Waverly is an autistic scholarship student at the prestigious Webber Academy. In order to try to fit in she tutors the upper 1%. It is during tutoring that she meets the schools “it” girl and ends up forming a friendship. When she convinces Waverly to attend the masquerade ball as her – Waverly reluctantly agrees.

The ball is everything Waverly ever dreamed it would be – and more, but when some sinister things start happening Waverly isn’t quite sure what to do. As the world is thrust into a blackout Waverly and her friends must navigate through hurdles and try to save the night. But Waverly can’t help but wonder, even if they do escape, will there be anything worth living for?

This book was good but left me wanting for more. It was a fun YA queer romance and dystopian mash up that was really a delight. However, the whole second half of the book was out of the blue and not what I was expected or wanted. I was prepared for the dystopian, but I seem to struggle that this group of high school kids could save the world. It just felt very disjointed. I think had the author just stuck to the first half of the book and turned that into the entire book, but more flushed out, then it would have been a better read.

Thank you to St Martins Press, Wednesday Books, @StMartinsPress, @WednesdayBooks, and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This one is out May 9th.

As an autistic scholarship student at the prestigious Webber Academy in NYC, Waverly is used to masking to fit in, in more ways than one. While her classmates are the children of the one percent, Waverly is getting by on tutoring gigs and the generosity of the school's charming dean. So, when her tutoring student "it girl" Caroline asks her to attend the school's annual fundraising Masquerade disguised as her, Waverly jumps at the chance - especially once she finds out that Ash, the dean's daughter and her secret ex-girlfriend, will be there. The Masquerade is everything Waverly dreamed of, until the evening takes a dark turn. As the world is thrust into a blackout and the people at the gala are planning something more sinister than anyone could have imagined, Waverly and her friends must navigate hurdles and try to make it through the night, but even if they do escape, will there be anything left worth living for?

This book was a fast paced YA queer romance and dystopian mash-up that was delightfully addicting and I devoured it in one day! I loved all the queer, disability, and racial representation that was packed into the diverse cast of characters. I definitely was not expecting the chaos of the second half of the book, the turn everything took threw me and I had several questions that were left unanswered. The ending left me wanting more and hopefully there's a sequel in the works to tie up some of the loose ends.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

The first 25% of the book was just introductions. Speaking of introductions it felt like the author was trying to hard to have the characters be different. It seemed like each character only had a disability so that the author can pat themselves on the back.

It took way too long for the plot to really happen. Then when it finally kicks in it’s all over the place.

I just as not a fan of this book, which is unfortunate because I really did want to like it.

Fan of Jen Wilde but this one just wasn't for me. It was a little all over the place and I struggled to connect with it and it was a lot for me to keep slugging through. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

A pretty good book, well-written and with a solid cast of characters. They were the highlight for me. The themes were explored in an interesting, original way too. Dark in places, but also very moving. I can recommend this to YA readers.

I really enjoyed this! All the things I expected to happen allllllmost happened and all the things I didn't expect to happen...happened. Truly a wonderful twisty story that kept me guessing the whole time, a true hallmark of a good novel! Highly recommend!

This is the way the world ends by Jen Wilde is a book that has two parts, each a two different plots but all a part of one story. For the first half of this book, its mostly just an introduction to Waverly and other characters in the world. Nothing truly happens in this section, (with the exception of one dramatic health change). The writing for this part was fine, provided great background for what would occur but I constantly felt reminded that Waverly is a queer person who is on the spectrum and on scholarship to an elite school. It seems as if a variation of this statement occurs every chapter for the first half.

Then comes the second half, this half makes this book feel like a completely different novel, as more information continues to be revealed it becomes a fast paced mystery/doomsday novel. The characters all had some background provided but still all felt one sided and sped up, neglecting to see the development of them.

I did enjoy reading this, but I felt the two separate parts of the book, overwhelming details, and quickly wrapped up and vague ending makes it hard to highly recommend it. The ending really just solidifies this to be around the 3 star range for me. The problem is solved...but it really isn't and there's a whole lot left to the unknown and more questions than answers.

Expected publication May 9, 2023

Waverly is a scholarship student at Weber Academy in New York City. Weber Academy is a prestigious school that is made up mainly of students who are children to the top 1%. Waverly tutors other students and relies on the generosity of the Dean. Waverly's family struggles financially and her mother is incredibly ill. Waverly is autistic. Her group of friends are treated as outcasts but amongst themselves they are fully accepted for their differences.

Waverly has always wanted to attend the yearly Masquerade but the steep ticket price of $10, 000 makes its impossible for her until popular, rich, student Caroline proposes that Waverly go in her place. Waverly accepts but the Masquerade turns out to be anything but great. Waverly witnesses a murder and then learns that it's the end of the world.

Waverly is a well written character which makes for a fun and fast paced read. I actually forgot that I was reading a book about the end of the world (which happens halfway through) until it starts. I was a bit surprised by it which made the book all that more interesting.

A fun little YA story. I’ll never stop reading YA. Books like this solidify that. I love the cover on this one too.

This book was very eye-opening for me! It mixes science with wealth in a way that I have not read before! This book will appeal to young adults who are looking for strong characters to read about. This author does an excellent job of examining how the wealthy few are able to use their money and power to dictate how lives can all change in an instant. It does a great job of showing us how strong young adults can be when needed and how they are capable of teamwork that can save the world!

