Fable for the End of the World is a haunting and thought-provoking tale that blends lyrical prose with a deep, almost dreamlike atmosphere. The story’s themes of survival, hope, and humanity resonate strongly, and the world-building is both immersive and unsettling. While some parts may feel a bit abstract or slow, the emotional weight and unique storytelling make it a compelling read. A beautifully crafted, if somewhat melancholic, journey.

As always Ava Reid’s writing is stunning. I really enjoyed this, I can understand the hunger games comparisons but this is very different and that could have an impact on people’s expectations.
The world, the romance, the characters, I loved it all.

I feel like this book more than lives up to the expectations. Hunger games vibes? Check. Queer? Check. Enemies to lovers? Check!

This was everything I wanted it to be. I really loved it. I will continue to devour it every novel Ava writes. She’s yet to miss!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Ugh, where do I start?

In principle, I should have loved this. A YA dystopia with survival games and an enemies to lovers romance element? Yes. PLEASE. This novel was coined the new Hunger Games with the author herself saying that HG was a huge influence for this novel. Alas, this was no Hunger games.

I don't know if I'm just not a huge fan of Ava Reid's writing at this point but this just didn't work out for me at all. The basic premise sounded amazing, the 'Annihilation'-esque world should have been incredible and, c'mon, enemies to lovers is always a winner, but something about this book just did not resonate with me.

For someone living in a dystopian world, the character fighting for her life didn't seem particularly survival savvy at the beginning but then suddenly developed survival skills near the end. And she seemed to forget about her brother Luka really quickly! The so-called trained killer with mechanical body hacks came across as a weak, very human girl with no survival skills and no propensity to actually kill. The romance element had absolutely no heat to it whatsoever. I don't need spice, a slow tender romance is always good but this was tepid at best.

The world building had potential and was one of the better things about the story. Clearly based on capitalism, over-consumption and a clear divide between the classes, it was a world we can all resonate with and a frightening indictment as to the world we really live in and it's future. Whilst it was one if the better elements of the book, it was far from good.

I just really struggled getting through this book, I found it boring and badly paced with two dimensional characters and so nearly DNF'ed it many times. The only reason I continued was because I was intrigued about the ending so many people were appalled about. Honestly, it wasn't worth it.

I liked the Hunger Games vibes to this and the sapphic romance was really lovely but I also never really felt all that connected to the characters.

(Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

This book left me feeling a little unsettled—in the best possible way. The world Ava Reid has crafted feels eerily plausible, and with the way things are going in reality, I couldn’t help but think this dystopian future might not be too far off. It’s a chilling thought, but one that made the book feel even more impactful.

Having read two other books by Ava Reid, I noticed her writing style in this one felt a little different—less whimsical and flowery, but more stripped back and raw. Honestly, I think this suited the tone and themes of the story perfectly. Even with a more pared-down style, her talent for vivid descriptions still shines through; the world feels tangible, like you’re walking through the desolate streets and forest alongside the characters.

This book has everything dystopian fans love—gritty world-building, complex themes, and that haunting sense of inevitability. You can clearly see the influence of classic dystopian novels throughout, yet it still feels fresh and original. It’s almost like a love letter to the genre, blending familiar elements with a plot that feels entirely its own.

And that ending! Without giving anything away, I was completely shocked—I didn’t see it coming at all. It’s one of those conclusions that lingers with you long after you’ve finished the book.

Overall, Fable for the End of the World is a gripping, thought-provoking read that feels both timely and timeless. Ava Reid has once again proven her ability to craft unforgettable stories, and this one is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Fable for the End of the World follows Inesa, who lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. They live in a society controlled by a single corporation, Caerus, who encourage massive accumulations of debt from its underclass. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet. Inesa is thrust into the Gauntlet, pursued by Melinoë, a Caerus assassin who has something to prove after her last Gauntlet left her traumatised. 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. 

I really enjoyed the world-building in this book. Ava Reid painted a desolate picture of the world, and the commentary on climate change, the capitalisation of suffering, the desensitisation towards violence, and inequality, provided food for thought. It was scarily easy to compare this book to issues happening in the real world, and also wonder what our world will be like in the future. However, there were some plot holes that annoyed me - why are Inesa and her brother killing animals for decoration when food is scarce?

