The Never-Ending End of the World
By: Ann Christy
Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer, Ari Fliakos
Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
Release date: 08-08-23
Publisher: Campfire Publishing
Genre: Dystopian, EOTW, Post-Apocalyptic
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.75; Narration 4.75.
Publisher's Summary
Station Eleven meets The Last of Us in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic from USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author Ann Christy.
Coco Wells hasn’t seen another living person since she was a teenager. All of Manhattan is reliving the same few seconds, minutes, or hours on a loop…and they have been for years. Everything looks normal from a distance, but up close, it’s a nightmare.
Coco is a survivor. She scavenges for food, reads, and—most importantly—avoids loopers. They ignore her, but only as long as she’s silent. She’s learned the painful lesson that a broken loop can mean death.
After eight years of solitude, learning to survive and precisely timing the loops that weave around the city, Coco wonders what lies beyond New York and what has become of the rest of the world.
As she leaves home for the first time, one question haunts her above all:
“Am I the only one left?”
Speculative sci-fi, dystopian apocalypse, and scientific mystery coalesce into The Never-Ending End of the World—a gripping tale of survival, hope, and love from retired Naval Officer Ann Christy.
©2023 Ann Christy (P)2023 Ann Christy
Review:
Coco was a 12 year old when her world changed. Suddenly her family members appeared only in a loop of time…some seconds and some as much as hours. But if the loop is interrupted, there are immediate reactions. Coco breaks a few loops before she realizes the harm that she has caused. She learns to map out the loops in her Manhattan community so she can scavenge real food and resources. She also keeps a journal of her activities and some of the more remarkable loops she observes. For years she is able to take pictures of time and leave them carefully behind…just in case time ever gets fixed.
Surprisingly, after many years alone, Coco meets another person who is alive like her. Sadly, the woman is ill, and Coco only gets a short time with her. But this gives her hope and sends her out to explore the world beyond Manhattan and New York. When she finally meets others, she learns there are two divisions. Her newest friends are Seekers who will go out to explore, find other living beings, and look for a way to fix the frozen time problem. They are soon joined by some members of the Chosen who is a group who believe they were chosen to live and start a new world society. The Chosen are willing to break loops if it is necessary to their plans for development.
The story continues to a new generation where it is learned that some children develop new skills relating to the loops. Hidden information regarding the cause of the event is discovered. This leads to hopes of discovering the possibility of fixing it. But there is a huge cost, and not everyone wants to fix the past as it threatens their current and future lives.
I enjoyed the creativity of this EOTW dystopian story. I was pulled in to caring for Coco and other characters. I was invested in discovering how the event occurred and if and how it could be fixed. I recommend the story to fans of EOTW with rival groups of survivals and elements of mystery.
Audio Notes: Thérèse Plummer and Ari Fliakos are skilled narrators. They provide distinct voices and their delivery helps the characters to be real to the listener. The narration enhanced my enjoyment of the story.
Source: May 2023 NetGalley, This qualifies for 2023NetGalley and 2023Audiobook goals.
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