The End of the World
by Amy Matayo
Publisher: SYG Productions
Release Date: February 9, 2016
Genres: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 280
Buy at: Amazon, B&N
Add on: Goodreads
Find the author at: website, Facebook, Twitter
A desperate boy. A damaged girl. And a dark house filled with secrets. For Cameron Tate, being shuffled from foster home to foster home is just a normal way of life. Until the year he turns fourteen. That’s when he’s sent to the home of seventeen-year-old Shaye McCormick—a fellow foster kid counting the days until she’s released from the system. For good reason. It doesn’t take long for Cameron to learn that Shaye is shackled to the worst kind of pain…living in a home where nothing seems right. And now he’s joined her with no way out. Their only refuge is a lake, a quiet spot at the edge of the property where they can sit together for a few moments at the end of each day. Alone with their thoughts. Away from prying eyes. At the lake they become friends. At the lake they begin to talk. At the lake Cameron vows that no matter how deep their secrets are buried, he’ll make it his mission to heal Shaye from a past that makes living in the present nearly impossible. Even if it takes until the end of time to do it.
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)
My Review:
This book. This book broke my heart. It broke it and then slowly stitched it back together again. I’m sitting here crying and laughing because this story gave me so many feels I don’t know how to handle it. This book, you guys. This is fiction at it’s very best.
Fourteen-year-old Cameron Tate is being shipped off to yet another foster home, but this time it’s different. This time the foster home holds dark pain and dangerous secrets. But it’s also the house where he meets fellow foster kid Shaye McCormick. Shaye is sixteen-going-on-sixty. Her short life has been filled with unimaginable sorrow. But things get a little better, day-by-day, the moment she meets Cameron. They quickly form a beautiful friendship at a lake near their home, a lake they call the end of the world. Can two broken souls mend together and find peace within each other?
To be honest, I’m sitting here wondering how I should word this review because I want to give this book justice. It was so completely different from anything I’ve read. Sure I’ve read “abuse” stories that broke my heart, but it was so much more than that. Nothing like this gut-wrenchingly raw and beautiful story that was so brilliantly told. There’s something especially beautiful about a book with the ability to make it’s way into a reader’s heart and create a little corner in which to stay. That is what The End of the World does.
Incredibly insightful about the workings of the human heart, the author gives us a story to be remembered and cherished. Shaye and Cameron were beautiful characters with beautiful flaws. I fell in love with them almost instantly, and couldn’t put the book down for the life of me. The story is told in three parts at three different stages of their lives. It tackles the hardest subjects, but does it in a way that isn’t graphic. I laughed, cried, yelled, and cried some more. I literally am sitting next to a box of tissues at this very moment. I can’t believe this is the first book I’ve read from Amy Matayo. It definitely won’t be the last.
I could say so much more about my overflowing feelings for this book, but I don’t want to overwhelm you all so I think the best thing I could say is just to READ IT NOW. Emotionally harrowing, yet somehow genuinely uplifting — The End of the World is the best I’ve read in a very long time. It even makes my all-time favorite list. This story of how two broken kids fell into a friendship and love so genuinely beautiful — it’s one that will stay with me.
*I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
{Content: Mature content; not appropriate for younger readers. While there is nothing explicit, there is much implied. It’s such a heavy subject matter that includes many forms of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual). Would probably recommend for older teens or new adults.}
GIF THE FEELING:
|| I’m trying out something new on my book reviews, where I find a GIF to share that explains my overall feelings for the book. Hope you like! ||
Leave your thoughts on the cover, synopsis, review, or anything at all below! Adding this beauty to your TBR? What is your current read? I love hearing from you guys. Thanks so much for visiting Will Bake for Books! ♥
What an amazingly beautiful review. I have read it, and couldn’t have said it nearly as well.
Wow, thank you Jan! That is so sweet of you to say. I truly loved this novel, so writing this was fun. Thanks so much for visiting my blog and for your lovely comment! 🙂
Wow! This sounds so good! I love books that tackle the heart of problems! They can be so powerful! Thanks for sharing this one! 🙂
Me too, Sarah! That’s a perfect way of describing this book. 🙂 Thank YOU for coming by — always enjoy chatting with you!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
Ah, I can’t stop gushing about this wonderful story you wrote. Thank you, Amy, for stopping by my blog! 🙂
I’m not reading your review – though I REALLY want too, because I’m right in the middle of reading and then needing to review this one. But I’m SOO glad it sounds as if you liked this one (five STARS!). At this point, I have no problem believing that being totally true. Amy has written a risky, but oh-so-beautiful novel. Cannot wait to finish it – and hopefully swing be again to read your review!
YES! That’s so well said! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did — I’m headed over to your blog soon to check out your review. 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by!
“This book. This book broke my heart. It broke it and then slowly stitched it back together again.”
See, this^! Such a perfect opening line for this novel, and I knew you’d have written a beautiful review. Well said, Bekah. I 100% agree!
Aww, thanks Rissi!! You’re the best. 🙂 This book was so inspiring it was impossible not to write this review from the heart, right?