All That's Left in the World

this book was such an enormous slog. the first half was so incredibly dull, and the second half felt like a compilation of events rather than a cohesive narrative. it's a post-apocalyptic setting, yet our sources of conflict are:

• andrew constantly trying to abandon jamie
• a flooded highway tunnel
• naked man with axe
• homophobia
• escaped zoo lions (???)

there wasn't a real overarching plot - seriously, both of the main characters' goals just disappeared after chapters of them talking about their importance!! i felt like i was getting whiplash!!

and speaking of the main characters, i'm sorry, but they felt so incredibly insufferable. i understand that they're teenagers and don't have the best emotional regulation, but SO MANY of the decisions that andrew and jamie made throughout this book were infuriating to watch. the only other character of note in this entire book was cara, who i wish had a bigger role than she did because she was honestly the best character in the entire book.

other than that, the constant pop culture references grated on me. i didn't understand most of the references, so they just fell completely flat for me. the writing style also felt very stripped down and dull at times.

i really tried to love this - in theory, i should've! gay people in the apocalypse??? count me in! but this was just an absolute chore to get through, i'm so sorry.