Fable for the End of the World is sapphic dystopian love story, with capitalist overlord villains, a live-streamed assassination gauntlet, epic family dynamics, and a post rising sea-level setting! I ate this up! Ava Reid does it again with a novel that leaves your brain reeling!

What I loved
- Sapphic love story
- enemies to lovers
- hunger games vibes
- crazy, yet somehow not that farfetched dystopian world
- family/mommy/daddy trauma
- top-notch brotherly-sisterly love
- epic social commentary presented in that signature Ava Reid style, subtle yet clear to all that pay attention

What I didn’t love…
- the relationship between the two FMCs felt a little hollow at times for my personal taste but as a relationship in a YA novel it gets the job done.
- It terms of atmosphere and vibes that Ava Reid’s work is known for this felt a bit lacking as well. Still fantastic atmosphere but comparatively speaking (to her other books), this was a little flat

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

5 stars! ✨

Thank you Ava Reid for delivering the dystopian sapphic romance book of my dreams! This is an eye-opening story about love, choice, family, loyalty, and hope.

“So here we are, hating each other, repulsed by each other, both standing to gain from the other’s demise. And yet - I owe her my life, And she owes me hers.”

A HUGE Thanks to Netgelley and Harpercollins for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In “Fable For The End Of The World” we follow the POV of our two lead female characters Inesa and Melinoe. Inesa struggles to make ends meet alongside her brother Luka, and her mother. She runs a tiny taxidermy shop where she and Luka make a small living for necessities. Unaware of her mother’s demise they have fallen into enough debt for her mother to elect Inesa to partake in the Gauntlet. Melinoe is a trained killer, who is elected to be the “angel” that will hunt down Inesa and kill her in front of hundreds of thousands of civilians. In a world where everything is controlled by Caerus down to every little minute detail, this is a hunt impossible to run away from. With the help of her brother Luka, and some survival skills passed along to her from her father, Inesa has a slim chance of victory. Melinoe is known for being stunningly cold in her effective kills and has never missed a mark. She is having flashbacks from the last Gauntlet she had partaken in, and now must prove herself worthy to continue the task to her “handler.” Melinoe, after everything has been altered within her, is not sure if she is capable of feeling, and Inesa exudes passion and empathy. Will they be one another’s downfall? Or can they overcome all odds and feel love for one another?

Wow. wow. Wow. Words cannot express how much I love this story - so I can only hope my review will do it justice.

My heart broke because of Inesa’s circumstances. Her and her sibling being close to overcome their parent’s shortcomings really resonated with me. Being a person whose father passed away at a young age, and being a passenger to losing my mother within her own mental illnesses taking over her mind - this was hard-hitting. I could not stand how her mother treated her with such neglect and disgust. She truly is a self-centered, selfish person, and despite everything, Inesa feels sympathy and understanding for her mother who betrayed her.

Melinoe was forced to become a “project” at such a young age. She was torn apart, and built back together to be a killer, without a choice. The hand that fed her, was also the hand poisoning her spirit. For her being “numbed” by the Caerus she still felt, still loved, and still mourned, despite what she was forced to believe.

Reid really plants seeds of questions in your mind with this story of right vs. wrong, order vs. control, government vs. love and compassion. With every aspect of their government being controlled by Caerus, we really witness how programs meant to “help” the citizens lead to their society’s downfall over time. Reid writes in the beginning “If there’s one thing I wish for readers to take away from “Fable”, it’s that the bravest thing you can do in this challenging, frightening time is to choose love.” She executes the message within the contents of this book very well. 💗

If you love dystopian fantasy books, sapphic romances, and tales of bravery this will not disappoint.

I wish I could describe the excitement I felt when I learned that Ava was writing a dystopian book. This book was exactly was Ava described it; a love letter to 2010's YA dystopian books. I picked it up, and suddenly I was 12 years old on my couch again devouring The Hunger Games!

This book is set in a society run by a corporation, Cearus, that is able to control society by encouraging the accumulations of debt and then offering one way out; sacrificing a family member to fight in the Lamb's Gauntlet. Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop, and finds out that her mother has secretly accrued debt and put Inessa up to be a Lamb in order to make it up. In the Lamb's Gauntlet, Inesa is forces to fight against a trained assasin, Melinoë, who has been trained and altered by Cearus to be a killing machine. With the help of her brother and the skills she's used to survive her whole life, Inesa has more of a chance than anyone believes.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that I didn’t quite feel the connection between the main characters. I felt like there was a lack of the longing and tension that I was hoping for, and when they finally got together, it didn’t fully satisfy me. But honestly, that’s my only complaint!

I binged this book in a day, and I think that's the way it's supposed to be read. Ava's writing was so wonderful (as usual), and I felt as though I was there alongside the characters. I will continue to read every piece of work Ava puts out, and I cannot wait to see how people enjoy this book once it is released!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the ARC!

Before I share my thoughts, I want to say that dystopian stories are not what I typically gravitate toward. But I am a fan of Ava Reid, so Fable for the End of the World became a must-read,

I read Fable in the span of a few hours. Because of this, I initially thought that this is a shorter book. Wrong. I was so locked in that I didn’t notice that Fable is almost 400 pages long. It’s just so action-packed that I couldn’t look away. If there’s one thing about Ava Reid, it’s that she knows how to write a page-turner.

