Adrienne Celt

Interesting. Unusual. Weird. A bit nostalgic at the end. Full of possibility, maybe?

Our main character, Bertie, makes a significant choice that I don't quite understand why she would, which drives the thrust of the tale.

Set against a dystopian version of our world, which makes an interesting landscape to set the novel against. Also gives an excuse for throwing in every modern day, fear-mongering trope such as anti-Americanism, anti-oil, "gender studies", environmentalism, and more. Does do a nice play on the perceived morality of tech companies while they are just making money like everyone else, which was intriguing to see.

Overall enjoyable, but not super enthralling. Great if you like the mind-bending aspect of potential outcomes of time loops. And Bernie is a sweet character one can root for while following her story.… (mere)

As I began this book, I realized that I'm not really the demographic to read about a BFF trip to Paris during the end of their (fictional) world. Yet I appreciated that one of the strongest parts of End of the World House is pointing the reader to how most people go on with their lives, making minor adjustments, as our world disintegrates. Likewise in the novel, Bertie and Kate figure – well, what can we do about all that? – and decide to preface Kate's imminent move to Los Angeles, away from best friend Bertie, with a Paris jaunt. If the norm, it still seems callous and clueless, but then again, what am I doing about climate change and BPAs and an ocean full of plastic and . . . . So I read on.

When Bertie and Kate get an opportunity to skip the line and be let into the Louvre before anyone else, they jump on it, and that's when the novel turns sideways. The rest of Adrienne Celt's book, full of time loops and new characters, offers a couple of answers to the end-of-the-world question. Kate accepts one answer; Bertie chooses another, though Berte's “choice” is a flaw in the narrative, for me. She is hedged into it. And that's not good on several levels. Confusing characterizations in the two long-time friends' loyalty and love for each other add to the wobbly nature of the second half of the novel.

While the book blurb calls this book comedic, I disagree. It is such an intriguing premise, though. Not the catalyst of BFFs run off to Paris. One that to avoid spoilers I can't reveal here. See for yourselves.

I received an advance copy of this book from Simon and Schuster via NetGalley. This is an honest review.… (mere)

This is a nontraditional tale of mothers and daughters across generations, with a little magic and a curse tossed in for good measure. At the center of the story is Lulu and her newborn daughter Kara; before she became a mother, Lulu was an internationally famous singer but now she fears her voice is gone. The novel places Lulu's fears and experience within the context of a family curse of mothers giving birth to daughters who then ellipse them. It's an interesting story, but it just didn't really speak to me and I struggle to finish the book, despite it being relatively short.… (mere)

Lulu is an opera singer, and a new mother, and a lover of stories. Particularly the fairy tale-like stories her Polish grandmother would tell about her own mother. But the stories are troubling, too, as they include a deal made with the devil for the birth of a daughter, and a curse that may have been passed down through the family, mother to daughter.

It's a beautifully written novel, with smooth, lovely prose, and it does some interesting things in weaving Lulu's real life with the fantasy of her stories. I'm also rather impressed, because opera and babies are two things I have very, very little interest in, and it actually managed to make me feel a connection to both.

I will admit, though, that at some point I started to feel just a little impatient with it, as Lulu's own story felt like it ought to be going somewhere but seemed not to actually be progressing at all. But the ending, while it perhaps didn't entirely satisfy that feeling, did work for me in its own quiet way.… (mere)