Blimey... that was... a lot.

SUCH an interesting piece of speculative fiction that I think was supposed to leave you feeling hopeful, but left me feeling rather worn out and empty.

The Beauty At The End takes place in an alternative modern day society that is grappling with the news that there is an extinction date written into humanity's DNA. We follow two twin sisters from their early childhood to their twenties as they learn to live with this new reality and subsequently choose careers as 'Mendels' (scientists whose whole purpose is to try and solve this crisis through impregnation of different combinations of genetic makeup).

Charlie as the protagonist and POV character had such a distinct voice and personality and really came into her own as the book developed. I'm not sure whether it was intentional, but to me, she came across as undiagnosed autistic in her relationships with people and the way she views the world which added an interesting dynamic.

Something that was lacking slightly for me was the feminist take on the burden this crisis was putting on women. It felt a little like a love letter to pregnancy and motherhood which is of course, one aspect but the reality is, if something like this were to happen, it puts a HUGE pressure on fertile women to reproduce even if they wouldn't normally choose to. I would have liked to have seen the author explore that in more detail as well as some of the less savoury results that come from a government offering to pay people to reproduce.

That being said, this was a hugely memorable book and I would recommend for anyone who like speculative dystopia.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

3 stars and DNF (I made it halfway)
I felt like the first 10 chapters could have been condensed. Yes, there was some critical information in terms of character backstory and characters who would come back later however, I felt like there was a lot of minor information that could have been left out or sped along. I liked that there was a strong familial/twin/adoption aspect because that isn't always depicted in a story, but it felt more like that was the focus then sprinkled in some dystopia. Additionally, the whole first part was in the third person then switched to a first person POV.

Again, the educational experience they endured had a lot of minor details and not a lot of juicy plot. Mind you, I have read a lot of fantasy and dystopian literature, so I understand there is a world building component it just felt as if the world we were building was too minor in a sense?

I was hoping once I got through the backstory, I might get some more insight into their research? or more insight into the project? I felt like neither were delivered. It still mainly focused on the main twin and her relationship with her sister.

The ending (I did skip there) I could understand without reading the bulk of the middle which just proved to me that it was going to continue to drag. I liked the concept as a whole, just the execution was not there for me personally.

This is a compelling and thought-provoking novel that has both depth of character and a terrifying existential crisis that has to be solved before time runs out. The ethical issues this raises are fascinating and the premise is as disturbing as the climate crisis is now: what can humankind do to save itself and nature? How far will we go to find a solution? And at what cost to society and individuals? I found The Beauty of the End unputdownable and couldn’t wait to find out if the solution could be found whilst hoping against hope that the main characters Maggie and Charlie would save the day. There will be hope, tragedy and hope again before the end, but the end is unpredictable and the crisis is by no means averted. Thrilling!

I’m grateful to NetGalley for sending me a free digital ARC. My review reflects my unbiased opinion after reading.

The Beauty of the End is a novel about a dystopian world where scientists have recently discovered that extinctions are not due to man’s actions as previously thought. A far more frightening problem has emerged that means that the human race itself is guaranteed to become extinct within five generations, together with all other animals and plants. Reproduction is limited by the number of copies of a certain protein on an individual’s DNA.

In a world where there aren’t any more babies, there won’t be any grown-ups. And if there aren’t any more grown-ups, there won’t be any more people. Ever. The average American family would last just four more generations.

In order to solve this problem, a new scientific agency, the Mendelia, is set up to improve humanity’s chance of beating the Limit. This is run by women at a sort of university known as a convent. Female recruits are required to have their ovaries removed so their eggs can be harvested and men must make a monthly sperm donation. They will be trained to work in teams of two, a Mendel who is trained as a geneticist and a technician who takes samples, tests and prepares embryos for implantation. The government plan is to pay people to procreate. Older mothers are paid more to have more children because this prolongs the same generation, giving the world more time to find a solution. After testing to find out how many generations their DNA will allow, those with 4 or 5 generation potential (4* and 5*) are paid to have as many children as possible.

