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Fable for the End of the World
The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this standalone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.
By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.
Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.
When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.
For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.
As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing.
And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.
By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.
Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.
When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.
For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.
As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing.
And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 4, 2025
About the author
Ava Reid
13 books5,196 followersAva Reid is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of gothic fantasies, including A Study in Drowning, Juniper & Thorn, and Lady Macbeth. She lives in California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
August 28, 2024
LESBIAN HUNGER GAMES. everyone say thank you ava reid
thank you to the publisher for providing the arc (and to rachel the literal loml for the physical copy)
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thank you to the publisher for providing the arc (and to rachel the literal loml for the physical copy)
Follow me on Instagram
Want to read
March 13, 2024ava reid sapphic enemies-to-lovers might be the end of me actually
Want to read
March 20, 2024⊹ ˚. ✦ ╮
languishing in agony as i wait: 20/03/24
exactly one year to go for ava reid's next serve!!!! saw a lot of ava reid slander after a study in drowning came out. never speak on effypreston and reid's writing again :3
exactly one year to go for ava reid's next serve!!!! saw a lot of ava reid slander after a study in drowning came out. never speak on effypreston and reid's writing again :3
Want to read
March 20, 2024sapphic dystopian?? oh i'm so in
Currently reading
March 23, 2024sapphic !!!
dystopia is back !!!!
dystopia is back !!!!
Want to read
September 20, 2024The Last Of Us meets The Hunger Games… do not say another word, this book is written for me.
July 27, 2024
A few days ago I requested this book on Edelweiss with just one sentence: I’d sell my firstborn for this book.
Yesterday they approved my request.
I read it in one sitting.
*silence* *silence* *silence*
*screaming noises*
I'm currently looking for a nice cabin in the woods and I plan to live in it forever. Do not talk to me.
Before I go off the grid, I just have one thing to say: Ava Reid can have my firstborn.
Rtc…
Yesterday they approved my request.
I read it in one sitting.
*silence* *silence* *silence*
*screaming noises*
I'm currently looking for a nice cabin in the woods and I plan to live in it forever. Do not talk to me.
Before I go off the grid, I just have one thing to say: Ava Reid can have my firstborn.
Rtc…
Want to read
March 20, 2024take my fucking money ava reid, take my soul, my heart, take everything - it's yours
Want to read
March 22, 2024After A Study in Drowning, I would read every new Ava Reid book and this one sounds made for me.
Want to read
March 21, 2024Dystopian! Sapphic! Enemies to lovers! BY MY FAVORITE AUTHOR?? I’m so lucky to be alive at the same time as Ava Reid.
Want to read
March 12, 2024The blurb is giving me Hunger Games/Immortal Longings, and I’m excited to see how Ava builds this world up
Want to read
March 20, 2024i need this book more than i need oxygen
Want to read
April 19, 2024how am i supposed to wait a year?? 💔
August 17, 2024
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
They had me at 'The Last of Us' meets 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes', and boy did it deliver!
In this dystopian sapphic romance, Ava Reid has created the perfect wasteland that was realistically detailed that I seemlessly slipped within its grip and didn't want to leave. The world-building in this is masterful, and I just couldn't get enough of the mutations and the irraticated humans that feasted on them and preyed on humans as a result.
The Hunger Games-esque Gauntlet was genius! It felt believable and tense, even though you know from the romance side what was about to happen. You just had to go along for the ride, watching with the entire Caerus population, with bated breath to see how it would end.
The rivals-to -lovers were so well established and explained that it didn't feel forced for once, but it naturally progressed based on the circumstances leading up to this particular Gauntlet.
I love the way Reid has not only created this world but made it feel high-stakes and real, written so beautifully and descriptive, giving itself as a real love letter to those dystopian worlds I grew up on.
They had me at 'The Last of Us' meets 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes', and boy did it deliver!
