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A Beginning at the End
How do you start over after the end of the world?
Six years after a global pandemic wiped out most of the planet’s population, the survivors are rebuilding the country, split between self-governing cities, hippie communes and wasteland gangs.
In postapocalyptic San Francisco, former pop star Moira has created a new identity to finally escape her past—until her domineering father launches a sweeping public search to track her down. Desperate for a fresh start herself, jaded event planner Krista navigates the world on behalf of those too traumatized to go outside, determined to help everyone move on—even if they don’t want to. Rob survived the catastrophe with his daughter, Sunny, but lost his wife. When strict government rules threaten to separate parent and child, Rob needs to prove himself worthy in the city’s eyes by connecting with people again.
Krista, Moira, Rob and Sunny are brought together by circumstance, and their lives begin to twine together. But when reports of another outbreak throw the fragile society into panic, the friends are forced to finally face everything that came before—and everything they still stand to lose.
Because sometimes having one person is enough to keep the world going.
Six years after a global pandemic wiped out most of the planet’s population, the survivors are rebuilding the country, split between self-governing cities, hippie communes and wasteland gangs.
In postapocalyptic San Francisco, former pop star Moira has created a new identity to finally escape her past—until her domineering father launches a sweeping public search to track her down. Desperate for a fresh start herself, jaded event planner Krista navigates the world on behalf of those too traumatized to go outside, determined to help everyone move on—even if they don’t want to. Rob survived the catastrophe with his daughter, Sunny, but lost his wife. When strict government rules threaten to separate parent and child, Rob needs to prove himself worthy in the city’s eyes by connecting with people again.
Krista, Moira, Rob and Sunny are brought together by circumstance, and their lives begin to twine together. But when reports of another outbreak throw the fragile society into panic, the friends are forced to finally face everything that came before—and everything they still stand to lose.
Because sometimes having one person is enough to keep the world going.
394 pages, Hardcover
First published January 14, 2020
About the author
Mike Chen
53 books965 followersMike Chen is a critically acclaimed science fiction author based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. His debut novel HERE AND NOW AND THEN was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice, CALIBA Golden Poppy, and Compton Crook awards. His other novels include A BEGINNING AT THE END, WE COULD BE HEROES, LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME, and STAR WARS: BROTHERHOOD. He has also contributed to the STAR WARS: FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW anthology and covers geek culture for sites like Nerdist, StarTrek.com, and The Mary Sue. In previous lives, Mike worked as a sports journalist covering the NHL, DJ, musician, and aerospace engineer. He lives with his wife, daughter, and many rescue animals. Follow him on Twitter @mikechenwriter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 565 reviews
January 7, 2020
A BEGINNING AT THE END offers something I haven’t seen from post-apocalyptic fiction before: the point at which society begins to rebuild, when people must move forward, try to cultivate a new sense of normalcy, all while living with the lingering trauma of everything they lost when their world collapsed. This book does an excellent job exploring the struggles of that kind of life, but what I really admire is that most of the characters’ biggest challenges are ones that we’ve all faced, flu-ridden world or not. These major characters (an ex-pop star, an event planner, a man who lost his wife and made a regretful decision in the name of protecting his daughter) all grapple with questions of identity and morality, of what it means to be part of a family, of what we’re willing to sacrifice and for whom. This is a story that’s as fun as it is moving. The characters are well developed, each with layered back stories that propel them forward—or try to derail them—in this new world, and the world itself is a fascinating one. Mike Chen has richly imagined every detail of the book’s Metros and Reclaimed territories, and I loved seeing how the old way of life overlapped with the new. A BEGINNING AT THE END is truly a special addition to the post-apocalyptic genre, and it stands up right alongside heavy hitters like STATION ELEVEN and THE LAST.
December 12, 2019
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DNF @ p. 121
I think if I stuck with this it could maybe wrest another pity star from me, but I'm really not feeling the book right now. On the one hand, I do appreciate what Mike Chen is trying to do with A BEGINNING AT THE END, a dystopian set in San Francisco after a plague has wiped out 70% of the population.