As the situation becomes clearer, panic sets in and cracks start to show in society. Men leave wives in search of women with better ratings. Women take the money, bear a child then dump it to run off. Others whose genetic potential is zero lose hope. As the situation progresses, more and more ethical issues are raised.

Before all this is explained, however, we go back to the happy childhood of twin sisters Maggie and Charlie, told in the voice of Charlie. Maggie is academically gifted, outgoing, popular, sporty and actively involved in any fundraising or community activity going. Charlie is far more reserved, clever but insecure. She sometimes acts as the brake on Maggie’s impulsiveness. She is also scared of being separated from her sister, knowing that they were adopted and their parents, immigrants from the Marshall Islands, gave them away.

When they are only 10 years old, the news about the genetic decay breaks. The twins are tested and learn that they have 5*, making their genetic potential valuable, either as mothers or working for the Mendelia. Charlie has never wanted children and Maggie is inspired to become a Mendel. Desperate not to be separated, Charlie agrees to join as Maggie’s technician. And so it is they leave for a remote convent where they soon discover that they will have to change their plans. The further they are drawn into the Mendelia’s secretive world, the more disturbing the implications of what the organisation is doing. And Maggie is the ambitious sort who will become inextricably embroiled in the most nefarious of schemes. Initially excited to help the world beat the Limit, her experiments become unethical and endanger those she loves most.

The first sign of imminent disaster was the failure of an entire generation of cicadas to hatch. Genetic study of specimens held in museums revealed that there was a genetic sequence that was halved in every generation, now deleted. Studies of older extinct creatures revealed that it was the same genetic fault that pushed them to extinction: the Limit. Mammals had more sequences available, but they were also depleting. To prevent panic, there was an international ban on research into human DNA.
“But by Christmas of 1993, the world had already worked itself into hysterics, thanks to the quacks and the charlatans and the death cult leaders who’d been exploiting the situation for years.”

Once it was allowed, genetic persistence screening was introduced for 10-year-olds. Children with more potential for future generations would be pressurised to have children, to save humanity.

Payments for women to have babies were introduced. Older women were paid more because the longer a generation, the longer the future human potential would last. On the other hand, women who had babies younger would be paid per baby. Women with more generations in their DNA were expected to have more children.
“At this time, the Mendelia have no interest in curtailing normal reproductive behaviour. The government just won’t pay for it. Greed, it seemed, might possibly save humanity.” And for those with ‘high-screening eggs’ the Mendelia will pay for the use of their ovaries for research purposes, but the decision had to be made before a woman turns 18.

As people realise the implications, men abandon infertile wives to find women with higher reproductive or generational potential. Worse than this age-old tale, women’s lives are actively put in danger if they have high generational promise. Women have a child, pocket the cash and abandoned their families. For their children too, the future is bleak; a future of progressive social collapse. Adults who are infertile because their genetic reproductive potential has gone down to zero are known as ‘naughts’ (the American spelling of noughts’).

Mendel
When the twins sign up, they are expecting to pair up as Mendel (high-flying Maggie) and technician Charlie (less academically-minded and introvert). But when they arrive at their Mendelia convent training school, there has been a policy change due to public preference to contact with female Mendels. From now on, all men will be trained as technicians and women recruits will all become Mendels. This means that the twins will be separated, something that Charlie fears.

Charlie is deployed with Korean-American Theo to the Northern Marianas in the South Pacific. Maggie is sent to their native Marshall Islands together with their childhood friend Nathan. Both teams are supervised by the same doctor, Dr. Fontanez. What if she is keeping a secret?

