I've been a fan of Katie Mack for a while now -- I have family members who are really interested in astrophysics, and they introduced me to research years ago -- so this title's been on my radar since she first announced her authorship.

Her language is incredibly accessible, transforming these (fascinatingly complex) astronomical concepts into easy-to-digest ideas. I never found myself lost, nor bored; no, she paints the astronomical world with vivid brushstrokes, drawing you into the latest theories with a guiding hand.

Is the end of the universe a little bleak? Yes, and it's a concept I'd never let myself imagine before, simply out of fear that learning the possibilities would, well, make me worry. And yet, it's all SO FASCINATING! Even the most fearful of concepts are described in such a brilliant, engaging, and *hopeful* manner, imbuing the informational tone with not just knowledge, but levity.

All in all, I flew through this title. Once again, Katie Mack has inexplicably impressed me -- and I cannot wait to read her upcoming work, be it a scientific article or another brilliant non-fiction novel!

A fascinating read, if a little too short to my liking—call me morbid but I wanted to see even more various possible deaths of the universe.

In fact, I’m especially fascinated with the vacuum decay theory (incidentally, I had read an article about it by Katie Mack some time ago, and that was what prompted me to request the book in turn). I can’t tell why this one calls to me more than the others—perhaps because, if it does come to pass, we at least know none of us will ever be aware of it, we just won’t have the time to see it coming. Perhaps because it does make a lot of sense. Perhaps because I have something with oblivion in general, or because of the author’s sense of humour that permeates her writing.

I learnt a lot here about other theories as well, which were explained in a way that made them quite easy to understand (some of them I had previously brushed on, but now I feel like I hadn’t fully understood them at the time). What will come to pass, in the end? The Heat Death? The Big Crunch? Will something, anything, get out of it, or will whatever happen put an end to everything, if we are indeed in a false vacuum now? It is scary and fascinating and mind-boggling all together, and it prompts so many thoughts. I found it more exciting than depressing, which is telling, considering when I read it (2020, I’m glaring at you, really).

I love reading books about science and this one is, by far, my favorite. Katie is a humorous narrator and she does a fantastic job at presenting hard concepts to readers, using everyday examples to make us understand the gravity of the situation and the intuition behind the theories. Through The End of Everything I learned about the multiple ways in which the universe can end. I enjoyed revisiting concepts I had learned back in my high school Physics class and their advanced applications. I loved the theological side of book and learning about the varying perspectives in the branches of physics about the different theories.

This book not only made physics more accessible to me, it also brought me up to speed on a number of developments that we don't realize the importance of in every day life since they get glanced over. The amount of time and effort put by scientists into understand our universe is commendable and this book does a phenomenal job of bringing the effort to the forefront of the mind. Full of knowledge that you will not regret gaining, I highly recommend this book!

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to diving deeper into what I learned and sharing on Armed with A Book on publication day!

Great science writing

I enjoyed this book. Katie Mack has a relaxed, casual writing style and the book felt more like a discussion over a cup of coffee. She shows a good sense of humor and the footnotes are definitely worth reading. Despite the complexity of the subject matter, Mack weaves a compelling tale about the future of the universe. Not a lot of jargon is used and the writing style is conversational. Mack weaves herself into the story making the book a type of journey. Normally, I don’t like when scientists wax philosophical, but in this book, this was done splendidly. I recommend this book for anyone interested in science.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.