This started very strong but the tension kind of petered out halfway for me and I ended up skimming to the end. Recommend for people looking for specific representation (which this book does well) but I wouldn't recommend it more broadly than that.

This was very hard to get through. There were parts where it felt like it was just dragging on when it could have been shorter. I think part of the problem is Waverly kept going back and forth on what her relationship with Ash really meant. She spent too much time thinking about that when there were more important things to be worrying about; such as the world ending. In general, as a character, I found her annoying and whinny. I kind of liked a couple of the side characters but we didn't really get to spend enough time with them to truly get to know them.

This is a fairly quick YA thriller/mystery read with a plot that takes a bit to get started. In addition to the slow paced start, there are several moments requiring the suspension of disbelief. If you're cool with that going in, you're likely to have a more enjoyable read.

Things start off with a contemporary romance/dark academia feel but slowly morph into more of a dystopian atmosphere. I can't say much more here without creating spoilers, but the shift in genre feel did leave me feeling a bit disoriented for a while.

There are some fairly intense scenes with good, quick paced writing, and I enjoyed that action in the last third of the book quite a bit.

Putting all the pieces together, this is an okay read. Nothing super spectacular, but not one needing a DNF or a complete avoidance. It wouldn't be my first pick for a recommend, but if someone had it on their list I wouldn't tell them to abandon ship either.

Jen is such a fantastic and insightful author who writes autistic characters beautifully! I'll keep reading everything they write.

Waverly is an autistic scholarship student at the prestigious Webber Academy in NYC. One of her tutoring clients/"it girl" of Webber asks her to attend the school's annual fundraising masquerade disguised as her and she jumps at the chance. The party takes a dark turn when Waverly stumbles in on the dean and the school's top donors...and witnesses a murder. Before she can escape, a weird global blackout puts the whole school on lockdown. The party turns into a survival nightmare and Waverly and her friends try to navigate the hellscape and figure out what on earth is going on.

This one was very different, quirky, mysterious, and entertaining. Waverly is a great narrator who gives readers an interesting perspective on the events of the story. The majority of the story takes place on one evening, giving it a good "locked room" feel. It is definitely a very "niche" story and combines an almost apocalyptic feel with a murder mystery/YA thriller.

I lost interest so quickly, and this ended up being a DNF. I think it has so much potential, but it was not the read for me.

This book started very promising. I enjoyed it for a while but then it started to fall flat and I started to lose interest.

I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn't so much sci-fi. It is marketed as a YA LGBTQIA+ contemporary thriller/mystery, and I personally think the sci-fi overpowered the thriller/mystery part.

Waverly is autistic and poor, and her friend Caroline is "normal" and wealthy. Waverly would give anything to be Caroline, just for a night, and is thrilled when Caroline agrees to let Waverly take her place at the masquerade ball. Even better, Waverly's ex-girlfriend, Ash, will be there too because Ash's dad is the headmaster at Waverly's school, the Webber Academy, that is putting on the masquerade as a fundraiser. Clad in an expensive dress and a gorgeous mask, Waverly finds her courage to approach Ash and settle what happened between them, causing them to break up. Waverly is not prepared for all of the chaos that ensues at the ball, especially while she has to pretend to be Caroline all night. Is Caroline really privy to all of these dealings, or is she truly clueless?

The idea of this book is great. I thought the characters were likeable enough and I was rooting for Waverly and Ash to rekindle their relationship. Unfortunately, I think that part of the story got buried under the guise of doomsday prepping, solar flares, and the end of the world. I can handle a little sci-fi in my books, but this was more than a little bit. I don't feel this book was marketed properly, and once the masquerade commenced, I struggled to stay invested in the story because of all of the sci-fi themes.

Were there thrills? Sure. Mystery? Yes. I also appreciated that the author included various diversities in characters: race, sexuality, disability, economic status, The characters felt genuine, and I can't say many authors can do that as flawlessly.

But that sci-fi aspect... This was the biggest disappointment in this book for me. The other part I struggled with was the confusion of what and where events were happening. There was a maze somewhere in this building and it seemed every way was the wrong way until it wasn't. And then there were various corridors that all looked the same but the characters just somehow knew which way to go to get to a specific room, but they couldn't find their way out of the building... It was a lot.

My personal opinion is that the author should have focused on the thriller/mystery aspect or the sci-fi aspect and perfected that instead of trying to combine both into one story. The ending of this one was a let down for me as well, as I still had some unanswered questions and wanted to know a bit more about what was going to happen next. This one just didn't do it for me. 3 stars, mostly because I liked the characters and felt the author covered diversity in a huge way.

