The Last Bookstore on Earth out now from Delacorte Press, 336 pages
Content Warning: Blood, gore, graphic death, death, natural disaster, violence, PTSD, grief
About the Author: “Lily Braun-Arnold is currently a senior at Smith College studying English. When she’s not writing, she can be found working at her local independent bookstore or daydreaming about living in outer space. THE LAST BOOKSTORE ON EARTH is her debut novel” (Bio from author’s website).
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Every person on Earth’s life changed the day the big storm came, bringing torrential acid rain. People knew that a storm was coming, but no one could foresee the devastating death toll that would ensue. Liz, the only survivor of her family, ends up hunkering down with her coworker and friend, Eva, where they worked before the big storm—a local bookstore. Then one day Eva packs up and leaves Liz behind. With news of another catastrophic storm coming, Liz scrambles to find a way to save the store. Then Maeve—a seemingly dangerous girl around her age—breaks in, looking for a place to sleep. Maeve has the skills Liz needs to fix the bookstore, and Maeve needs shelter; but Maeve is hiding something, something that may be more dangerous than the impending disaster.
When reading The Last Bookstore on Earth, I enjoyed the world-building elements, like finding out that money became essentially worthless compared to batteries since there was no longer electricity. I also enjoyed the comedic bits (albeit a bit strange at times), which helped characterize Liz. I found this book interesting because of Liz’s circumstances. She doesn’t have to hunt or fight people off, as the people she does come across trade food and other things for books. And she has shelter. Compared to Maeve, who has been surviving with a tent and cart, she has had it easy. This story is told nonlinearly with flashbacks to before the storm, which I really enjoyed. I found the detail that they started to have storm drills in high school to try to prepare for the worst to be a really cool aspect to include. Honestly, I would have liked more flashbacks. Particularly, I would have wanted a flashback after the first catastrophic storm. I wanted to see how Liz ended up at the store, and how she and Eva decided to run the bookstore. I feel like the most intriguing pieces of this story for me were how the world changed and how Liz and other people were living. Additionally, while I enjoyed reading Maeve and Liz’s romance, I felt like their chemistry and attraction could have been a little more present earlier on in their cohabitation. However, I did enjoy how their different backgrounds clashed and how they still managed to complement each other.
Natalia Williams, Pine Reads Review Writer