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Irresponsible wealthy teenagers in elite private school set in a dystopian world, my favourite YA genre! This book started off reminding me of Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee, instead of winning the boy though, our heroine is set out to save the world.

The book ends satisfying, while welcoming a sequel, I can't wait to read more about Waverly and her gang.

I think my students will really like this one, It has elements of mystery, dystopia/end of world/tech disaster and a diverse group of characters, action based, more than character driven, which again they will like. I as an adult was less interested in the book

This book has a great premise and an intriguing start, but when the teens throw logic to the wind and go *back in to the murder mansion* because the antagonist deserves to be punished ... I lost any interest I had. It was difficult to hold a sense of location in my mind when Waverly and Co. are running around the secret back staircases and taking multiple secret elevators.

I also had the impression that the solar flare apocalypse was not considered outside of the frame of this particular story. The book ended abruptly, like the author suddenly remembered that even though Waverly and Caroline defeated the baddies, oops, there is kind of an apocalypse going on outside and it's basically like going back in time. Unless I am supposed to read the title inspiration literally: "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper."

My last main criticism of the book has to do with the portrayal of diversity. I love that YA lit has more neurodivergent (of the non-inspirational, non-savior type) protags, but I do not need to be reminded of that fact every chapter. It didn't feel like this repetition was a characteristic of Waverly's speech, either. It was very much the author talking to her readers and saying DO NOT FORGET SHE IS AUTISTIC and I just wanted to yell back I KNOW. I GOT IT.

Waverly feels like a modern day Cinderella when Caroline asks her to take her place at the exclusive fundraiser/ball held at Weber Academy. Waverlyfeels fortunate to attend such a good school, but her family has no money for extras, like a ticket to this event. Caroline has given Waverley, the best gift possible, especially since Ash will be there. Waverly thought they were in love, but when Ash ghosts her and leaves town, it breaks her heart. Now she will have the opportunity to find out what she did wrong or die trying. Yep, I did say die because this ball and this school are not what they appear to be.
The privileged want things to stay that way with them in control, and a little thing like the end of the world won’t get in their way. Soon Waverly is fighting for her life, and with odds that seriously are stacked against her and her few friends, they must fight the 1% if they want to survive the night.
Diverse characters and a life altering event that transpires at the ball made this a real page turner. There were definitely some parts that had me rolling my eyes. However, it is YA so I accepted some of them and just wrote them off to the age of the characters.

This was a great apocalyptic type read. I was worried getting into it how it was going to spin into disaster, because it was slow and kind of boring to start, but once the action hits... it hits hare and keeps going through the remainder of the novel.

Great for YA readers and fans of "apocalypse coming" type novels.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy of the YA thriller This Is The Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde. Wow, I was not expecting the turn this book took! How did this go from a standard disadvantaged person getting to play dress up at a fancy ball to breakneck action and intrigue? Maybe I should have gotten a clue from the title, but I didn’t! This was an entertaining book and I liked how diverse the characters were. I need a sequel now because I have to know about the new world!

My Thoughts

There were pieces of the story I liked and quite a few others that I didn’t.

Conspiracies, outright lies, brutal reality, divergent characters, young adults versus adults, solid pacing throughout and an unfortunate shift that changes the entire direction that story seemed to be headed.

Not my best read and certainly not the worst but for me once finished not really a 100% fan of what took place to wrap up the story plot.

I think possibly my love of reading young adult backfired on me with this particular subject matter.

I need to stick to things more in my comfort zone and more in my preferred genres of escapism reading, which is no reflection on this work as it was not a waste of my time to read.
[EArc from Netgalley]
On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

This was INCREDIBLE!

it felt a bit like a retelling of Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death—a rich white man throws a party for all his rich white friends at the end of the world as Death makes its way through all the rooms of the fancy mansion

except, Death here is an autistic lesbian scholarship kid and her amazing group of friends

(i LOVED the friendships in this SO MUCH!!!)

This Is the Way the World Ends was TENSE and ACTION PACKED and SO AUTISTIC!

now i need to get my hands on Jen Wilde’s backlist

CW: ableism, racism, classism, violence, death, death of teenager, blood, vomit, panic/anxiety attacks, meltdowns, and scenes that could provoke claustrophobia

This Is the Way the World Ends follows Waverly who is an autistic scholarship student attending Webber Academy.​ In order to earn some extra money she tutor's other students. One of the students she tutors asked Waverly to go to the school's annual fundraiser dressed like her. Waverly has always wanted to go so she says yes. The fundraiser is beyond her expectations. But things take a turn when Waverly witnesses the dean murdering someone. Waverly wants nothing more than to leave the fundraiser. But before she can leave the party and contact the authorities; a mysterious black out happens which causes the party to be on lockdown. Waverly just wants to escape but has no idea what the world has become, will she survive.

Holy cow this was a wild book. This is one of those books where I really couldn't predict what was going to happen. I really enjoyed this one a lot. I loved all of the queer and autism representation in this one. This book reminded me a little bit of the show Gossip Girl and the book One of Us Is Lying. I loved the writing of this book. I loved how this book also had multiple different genres of books represented. This was a really good YA book. I would highly suggest this one. I also need to read more books by this author ASAP.

Thank you Jen Wilde, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.