I have read a lot of dystopians and pandemics are a favorite way to kill all the humans in these sorts of books. Rather than focusing on the chaos and breakdowns of social mores that occur in such devastation, however, this book puts four individuals under the microscope: Krista, a wedding planner; Mojo/Moira, a famous pop star; and Rob and Sunny, a father and daughter who were displaced from their home by the plague, and rather than tell Sunny that her mother is dead, Rob has told her that she's getting treatment-- a lie that is starting to cause his daughter to act out.
It's really great to see science-fiction with diverse characters, set in a reflection of San Francisco that is actually recognizable to those who live there. The grittiness juxtaposed against open-mindedness (with, yes, some sanctimonious-- we are awesome, and we know it) is pretty typically San Francisco, and Chen did a good job portraying it in the setting.
I just wish that more was happening. The pacing was really slow and even though there was nothing wrong with the writing, nothing was happening and I found myself terribly bored. Maybe this will appeal to people who like quiet books that are more introspective but I wasn't really into it.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
1.5 to 2 stars
July 11, 2019
A fresh, and dare I say charming?, take on post-apocalyptic fiction! At first glance you may not think that end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it and heartwarming tale can exist in the same story to a satisfying end, but rest assured that they do! This book strikes the perfect balance of dystopian collapse from major medical event (who doesn't love rubbernecking at that train wreck?), and a fresh start for humanity. Fans of Station Eleven will really enjoy Chen's masterful vision of what real people (who have gone through said end of the world) would look like attempting to piece together a utopian society. We meet Rob and Sunny, and we find a father trying his best to shepherd his daughter through a broken world to find the love and joy that still exists on the other side of tragedy. We meet Moira who is desperate to escape her past as a pop star, and wants nothing more than stability and normalcy. And we meet Krista, who is a *surviver* through and through--bound and determined to make this new world work for her. They are four very real-feeling human experiences of the same rebuilt society, and you come to care deeply for and root for all of them...even when a secret comes to light that could tear apart their friendship. It's the best of everything I love...it's imaginative yet realistic world building, it's an adventure, it's a love story, and it's a look at what really makes a family--not just blood. Humanity in Chen's book hasn't given up...they're rebuilding. Maybe imperfectly, but he captures that will to exist. To be fully human. To live, and to learn, and to love. It's science fiction with heart, and you won't be able to put it down.
March 31, 2021
Final review, first posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
A Beginning at the End is set in a near-future world where, in 2019, a deadly worldwide pandemic kills some five billion people, including seventy percent of the U.S. population. Johanna Moira Hatfield, a teenage pop music star known as Mojo, tired of being browbeaten by her stage father, Evan, uses the sudden panic at her Madison Square Garden concert to disappear into the crowd in search of a new life.
Six years later, in San Francisco in 2025, MoJo has a new name, Moira Gorman, a job, and a fiancé who she’s not really in love with, but he represents stability in a society that’s still fragile and unstable, as well as safety from her father, who’s still looking for his MoJo. Moira’s wedding planner, Krista Deal, has a somewhat similar backstory: Krista faked her own death years ago to escape her drug-addicted, dysfunctional mother. Wedding planning isn’t paying the bills, though, so when Krista hears that Evan Hatfield believes MoJo is in the San Francisco area and is offering a huge reward to anyone who can help him find her, she’s naturally interested … not realizing that her client Moira is MoJo.
Moira’s co-worker Rob Deal has his own set of tragic family issues: he lost his beloved wife to an accident during the pandemic years ago, but has never been able to bring himself to tell his seven-year-old daughter Sunny the truth about her mother’s death. Rob tells Sunny that her mother has been in medical treatment all these years, and while Sunny believes him, she’s beginning to act out. Her misbehavior at school threatens to lead to her being taken away from him by the powerful Family Stability Board. Rob’s a loner with no real friends, but perhaps his new acquaintance Krista Deal can testify to the Board as to his adequacy as a father (especially if he pays her a little money under the table)?
