Jamie and Andrew are strangers, and two of the last people on Earth. They don't know what they'll find on their perilous journey ... but they may just find each other. A queer romance about courage, hope and humanity - this is How I Live Now with the heart of Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda.
When the Superflu wipes out most of the population, Jamie finds himself completely alone in a cabin in the woods - until an injured stranger crosses his path.
Life is dangerous now and, armed with a gun, Jamie goes to pull the trigger. But there's something about Andrew ... something that stops Jamie in his tracks. Jamie takes him in, and as Andrew heals and they eventually step out into the strange new world, their relationship starts to feel like more than just friendship ...
But trouble isn't far behind. As the boys make a perilous journey south, they'll come face to face with a world torn apart and society in ruins. And who, or what, will they find waiting for them at the end of it all?
If you've been on socials at all the last while, you've seen people talking about this book, looking forward to this book, hoping to get to read it. You've probably been wondering 'hype or worth it?' I have to say, for me at least, it was worth it. (with the exception of one small element which I will explain below.)
First, be aware; this is set in the aftermath of a pandemic with a death rate somewhere in the region of 99%. It's explicitly not Covid, but Covid is mentioned (in the context of "we thought we knew how to deal with pandemics after Covid, but we hadn't learned our lessons."). If you, like many people, need to not engage with that kind of mention, don't pick up this book.
However, it is very largely not about the actual pandemic. There is some discussion and some of the protagonists talking about things that happened during the pandemic, but the major part of the story happens afterwards, as the survivors begin to pick up the pieces. It isn't said, or I didn't realise it, how long after the pandemic this story is set; not as much as years, but more than just a couple of months, I think. The bulk of the story has to do with the different ways people deal with and move on from this kind of tragedy. Our survivors encounter a lone woman going through the motions, a group who are well on the way to being a cult if they aren't one already, one who seem to be much more open and friendly, as well as a handful of others. They also see some of the ways people chose to die when they knew the end was coming.
Now, the issue I had. It's a minor thing, it's one of those things that probably doesn't bother people apart from me, so I'm going to put it in spoiler colours and you can ignore it if you want to.
This isn't just for this book; we see this trope all the time, in movies and tv shows and other novels, but it really caught my eye here because of orientations. Andrew is gay and has been openly gay for some years. Jamie has always considered himself straight and has never doubted that about himself. But after a while in each other's company, they are hot for each other. I know this is supposed to be a heartwarming, 'they found their soulmate even through everything' situation, but for me it always feels a little bit like they just settled for whoever was the closest person. But this is absolutely just my personal opinion and it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.
Because I did enjoy it, very much. I liked the characters, I liked the story - I would have liked more about the actual pandemic, but like I said that isn't at all the point of the story so it makes sense that we didn't get much. I loved the surprise third character who joined our boys after a while. I'd love to read more of their adventures, and I'll definitely be looking out for more books by Erik J Brown in future. Fantastic.
All That's Left in the World publishes on the 8th of March, 2022 in both the US (top image) and the UK (lower image). I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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