In an attempt to break the Limit, the Mendels deliberately match high scoring genetic material with material with ‘unusual characteristics’, i.e. those with genetic disabilities, neurodivergent people, those with inheritable conditions. They also push people from underrepresented populations such as indigenous groups, isolated populations…

One of the thorny ethical problems raised by this novel is whether there may be a reason for sickness and disability. It’s the same reason that it’s not necessarily a good idea to completely eliminate annoying insects or bacteria. It’s what’s so worrying about the loss of biodiversity. What if some substance an extinct organism produced or something in their DNA is the cure for some other debilitating disease? The case used in this novel raises the question of whether it is ethical to deliberately allow children to be born, knowing that they will suffer and die. Yet their very existence could hold the answer to the gradual extinction of the human race due to a genetic anomaly.

Loose ends?
The Mendels don’t seem too concerned that the same inbuilt genetical obsolescence is going to cause the genetic death of all other living things. Some have already gone. If they save humanity, what will people eat if everything else dies out?

The experiments the ruthless Maggie carries out in the Marshall Islands are at the leading edge. That means they verge on social engineering and seem immoral, especially to those women encouraged to conceive with men other than their husbands to increase genetic diversity. Island society is not ready for these actions.

Lauren Stienstra’s The Beauty of the End is a stunning work of speculative fiction that delves deep into the moral and emotional complexities of a world on the brink of extinction. Charlie and Maggie’s story is as heartbreaking as it is compelling, weaving themes of family, sacrifice, and the cost of survival into a narrative that grips you from the start.

Stienstra’s writing is evocative and haunting, skillfully navigating ethical dilemmas and emotional tension without losing sight of the characters’ humanity. The sisters’ diverging paths create a poignant and thought-provoking contrast, keeping the stakes high and the story deeply engaging.

A must-read for fans of speculative fiction, The Beauty of the End is a powerful tale that lingers in your mind long after the final page. Utterly unforgettable

I really wanted to like this book - it's exactly the type of book I enjoy. Unfortunately, the pacing was a problem and there was a spot with a quote that came out of nowhere.
"No doubt my sister was already contemplating the outrageous combinations she'd put together. A Sudanese egg with a Swedish sperm. A felon's egg with a Mensa sperm. An athlete's egg with an obese sperm."

That's really egregious and turned me off completely.

This book had great potential, but I feel like the characters were too flat. I didn't care about the main characters, and I didn't feel that they cared, either.

I was initially drawn to this gorgeous and mysterious cover, and I'm still thinking about this unsettling story. As other reviews note, I'd place this more firmly in the lit fit category than dystopian. I think fans of Emily St John Mandel and Charlotte McConaghy would connect with this story. I found the pacing a little off, but the interior relationships were well drawn.

The concept of this book was interesting and appealed to me, but I feel as though it didn't quite present the purpose of the story in as much detail as it could have. Some things just didn't make sense to add and it just felt like randomly trying to add an event to make it peak then never touching it again. The end of the book mentioned the Marshallese and the horrors that they faced which is why it was in the story as well...it was in the story for like five pages, then wasn't really brought up again. It felt like too many vague ideas thrown together. It wasn't bad, but there was so much more potential it could have had.

Like many of reviewers have stated, I feel like this book didn’t go as in-depth as it should. We are left with so many “whys” and not enough answers. I did enjoy the story, I just wish there was more understanding with the way the world works. I found the ending to be a bit odd and it made me question what the point of it all was. All in all I give it 3 stars. Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

I was somewhat uncertain about the rating for this book. While I felt it deserved a five-star rating for the majority of the story, around the 70% mark, a series of events were foreshadowed that caused the pacing to slow a little bit.

There are a few inconsistencies and unresolved details, and I found the conclusion to be somewhat unsatisfying. Specifically, I did not feel it did justice to the main character, who, from a very young age, was adamant about not pursuing motherhood. In her efforts to honor the memory of the deceased, a core belief was sacrificed, which I felt undermined her character's arc.

Despite these issues, I still highly recommend the book. It presents a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the idea of human extinction. Overall, it is a very engaging read that I will recommend to everyone.

This book started off a little slow for me, but around the halfway point, things start getting real. Really real. The style of the book feels like a long short story spanning the course of a few decades. Sections of time are skipped or summarized for plot’s sake, which gives the book a certain passive tone that fits the narrative.