As I mentioned, dystopian is not my genre. This is mostly due to the repeated instances of on-page violence. With Fable, I appreciate how the descriptions are not too graphic. I won’t lie, the situation is still upsetting, but it didn’t go past what I am comfortable with reading. (For anyone curious, there is a list of content warnings at the beginning of the book.)

Having said all that, the reason why I can only give this 3 stars is because of the ending! Uncertainty may be what the author is going for, but I don’t like all of the unanswered questions. I have always been a fan of clear-cut endings, and this isn’t one of them.

Do I like Fable for the End of the World as much as Reid’s other works? No, but I can see this becoming someone else’s favorite.

Bottom line: Dystopian is back, baby.

I wanted to love this book more than I did. The first half was riveting, introducing readers to a gritty, drowning world that felt chillingly plausible and was different enough from other YA dystopias that I was interested to see where the story would go. But the second half felt like it relied too much on tropes and nostalgia for “The Hunger Games” to carry the characters and plot beats. (The scenes with Mel and Inesa in the cabin especially read like Katniss and Peeta in the cave.) The book is at its strongest when it invites readers to think about privacy issues, the impact of debt, and the toxic ways young women are sexualized online. But overall , I don’t think it added much to an already crowded genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
The first 200 pages of this book were 5 star-worthy. Atmospheric, well-paced, with compelling characters. It’s certainly derivative of the hunger games, but it’s honest about it, and exists in a completely different space than Suzanne Collin’s brutal, no-nonsense writing (which I love as well). If THG’s Panem is dusty and dead, Caerus’s world is rotting and viscous - colorful in the same way The Last of Us is. The romance is perfect young adult and the kind of story I wish I had had access to as a teenager. I love everything Ava Reid writes, and A Fable for the End of the World was no different, but the end was just very unsatisfying. Without spoiling it, the last 80 pages felt so rushed and anti climatic, which was really disappointing. I’m hopeful for a sequel, or even a novella, but really I just wish the book was 100 pages longer.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-arc!

Ava Reid never misses. Ever.

This was such a fun and unique dystopian storyline. There were aspects that brought me back to the early 2010s dystopian reading phase that we all went through which was so integral to an entire generation of people’s reading journeys while thoughtfully balancing new and fresh aspects.

The ending left me in pieces! That’s all I’ll say about the ending.

The characters were well fleshed out and the plot had perfect ebbs and flows that kept my attention throughout the exposition and rising action while just as effectively throughout the climax and conclusion. It left me wanting more in such an amazing way. The characters were so deep that I developed an emotional attachment to them pretty early on.

The only note of constructive criticism I have is that the pacing feels a bit rushed between the 65-90% marks of the book. There were a lot of large leaps from point A to point D. I’m sure it would work fine, but I’m hoping that’s something that’s smoothed out before its publication date.

Overall, I rated this a 4.25 out of 5 stars.

I will always recommend Ava Reid. She works magic within every page she touches. Please preorder! It comes out March 4th, 2025!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

WOW. What a book! I LOVE ME A GOOD DYSTOPIAN BOOK.

I wish this book was so much longer and more adult (less young adult). And I also wish the world was toppled over and redone to get rid of all the terrible systems that our characters live in, but oh well, we can't all have happy endings. This book is sort of like The Hunger Games. People live in a credit system, and so if you take too much credit to your name, you're in severe debt. But hey, if you have a kid or a grandparent, you can sacrifice them to the Gauntlet--a "game", if you will, where the Lamb (aka the one being sacrificed) is hunted by an Angel, a beautiful superpower human with no emotions. If you survive 13 days without dying, you're set for life. If not, you're dead. In this book, we follow Inesa who is simply just trying to survive life. But her mother "nominates" her to the Gauntlet because she's mentally sick. Inesa, with the help of her brother Luka, try to escape Melinoe, one of the Angels.

As you'd expect, most Lambs die. The game is televised, so people become entertained by them (hence its similarity to the Hunger Games). Luka managed to knock Melinoe out, disrupting her chip inside her head. Then Luka and Inesa end up split apart, so Inesa somehow teams up with Melinoe (whose humanity is somewhat back on) to survive because Melinoe doesn't want to kill anymore. But it's not long that they have to stay as a team...

I absolutely devoured this book! It was so good and creepy and dark. But it's interesting how the author tackles these hard systemic questions that our society faces (such as the idea of a meritocracy versus the actuality of a meritocracy, the complicated system of credit, televised violence for entertainment, etc.). The only thing I would change about this book is the explanation of the world. I was curious to know more of the nuances of how one sacrifices their family member into the Gauntlet, how many people survive, the other worlds outside of the one we read about, the impact of climate change, social inequality, etc. It sucks that this is a stand alone (I think??), but it is what it is.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc! I usually love Ava Reid’s works, but this one didn’t hit for me like her previous novels have. Maybe it’s because I’m not a huge dystopian fan, but unfortunately I did also find multiple problems in the book itself. That being said, there were a few redeeming aspects. Here are some thoughts.