A Beginning at the End was published in early 2020, so it anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic (like another duology I recently read, Tosca Lee’s The Line Between and A Single Light). Here’s it’s not the actual disaster that Mike Chen is primarily focused on, but the aftermath and particularly the lives of this group of characters. What remains of society is being put back together in new ways: some cities are back to some semblance of normality, while others live in the lawless outskirts of society. People in general are still traumatized by the deaths of so many, including their friends and family, and the flu-like MGS virus remains a threat, with outbreaks of new variants.
Moira, Krista and Rob are emblematic of this sense of loss and distress. All three, not to mention Rob’s daughter Sunny, have serious issues to work through — though interestingly enough, their personal problems are only indirectly tied to the actual MGS pandemic. These characters are flawed but likeable, and the novel’s ultimately uplifting plot gives a timely nod to the benefits of found family (often over a problematic bio family).
A Beginning at the End is a quieter type of post-apocalyptic tale, more about interpersonal relationships and individual healing than about the larger changes caused by the worldwide pandemic. Like Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, this novel takes a more introspective approach to the aftereffects of a worldwide epidemic, but I found Mandel’s book more skillfully and lyrically told and much more compelling than A Beginning at the End, which felt rather plodding at times. The pacing and excitement picks up toward the end, but I didn’t find Chen’s characters quite interesting enough to justify all the time spent on their personal struggles, as opposed to exploring more deeply the broader, more intriguing changes in this post-apocalyptic society.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC!
A Beginning at the End is set in a near-future world where, in 2019, a deadly worldwide pandemic kills some five billion people, including seventy percent of the U.S. population. Johanna Moira Hatfield, a teenage pop music star known as Mojo, tired of being browbeaten by her stage father, Evan, uses the sudden panic at her Madison Square Garden concert to disappear into the crowd in search of a new life.
Six years later, in San Francisco in 2025, MoJo has a new name, Moira Gorman, a job, and a fiancé who she’s not really in love with, but he represents stability in a society that’s still fragile and unstable, as well as safety from her father, who’s still looking for his MoJo. Moira’s wedding planner, Krista Deal, has a somewhat similar backstory: Krista faked her own death years ago to escape her drug-addicted, dysfunctional mother. Wedding planning isn’t paying the bills, though, so when Krista hears that Evan Hatfield believes MoJo is in the San Francisco area and is offering a huge reward to anyone who can help him find her, she’s naturally interested … not realizing that her client Moira is MoJo.
Moira’s co-worker Rob Deal has his own set of tragic family issues: he lost his beloved wife to an accident during the pandemic years ago, but has never been able to bring himself to tell his seven-year-old daughter Sunny the truth about her mother’s death. Rob tells Sunny that her mother has been in medical treatment all these years, and while Sunny believes him, she’s beginning to act out. Her misbehavior at school threatens to lead to her being taken away from him by the powerful Family Stability Board. Rob’s a loner with no real friends, but perhaps his new acquaintance Krista Deal can testify to the Board as to his adequacy as a father (especially if he pays her a little money under the table)?
A Beginning at the End was published in early 2020, so it anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic (like another duology I recently read, Tosca Lee’s The Line Between and A Single Light). Here’s it’s not the actual disaster that Mike Chen is primarily focused on, but the aftermath and particularly the lives of this group of characters. What remains of society is being put back together in new ways: some cities are back to some semblance of normality, while others live in the lawless outskirts of society. People in general are still traumatized by the deaths of so many, including their friends and family, and the flu-like MGS virus remains a threat, with outbreaks of new variants.
Moira, Krista and Rob are emblematic of this sense of loss and distress. All three, not to mention Rob’s daughter Sunny, have serious issues to work through — though interestingly enough, their personal problems are only indirectly tied to the actual MGS pandemic. These characters are flawed but likeable, and the novel’s ultimately uplifting plot gives a timely nod to the benefits of found family (often over a problematic bio family).
