You and Me at the End of the World by Brianna Bourne

 

This is a tough book to rate because I liked YOU AND ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD but I wasn't keen on the ending and I can't really say why without delving into some pretty major spoilers, and since the book doesn't come out until July, I don't want to spoil it. The short of it is, Hannah is a young ballerina who wakes up to a silent world that no longer has any people in it. She thinks she's completely alone until, inexplicably, she hears the sound of music and finds school heartthrob, Leo, testing out a guitar in a music store.

The silent city of Houston is ominous and the only people they have are each other. It feels natural, then, that they would turn to one another for comfort and solace as the emptiness becomes increasingly sinister and they try to figure out where they are-- and where everyone else went. For most of the book, the mystery element kept me turning pages, wanting to find out the twist. I also thought the forced proximity element was a reasonable path to take to try and circumvent the usual "is it instalove?" dilemma (even though I would say, yes, it still does feel like instalove, but at least it sort of makes sense now).

I did not like the ending at all, however, and both characters fell a little flat to me. I loved that Leo wasn't quite the playboy everyone assumed he was (he's deep) and the message that part of growing up is separating your parents' plans and ambitions for you from your own. There were some good things in here but it just ended up feeling way too cliche and disappointing.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

2 out of 5 stars