In this dystopian sapphic romance, Ava Reid has created the perfect wasteland that was realistically detailed that I seemlessly slipped within its grip and didn't want to leave. The world-building in this is masterful, and I just couldn't get enough of the mutations and the irraticated humans that feasted on them and preyed on humans as a result.
The Hunger Games-esque Gauntlet was genius! It felt believable and tense, even though you know from the romance side what was about to happen. You just had to go along for the ride, watching with the entire Caerus population, with bated breath to see how it would end.
The rivals-to -lovers were so well established and explained that it didn't feel forced for once, but it naturally progressed based on the circumstances leading up to this particular Gauntlet.
I love the way Reid has not only created this world but made it feel high-stakes and real, written so beautifully and descriptive, giving itself as a real love letter to those dystopian worlds I grew up on.
August 3, 2024
slayed so hard. au where clove and katniss smooched.
Want to read
August 29, 2024The Last of Us + the Hunger Games + SAPPHICS????????? i am literally SHAKING right now i nEED THIS
August 6, 2024
Themes:
🖤 Dystopian
🖤 Sapphic Romance
🖤 Assassin & Target
🖤 Big Brother-style Corporation
🖤 Knife to the throat
🖤 Biohacking
🖤 Hunger Games-style Gauntlet
🖤 Surviving to Thriving
🖤 Lush Mutated Wilderness
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they make ends meet by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt, meaning that Melinoë, an assassin (or 'Angel', as dubbed by Caerus, the company to whom Inesa's mother is indebted) who is the product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, is sent after Inesa after Inesa's mother offers her as a sacrifice. Despite Mel's reputation for cold brutality and deadly beauty, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on live stream, she desperately needs redemption.
!! Very light spoilers below !!
As Mel chases Inesa and her brother Luka across the apocalyptic wilderness filled with animal (and human) mutations, we see each young woman evolve. I found Mel's internal growth the most interesting as she has so far to come from. The connection between Inesa and her brother was so heart wrenching and intimately beautiful. Mel and Inesa's romance is so sweet and innocent - and because of that, also heart wrenching.
As usual, Ava Reid does a gorgeous job of creating this contrastingly lush wasteland and placing us right in her dystopian world. The world she built was extremely seamless and I loved living in it.
I truly loved the first scene in the novel, which really sets the tone of this world and the novel. It was hard to read at times, but handled very well and again, just so beautifully written.
This book did end with semi-unfinished storylines and suggestions of further plotlines, so though nothing has been announced, I'm assuming/hoping there will be a sequel.
🖤 Dystopian
🖤 Sapphic Romance
🖤 Assassin & Target
🖤 Big Brother-style Corporation
🖤 Knife to the throat
🖤 Biohacking
🖤 Hunger Games-style Gauntlet
🖤 Surviving to Thriving
🖤 Lush Mutated Wilderness
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they make ends meet by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt, meaning that Melinoë, an assassin (or 'Angel', as dubbed by Caerus, the company to whom Inesa's mother is indebted) who is the product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, is sent after Inesa after Inesa's mother offers her as a sacrifice. Despite Mel's reputation for cold brutality and deadly beauty, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on live stream, she desperately needs redemption.
!! Very light spoilers below !!
As Mel chases Inesa and her brother Luka across the apocalyptic wilderness filled with animal (and human) mutations, we see each young woman evolve. I found Mel's internal growth the most interesting as she has so far to come from. The connection between Inesa and her brother was so heart wrenching and intimately beautiful. Mel and Inesa's romance is so sweet and innocent - and because of that, also heart wrenching.
As usual, Ava Reid does a gorgeous job of creating this contrastingly lush wasteland and placing us right in her dystopian world. The world she built was extremely seamless and I loved living in it.
I truly loved the first scene in the novel, which really sets the tone of this world and the novel. It was hard to read at times, but handled very well and again, just so beautifully written.