I was intrigued by Melinoë’s character, and her internal battle of being the machine that Caerus had designed her to be and holding onto her humanity was interesting to read. I found it hard to connect to Inesa, who was very bland, and not a FMC that I found myself rooting for. I did find it strange that she lived in such a dangerous world but hadn’t thought to learn any survival skills whatsoever.

The jump from adversaries to lovers felt far too quick in Melinoë and Inesa’s romance. Their exchanged declarations of love out of nowhere, and I wish their relationship had a little more time to develop organically.

The plot was fine, but felt very predictable. I wouldn’t say I was particularly invested in the story or what happened to the characters. I was very disappointed with the ending, and can only assume that there will be a sequel. Otherwise, I’m not sure why the author would leave the story feeling so unfinished.

Overall, this book was fine, but not very unique or memorable. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK/Del Rey for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Fable for the End of the World, Ava Reid creates a disturbingly plausible dystopian future in which one corporation controls society. This is a future full of debt, danger and death. After discovering that her mother has plunged them into debt, Inesa is offered up as a kind of sacrifice and entered into the Lamb’s Gauntlet- a kind of game or trial in which killings are livestreamed. With deadly assassin’s like Melinoe trying to track the sacrificial ‘Lambs’ down, there seems to be little hope. But the girls find that the situation gets much more complicated when they start falling in love.

First of all, I have to praise Ava Reid’s writing style and her characters. As always, she manages to evoke darkness, danger and horror whilst writing in a way that makes you hope for something better. Like in her earlier dark fairytales, Reid also creates a beautifully horrible setting. In this case, it is a world ravaged by climate change and corporate overrulers (is that a word?) that change the way people think -sometimes literally with neural reconditioning.

I also think that the way this dystopia operates is fundamentally different from other dystopias like The Hunger Games. I can see the comparisons and inspiration, but Reid manages to draw attention to different topics in her book. Mainly, she looks at how companies, rather than governments or leaders, can shape and destroy the world. Considering the immense power that billionaire CEO’s have within and outside of government at the moment, this feels like a book that we need to read right now.

That being said, I wasn’t absorbed by the Gauntlet and the actual action of the book. I think I’m quite tired of trials/competitions/death tournaments at the moment. But that is probably just because I have exhausted myself by reading too many. I can see the new spin that Reid puts on these tropes, but I can’t escape the similarities. Because of this, my favourite moments in the book were routed in the characters. I loved the queer relationship between Inesa and Melinoe. I also loved seeing them struggle with the fact that they have conflicting duties and responsibilities. Inesa has to try to save her family (and herself) whereas Melinoe is trained to be a living weapon and one of Caerus’s assassins.

Overall, this was a well-written and structured book with plenty to love. If you’re a fan of YA dystopia but crave more queer characters and commentary on climate change and corporate greed, this was tailor-made for you!

This review is for Fable for the End of The World by Ava Reid which released in the UK on the 4th March! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Del Rey for giving me an eArc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was a bit hesitant to request this one, due to the overhype I’ve seen on Booktok, as well as not getting on with this authors writing style in the past. However, it was actually one of my favourite books I’ve read so far this year, so I was really glad I got it!! It was described as lesbian Hunger Games vibes, so that was obviously the draw in for me.

First of all, I loved this because it was a standalone. It was an entire beautiful story fit into one book and not extended over a series which didn’t need to happen. It was concise, heartbreaking and perfect. It focuses on Inesa, thrown into the Gaunlet, when her mother decides to sacrifice her to pay off her debts. It has sacrifice, romance, and a dystopian society, honestly what more could you need. It was definitely a throwback to my teenage years of reading purely dystopian novels, yet scaled up a notch.

The characters and their developments were amazing, especially Melinoë. Shes basically a glorified assassin, who has been conditioned and altered since she was a child to be the perfect weapon for the Caerus, and kill the people who are thrown into the Gauntlet in the coldest way she can. Her romance with Inesa did feel a bit instalovey, which is mainly why the book isn’t a 5 star for me, as would have loved to see their relationship develop a bit more.