A Beginning at the End is a quieter type of post-apocalyptic tale, more about interpersonal relationships and individual healing than about the larger changes caused by the worldwide pandemic. Like Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, this novel takes a more introspective approach to the aftereffects of a worldwide epidemic, but I found Mandel’s book more skillfully and lyrically told and much more compelling than A Beginning at the End, which felt rather plodding at times. The pacing and excitement picks up toward the end, but I didn’t find Chen’s characters quite interesting enough to justify all the time spent on their personal struggles, as opposed to exploring more deeply the broader, more intriguing changes in this post-apocalyptic society.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC!
September 20, 2023
Six years after a flu epidemic wiped out 70% of the world’s population (wow, timely!) people are living behind breathing masks, marriage is now about safety not love, and a pop star’s father is obsessively trying to find her (you read that one right.) This was my second Mike Chen book and an interesting departure from the first one. I found myself most captivated by the psychological toll the flu epidemic would have taken on society, and this book focuses in on a small cast of characters as a father tries to keep custody of his daughter despite years of lies, a woman struggles for meaning in her life, and Moira, formerly Mojo, fights to find her true self. Recommended if you’re in the mood for a sci-fi read.
March 29, 2020
A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen is a post apocalyptic science fiction fantasy. This story follows a few of the survivors left in the world after a plague wiped out several billion people in the world by changing the point of view between them.
When the world was first battling a virus that was quickly spreading throughout the world and taking many people Moira was a young teen pop star that had spent her life controlled by her father. One night as she’s performing the crowd becomes chaotic as the news has hit the virus had come to their town so Moira took the opportunity to slip into the chaos and run from her father and stardom.
As the years pass a huge portion of the world’s population is overtaken by the virus leaving only a billion or so alive. Among the survivors is Rob who is now a single father to his daughter Sunny and Krista who is an event planner who just happens to be planning the wedding of the once former popstar Moira who now has a new identity. These four survivors find their paths crossing in the new world as they all try to navigate and survive.
Now, the one thing that makes this post apocalyptic read stand out to me the most was the fact that we don’t have a wasteland of a world left but what seemed like normally functioning cities with cell phones, restaurants, air travel, and on and on. However, while I enjoyed watching the characters in their “new” normal and how they came together I did think that things going on in the world building would often contradict things we were told if you sit back and think too hard about the setting. For example cities are fully functioning but where does the food and other goods come from? When farming is mentioned it seems like a hippie commune supporting itself, not the masses. So basically in the end while I found the story enjoyable to an extent I also questioned it leaving me to rate it at 3.5 stars.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
When the world was first battling a virus that was quickly spreading throughout the world and taking many people Moira was a young teen pop star that had spent her life controlled by her father. One night as she’s performing the crowd becomes chaotic as the news has hit the virus had come to their town so Moira took the opportunity to slip into the chaos and run from her father and stardom.
As the years pass a huge portion of the world’s population is overtaken by the virus leaving only a billion or so alive. Among the survivors is Rob who is now a single father to his daughter Sunny and Krista who is an event planner who just happens to be planning the wedding of the once former popstar Moira who now has a new identity. These four survivors find their paths crossing in the new world as they all try to navigate and survive.
Now, the one thing that makes this post apocalyptic read stand out to me the most was the fact that we don’t have a wasteland of a world left but what seemed like normally functioning cities with cell phones, restaurants, air travel, and on and on. However, while I enjoyed watching the characters in their “new” normal and how they came together I did think that things going on in the world building would often contradict things we were told if you sit back and think too hard about the setting. For example cities are fully functioning but where does the food and other goods come from? When farming is mentioned it seems like a hippie commune supporting itself, not the masses. So basically in the end while I found the story enjoyable to an extent I also questioned it leaving me to rate it at 3.5 stars.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
January 15, 2020
Update: This book is out now!!