This book did end with semi-unfinished storylines and suggestions of further plotlines, so though nothing has been announced, I'm assuming/hoping there will be a sequel.
September 13, 2024
AVA REID PAY FOR MY THERAPY BECAUSE WHAT WAS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!
August 16, 2024
4.25 stars
This is definitely up there with Juniper & Thorn as one of my favourite Ava Reid books.
This is definitely up there with Juniper & Thorn as one of my favourite Ava Reid books.
Want to read
March 20, 2024the last of us meets the ballad of songbirds and snakes? and it’s sapphic? this book might just be the end of me !
September 25, 2024
WOW. No words just mindblown at how addictive & beautifully heartbreaking this book was. Ava Reid always exceeds expectations but this blew me away. I screamed when I got this ARC & proceeded to devour it in record time: it’s the kind of book you start and can’t put down because you’re glued to the pages. The plot had me gasping for air, the romance was hauntingly stunning, the enemies to lovers executed so perfectly. I was rooting for them the entire time. The world Ava created was so unique yet so reflective of the current state of the world - it was heartbreaking.
This is a YA dystopian fantasy with a sapphic romance between the Hunter and the Hunted, a cyborg assassin trained to kill and not feel, and a brave girl who lives in a sunken town trying her best to survive. The fact that the Gauntlet (a bloodbath for impoverished debtors) was live streamed to millions of viewers for entertainment gave me major hunger games vibes and I loved it, while equally disgusted by the brutality of the public enjoying witnessing these murders and treating it like TV. The story of Mel, a product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, slowly learning how to FEEL and LOVE with the help of Inesa, touched my heart and will linger there for a long time.
Perfect for fans of Hunger Games, Shatter Me, Last of Us. That ending…. DAMN!!
This is a YA dystopian fantasy with a sapphic romance between the Hunter and the Hunted, a cyborg assassin trained to kill and not feel, and a brave girl who lives in a sunken town trying her best to survive. The fact that the Gauntlet (a bloodbath for impoverished debtors) was live streamed to millions of viewers for entertainment gave me major hunger games vibes and I loved it, while equally disgusted by the brutality of the public enjoying witnessing these murders and treating it like TV. The story of Mel, a product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, slowly learning how to FEEL and LOVE with the help of Inesa, touched my heart and will linger there for a long time.
Perfect for fans of Hunger Games, Shatter Me, Last of Us. That ending…. DAMN!!
Want to read
March 20, 2024SAPPHIC BOOK BY AVA REID??? TAKE MY MONEY TAKE ALL OF IT FOR THIS. EVERY PENNY I HAVE IS YOURS JUST GIVE IT TO ME
Want to read
March 22, 2024ava reid writing a sapphic enemies to lovers dystopian? i’ll pass away rn.
Read
August 3, 2024The dystopian genre is better for this book. It encapsulates the fear, slowly erosion of rights that is all to realistic, and the world changing from the destruction humans have wrought. Yet, at it's heart, there is so much compassion, understanding, and love at it all. There are undeniably horrifying aspects of this book, of how depraved things can get, yet it is ultimately a book of survival. And survival can look many different ways, but it also means believing in others and finding the love you can hold for them. It is truly brilliant.
August 23, 2024
WHAT DO YOU MEAN LESBIAN HUNGER GAMES??? GIVE IT TO ME
Want to read
June 22, 2024AVA REID SAPPHIC DYSTOPIAN??? I NEED IT IMMEDIATELY
August 20, 2024
I think this is my favorite Ava Reid book yet!
August 15, 2024
I am sobbing. This book felt like a love letter to all the dystopian books of my childhood, written in Ava's always beautiful style. Full review to come closer to release date but it truly is special and I'm not sure I'll ever get over it.
Want to read
April 12, 2024SAPPHIC AVA REID BOOK SAPPHIC AVA REID BOOK INSPIRED BY BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES BEDKEKSHHFSKFH FUCKKKKKK OMG
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews