As a bookworm, the scenario unfolding in Louise Swanson’s novel ‘End of Story‘ is the stuff of nightmares. Imagine a world without fiction. A world where being a fiction author is a crime, where reading stories to your children is a crime. It’s not too far-fetched, if you really think about it. Stories are already being edited (just look at the words of Roald Dahl’s books being changed), some books are already being banned in some places, and some libraries in Florida are empty. And it’s just not books. What about TV shows being canceled? Is fiction really that dangerous or offensive? More importantly, will Louise Swanson (aka Louise Beech) make me cry again?

The year is 2035. Fiction has been banned, and Fern is a criminal. As a former author, she was forced to retrain in a job outside of the arts. But she’s risking everything by scribbling in her notebook, telling us her story, trying to give us a picture of what her life looks like right now. From her job at the hospital to her work on a banned phone line reading bedtime stories to children, from visits from government officials checking up on her to a little boy called Hunter, and a mysterious salesman selling tea.

To be honest, if I could have gotten away with not writing a review for ‘End of Story‘, I probably would have. I had no idea what this story was about. I went in completely blind, and I feel you should too. Basically I’m saying to stop reading my review 😉. On top of that, as I sit here trying to get across how brilliant this book is, I also realise it’s hard not to give anything away. There may be moments where you frown (A lot. My forehead isn’t happy, let me tell you.) There may be moments where you think WTF, moments where you feel things just aren’t making sense. But you must stick with it, and I promise you it will all be worth it at the end of the story. See what I did there?

This author has already proven multiple times in the past she can jump seamlessly from one genre to another, often even in the same book. The settings may change, and the genre may change, it doesn’t matter. That beautiful writing remains the same, always. It was remarkably easy to become completely invested in these characters’ lives, because that’s another thing Louise Swanson does so well. Draw these completely realistic characters, who will seemingly jump out of the pages at any second and start talking to you face to face. That’s how real they feel. I felt immediately drawn to Fern. I felt sorry for her, I wanted her to find a way to stand up and take back her old life, I wanted her to write and somehow convince people that fiction is necessary. That imagination is a wonderful thing, a means to escape from reality, a way for people to connect, and even learn. However, I also completely understood how frightened she and others were of being caught, and maybe even punished somehow.

To me, the idea of banning fiction and the arts is a far more dangerous notion than fiction itself could ever be. ‘End of Story‘ is immensely thought-provoking in that respect. There’s more to it than that, though. And while I figured it out quite early on, it didn’t ruin my reading experience at all. That’s down to the power of Louise Swanson’s writing. ‘End of Story‘ is a compelling, utterly engrossing and often heartbreaking tale of having to deal with the loss of things you love. I have no qualms in saying that I think this might just be this author’s best book to date, and considering what’s come before that’s saying quite a lot. For those dying to know if tears were shed, the answer is not quite. But man, it was close and even as I write this review, and think back to the story and how it made me feel, there’s a lump in my throat. Louise may change her name, and Louise may continue to hop between genres … one thing will apparently always remain the same. She will rip out your heart and stomp all over it.

Louise Swanson/Beech is an absolute force to be reckoned with in the world of books. I have a feeling ‘End of Story‘ is one of those novels I will not be forgetting in a hurry. I’m pretty sure these jumbled thoughts of mine don’t do this book justice at all, but really, all I can say is I highly recommended it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thoroughly gripping and mind-blowing
End of Story delivers a narrative set in a near-future whereby any and all fiction has been outlawed. Fern, a previously famous award winning fiction author, has had to leave her previous life behind and comes under increasing observation to ensure she is reformed. However, new people Fern meets, as well as an old friend, bring a contact with her old existence that becomes too tempting to escape. The clawing sense of isolation, fear and struggling who to trust provides an atmosphere of trepidation that has you questioning throughout what will happen.
The idea of fiction being banned was such an interesting concept to explore, and brushes on current issues such as cancel culture, legislative powers, political narratives and ideologies.
It's difficult to say much more as this is definitely a book to enjoy as it unfolds without spoilers or preconceptions.

I usually write reviews soon after finishing a book, but here I am three days after finishing End Of Story, and I'm still unable to write down a proper sentence on paper. I guess the phenomenon I like to call the Beech-effect has crossed over to her shiny new pen name Louise Swanson, and I'm now officially suffering from the Swanson-effect. Basically, this newest book blew me away completely, and it is without doubt one of her strongest stories to date. Never mind the fact that I'm usually not that big of a sci-fi/dystopia fan, and never mind the fact that I hardly ever read books set in the future... This book is a true masterpiece and the structure of the plot is brilliantly clever. What a read!

Basically, the dystopian situation as described in End Of Story will horrify anyone who loves to read, and it's certain to give you nightmares for days. Imagine a world where fiction is illegal and you are no longer allowed to own or read any books unless it's non fiction... Authors are now criminals who have to lie low and follow the rules or face the consequences. This dystopian world truly comes alive through the descriptions and the main character Fern's thoughts she writes down in her (illegal) diary, and it's a terrifying world indeed. It's also one of the stronger aspects of this story, and one of the reasons End Of Story will stay with me for a long time.

I'm going to keep this review short because I don't want to give away too much about the plot. Trust me, this is one of those stories where you will be well rewarded for going in completely blind! What I can say is that the structure of the plot is brilliantly clever, and it gives the final part of the story even more impact. While I did have some idea about some of the twists, this didn't take away from the fact that the developments in the final part completely blew me away. I never expected this story to take the direction it did... What was already a 5 star read for me before, managed to bowl me over up until the point that I was left staring speechless at my kindle after reaching the final page. Even days later, I'm still unable to properly write down my thoughts... Oh yes, End Of Story was THAT good.

As for the characters... Fern Dostoy is the star of the show, and she makes for such a fascinating character. I was intrigued by her background and story from the very beginning. The plot structure where we read about what is happening through the diary entries is a brilliant touch, and I really enjoyed learning both Fern and the dystopian world better. There are so many questions along the way, and together with an atmosphere of danger and foreboding you won't be able to stop reading. And after certain things are revealed, you will only come to appreciate the rest of the story even more.

I have loved every single Louise Beech story I've read so far, and her new pen name Louise Swanson doesn't change that. End Of Story is one of her strongest books yet, and one I cannot recommend enough. Even if you don't tend to read a lot of sci-fi, I would still suggest you try this story... To be blunt: just read the damn book. Trust me, it will be absolutely worth your time! It's not like anything I've read before, and the plot twists are beyond clever and simply mindblowing.

I’m a bit flabbergasted after reading this. I’ve read a number of this authors books written under the name Louise Beech so I hadn’t even read the blurb when I got this. So different from anything else I read by the author but so good. A Dystopian drama set in 2035 when fiction is banned, former writers are watched and their assets seized; parents cannot read their children stories. The story is told by former highly successful author Fern Dostoy who is now working as a cleaner in a hospital.

Briefly, Fern has no friends, no family and she lives in a dilapidated property, forever worried about ‘the tall one and the short one’ turning up. She has changed her name and rarely goes out apart from work. But Fern has secrets. Secrets that could see her jailed, or worse!

The writing was excellent. My heart broke for Fern but also for everyone who didn’t have the joy I get from reading a book of fiction. The characterisations were so good, I can’t tell you how much I hated the tall one and the short one and how much I loved the Fine-Fayre man. This was dark and frightening, emotionally exhausting and quite heart rending. It wasn’t what I was expecting; it was so much more. I’ll leave the last word to Fern, “If You Tell a Story Well Enough, it’s True”

The world has turned and all fiction is banned as inflammatory and spreading lies. Fern is a best selling author, the UK's first fiction laureate, and she is finding living in a world without stories to be really hard. The authorities have moved her from her lovely home to a utilitarian house, and she works as a cleaner at the hospital. She is considered 'dangerous' so the authorities send two government officials periodically to search for illicit material at her home and generally harrass her. Her three close friends, all best selling authors, are under equal suspicion and one has disappeared.

Then two events happen - a young man appears at her door selling teas and biscuits, and from initially finding him annoying they begin a friendship, and she is drawn to a group who secretly have a phone line to read bedtime stories to children.

This psychological thriller will make the reader re-evaluate the power of fiction, and power we give to governments to govern our lives and the power of friendship and love and loss. Its a cracking read, taking you in unexpected directions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Such complexity and heart in the same book seem almost impossible but here it is... Well worth reading, whatever your 'usual' genres, as this one hits a whole bunch.

A stunning and innovative plot and narrative structure! Why only 3 stars, though? Because the pacing is so off that I almost abandoned this at the halfway mark. It’s only when I read other reviews that I figured thee was some intriguing twist about to surface at the end. And my, it didn’t disappoint!

What’s so clever about this novel is that there are a number of things that seem weirdly “off” with the world building and terminologies and ideas. But they’re not. You could call them clues if you wanted, though I never figured them out. The diary-style narration is perfect for this novel, but it soon gets terribly boring and repetitive. A 100 or so fewer pages of bloat would have made this a cracking read.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

Fern Dostoy was a best-selling author and had not long since been named the children's fiction laureate, when the world changed. Writing and reading fictional stories is now banned and she is working as a cleaner. All authors are being watched and with severe punishments being given out for being caught writing, they are all trying to keep a low-profile. That is until they are given an opportunity that Fern cannot turn down.

This is another emotive and heartfelt read by this author, even in their 'Swanson' disguise! Starting off as a relatively regular dystopian tale (as regular as they can be!), it evolves into something much more and I highly recomend it if you are in the mood for a fresh and interesting take on a dystopia story. I was lucky enough to get an advance of the audiobook and the narration was excellent.

The storyline of this dystopian novel, written in a diary entry style, had an interesting twist, something I thought I had expected but hadn't. The writing evoked a powerful emotional response because of its masterful composition. Being involved with the main character and the thought of a world without literature made me feel a chill of unease. The plot was semi-relatable, and despite this not being my go-to genre, I found it entertaining.

One of the few issues I had was the lack of closure each chapter brought because of the abrupt endings. I found this very irritating. Despite this, I would still recommend this read to avid readers of this author or those who like this genre.

It’s difficult to review this cracker of a book without revealing anything. Louise Swanson is a brilliant writer. The story totally swept me along, involving me totally in writer Fern Dostoy’s dystopian world in which — horror of horrors — books are banned. The year is 2035 and Fern lives in a world in which no fiction is allowed. This, for her, a former writer of award-winning books, is even more horrific than the increasing heat, authoritarianism, and inhumane laws of her new world. I absolutely adored the idea of Bedtime Stories, run by a group of dissidents who were determined that children needed stories. I particularly loved reading about the relationship between Fern and Hunter, a young boy that Fern is drawn to, and who refers to her as ‘crazy lady’. And then there’s the Fine-Fayre tea man, at first a huge irritant in Fern’s life. I loved their growing relationship, and wasn’t surprised to find out that he was based on a real-life character (although I cannot find where I heard that, so maybe I’m making it up 😊). I’m not going to say more except to recommend this clever, surprising, wonderfully tender and at times desperately sad book. It has stayed in my head…

End of Story is an interesting read, and hugely impressive for a first novel. The writing is phenomenal, very good prose, and I suspect Louise has a solid literary future ahead of her! The novel itself was interesting, though somewhat predictable, and for me it oddly became less believable towards the end. It goes to show, 'if you tell a story well enough, it’s true'!

If you tell a story well enough, it's true!

In 2030 the government ban all fiction, there are no bookstores, library shelves contain only factual books and every home in the country have had their fictional books burnt. Authors can no longer write fiction and reading stories to children is against the law.

End of Story delivers every bookworms worst nightmare, can you imagine a world without fiction? Set in the year of 2035 Swanson tells this tale through the eyes of ex author Fern Dostoy who secretly captures her life in daily diary entries. I sympathised with all of the characters in this exceptional read, especially Fern, whose life had basically been turned upside down in recent years, but just when you think you know everything there is to know about Fern, Swanson throws in a curveball which turns this tale on its head and I was left reading the last part of this story through tears. All I can say is WOW, the author really knocked it out of the park with this highly charged and powerful book which I devoured in a matter of hours and will stay with me for a long time to come.

I'd like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

My first 5-star read of 2023. And what a book this was !It will leave you speechless(in a good way, obviously) after you've completed reading it.

This is a very unique dystopian novel that in the beginning may seem confusing to the readers. The book is set in the year 2035 and fiction, in all forms, is banned. There are no fiction books being published and all the books barring non fiction have been destroyed. Parents cannot read aloud books to their children and kids deprived of a bedtime tale are sleepless, being prescribed pills to overcome their insomnia. Fern Dostoy is one of the authors whose book resulted in the ban and now she has been retrained to work as cleaner in a hospital. But yet secretly she keeps a diary, writing, against the government's orders, about her daily, monotonous life without the magic of books to add color to her life. In an act of rebellion, she joins a secret group of people who read bedtime stories to children over the phone. Here she meets Hunter, an 8 year old boy and she feels an instant connection with him. But in a world where technology can invade lives at home and can be used for surveillance, is Fern's secret really safe?

In the first 30-40% of this book my main grouse with the story was that I wasn't convinced with the reasons given for why the government took such a drastic ban on all fiction. And also in a span of one to one and half year the book ban was so complete brought about by a totalitarian government, that I felt I was missing something. But by the end of the book, the whole story was wrapped up in seamless manner that I was in awe of the author. The ending left me in tears but everything made sense. In fact the last 20% of the book actually made me give 5 stars for this book.

Just go read this book, while for me it will take some time to recover from the after-effects of reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of the book

This absolutely amazing book is one of those that I believe everyone needs to read, it feels that it holds that important a message within its pages.

To elaborate upon the blurb on the back page would be to give away the magic of this book which meant after I'd started the last section I just couldn't put it down as I needed to know what happened.

The characters and settings are all well written so it's easy to imagine everything that is happening on the page and to experience the flow of the story as it leads us to where it needs us to be.