I received an ARC from the author.
This book was such a treat. It was simultaneously charming, endearing, heart-warming AND horrifying, heart-breaking, and suspenseful. The apocalypse has come and maybe not completely gone, but everyone left has to keep on living. It's a great character study in perseverance and love, especially in how vulnerable we must be to connect with others. I read it so fast; I forced myself to pace it and only read one "part" a day, but I could have easily binge read it in one sitting. The pacing is really great throughout. The characters are believable and traumatized in their own ways. I love how everyone went through the same apocalypse, but of course each character processes it and internalizes it in different ways. I highly recommend this book. Snatch a copy when it releases Jan 14, 2020!
I received an ARC from the author.
This book was such a treat. It was simultaneously charming, endearing, heart-warming AND horrifying, heart-breaking, and suspenseful. The apocalypse has come and maybe not completely gone, but everyone left has to keep on living. It's a great character study in perseverance and love, especially in how vulnerable we must be to connect with others. I read it so fast; I forced myself to pace it and only read one "part" a day, but I could have easily binge read it in one sitting. The pacing is really great throughout. The characters are believable and traumatized in their own ways. I love how everyone went through the same apocalypse, but of course each character processes it and internalizes it in different ways. I highly recommend this book. Snatch a copy when it releases Jan 14, 2020!
January 5, 2020
Longer review to come later.
**review copy sent to me by the publisher but all opinions are my own
**review copy sent to me by the publisher but all opinions are my own
January 15, 2020
This is a story about what happens after the “end of the world”. We follow four characters and their intertwining stories: Moira (or MoJo) an ex pop star trying to escape her past and stay hidden from her father, Rob, a widower figuring out how to move on with life after the tragic passing of his wife, Krista, a woman trying to make something of herself and forget her terrible childhood, and Sunny, Rob’s daughter, a kid growing up in a post apocalyptic world.
The story started fairly strong. I liked all the characters. They seemed fully fleshed out. They were mostly likable. They had their own wants and needs and desires. Their stories and the way they intersected was interesting, even if a little mundane (think wedding planning, parent teacher conferences, etc.).
Here’s the thing. When a book says “post apocalyptic” I’m expecting there to be much less civilization present. The world building didn’t make a lot of sense to me for a post apocalyptic story. Most of the Earth’s population was wiped out by a flu virus (think 1 billion left alive out of 7 billion). Some people have gathered in the cities and are trying to rebuild. They still have internet, cell phone service, and apparently french fries and cheeseburgers. Most people suffer from what they call “PASD” or, “Post Apocalyptic Stress Disorder”. They go to group meetings for support. They hire bounty hunters to find their loved ones.
Some pockets of people reject that way of life and go out to start a new way of life centered around farming. Others apparently remain as bandits and gangs in the deserted lands between the cities. The world just seemed too populated to really be considered “post apocalyptic”. Was the flu a major disaster? Sure. But nothing about the world really felt like it ended. Things in post apocalyptic life in the metro centers seem mostly normal. There is still flight travel and buses and customs checks and such. I guess in the end I just didn’t buy into the world building.
It was really driven home when one random character states the metro(s) of New England are still struggling due to winter storms while Minneapolis was doing alright. Minneapolis gets more snow then much of New England. South of New Hampshire and Vermont (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut) winter is actually pretty mild. Where I’m from, it’s rare that snow lasts more than a week. New England just isn’t that fragile. I realize this is one tiny line in the whole book, and yeah, sometimes southern New England has a brutal winter, but as a whole it felt overwhelmingly under researched.
Another example (warning, spoilers ahead) is when the government decides that Sunny would be better off without her dad because her dad, who holds a job and raises her alone and yeah, is grieving, but otherwise okay, is “unstable”. And in order to rebuild society, family units need to be stable.