Charlie, the main character, had a lot of the qualities that I find in most of my favorite heroines: grounded, rational, anxious-but-calm. This made reading from her POV easy and satisfying.

There were a few jarring plot inconsistencies (how do they spread Maggie's ashes when they never found her body?), and I do feel like the main theme of the book could have been explored a little deeper, but as is, it makes for an easy-to-read light dystopian novel.

Super grateful for this arc!

Super interesting themes, but wishing for more depth maybe? Wanting a bit more examination into our world and politics.

Still enjoyed the ride!

Thanks again!!

Thank you to Lauren Stienstra, Little A Publishers, and NetGalley for this arc of The Beauty of the End out April 1, 2025!

📜Quick Summary: Maggie and Charlie are identical twins who are nothing alike. They were adopted by their loving parents and did not know their biological parents. The adoption was too simple, too easy, which in turn had vital things overlooked. Fast forward a few years, and they learn of “The Limit,” and how humankind has four generations to survive. The Mendelia, an organization that is trying to save mankind and provide the healthiest viable options for people to carry a child, starts making drastic measures. By the age of 18, if a young woman donates all of her healthy eggs, she would earn a spot as a Mendel and receive a large sum of money. But is this program exactly what it seems?

❣️Initial Feels: This feels a little YA in dialogue and writing, definitely dystopian-ish, but has a unique take on an odd situation. I’m intrigued…

👀Trigger Warnings: IVF, end of the world situations, miscarriages, talk of embryos/removal of eggs

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: The way Charlie tried to honor her sister was something beautiful. But also Charlie’s character changed a lot through the novel and I don’t know if she stood by what Charlie believed in.

📖Read if you want: sci-fi thriller, speculative fiction, character driven novel

💡Final Sentiments: This was … so interesting. I don’t know if I enjoyed the story as a whole, but I did enjoy the last 40%. The strong sisterly twin love, transcended her sister’s crimes and actions, and the grief that Charlie experienced is something, sadly, most people can relate to. The talk of babies, and families being built and the rating of each girl’s health… It was a lot. The deception of the company is something that could truly be a reflection of real life experiences. The politics intertwined with making health decisions for women and young girls was terrifying… maybe being a mom made me jilted when I thought about the vetting process, the way they discussed babies being made or tossed out… I could see this book going through another round of editing and maybe a deeper dig into the heavy topics.

🌟Overall Rating: 3 stars

This novel was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book. The plot was original. The characters were believable. I liked how the sisters had unique personalities.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Little A publishing for an advanced copy of this book.

This has to be one of the most unique books I’ve read this year. It’s the concept that drew me in (abeit I found the cover quite lovely as well). Unfortunately, this book had quite some flaws, in my opinion, as well.

This book follows adopted twin sisters Charlie and Maggie, who’se lives were just irrevocably upended. In this speculative fiction, science has just discovered an extinction date encoded in to every living creature’s DNA. And while some creatures were years away from dying out, humanity only had approximately four generations left. As adults, Charlie and Maggie choose to enlist as “Mandels” - an organization of scientists determined to somehow beat humanity’s ticking clock. While Charlie chose to do this because she could not picture herself becoming a mother, Maggie’s ambition leads her in a more ethically questionable direction.

First of all, I want to applaud Lauren Stienstra’s choice to draw attention to something that is little talked about, certainly not something I was aware of, and that is unethical adoption practices at the expense of immigrants. It’s touched on a little in the book but after reading the author’s intent, I wish more focus was put on it. I also appreciate Stienstra’s education and experience through the more scientific aspects of the book. It leant to believability, which I liked.

While the story was definitely interesting, there were several issues that kept me from rating it higher. I did not enjoy Maggie as a character and in a lot of ways, I found what she did irredeemable (that was not my main issue). What I enjoyed even less, was her sister’s unwavering clinginess and adoration for her. Despite the fact that her sister used her over and over again, Charlie constantly strived to make excuses right her sister’s wrongs - something I found rather grating throughout the course of this novel. I think the pacing also felt a little disjointed and the story flowed a little awkwardly at times.

