How to Pack for the End of the World

Michelle Falkoff has written a timely, thoughtful, provocative book that I couldnt put down. The plot is filled with unexpected, compelling twists, each character is vividly imagined, and Aminas narrative voice is a beautiful balance of innocence and intellect. HOW TO PACK FOR THE END OF THE WORLD gave me hope that there is a path forward from these precarious times to a place where empathy instead of rancor reigns.

Ever since an attack on her synagogue, Amina becomes obsessed with anti-Semetic behavior and has begun to live in fear with recurring nightmares. When a scholarship position to the prestigiousGardner Academy opens up, Amina’s parents send her in order to change her mindset. Amina is very unsure about Gardner, but attends a pre-orientation game night where an interesting question in Would You Rather captures her interest. The question leads to a gathering of five people from the game night: Wyatt, Hunter, Chloe, Jo and Amina. Amina finds that she has plenty in common with the group, they all have fears. Moreso, she finds a group of friends that she is comfortable with. However, someone seems to be targeting their small group with very personalized attacks and Amina has a new set of fears to deal with.

How to Pack for the End of the World is a contemporaryYoung Adult fiction that deals with a lot of issues in a unique way. None of the issues become too heavy and none of the characters are designed around their fear, social standing, sexuality or mental health. They are all just regular teens dealing with everyday issues. Each character was well developed and unique. While their backstories and challenges weren’t all divulged at once, this added another layer of mystery to the story. I loved the idea of the Eucalyptus Group and how each game they played helped them develop more as well as get to know one another. The personal attacks were another added layer that almost seemed like a side story to me but were really more at the heart. It was difficult for me to forget that this story took place at a high school and involved kids that were 16 to 17 years old as some of the situations felt more at a college level and classwork seemed to take a back seat. Overall, an entertaining young adult story with amazing characters.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

This is a very different book than what I usually read, and though I have a much different viewpoint on what will happen at the end of the world, I did the different aspects of the story the students have kind of interesting.

Aminas parents sends her to a prestigious boarding school because she is obsessed with the end of the world and they are hoping this will help with the anxiety she has been having. After there a few days at the school she is invited to a mysterious meeting along with four other with somewhat the same anxiety problems and the same reasons for their anxiety. As they discuss their anxieties, they each contribute with their survival skills and help with ways to survive when the day happens.

I liked the students in this group. They were a little weird at times, but they are not the usually boarding school students. It was sometimes difficult for me to keep listening because the story doesnt have a lot going on except for the survival skills of the group. I would have liked more depth to the story. There wasnt a lot of wow there.

I have the audio version of this book. I really enjoyed listening to the Narrator, Stacey Glemboski. She has an excellent smooth voice for audiobooks. Her dynamics and expressions are just perfect. I hope to find more books that she is narrating. She is one voice I could listen to all day!

This book is a four star for me. And if I could rate the narration, I would rate it a 5 plus Stars!

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255.

Im not going to lie; this one took me a little while to pick up and get into. Told from the perspective of Amina, a new student to a once prestigious private boarding school in Vermont. She finds a group of like-minded peers and together they bond in a way they werent expecting. The preppers as they call themselves, soon become the targets of a prankster. The element of mystery is fun, and engaging however, due to the current state of the world I found it really hard to read this without comparing it to the actual events were all going through.

Amina is a great character and her friends are strong and interesting individuals. I think my 13-year-old daughter is a cross between Chloe and Jo. Im eager to pass this one to her; just to get her reaction to the preppers and their experiences. Embracing your strengths, letting go of negativity, and just living? A lesson I think we can all learn.

Thanks to Michelle Falkoff and iReadBookTours for an Advanced Copy of this book in exchange for participation in this iReadBook Tour, and my honest review.

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