You know what will screw up a kid real fast? Being ripped from a loving home. Again, I just don’t buy it. Whatever Rob did was done out of love. He was not abusive. He did not abuse alcohol or drugs. He was providing. Taking a seven year old away from her only family is about the quickest way I can think of to destabilize them. Sure, government workers are sometimes incompetent, but in this book none of it rang true. (Aside from the very obvious, why doesn’t Rob just pack up with Sunny and move?!)
The nature of this story is more sappy sweet than I like, and for it to work there are a lot of conveniences built in. I did read through it fairly quickly, and it could be entertaining if you are willing not to look too closely at it. People will likely compare this to Station Eleven, and those comparisons aren’t entirely inaccurate, but unfortunately, A Beginning at the End is simply not as well done.
Thanks to the publisher who supplied a review copy.
The story started fairly strong. I liked all the characters. They seemed fully fleshed out. They were mostly likable. They had their own wants and needs and desires. Their stories and the way they intersected was interesting, even if a little mundane (think wedding planning, parent teacher conferences, etc.).
Here’s the thing. When a book says “post apocalyptic” I’m expecting there to be much less civilization present. The world building didn’t make a lot of sense to me for a post apocalyptic story. Most of the Earth’s population was wiped out by a flu virus (think 1 billion left alive out of 7 billion). Some people have gathered in the cities and are trying to rebuild. They still have internet, cell phone service, and apparently french fries and cheeseburgers. Most people suffer from what they call “PASD” or, “Post Apocalyptic Stress Disorder”. They go to group meetings for support. They hire bounty hunters to find their loved ones.
Some pockets of people reject that way of life and go out to start a new way of life centered around farming. Others apparently remain as bandits and gangs in the deserted lands between the cities. The world just seemed too populated to really be considered “post apocalyptic”. Was the flu a major disaster? Sure. But nothing about the world really felt like it ended. Things in post apocalyptic life in the metro centers seem mostly normal. There is still flight travel and buses and customs checks and such. I guess in the end I just didn’t buy into the world building.
It was really driven home when one random character states the metro(s) of New England are still struggling due to winter storms while Minneapolis was doing alright. Minneapolis gets more snow then much of New England. South of New Hampshire and Vermont (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut) winter is actually pretty mild. Where I’m from, it’s rare that snow lasts more than a week. New England just isn’t that fragile. I realize this is one tiny line in the whole book, and yeah, sometimes southern New England has a brutal winter, but as a whole it felt overwhelmingly under researched.
Another example (warning, spoilers ahead) is when the government decides that Sunny would be better off without her dad because her dad, who holds a job and raises her alone and yeah, is grieving, but otherwise okay, is “unstable”. And in order to rebuild society, family units need to be stable.
You know what will screw up a kid real fast? Being ripped from a loving home. Again, I just don’t buy it. Whatever Rob did was done out of love. He was not abusive. He did not abuse alcohol or drugs. He was providing. Taking a seven year old away from her only family is about the quickest way I can think of to destabilize them. Sure, government workers are sometimes incompetent, but in this book none of it rang true. (Aside from the very obvious, why doesn’t Rob just pack up with Sunny and move?!)
The nature of this story is more sappy sweet than I like, and for it to work there are a lot of conveniences built in. I did read through it fairly quickly, and it could be entertaining if you are willing not to look too closely at it. People will likely compare this to Station Eleven, and those comparisons aren’t entirely inaccurate, but unfortunately, A Beginning at the End is simply not as well done.
Thanks to the publisher who supplied a review copy.
June 26, 2019
I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this book, and it is AMAZING. Full review to come...
November 24, 2019
This is Chen's brilliant follow-up to his previous wonderful Debut time-travel tale: Here And Now And Then. This gem was devoured in two gulps … unfortunately I had to go to work in between. This amazing yarn highlights the notion than mankind will not be stopped and obliterated by such a "little thing" as post-viral apocalypse that claims over 5 billion souls. A vivid portrait of what truly is most important in life … family, friendship and getting involved in diverse relationships. This novel is delightfully reminiscent of the award winning novel, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.