The setting was beautifully written, and I felt like I could see everything play out like a film in my head. I definitely see why people get the Hunger Games vibes from it. The only negative is that I really wanted more!! There’s a few plot points along the way that don’t get fully resolved and I would have loved to have seen it all come together. Basically, overall, you all need to read this. The end.

other people a hug. There’s a bunch that need a kick in the shin and Lego under their bare feet, too.

This book was a really great look at climate change and how suffering is capitalised. This is something we are seeing all around us. We see homes destroyed by disasters and big companies swooping in to buy land or to cancel home insurance. We see people in other countries suffer the worst effects of climate change, all due to the climate pollution of countries like the US. The rich create the problem, but the rich don’t suffer from it.

Suffering has too often became entertainment as well. We make entertainment out of kids working hard to earn money to keep their families afloat, praising them for their work effort without questioning why they should be doing this in the first place.

Reid takes all this and creates a world where poor people are preyed upon, getting in to debt with a corporation who later comes to collect. They collect in the form of asking the person in debt to either put up themselves, or someone within their family like a child, to participate in a gauntlet. This is a to show where sport is made of someone running for their lives.

We see the commodification of bodies too with Mel, whose body and mind are constantly altered and adjusted so she can serve the men in charge and be of entertainment. The second she falters, she’s wiped or sent to another surgery.

I really like how Reid explored all these themes as they are very timely. While the climate change effects in this book aren’t as dire as we currently experience now, it’s not a far flung future.

Mel and Inesa had great chemistry and their whole relationship was pulling at my heartstrings. I was rooting for them so badly.

I won’t spoil how the book goes, but I thought plotting and pacing was great with some good twists and reveals. I did think the story began to fall apart a bit at the end, and while I understood the point Reid was making with the ending (and leaving it open) I do wish it was a happier one with more definitive answers and changes. But then that’s life isn’t it! It sometimes just continues to suck!

And on that cheerful note, that’s the end of my review!

HOLY.COW.
I won this proof back in November when I was at @yalc_uk but only picked it up when it arrived at the store, and boy do I kick myself for taking this long to pick it up!

This book is absolutely brilliant! I'm not one for Sci-Fi but I just couldn't put it down. The characters are so attached, and the plot absolutely twisted and intriguing. There are so many twists and turns, the book is an emotional rollercoaster and the ending was absolutely mind-blowing, I did not see it coming.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

A dystopian book that is inspired by Hunger Games and has sapphic relationship? Count me in! Ava Reid created an amazing (but horrible) world that also reflects our society today, sprinkled messed up family dynamics on top, and wrote one of my top books of the year!

Gripping dystopian book, but left me wanting more!

🪽🐑🪽🐑

Premise:
In a world, where debt controls the lower class, Inesa lives in a flooded town running a taxidermy shop with her brother.

Unknown to her, her cruel and mentally sick mother, enters her into the gauntlet, a live-streamed event, where one citizen ‘the lamb’ is hunted down by a trained assassin, ‘the angel’ to forgive their families debt.

Mel, has been trained as an assassin since she was a child, but is now haunted by her recent kill. Hunting Inesa is the only thing that will redeem her, but when she’s thrown into an unknown, suddenly she needs Inesa’s help to survive!

🪽🐑🪽🐑

To start, the set up of the world feels eerily realistic. A dystopian world is caused by global warming and consumerism. And a large corporate slowly edging its way into government… All feels rather apt… We are quite quickly thrown into the world and it’s easy to get up to speed, allowing the book to get on with the action.

And I loved Ava’s author’s note at the start, saying this is a love letter to the dystopian books we love like the Hunger Games. I worried when I read that, that the book will feel like a roadmap we have seen before, but she managed to create something really unique and new! The one on one lamb x angel dynamic felt very new to me!

Inesa and Mel were strong characters. Mel in particular really goes through a story of growth, overcoming her brainwashing she’s had since she was 8! Their relationship develops quickly, and is insta-attraction, but I liked them together! They feel like what each other needs. I wouldn’t say it’s an HEA, it’s more open ended, left for interpretation.

