They Both Die at the End meets All That's Left in the World - a heartbreaking and gripping first love story about courage, hope and holding onto love. Perfect for anyone looking for a big emotional romance of a read.
On the morning Avery Byrne plans to end her life, the world discovers there are only nine days left to live: an asteroid is headed for Earth, and no one can stop it.
As time runs out and secrets slowly come to light, Avery fights her way home to save the girl she has been in love with her whole life. But can Avery also learn to save herself and find hope again in the tomorrows she has left?
First things first; the story ends before the asteroid hits, so we never find out if our heroes survive. However, that doesn't matter. The asteroid isn't the point; it's the catalyst, but after that, all that matters is how our heroes react.
And there's a huge range of reactions here, which is great to see. Some are practical, some are emotional, some are nothing much at all, which is very relevant to the story. People move and change their reactions as well over the nine days, which feels very realistic as well.
The time jumps were an interesting way to find out the backstory, and how things that happened years ago were still affecting Avery in the days leading up to the asteroid. I did feel that the constant references to 'the thing that happened in New York' were a bit overdone and drew attention away from everything else, but it wasn't much to be annoyed about.
There's a lot of beautiful quotes and ideas in this book - I tried to pick one out to quote here but there were too many! I think Peter's painted quote, near the end, might be my choice, but it's hard to choose. This is hard to read at times, but it's so worth it. Give it a try.
Book Info
Genre: Young Adult, Queer, LGBT, Romance, Science Fiction
Length: 416 Pages
Publishing: 9th May 2023
About the Author
Lambda Literary Fellow Jen St. Jude (she/they) grew up in New Hampshire apple orchards and now lives in Chicago with her wife and dog. She has served as an editor for Chicago Review of Books, Just Femme & Dandy, and Arcturus Magazine. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her cheering on the Chicago Sky and Red Stars. If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come is her first novel.
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