The collapse of civilization is put on hold … while the survivors adjust and persevere in the face of overwhelming adversity and impending doom of further outbreaks. Chen weaves a powerful and moving narrative that ties together a complex nucleus of fleshed out characters … Moira, Krista, Rob and his daughter (with the specter of his dead wife, Elena) Each of the characters are flawed and imperfect … carrying secrets and baggage that guides their motivations and actions. The story is beautiful and moving and attests to the strength of love, friendship and humanity. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin-Mira Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review. (readersremains.com)
The collapse of civilization is put on hold … while the survivors adjust and persevere in the face of overwhelming adversity and impending doom of further outbreaks. Chen weaves a powerful and moving narrative that ties together a complex nucleus of fleshed out characters … Moira, Krista, Rob and his daughter (with the specter of his dead wife, Elena) Each of the characters are flawed and imperfect … carrying secrets and baggage that guides their motivations and actions. The story is beautiful and moving and attests to the strength of love, friendship and humanity. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin-Mira Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review. (readersremains.com)
November 22, 2019
I adored this book. A BEGINNING AT THE END is very different from any other Post-Apocalyptic novel that I've read in recent years. There are no life or death struggles, no toppling of governments. Rather, the action is intimate and personal. It's the kind of science fiction that gives you hope for the future.
The story is told through the POVs of four very different characters, all fighting through their personal traumas to create new lives in the aftermath of a flu pandemic. Though each has their own individual story, the unifying thread is a grieving widower's struggle to retain custody of his young daughter in a new society that favors stability over everything else.
This book isn't for everyone. If you're looking for Mad Max or the Hunger Games, this isn't going to satisfy. This book is an emotional journey wrapped in the apocalypse, focusing on the small things that give big things meaning.
A BEGINNING AT THE END is the kind of quiet book that seeps into your bones while you're reading it. While it's technically sci-fi, the characters are the heart of this story, and the setting isn't nearly as important as their transformations. Above all, this is a book about love and family connections, both the ones that harm us and the ones that make us stronger.
(I received an ARC of this book from the author as a prize in a giveaway with no expectation of reviews, etc.)
The story is told through the POVs of four very different characters, all fighting through their personal traumas to create new lives in the aftermath of a flu pandemic. Though each has their own individual story, the unifying thread is a grieving widower's struggle to retain custody of his young daughter in a new society that favors stability over everything else.
This book isn't for everyone. If you're looking for Mad Max or the Hunger Games, this isn't going to satisfy. This book is an emotional journey wrapped in the apocalypse, focusing on the small things that give big things meaning.
A BEGINNING AT THE END is the kind of quiet book that seeps into your bones while you're reading it. While it's technically sci-fi, the characters are the heart of this story, and the setting isn't nearly as important as their transformations. Above all, this is a book about love and family connections, both the ones that harm us and the ones that make us stronger.
(I received an ARC of this book from the author as a prize in a giveaway with no expectation of reviews, etc.)
October 10, 2020
3.5 stars but close to 4 for the hopeful feeling that drives this story.
I really like rebuilding stories generally, and while this one wasn't my favourite, I did enjoy it. I liked all three of the main characters, and the way their stories intertwined seemed natural and realistic. The story of the characters' growth was also enough for me, and I didn't think it needed anything more dramatic than Sunny's escapade to keep it moving.
I did find the writing just a bit rough at times. There were certain points where I think Chen was aiming for lyrical and fell into slightly contrived instead. I see from the acknowledgements that this was originally written in 2011, with major reworking since then. I haven't read his other novel, but I think he is for the most part a good writer, and experience should make him even better.
It's hard to say how realistic Chen's portrayal of the post-pandemic world is. I felt like the focus was so much on the characters that I didn't get a good sense of what it was all like. I will say that the whole idea of the quarantine lockdown facilities was pretty horrifying, and so the idea that the mental health of the population as a whole has been severely impacted and the focus on that by public authorities seems warranted.