However, I was left with so many question:
- What happens next for Mel and Inesa?
- Do we ever learn more about Mel’s family?
- What was that between Luka and Lethe at the helicopter!?
- Will Caerus ever be taken down?
- What about Keres?
- What about the dad??
It really feels set up for more books and a wider world. And part of me is like, you can’t just create this evil government and not even hint that it eventually will fall apart. Especially now, us readers need some hope 😅

I can’t find anything online to hint at a sequel but I will read it if there is one!

This was fantastic. I love everything Ava Reid writes and as soon as I saw this compared to the hunger games I knew I’d enjoy it. The characters were great and the dual POV worked really well. The story while inspired but the hunger games was still its own and very original. The writing style and language used was beautiful

This was very interesting, and I liked the characters and the social commentary on society.

However, that ending… not for me.

This feels like an homage to so many incredible dystopian books, and is so beautifully written. Some parts had me ugly-crying, and I adored Inesa and Melinoë so much.

Thank you so much Ava Reid - this was everything to me and more. Reid has been one of my favourite authors for a while now - I think I’d read a shopping list if that was the next book released.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc. 🫶🏻

📖 Genre: Dystopian / Dark Sci-Fi / Sapphic Romance

🖋 Author: Ava Reid

⭐️ Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

🔥 Tropes: Enemies-to-Lovers, Forced Survival, Cat-and-Mouse Chase, Corporate Dystopia, Morally Gray Characters


What happens when survival is a game, love is a liability, and the world itself is a cage?
Ava Reid’s Fable for the End of the World is a gritty, atmospheric dystopian tale that blends corporate control, brutal survival, and an achingly tender sapphic romance between two girls who should be mortal enemies.

If The Hunger Games and The Last of Us had a gorgeous, vicious, sapphic love child, this would be it.
We have:
✔️ A live-streamed bloodsport where debtors are hunted for sport.

✔️ A ruthless assassin who has never failed a kill.

✔️ A sharp-witted survivor who refuses to die quietly.

✔️ A slow-burn, high-stakes romance born from violence and desperation.

And at the centre of it all? A brutal, corporate-controlled world where the rich feast and the poor bleed.


Inesa and her brother have spent years scraping by, running a taxidermy shop in their half-sunken town, surviving the only way they know how. But survival isn’t enough when you’re drowning in debt.
Their mother—vain, cruel, and utterly selfish—has gambled away more than they can ever repay. And in a world ruled by Caerus, a monolithic corporation that controls every facet of life, unpaid debt isn’t just a burden.

It’s a death sentence.

Inesa’s mother sells her out to the Lamb’s Gauntlet, a live-streamed, corporate-sponsored manhunt where assassins—branded as entertainment icons, hunt down debtors for sport.

Enter Melinoë, the corporation’s most lethal and legendary killer.
She’s a flawless executioner, her body enhanced with cybernetic modifications, her mind fractured by years of neural reconditioning. Every kill is a performance, a necessary display of dominance to maintain the Caerus empire.
But there’s a problem.
She’s slipping.During her last Gauntlet, she hesitated.And in this one, something about Inesa unsettles her.

Inesa, despite being prey, doesn’t behave like prey.
She fights back.She outwits her, challenges her, taunts her and for the first time in Melinoë’s cold, controlled life, she begins to question everything.

As Inesa fights to stay alive and Melinoë wrestles with the ghost of her own humanity, their battle turns into something neither of them expected:
A connection.A chance at redemption, rebellion… and something terrifyingly close to love.

What I Loved: Dark, Thought-Provoking, and Addictive

✅ The Worldbuilding is Unnervingly Real – The world of Fable for the End of the World feels scarily plausible—a corporate-controlled dystopia where debt isn’t just financial ruin, but a literal death sentence. The live-streamed executions, the weaponisation of poverty, the way people have become desensitized to violence—it’s all hauntingly believable.

✅ Melinoë’s Inner Conflict is EVERYTHING – She’s cold, precise, deadly—and yet, beneath the assassin’s mask, she’s a broken girl desperately trying to survive her own mind. Watching her struggle between duty and conscience, violence and vulnerability, control and chaos was utterly gripping.

