Genre: Post-Apocalyptic

Massively popular and trending online, Silver Elite is the start of a new series marketed as a dystopian romance, a “sizzling” story of distrust and self-preservation for those that possess innate psychic gifts. As is often the case with books that take off on social media, one’s enjoyment of this book likely comes down to one’s expectations and hopes for the book. If you’re looking for the next exciting dystopian action thriller like the Hunger Games or strong social commentary featured in the Giver, Silver Elite is definitely going to be a frustrating disappointment. However, for those looking for a booktok-style romance novel set within a vague dystopian world, Silver Elite is a lot more compelling. Expecting the latter going into it, Silver Elite more or less met my expectations of being a messy, yet decent read if one can overlook its many rough edges. At first glance at its premise and opening, Silver Elite appears to be a cool modern take on the dystopian genre. Despite the addition of various psychic powers, in many ways the story feels like an aged up take on Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, featuring adult characters instead of minors and their frequent wandering lusty…

“If the world was ending you’d come over, right? You’d come over and you’d stay the night…” because you broke your leg in a bear trap- Never has my heart felt so warmed by a post-apocalyptic survival road trip adventure, but Erik J. Brown’s debut novel All That’s Left In the World did that and so much more. A YA survival story of two lonely teenage boys finding a home in each other after most of the world died all around them, the book’s characters, tone, pacing and plotting feels pitch-perfect and is an incredibly well-crafted novel. A lot of other reviewers had previously mentioned how wholesome and cute it is, which had me raising an eyebrow given the genre and premise (I sometimes find post-apocalyptic stories slow and repetitive), but it really is such a hopeful and heartfelt book that far surpassed all of my expectations. Providing much needed queer representation is a sub-genre of science fiction that lacked clear standouts while avoiding being too graphic, harsh or scary, All That’s Left In the World is an outstanding and well-rounded book that’s sure to satisfy a wide variety of readers, even adults as well despite its YA classification and…

The Last Murder at the End of the World feels like it should’ve been something directly catered to my taste which is a murder mystery investigation wrapped up in a post-apocalyptic, science fiction (borderline dystopian) dressing. This one is hard to talk without giving away crucial spoilers that would heavily affect the reading experience. The novel had all the right elements and pieces to work with and Stuart Turton had a lot of creative and intriguing concepts included. In an alternate universe with some tweaking, this could’ve been a knockout hit. Unfortunately for me, the novel’s science fiction flavor gets a bit out of hand and is frankly a mess. Numerous unexplained apocalyptic elements weaken what should’ve been a well-done murder investigation story. Set on a protected island where the last survivors of an apocalyptic fog inhabit, the setup for the plot was good. There’s a clear timeline of events dictated by a countdown to extinction that separates each section of the book. The first 40% of the story focused on introducing various villagers on the island, their relationship with three revered scientists, and the dynamics of the island. The book has a long-running metaphor of equating the villagers to…