Lowrie and Shen, now aged 16 and 17 are taught life skills as one day they will be the last two people and they will need one another and all the skills they have been taught to survive. They are as close as brother and sister but with a little spark between them that neither wants to admit. Understanding that this aloneness will likely happen sooner rather than later, Lowrie and Shen talk often about what they will do when they are all that’s left of humanity and what they should do to leave a lasting, informative memorial to a species that has turned out to be but a blip on time’s grand time scale.

Lauren James' writing style is perfect for this sort of book. It's conversational, contemporary, and talks about science in an accessible way. Rep: bisexual main character, Chinese love interest, bisexual side character, trans side character. It made me think a lot - can humanity be replaced with other forms of beings, when humans no longer exist? It's not just being a clone that matters - it's a being that is created through scientific means that is not artificial intelligence, but actually a person - when there are no longer humans that exist - can this new entity become the original surviving example of the human race? Who is to question or judge them for being not the actual humans, but something that has evolved into something more. 😢

Lowrie is incredibly introspective and I found this not only an excellent way to get to know Lowrie, but to think of what I would do in her shoes. She thinks about what we will leave behind. In our present, we go on with our lives, listen to the same music, and as the world crumbles around Lowrie, she sees remnants of what other humans have left behind. Discovering echoes of another time, buried under sand, waiting for that moment to breathe again. At the end of the day, what do we want to survive us? Writing Whispering Stories was established in 2015. The blog is here to share our love of books and the bookish world, alongside our other passions in life. We are based in the UK. In the quiet at the end of the world, Lowrie and Shen must decide what they are willing to sacrifice to save the whole human race… I read Station Elevena few years ago, and really came away from that novel with a sense of just how much there still is to live forwhen you’ve lost everything. As a reader I feel like there are so many stories that hadn’t been told in that kind of setting – after the angst of the apocalypse, when you’re not necessarily trying to rebuild the world but live a good, happy life in the time you have left. So as a writer, I didn’t want to write a dystopia full of villains and evil governments (there’s enough of that in real life). I just wanted to write about humanity in isolation.

In other words, the apocalypse is less whiz bang disaster porn and more intrinsically, relatably human, the kind of event that we can grapple with and understand, and more importantly, connect with in a very real and deep way.This book is incredibly difficult to review without spoilers, so forgive me if I’m a bit vague! Trust me – it’s for your own good. I saw Alice Osman call it a ‘ Now Lowrie and Shen face an impossible choice: in the quiet at the end of the world, they must decide what to sacrifice to save the whole human race… The Quiet at the End of the World includes some gems like adorable robots that honestly make you want to have one for yourself so you can be best friends with it; perfect world building that gets into your brain and helps you to imagine every little detail; an incredible storyline with a terrifying premise that is completely intriguing, but you’d absolutely never EVER want it to actually happen in real life (fingers crossed); a world-shattering plot twist; and on top of all that, perfect bisexual and trans representation. Ugh. This book is EVERYTHING. The Quiet at the End of the World was just one of those books that hit all my sweet spots. It has the signature mystery elements from Lauren James along with a whole lot of introspection. Summary

It’s a lot of weight to place on the shoulders of two older teenagers but it’s all Lowrie and Shen have ever known and they do their best to be both ready for the inevitable and to not allow their overpowering destiny get the better of them. Well I finished a few days ago and I still don't know if I enjoyed this book but I thought I would just start writing a review anyway. Note to self: Do not read a book on a bus, gasp loudly like a goldfish at response to a plot twist otherwise you get an array of confused stares! I loved the switching between present day and the “past” (even when that past is in today’s future!). The use of social media and news outlets in the “past” sections, to start to introduce teasers and further insight into the main story, was a great idea. The coordinates of where each random item was found didn’t translate well to audio and don’t think this added anything to the overall story- in fact I found it a bit annoying after the 50th item was read out in detail.A controlled yet elegantly light touch makes The Quiet at the End of the World a credible, hugely rewarding read.”– SFX Magazine But I know now what I have to do. I can’t sit here, quiet at the end of the world. I have to fill the world with noise. I have to shout and fight and give everything I have to make sure this isn’t the end.” (P. 318) I found this technique extremely clever to not only introduce us to almost another level of mystery, but to give the past a voice. Throughout Lowrie’s searches, she’s looking for clues about the past, almost to figure out who she is, and it’s like Maya is talking directly to us. Additionally through Maya we are introduced to a trans side character from Maya’s life. Overall, My favourite book of 2018, The Quiet at the End of the World is the stunning new book from Lauren James. I've loved all of her books so far, but I think this is my favourite -- Lowrie and Shen are two of the most loveable characters you could wish to meet, and I had a very big soft-spot for Mitch. Lauren James was born in 1992 and is the British Young Adult author of The Next Together series, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe and The Quiet at the End of the World. She graduated in 2014 from the University of Nottingham, UK, where she studied Chemistry and Physics.