I love a good thriller- I love the twists and turns, the uncertainty of each page. What I thought was a thriller about teens and the tension of high school rivalry; what I was not expecting was aliens.

The ending is a rollercoaster of WHAT THE ABSOLUTE F🤬CK?! But I loved every second of it.

I was given a copy of this story to read; but thoughts and opinions are all my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the chance to read this book! Love the Wednesday crew for always sending THE BEST books!

This book on paper (pun intended) has all the things I love- an elite private school, a masquerade ball, and a sense of impending doom.

SPOILER FREE review > I will say I felt like for the high stakes, for me, there wasn't a big payoff. With the ending of the book, I was wanting more- not as in another book, but more from the ending itself. It felt too rushed at the ending, and not very satisyfing. I would try this author again though!

*E-book copy gifted by Netgalley/Wednesday Books - thank you! All opinions/reviews are my own.

I am currently supporting the boycott against St. Martin’s Press until they respond to influencer’s concerns about safety, inequality, systemic issues at hand and also meet the demands of the boycott. I am looking forward to leaving an updated review for this book once the demands are met ❤️

With all the elements of this story; the masquerade, the 1%er private school, neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ reps, a catastrophic event, plus a wild race to stop the nefarious plans, I feel like I shouldn’t have been able to put this one down. But it kind of felt like it dragged on and was a slow burn. I’m not sure. I wasn’t prepared for a lot of what happened, and I did enjoy it. It just was slow going for some reason.

Waverly is at Webber Academy on scholarship. People think she’s a genius when she really just works ridiculously hard to do everything right. Except for maybe the whole sneaking around with the Dean’s daughter last year until she ghosted her and broke her heart. When Caroline, the popular girl she tutors, laments that she just wants a night off and doesn’t want to go to the ostentatious masquerade ball the academy throws, she suggests Waverly take her place since they have similar builds. With the full face mask, no one will know. Waverly wants to say no, until she remembers that the Dean’s daughter is back from London to attend, and there’s no other way to get in. She can get in, talk to Ash, and get out with closure in no time, right?

In the heart of New York City, a glamorous masquerade ball transforms into a nightmarish vision of dystopia. In the halls of Webber Academy, where privilege reigns supreme, Waverly, a scholarship student who is both gay and autistic, yearns for a taste of the opulent event. Despite her financial barriers, her wealthy friend Caroline proposes a daring plan: Waverly will attend the masquerade disguised as Caroline herself. The allure of the masquerade intensifies when Waverly discovers that her ex-girlfriend Ash, the dean's daughter, will be in attendance.

As whispers of scandal and mystery swirl through the school following a suspicious incident involving Caroline's tech billionaire father, the party proceeds unabated. But when darkness descends upon the revelers, trapping them within the elegant venue, the true horror emerges—the world is on the brink of collapse. Caught in a web of deceit and uncertainty, Waverly must navigate the chaos and determine whom she can trust. Yet, amidst the intrigue, the seamless facade of the fairy-tale beginning fractures, revealing the harsh reality of impending catastrophe.

While the narrative's pacing may falter at times, Wilde's exploration of the elite's response to societal collapse offers a compelling commentary on contemporary issues. An intense yet uneven apocalyptic survival story, "This Is The Way The World Ends" captures the essence of Wilde's examination of privilege, power, and survival in a world teetering on the edge of oblivion.

This book was a crazy ride at first I did get how we were going to get to the end of the world. It seem to be just another story about some under privileged kid going to a private school, but that ending save this story for me. We get to see our main character go from a rule follower to someone who will take on the world over all for me it a three star read personally

The first half of this book was good, strong, and immensely enjoyable. The second half...the author floundered a bit. The story ended up being tolerable, but kind of uneven and objectively not as good as I was hoping for. I will read more by this author, but this one isn't a favorite.

I enjoyed the first half but did not enjoy the second half. I will be looking for more from this author. Thank you netgalley for the early copy.

This book was a bit all over the place. I absolutely loved the cover. I appreciate that the author adds diversity to the novel. I just needed a stronger plot and direction for the story to keep me interested.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

This book was a trip! It was engaging and intriguing. You didn't know who to trust. It was a quick read.
My biggest complaint i felt like the whole bit of her having autism was almost forgotten for a chunk of the book when the party started and chaos began. I know the spectrum has a wide range but based on everything we knew about Waverly from before the party on how she handles overstimulation, all of her actions in the party and how she interacted socially felt inaccurate. But I did love seeing how she was able to prove to herself that she could do so much more than she imagined she could and fought so hard for her friends when she could have just saved herself.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. A masquerade and a murder - perfect for any entertaining story with socialites and the higher privileged. An entertaining read from start to finish.