I thought Mel was supposed to be good at her job, but her skill-set was very much cast aside in the beginning for the sake of the plot, which annoyed me

There were a few instances of convenience which irked me, and also undermined the realism that this genre is known to have. Often, Caerus seemed more like a cartoony big bad as opposed to a terrifying and possible future we could have.

There were some very stupid decisions made by the mcs in order to further the romance

The middle dragged for a little, but I could see why others would not think so. It became a slice-of-life, vibes based “plot” in order to further relationship development between Mel and Inesa. It was almost cozy. Honestly, I liked it as much as a loathed it

There were a few anticlimactic revelations, and some predictability with not enough elements to make up for it

The ending pissed me off, all tho the last two pages did regain my interest. This could easily turn into a duology. Reid could make it up to me by writing a high-stakes, high octane, pedal to the metal, blade-runner, cyberpunk, Thelma and Louise, sapphics who want revenge-esque banger of a sequel. I would tune in so hard for that. I would be so sat my ass would practically be superglued to the chair

In conclusion, meh? I was not a huge fan of this book, but I also found some aspects interesting. I’m sure many others would enjoy this more than I did. Also, Mrs. Reid, I’m serious about that sequel. -3.5 mutated deers

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collin’s for this arc! I absolutely LOVE dystopian novels and Ava Reid’s writing, so this book was a match made in heaven for me.

Often, I find that dystopian novels end up having incredibly similar plots, and while this one had similar themes, the story was entirely unique. Notably, As mentioned by the author, there are some similarities to The Hunger Games that can be seen, however this book stands strongly on its own.

Once I picked this book up, there was no putting it down; I finished it all in one afternoon.

4.5
so good!! inesa and melinoë were interesting characters and i really loved their stories.

my only gripe with this book is that the ending was not enough. the worldbuilding (which i already think is great) could be expanded on based on the stuff that occurred in the last few chapters. inesa and melinoë's story also does not feel "concluded" at all. this book could've really benefited from being longer, and maybe even having an epilogue.

Thank you to Harper Collins Children’s Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early.

Fable for the End of the World follows Inesa and Melinoë, in a dystopian society where they must fight each other to survive.

I’m a big Ava Reid fan so I was ecstatic to read a sapphic book by her and this absolutely did not disappoint! Inesa’s point of view was such a great glimpse into the dystopian society on the outskirts and Mel’s gave me a deeper sense of what the society was meant to look like. But the best part was when Inesa and Mel interacted, especially when we got parts of a scene from each of their points of view. There were also some of the most beautiful lines about love in this book which were just a dream to read.

My only complaint is that I wanted more from this world! I would read another book about the rest of Inesa and Mel’s story or even the rest of the world. And of course, the ending left me so desperate for more.

Thank you to Harper Collins Children’s Books and NetGalley again for the chance to read this early.

Thank you to Netgalley for the early review copy. I loved the atmosphere and the overall YA dystopian vibes of the story. The characters were well fleshed out but I felt like maybe some elements could have been more original or different from the typical survival/apocalyptic story theme arc. The writing was good overall. 4 stars.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

AVA REID DOES IT AGAIN. This was a fantastic read. Literally fed my middle school dystopian obsessed self. The characters were beautifully messy and flawed and the world was dark and screwed up and I devoured every second of it. The romance in this story was perfectly written so it didn't overshadow the story, but instead complimented it and highlighted the cruelty of the world Reid has built.

I 100% recommend this story. I could hardly put it down the entire time I was reading it and I have not stopped thinking about it since I finished it. This was exactly what I needed mid reading slump. I loved it.

as someone who needs more than just the world building of a dystopian world, i often struggle to buy into the story that is being told because i can't connect to the gravity of the relationship or the stakes. why should i care about why the world turned out the way it did? the world is already in shambles and although selfish i need to worry about the people around me. i thought the build up was paced really well in terms of introducing the stakes with the economic and political aspects of why the world is currently like that, which allowed for the characters' place in that world to feel isolated enough to have proper growth. i don't want to say more than that but this is me buying in if that means anything.

4.25 stars

The comparison between 'The Hungers Games/The Ballad of songbirds & Snake' mixed with the 'Last of us' is dead on.
BUT I would like to say this story also had a dash of 'The Uglies' & Black Widow 'Red Room' vibes.

While you can see perhaps slight inspirations from these comparison, Fable for the End of the World this book is entirely its own.
Ava Reid delivers us a dystopia world, that eerily enough, may just show our own world's future thanks to our own fractured government/corporate, the limitation on female rights and human rights.
Our two FMC's, Melinoë & Inesa show the two sides of the world with the book. One is an assassin crafted by the corporate government to hunt and kill the unfortunate 'Lambs', all livestreamed for the enjoyment & horror of the world, who has fallen from grace - her programming. While the other struggles to survive and keep her family afloat from credit debt .. until her mother offers her life up as a lamb to settle her hidden debt.
Their world's collide and with both their lives on the line, love should be an impossibility but the human spirit will always find a way to thrive.

That ending has me BEGGING FOR AN EPILOGUE. I think a lot of people will love this book!