I'm not sure if I was a little disappointed with this book because it didn't live up to the hype for me, or if I just don't click with the author's writing style. The premise of the story was very interesting and I really enjoyed the dystopian trope. The book had a very sinister undertone and as I was reading, I knew there was something more going on that the author was waiting to reveal. Despite this, I do think the story was a bit slow-paced and could have possibly been shorter. I found myself reading this book more slowly than I wanted just to keep up with the characters and plot. Overall, I did really enjoy the story.

I love murder mysteries and I enjoy the occasional dystopian novel, so I had high hopes for this book. And while I liked it, I didn't love it - but I suspect that might've been a matter of "it's not the book, it's me". The premise was fascinating, a dystopian world where a small group of survivors are living on an island. They live what seems to be an idyllic day-to-day life. But as events unfold, cracks begin to appear in their happy, back-to-basics world. There's a crack in their security system. And then one of the elder leaders is murdered right when her knowledge is needed to get the security system back up and running. And there are mysteries beyond the murder - what is the mysterious fog that rolls in and kills anyone is in its path? Their security system is the only thing that keeps it at bay - can they solve the murder in time to keep that fog from rolling in over their island and killing them all?
There are a lot of characters, and at times I had trouble remembering the connections between those characters. I might have benefited from reading the first couple of chapters vs listening. More importantly, occasionally stuff in life keeps me from engaging fully with a book, and thinking back, I strongly suspect that was the case here. I may go back and listen again sometime - because I suspect I'd enjoy it a lot more when my brain wasn't overly engaged with that pesky real-life stuff. I did enjoy the audio version (despite my distracted brain) - James Cameron Stewart's narration was excellent. So if you're intrigued by the premise, as I was, I highly recommend taking my review with a grain of salt and trying it for yourself.
Thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for providing a digital copy for an unbiased review.

I had to DNF this. I think it’s the fantasy or the narration but I keep getting lost in what is happening and all who all the characters are.

I got out of my comfort zone to read "The Last Murder at the End of the World" and am so glad I did! I really loved listening to the audio version, as the characters' voices and narrator's tone really helped me envision the storyline.

The mystery and suspenseful twists had me avoiding responsibilities to keep listening! I was so intrigued and captivated by this utopian culture and island of survivors - and couldn't wait to know the ending! I loved each of the characters and their impact on the story, but Emory was such an amazing force! She felt relatable, yet incredibly strong and independent. Very well done, Mr. Turton!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the opportunity to read this advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest opinions!

I really enjoyed this book! I had both a physical copy and the audio ARC and liked both versions. I am shocked that this has such low ratings because I enjoyed it so much! This is my book club's July book and I cannot wait to discuss it with them in a few weeks.

The narrator's voice (in the book not the audiobook narrator) is an AI that can hear all of the characters thoughts and speak to them. Because they can influence and manipulate the characters, the narrator becomes an important character as well. I thought this was a really interesting narration choice by Turton. It is so timely with the huge advances in AI/ML recently. It was fascinating to see how the AI, Abi, manipulates the characters into doing what it thinks is best. Niema questions at one point whether she (the creator of the AI) is in control, or if Abi is the one controlling her. I loved not knowing.

It took until 15-20% of the way in for me to feel like I understood who the characters were and what was happening. This seems intentional because we get very short chapters that switch between many POVs. Because this is a mystery, that feeling of not know what is happening worked for me. But I could see why others may not like how long it takes to grasp the world. Once everything starts to pick up I was hooked. There are lots of fun twists and turns (some I saw coming and some that came out of left field).

Now for the audiobook narration, I did enjoy the narrator but I was surprised that the narrator was a man when the story's narrator, Abi, is described with she/her pronouns and because most of the characters are women. I guess an AI does not really have a gender though, even if we refer to it as such. Aside from my initial surprise, I liked the narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for providing an eARC of this audiobook!

