I got this arc off of NetGalley and these opinions are my own. I feel like Milo and Marcos at the End of the World was a good book. It was different then I expected it to be and not really about what happened thought it was going to be about. Milo and Marcos meet at Bible Camp and feelings start to brew but then Marcos disappears. Three years later he shows up in Milo’s life again. But Milo struggles with he feelings for Marcos and his connection to his religion. As their relationship grows strange occurrences are happening, Milo begins to wonder if these are God’s way of letting them know they are committing sin. Are they doomed or can they be happy? Kevin Christopher Snipes writes a lovely book, it was just personally hard for to get into as I am not a believer in organized religion. It was hard for me o relate to Milo because of his struggle with his faith and his feelings for Marcos. Though I feel like any reader who’s struggled with that cross section between faith and being who they are could really relate to this book! I did enjoy Marcos and Milo and I though Van was wonderful! This book is definitely worth a read.

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World is a novel about two boys, a bunch of bizarre natural catastrophes, and teenage love.

I enjoyed the book. It was well-written and easy to read. While Milo, the point of view character, had moments of being excessively dramatic it was understandable. Milo's got a crush on Marcos, Milo's pretty religious, and the world is behaving somewhat erratically. I think it's understandable that the kid would be feeling the drama.

The plot does contain a number of common tropes, but Milo's faith made for a fresh spin on several of the tropes.

This was a good book.

As a queer person with religious trauma, this book is interesting to say the least. The main character's devotion to christianity is a little much at times, so I'd steer clear if you aren't comfortable reading about that stuff. The love interest and the best friend aren't super religious and there are talks about how religion isn't great or isn't for everyone, so that's something it keep in mind.

Other than that, I really enjoyed it. It reeled me in and I literally read it in like six hours because I just needed to know what happened next. There were discussions of internalized homophobia and racism and how problematic organized religion can be. I can't speak on how the racism was addressed, but I do think these explorations of internalized homophobia and seeing the main character's progression in that and how getting out of that mindset isn't a linear progression.

For the apocalypse aspect, I think I got the wrong impression on what that would look like? I feel like the beginning was a little misleading in that aspect, but as the story progressed I understood what was really happening. It was definitely a very creative route to go and it certainly kept things interesting.

The story almost had a Shakespeare vibes to it. Like a mix of Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest which was great for me as a Shakespeare enthusiast. Maybe that's why I read it all in one go. Either way, I do think that people will have a Time reading this book. It's a lot different from the Two Princes Podcast (which the author also apparently wrote), but I'd say it's still pretty good.

*I recieved a free copy in exchange for an honest review*

What a wild ride! I guess that's to be expected from a novel where bad things happen when these boys kiss, but it honestly felt like a roller coaster. It was well written, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, though I'm glad it discussed some seriously tough topics. Homophobia and the fear of coming out to overly religious parents was almost worse than all the disasters that kept happening to Milo and Marcos. To be honest, as someone who had loving parents and did not have fears of coming out, this book was not written for me and that's okay. It's amazing, in fact, because it's an enjoyable read that will speak to the teens it needs to. This book really does scream out "It's OKAY to be you, even if you're responsible for ending the world" and I love that about it. I know a few people who needed this book as teens and I'm glad that it's being released for younger generations.

Also, I'm so glad queer YA fiction is branching out to more than just sad love stories these days. I need more crazy, bizarre LGBTQ reads in my life.