Blog tour: Things to do Before the End of the World by Emily Barr

One minute you're walking in the park, hiding from a party. Then you discover that the next nine months will probably be your last. Everyone's last. You realise that you happen to be alive at the time when your species becomes extinct.
You have to decide whether to go with it meekly like you usually do, or to do something brave, to live your last months with all the energy and bravery you can muster, to rage against the dying of the light.

Olivia struggles to live her real life as fully as she wants to. She plans out conversations and events in her head but actually doing them and interacting with other people is hard. When the news breaks that humans have done such damage to the earth that there's only nine months of safe air left everybody makes bucket lists and starts living their best lives - everyone, that is, but Olivia who is still struggling to figure out who she wants to be.

Then out of the blue comes contact from a long-lost cousin Olivia didn't even know exsisted. Natasha is everything Olivia wants to be and more. And as the girls meet up for their last summer on earth Olivia finds Natasha's ease and self-confidence having a effect on her. But what if Natasha isn't everything she first appears to be . . . ?  

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This is a read of two halves, so I'll review them separately.

The apocalyptic story: Although it's a very plausible apocalypse, I didn't quite follow the way it presented. The CO2 was seeping out all the time, which is why the weather got hotter and birds and small animals died. But at some point, it was going to erupt in a huge wave and kill everyone everywhere all at once, and they could track that right to a specific day? I just didn't follow it, and I know that Libby didn't care much so wasn't reading any research about it but I still think we could have been given a better explanation.

Libby's adventures: It's easy for an introverted character to be swept along by an extrovert, she says from pained experience. And from outside the story we can see things much more clearly than the characters can. I'm torn about whether Libby should have suspected Natasha or not; to me personally she just didn't seem like a nice person, but Libby so badly wanted a connection that I can understand why she ignored all those little things. I can say now that I wouldn't have let anyone push me into the things Natasha pushes Libby into, but if I were in that situation? Hard to say.

Overall it's an intriguing read. I'd have liked to know more about how the world was reacting to the Creep, but as Libby was actively avoiding finding that out it would have been hard for the author to work it in. The romance seemed a little creepy to me if I'm honest, but at least Zoe seemed really nice and friendly. I felt bad for Libby's mother, and loved her stepfather for all the assurances that of course they wouldn't make Libby chose between them and her father's family. Her little half siblings were cute but not in it very much.

I'm glad I read it, and I think other readers will enjoy it, but I won't be racing to reread it.

Thanks for allowing me on the blogtour.