This is a book that is going to stay with me for a while

The premise of End of Story reads like it will make for an interesting dystopia. Fiction is banned and the main character (Fern) used to be an author. No longer allowed to write, she is now an unhappy cleaner in a world where children aren't even allowed bedtime stories. Who can she trust...?

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Fern isn't a hugely reliable narrator. Her chapters are disjointed and the world around her doesn't quite make sense.

As a long-time science fiction reader (and other genres too!) who loves a dystopia and a book that asks 'what if', I think I was looking for something rather different than the author was offering. So maybe my rating for this one is really a 'me problem'.

The dystopia wasn't right from the very beginning - and while this is clearly intentional (and you will eventually understand why), I found it frustrating. I wanted a world where it somehow felt logical that 'they' had decided to ban fiction and to look at the ramifications of that.

Instead we have Fern, focused on sour milk, a man selling tea bags, and a trainer that disappears and reappears randomly. It's not until the final third of the book that the plot moves onto what's really happening. The problem is that I'd guessed what was really going on pretty early on. I'm not sure we needed to spend so long on the set up.

It's also a book that's quite sad. It's well done but I did feel as if someone was really trying to mess with my emotions!

I can't say much more without spoilers. I think this book will find fans in non-genre readers who love the unreliable narrator and twistyness. It simply wasn't the book for me.

I started to read this thinking - it's not for me because it is set in the future. How wrong I was!
This gripped me by the end of the first chapter. I went through every emotion. It made me think what if?
I am not going to give anything away with this review - read it and try not to weep.

This book was amazing! I love dystopian fiction so a book about a world with no more fiction was one I HAD to pick up and I am so pleased I did.

The world this book is set in is so sinister I had chills at times reading it. I loved the diary format style of the writing and was immersed in Fern's life and all of the people she came into contact with.

Hurtling towards what felt like an inevitable ending I was shocked by the turn events took. This book was excellently written and the audiobook is fantastically narrated too.

I was recommending this book to friends by the half way point and will continue to recommend it to as many people who will listen.

I had the audio and ebook for this one.
This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023. I loved the premise. Books, particularly fiction, are everything to me, and I couldn't imagine a world where they were banned.
The protaganist was a clearly troubled woman, but was so passionate about her writing and her revolt against the government for their campaign against fiction. I loved the chapters with Hunter and 'Crazy Lady'.
I really enjoyed it, the pacing could have been faster for me, but I took it as more of a literary fiction novel, so it wasn't as necessary.
Definitely worth a read, and will keep you thinking about it weeks after finishing.

What a remarkable story this one was. It is a dystopian set in the future that has banned fiction. No bookshops, publishers, bedtime stories, authors or readers. I cannot imagine a world without literature but the author did and she has created such an addictive story.

This is a story of two parts, the first being that of an author, Fern Dostoy. She was an author and now lives in a grotty flat as a cleaner, long gone are the days of being a best-selling author with a nice house and busy schedule. The second part of the story is something that gradually creeps up on you, well it did me, and that is all I am going to say about it.

Fern is a woman who is trying to keep to the rules, but she does stray a little in this Big Brother-style story. She goes to work, she comes home, doesn't mix with others and lives a very isolated life. The few people who do cross her path are people at the hospital where she works, her neighbour and a salesman. She has been told to keep a low profile, but those who have read her books know who she is.

Set in the near future this is a chilling tale of a woman trying to work out how to keep going. She tries to keep within the rules but little things seem to tempt her. One of these is Hunter, a boy who she talks to on the phone. Her every move or thought she feels is watched, she has gotten used to the government visits enough to know their routines but still fears them.

The author does a brilliant job of creating a depressing and dark era in her story. Written during the Covid pandemic, it is easy to imagine the solitude from when we could only go out for essentials. I think the author has used this experience to great effect as she nails that feeling of loss and adds the loss of fiction to that as well it feels like such a sad world. For many of us though, books helped to get us through.

The story that emerges is one that really captured my attention, I was convinced I was going to read a story by this author (aka Louise Beech) and not cry given the futuristic setting. How wrong I was, and to be fair I should have known better! What starts with a woman just surviving turns into a woman trying to learn how to live.

This is a wonderful story and it was one that took me by surprise, a chilling read at times but one that I adored. I do like the darker dystopian style and this for me was well done and created a wonderful backdrop to the next part of Fern's story. This is a book I would definitely recommend.

It has been five years since writing fiction was banned by the government.

Fern Dostoy is a criminal. She is a writer who continued writing after the government banned all fiction.

She secretly reads bedtime stories to children who's parents aren't allowed to. She befriends a young boy called Hunter who changes her life.
What does this do to her, what does her mind unlock.
Deeply compelling, moving story which delves into the workings of the human mind.