DNF. I honestly could not get through the audio version of this book. It is only going to appeal to a certain kind of reader, and I'm clearly not intellectual enough to fall into that category. The audio reminds me of the Welcome to NightVale podcast. It's quirky and delivered to you by a narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Murder at the End of the World is definitely a divisive one. I can totally see where the people who love this novel and think Turton has once again changed the name of the mystery genre with this complex new release; however, it wasn’t my cup of tea.
The book felt soooo long due to the slow first half of the book. It never takes me as long to listen to audiobooks than this book did, which definitely hindered my experience and put me in a bit of a slump. This was my biggest critique.
The other aspect which made this so polarizing was just that I found it frankly a bit boring. It has an innate charm due to the experimental nature of the narration, but it fell flat to me.
I did enjoy most of the characters as this is a very character heavy work, and his writing in this piece felt strong.
Overall, a compelling new twist on a survivalist experimental mystery thriller with a hive mind/AI voice throughout.

Book - 2 Stars

I loved "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle". Every. Single. Second. Of. It [even when I didn't know what was going on and even the divisive ending]. I quickly bought his second book [which has been languishing on my shelf] and when I saw this new one on NG, I hit the request button and was super happy to get it.

Yeah.

So, this book didn't work for me. At all [my poor Mom had to listen to me rant and rave about it for a couple days]. I liked most of the characters [at least initially], with Emory and Clara being the standouts, and I really loved the subtle nods and nudges toward behaviors and circumstances surrounding us today, but everything else was just...meh.
The whole "mystery' never engaged me [especially after we learn certain things] and I found I was only finishing it because I had to know if this was all of it [was I seriously missing something? Nope, I don't think I was] and by the time I got to the end [the end, minus the whole scene with Emory and her husband, which was beautiful, was very, very flat for me], I was left very disappointed.
Overall, I just felt that the author was trying too hard and just never got the execution right.

Audiobook - 4 Stars

James Cameron Stewart is one of my favorite go-to narrators right now; it is funny, when I first listened to him, I was not a fan, but then I had to listen to him over a 6-book series, and well, he totally grew on me and here we are.
Other than ABI's voice [which I heard as way more feminine than what I was getting, so its totally on me and not really a reflection of the narration overall], I felt he did a excellent job and there were parts where his narration was the best part of the story. If you choose to read this book [and I encourage you to do so, as everyone's reading experience is different and you may love this so much and I would love that for you], I highly recommend this audiobook; I believe it will enhance your reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stuart Turton, James Cameron Stewart - Narrator, SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, and RB Media for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Evelyn Hardcastle so I was excited to receive this title. Unfortunately, I just could not get into this book at all and ended up having to push through. It was well written and developed, it simply didn’t resonate with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

An island inhabited by a hundred or so villagers and three elders is surrounded by fog, all that is left of human civilization. The fog is held back by barriers to keep everyone on the island safe. They all work together to maintain the island and keep humanity going. However, one night one of the elders is murdered, the barriers aren't working, and none of them can remember what happened the night before. With a ticking clock until the fog approaches the island, the villagers and other two elders need to work together to solve the crime.

Stuart Turton explores another genre through a murder mystery, this time in the realm of speculative science fiction. The characters and their complex relationships, especially Thea and Emory helped elevate the book a lot. The short chapters bounce around the many characters, which keeps the story moving and once the murder happens the book keeps at a steady pace until the grand climax. Turton builds out a familiar but unique society that makes the murder mystery a lot more challenging to solve. There were plenty of twists and reveals throughout to change how the reader views the characters. The solution was not the most surprising, but helped tie a lot of the book together. The class themes and unique setting make this book worth reading, even if it doesn't reach the heights of Turton's prior novels. Recommend this to people wanting a murder mystery in a new setting or a twist on a post-apocalyptic novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of The Last Murder at the End of the World in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very confusing. I could not figure out if we were in the future or the past. It is very slow. I didn't care for the characters. This was not a book I enjoyed. However, I am happen I was able to try something I normally would not choose.

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
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Outside of the island the world has been destroyed by fog. The island is home to a group of people who work to survive, including three scientists. When one scientist is found dead it triggers a countdown till the fog consumes the island. They must solve who murdered the scientist to survive.
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What I liked:
-I loved the audio! Not only was the narrator good but I’m not sure that I would have pronounced all the names right in my head. I listened at my usual 1.75 speed and it was awesome.
-This was an excellent mystery! Lots of people and puzzle pieces, especially with the memory loss. Everything was explained so well by the end.
-I was completely consumed by this story and several times found myself thinking about it when I wasn’t listening.
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4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 I don’t want to say much more and risk giving away spoilers. This was my second Turton book, and one of the things I love about his books is that the stories are always complex and engage my brain in a way that popcorn thrillers don’t quite accomplish.