Overall, I think this was a really unique and imaginative concept but the characters and strange pacing made it difficult to enjoy at times. However, if you're a fan of books that explore speculative scientific concepts, and somewhat apocalyptic themes, I think you should check this one out!

Rating 3.5/4 (rounding up)
This book releases on April 8th 2025.
Review will be posted to my website on March 31st, 2025 (close to release date).

Thank you, NatGalley and Little A books for this ARC for review. I loved this book and the premise that science finds out that most human are on the brink of extinct and the chaos that ensues! This book delves into the money, politics, fertility science, and all that goes along with finding out how many more generations your family line may have left and what you or your family might do to protect it or profit from it. The government turns to offering people money to have more children to increase the population in fear of humans becoming extinct while also offering women positions in fertility science to help convince others to get screened for genetic mutations. Very compelling and super interesting!!

The premise of this story is extremely interesting and instantly grabbed my attention. Overall I found it to be very thought provoking and moving--but to a certain point. I felt like it was lacking a true depth to many of the points that were brought up. Another round of edits could have made this work more fleshed out.

This was a really introspective read about grief, loss and personal growth. The writing was thoughtful, the themes were powerful, but the pacing felt slow and I slogged through it for a bit. Some moments still felt distant, even with the deep emotional topics, which led to me not engaging as much as I'd like to in a book.

3.5/3.75 stars
Initially drawn to the front cover, I put in the application to read this ARC due to my love for dystopia and new concepts. I wasn't disappointed - this novel had rounded character development, unrequited love, tragedy, sibling rivalry and revelry, governmental mistrust, yet none felt particularly cliché which is remarkable.

The novel follows the perspective of Charlie from when she is a young girl playing with her twin sister Maggie and friends to joining the government in their scientific research to break the "limit" - a limit embedded in the DNA of all humans resulting in the end of the line for the species. Charlie, never keen on the idea of children, and Maggie, dedicated to her education and the possibility of finding the breakthrough cure commit to each other that they will both endeavour on the journey together and never grow apart. Then, as aforementioned, much turmoil, tragedy, unrequited love, chaos and secrecy develops into an interesting and thought-provoking novel. Providing you have the moral understanding of the character's predicaments.

I found myself falling off somewhere around the middle but I think this is because it was on my kindle (I'm definitely a physical book kinda person). When I jumped back in, the second half of the book was outstanding and had the pace which I felt the first half didn't have. This can be expected of Dystopia - where the idea of the world is trying to be conveyed. So I recommend sticking to it.

Spoilers below:
A few inconsistencies were a bit jarring for me - primarily the interactions of young Charlie and Maggie made me unable to establish how old they were. Their language well, well above their years (and somehow when they're older they speak much more simply). I get that they are essentially child prodigies but even so, 6 year olds do not speak the way they did. The other inconsistency was a line saying they "spread ashes" at the pier but as far as I could make out, they hadn't found a body (as Charlie kept repeating that she thought she could still be alive)

'The Beauty of the End', written by Lauren Stienstra, follows the story of Charlie and Maggie Tannehill, twin sisters growing up in a dystopian world where the human species is generations away from extinction as a result of the progressive inability to gestate. Faced with this future outcome, the government establishes a programme of assisted reproduction based on the donation, with financial exchange, of all the eggs of some women to others.

'The Beauty of the End' is a book that hooked me from beginning to end because it speaks not only of our present but also of a future that could become our own. A book that introduces the ethical debate on the use of the female body for purely reproductive purposes, as if it were a vessel, and the social hierarchy that is established according to the greater or lesser capacity of these women to gestate.

Despite the more than interesting premise, I missed a little more feminist reflection (a perspective that I consider key to this story) on a general scale and not so focused on the case of the two sisters. Still, it is a book that I recommend 100% and one that I am glad to have read.

(Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for this ARC).