bit sudden. Either way I did find myself rooting for them and pleased to have LGBTQIA+ representation in this novel.
Plot Development
Despite this story having a strong external driven plot point being The Gauntlet and the threat to Inesa’s life. We spent little time with this plot point before transitioning to the more character driven elements midway through this novel. It’s during this point where the romance subplot becomes a primary focus.This could be a point where you find the story to lag if you enjoy are more action-based plot. It does pick up towards the end and maintains a frenetic energy towards the conclusion.
However, there were a few storylines that weren’t wrapped up. This was disappointing considering we spent some time in the novel exploring these storylines only to have them fizzle out to nothing at the end.
Characters
The characterization was phenomenal as I felt they were what I call onion characters where they’re multi-layered with depth. They were also morally ambiguous as they struggled with maintaining their humanity in a corrupt society. I also appreciated the dual POV featuring two characters from opposite perspectives and lived experiences.
Audiobook
I had the pleasure of going back and forth between the audiobook and physical copy. And the listening experience was phenomenal. The voice actors were impeccable and brought these characters to life in an emotional impactful way. Perhaps, Inesa’s voice actor was my favorite as she weaved such emotion into Inesa’s character I was able to truly feel and empathize with her creating a super immersive experience.
Concluding Thoughts & Rating
This was a powerful YA Dystopian. There have been many comparisons to The Hunger Games and while I can’t speak to that as I’ve never read the series I can say it meets the standards of a good well-balanced dystopian. With compelling themes, apt commentary, queer representation, and complex characterization. The result is a richly poignant novel full of resistance, hope and heartbreak.
You’ll enjoy this novel if you like YA Dystopian fiction that balances plot-driven and character-driven elements and provides a Sapphic romantic subplot that doesn’t dominate the story. However, if you’re not a fan of open or loose storylines and endings you may find this doesn’t satisfy your cravings for a balanced resolution to a high-stakes conflict. Purchase the Limited Special Edition from Barnes & Noble
