A mind blowing YA book chock full of interesting diverse characters, This is the Way the World Ends will hook you right in! Waverly attends a private NY school on scholarship due to her parents employment and her tutoring abilities. She is an autistic student and gay and feels like she doesn't "fit it." When her very wealthy and popular tutee Caroline asks her to switch places with her at the Masquerade Ball she is nervous but intrigued.
What goes down at the Masquerade is crazy! And Waverly is in the middle of it all. If you like fast moving and fun YA, great diverse characters living realistic lives or if you just want to attend a Masquerade Ball (with a Murder) then This Is The Way The World Ends is for you! #ThisistheWayTheWorld Ends. #JenWilde
#Stmartins

What an amazing book.

Waverly's used to wearing a mask to fit in with her neurotypical, 1% classmates at the prestigious Webber Academy. When offered the chance to put on another mask & pretend to be one of the most popular girls in school at this year's masquerade ball, she says yes. Only, the ball doesn't go seamlessly and Waverly witnesses a murder. Enlisting the help of her friends, they have to fight to save everyone's lives at the ball.

So many thrillers are allocishet, non-disabled, and white. And I am absolutely loving the increase in thrillers that are pushing back on this. Jen Wilde's "This is the Way the World Ends" is queer, disabled, and not all white. And it is so so amazing. I absolutely love thrillers and it thrills me to see more and more diverse ones being published. So let's talk about it:

Our main character, Waverly, is queer and autistic. And so unapologetically so. There are so many open discussions about her being autistic, such as feeling overwhelm & overstimulation, using accommodations like headphones & ear plugs, stimming to self regulate, and we even see her friends help her out of triggering environments.

Then we have Pari, a bi, Indian American SC who has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She is a major side character, so we see lots of discussion about her chronic pain, we see her use a cane, and since it's a thriller and there's lots of action, we see discussion about how everything is currently and is going to affect her pain.

There's also Waverly's mom, who has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. She isn't as major of a side character, but we still see her struggles with pain, of doctors not believing her, misdiagnosing her, and the cost of medicine being raised too high to afford.

Now onto the rest of the book: I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. There were so many twists and turns and surprises thrown in and I would never have guessed the motive behind the murder. There is so much betrayal, questioning who you can and cannot trust, and I fell for it all.

This was an absolute thrill to read and the vibes were immaculately done to reflect the feelings of everything going on. I loved every second of this book and it is definitely one of my favorite thrillers.

Rep: lesbian MC, bi SC, sapphic SC, Indian American SC, Black SC, autistic MC, SC with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, MC with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, SC who uses a cane, MC with anxiety

CW: murder, hospital, overstimulation, death, death of a parent, vomit, blood, autistic meltdown

Rating system:
5 - absolutely love, little-to-no dislikes that did not impact my reading experience

4 - great book, minor dislikes that did have an impact on my reading experience

3 - good/decent book but for some reason did not hook me or there were some problematic things that just were not addressed or greatly impacted my reading experience

2 - is either a book I did not click with and did not enjoy, problematic aspects are not addressed and severely impacted my reading experience, or I DNF'd but think it has potential for others

1 - is very problematic, I would not recommend the book to anyone

I love YA prep school stories, especially when they have as much mystery and suspense as this book does. I especially loved the cast of characters, many of whom aren't usually represented this way. The beginning of the book pulled me in and I couldn't stop reading at Waverly entered the masquerade. However, the second half of the book feels very repetitive. I wished there would have been a more clues and plot laid out before everything went into chaos.

This book hooked me from page one! Protagonist Waverly is autistic, gay, and broke; her parents both work at the private school she got into as she works as a tutor, helping other students study. When her friend, Caroline suggests she "trade places" and wear the expensive gown she bought for the elite masquerade ball, Waverly is excited but apprehensive as she is worried about being discovered. But it turns out there is much more to be concerned about as odd things happen at this party and secrets are unveiled as the night goes on! The future is formidable as Wilde explores the possibilities that exist within this nightmarish landscape. Raced through it to get to the end!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

This book was something else! I didn’t realize that the title foreshadows the plot. Wow, it was good! I loved the characters, especially the fun ensemble of utterly cool queer ! I was sucked all the way in and enjoyed the story so much. It was cleverly written and I would very much love to see more from this author! The only downside is that I felt like the final fight, dragged on a bit, but other than that, was a fantastic read.

Well, this book hooked me at the beginning. The character development was great. Waverly; queer, quirky, autistic scholarship girl, coming from low income family, living in Queens, trying so hard to adapt in high school where her parents work is so much adorable character. Waverly keeps wearing headphones, trying to stay out of trouble, enduring school bullies’ cruel treatment, still healing from heartbreak that Dean’s privileged daughter Ash created.

I also loved her best friend Pari; visibly disabled, bisexual , South Asian, smart, badass, straightforward, smart, thinking there’s something wrong with Webber Academy and its generous, extra helpful dean Owen Webber as Waverly thinks otherwise because Mr. Webber gave her amazing chance to get accepted in academy circle, funding her mother’s treatment fees. She actually feels like her family owes him.

And my favorite character is absolutely Max. We will have a chance to get to know her in the second half but I can honestly say she’s another version of Zendaya’s MJ on Spider Man installments.

The things I enjoyed:
- Cinderella theme meets Shining and Escape room and Die Hard themes
- Intriguing, quick, fast pacing start
- Queer love story between Ash and Waverly

But at the second half the book turns into WTH is going on direction! I don’t want to give spoilers and I have no intention to ruin your reading experience. But things got too far and all hell breaks loose. I’m not sure I enjoy the second half. Especially the secret part about Caroline and her importance for the entire execution plan! It’s way too much far fetched!

I may sense the book will take some kind of apocalyptic turn after reading its name but I didn’t find it realistic enough to get into the story. The villains were cartoonish stereotypes jumped out from B list thrillers!

So unfortunately the promising start of the book turned into something unreliable and incredibly weird concept! So I’m giving my solid three stars for my love to Waverly, Pari and Max!

The idea to create a claustrophobic and apocalyptic thriller located in a mazy building was still promising and I’d love to read the author’s future works.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.