This book was a DNF for me. It's one of those multi-character dystopian books, and I just couldn't follow along.

Thanks for the opportunity to review this audiobook. Unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. While the premise and idea of the book were very fascinating and right in my "genre sweet-spot" it just did not do it for me.

My two main disappointments were:
1. The narrator. I did not care for his execution at all. His take on female voices was hard to listen to.
2. There were too many "main characters" that made it hard to track at times.

Both of those factors lead me to believe I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it as opposed to listened to it.

Stuart Turton's The Last Murder at the End of the World mixes murder mystery with an end-of-the-world thriller, set on a remote island where survivors are facing both impending disaster and a spooky fog full of deadly creatures. The story starts strong with the island's eerie vibe and the looming threat of apocalypse, keeping readers hooked with suspense and unanswered questions as secrets about the island unravel.

But things shift gears when the focus turns to a murder investigation involving one of the island's scientists. Some readers might feel like the story loses steam here. The intricate details of the murder case, plus the flip-flopping between first and third-person perspectives, can leave readers feeling confused and disconnected. Despite its bold ideas and gripping start, the book struggles with pacing and overly complicated plot twists that might make it tough for some readers to stay engaged.

In the end, The Last Murder at the End of the World shows off Turton's imaginative storytelling, but it's probably best suited for fans of literary fiction mixed with speculative elements. If you dig deep mysteries, you might appreciate Turton's style, but if you prefer a simpler, more immersive read, you might find this one a bit of a challenge.

I am so unfortunately going to have to DNF this. I wasn't a fan of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, but this concept sounded more up my alley so I really wanted to give it a go. Unfortunately, it also did not work for me whatsoever, and for very similar reasons. The entire thing is just so convoluted and all over the place and confusing. There are too many characters and things we're supposed to be keeping track of and I just didn't find myself enjoying it whatsoever. The plot got ahead of itself I think and Turton just completely lost it by halfway through. I just couldn't bring myself to continue.

This also has the same narrator as 7 1/2 Deaths and I'm personally not a huge fan. I can't even pinpoint why, but it feels more like a uni lecture than a book for some reason.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for an advanced audio copy. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, my very own.

Y’all not to be biased, but I think the secret with Turton books is you gotta do the audio.

This isn’t just me shouting out the narrator with the best name of all time, but the fact these books make absolutely no sense. If you’re reading this with your eyeballs, you’re going to take the time to stop and think. You’re going to ponder. You’re going to try to figure it out. And it’s not that I think that’s a bad move with mysteries, I just think this has the ambiance of a story told around a campfire. It’s wild, it’s twisty, it’s fun! Let the story happen to you, and you enjoy it way more!

Evelyn Hardcastle is a knockout. Dark Water was good, but it veered out of “interesting and full of twists!” to just straight up confusing. This is for sure stronger than Dark Water, but not as strong as Hardcastle, which maybe at this point I just shouldn’t expect.

I really liked this. It was a good story, it kept me engaged, and I loved the unreliability of it. I did figure out the ending in advance, which is never great - I’m not particularly good at that, and I don’t often try to do it. Agatha Christie, he is not. But I do appreciate mysteries that aren’t so graphic and awful.

Thanks NetGalley and thanks Tantor for an advanced audio arc! Always a joy

Stuart Turton wrote such an interesting end of world mystery. We are thrown onto an island where 3 end of world survivors are elders to a group of villagers. We find out the villagers have been created by Nema and are monitored by AI ‘Abi’. As an impending fog moves to take over the island they must solve Nema’s murder to save themselves.
This book was such a fun concept and I really loved the world building but I struggled a bit with the audio. I think this one would have been a book I’d have preferred the physical copy just so I could follow along a bit better.

While I enjoyed this story, the narrator made it rather difficult to enjoy. I believe if the narrator was more enthusiastic, I feel I could have enjoyed this story better. I will be purchasing the hard copy of this book to read/finish as I feel I will enjoy it more.

I truly wanted to love this one. I have enjoyed previous works by this author and this release was highly anticipated. Parts of the story were enjoyable and the audio narration was well done. However, it was quite confusing and took quite some time to grasp what was going on. I also found the ending to be quite the let down. Overall this one will not stick with me.