Synopsis of fable for the end of the world
The Literary Grind
*This review contains insignificant spoilers for Fable for the End of the World*
Two hundred pages in, and I consider I’ve fallen in love with Fable for the End of the World. I’ve been ranting to everyone who listens about how much I adore the main characters and their slow-burn hurt/comfort romance, and I’m rooting for Mel and Inesa to survive the Gauntlet together. I haven’t felt this way about a standalone book since my Tumblr years. I think that Ava Reid’s dystopian novel is a shoo-in for my list of favorite reads of the year.
It starts as a feeling of dread. I’m watching the pages count down, the remaining space between my fingers and the back of the manual growing shorter, and I understand that, short of a miracle, there’s no way the story I’m reading has enough period to wrap up all its loose threads. It’s okay, I think to myself, journey before destination. The warning bells are going off in my top, but I’m determined to stick through it.
Then the ending happens, and I want to chuck my copy of Fable for the End of the Planet across the room. It’s unpleasant enough when a book disappoints you, but there’s nothing worse than an ending that makes you actively
Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid is a sapphic enemies to lovers YA Dystopian set in a crumbling society ruled by a capitalist corporate-government hybrid that’s hyper-fixated on violence and the exploitation of the lower class.
Synopsis
In New Amsterdam Inesa lives in a drowned world crippled by the impact of environmental collapse and the oppressive system that was built following societal and economic disintegration. The result is a climate with never-ending rain, a debauch corporation-government, Caerus, that controls every aspect of society encouraging citizens to wrack up enormous debt resulting in deadly consequences for those that exceed their limit.
Inesa and her brother Luka continue by running a taxidermy shop where Luka hunts for infrequent animals that haven’t been impacted by radiation and mutations. And Inesa prepares them to trade to patrons to display in their homes. They barely persist but as a general governance avoid racking up debt so they won’t face the consequences of doing so.
However, their mother who’s struggling with mental illness and emotionally fragile following her husband and their father abandoning them has wracked up a l
The epic standalone dystopian romance from the Sunday Time bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth. Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and The Last of Us
SURVIVAL
SACRIFICE
A LOVE THAT RISKS EVERYTHING
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‘Stunning . . . Among the dystopian greats.’ Chloe Gong
‘Brilliant and devastating, Fable for the End of the World will arm you with the strongest tools we have: both anger and hope.’ Allison Saft
‘Knife-edged and tender-hearted, I will be thinking of the final line for years to come’ Courtney Gould
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By encouraging massive accumulations of debt, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town, barely scraping a living from their taxidermy shop. But their mother has secretly accrued enormous debt – and the only way out is to offer her daughter up to be a sacrifice for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination event: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.
Melinoë is the assassin chosen for this spectacle. The product of years of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she’s a living weapon, famous for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. But she’s also ha
Published byHarper Collinson March 4, 2025
Genres:Fantasy
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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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 slay the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and functional alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her freezing 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
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Reid, Ava. Fable for the Conclude of the World. New York: HarperCollins, 2025.
ISBN-13: 978-0063211551 | $19.00 USD | 400 pages | YA Dystopian Romance
Blurb
The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this stand-alone dystopian relationship about survival, sacrifice, and cherish that risks everything.
By encouraging substantial 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 route 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 de