✅ Inesa is the Perfect Survivor – In a world that wants her dead, she refuses to just roll over and die. She’s tough, smart, and reckless, with a sharp wit and an even sharper survival instinct. She’s not just fighting for her life—she’s fighting for a future beyond survival.

✅ The Enemies-to-Lovers Tension? Off. The. Charts. – Inesa and Melinoë’s relationship is so charged with tension, violence, and unexpected tenderness that you can’t help but root for them, even as they try to kill each other. Their dynamic is intense, complex, and incredibly well-written.

✅ A Dystopian Love Story That Feels Earned – Nothing about their relationship is instantaneous or easy. There’s fear, hatred, grudging respect, and eventual trust, all unfolding against a backdrop of violence and desperation. And when feelings finally surface, it’s painfully beautiful.

What Could Have Been Better?

Melinoë’s Past Could Have Been Explored More – We get glimpses of her history, her trauma, and the brutal conditioning that made her a killer, but I wanted more. I wanted to fully drown in her memories, to feel the weight of her past in every decision she makes.


Read This If You Love…

✔️ Brutal, High-Stakes Dystopian Survival Stories

✔️ Enemies-to-Lovers with Intense Emotional and Physical Battles

✔️ Morally Gray Characters Struggling to Find Humanity

✔️ Sapphic Romance that Feels Earned, Not Rushed

✔️ A World that Feels Terrifyingly Possible


Ava Reid has crafted a dystopian tale that feels painfully real, filled with visceral action, deep emotional conflict, and a love story born from the ashes of violence.
It’s a fable worth remembering.

I didn't realise how much I missed the dystopian era until now. This book could be dark in some places, but I felt it emphasised that not everything is as it seems. Throughout the book, we are shown the importance of power and how quickly someone can go from being your saviour to your doom. Reid covers the topics of wealth, inequality, climate change, survival, and how greed can change people, which makes this book feel more realistic and relatable. The plot was gripping, and I was invested in New Amsterdam and finding out how this drowning city came to be.

The Gauntlet itself was intense and barbaric, but in all honesty, I felt it was tamer than The Hunger Games when you compare the fight between the Lambs and the Angels to the battle between the Tributes. How people are entered into the Gauntlet, however, is darker. In The Hunger Games, your name was essentially put in a hat, but you could put your name in more than once if you needed to exchange it for something else like food, supplies, etc. This affected your chances of being selected, but everyone was still entered so everyone was at risk. When you are selected for the Gauntlet, it's because you are being sacrificed in order to pay off your own debts or someone else's. Inesa's mother wracked up a high debt and was required to enter the Gauntlet in order to pay it off, or she could choose someone else to take her place. Offering your own child to be publicly slaughtered in order to pay a debt you accumulated due to sheer greed was upsetting to read about as I can't imagine being that desperate. It highlighted how people's greed and selfish desires can change them and cause them to lose part of their humanity.

Inesa did seem a little bland at the beginning, but as soon as the Gauntlet started, we began to see a different side of her and her strengths. Inesa and Melinoe's relationship is forbidden and unimaginable, which obviously adds to the tension between them. Their relationship did feel a little insta love, but considering how fast-paced the book, it was to be expected. As we follow them through a treacherous journey to survival, we learn more about Melinoe and what she went through, causing us to shift our point of view on who the enemy is.

I have rated it 4 ⭐️, but as it all sinks in, I'm torn between 4⭐️ and 3.5⭐️. I really enjoyed this book, and I felt it was a good introduction to Ava Reid's writing, but the ending! I was so heartbroken, slightly traumatised, and left wanting more. It didn't end the way I thought it would, and there would have been potential for a sequel. If I imagine a different ending, then it would be 5⭐️, but for now, it's sitting at a shaky 4⭐️.

If you want something similar to the Hunger Games that isn't as graphic or politically focused, then this book is for you. In this book, you'll find:
- Dual POV
- Enemies to Lovers
- Dystopian
- Forced Proximity
- Survival
- Sapphic Romance
- Hunger Games x The Last Of Us

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for this arc.

We all do what we have to in order to survive." ... The law that governs all of nature. The law that can be used to justify anything, if you can twist and warp the words to fit.

Really enjoyed this book! I’ve read a few by this author and i think this one just might be my favourite to date.