Despite lingering questions about the state of the world in this book, I was content as a reader to focus on the characters, and their stories were quite compelling for me.
I really like rebuilding stories generally, and while this one wasn't my favourite, I did enjoy it. I liked all three of the main characters, and the way their stories intertwined seemed natural and realistic. The story of the characters' growth was also enough for me, and I didn't think it needed anything more dramatic than Sunny's escapade to keep it moving.
I did find the writing just a bit rough at times. There were certain points where I think Chen was aiming for lyrical and fell into slightly contrived instead. I see from the acknowledgements that this was originally written in 2011, with major reworking since then. I haven't read his other novel, but I think he is for the most part a good writer, and experience should make him even better.
It's hard to say how realistic Chen's portrayal of the post-pandemic world is. I felt like the focus was so much on the characters that I didn't get a good sense of what it was all like. I will say that the whole idea of the quarantine lockdown facilities was pretty horrifying, and so the idea that the mental health of the population as a whole has been severely impacted and the focus on that by public authorities seems warranted.
Despite lingering questions about the state of the world in this book, I was content as a reader to focus on the characters, and their stories were quite compelling for me.
August 7, 2019
As in his debut novel, Here and Now and Then, Mike Chen brings a refreshing new emotionalism to science fiction with his latest work, A Beginning at the End. This is a refreshing take on post-apocalyptic sci-fi. A flu pandemic devastates the world population—and takes with it the world economy and infrastructure—bringing an end to the world as we know it. As a physician, I found that aspect both realistic and terrifying. Chen does a great job in his near-future world-building, showing the after-effects of such a pandemic. He weaves together the lives of Rob (who lost his wife not to the flu but to the mob-mentality afterward); Krista (a survivor of childhood physical and emotional abuse from her alcoholic mother); Moira, a former child musical prodigy and pop star running from an abusive father; and Sunny (Rob’s daughter who, despite the new world order, is a refreshingly outspoken and slightly precocious child). These characters read as real—flawed, but surviving. They search for normality in an abnormal world, living with the accumulated trauma of this post-apocalyptic world while staring at a new pandemic. They grapple with questions of identity, the new vs the old morality, how to become a family related, if not by blood, then by choice. Like Here and Now and Then, A Beginning at the End is a kinder, gentler look at post-apocalyptic science fiction and well worth the read.
September 6, 2019
First I would like to say that I LOVED Here Now And Then and was SUPER excited to be approved for this Arc from Edelweiss. Thank you!
This is not another time travel book. This is an end of the world disease where the end is on pause. There is mad max stuff happening and government controlled "regular life" where the rules are almost Handmaid's Tale. You get three people to read about with pretty cool backgrounds, popstar, alcoholic parent, and dead wife. This is a very unique end of the world book and I know that Mike Chen fans are going to love it.
This is not another time travel book. This is an end of the world disease where the end is on pause. There is mad max stuff happening and government controlled "regular life" where the rules are almost Handmaid's Tale. You get three people to read about with pretty cool backgrounds, popstar, alcoholic parent, and dead wife. This is a very unique end of the world book and I know that Mike Chen fans are going to love it.
January 26, 2022
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: First, read this:
You're fully in the thick of this book's ethos with those two quotes.
Post-apocalyptic Britney Spears story, full of the expected drama, and all the better for it. The book was published very early in COVID times, so it really felt too on-the-nose for me to get much distance to do more than gibber incoherently at it. Author Chen's first novel, see below for Here and Now and Then's review, was a very good, if simplistic, rendering of an extremely complex story. In this sophomore effort, he's definitely learned from the crafting of a novel for sale to the public and applied those lessons. In the manner of telling, in the effort to craft sentences, every way this book shows the growth of an artist who listens and learns.
Many are the comparisons made between this book and the superficially similar Station Eleven...post-pandemic societies with survivors doing what people always do, muddling through as best they can to get their livings, as much like they always have as possible. This story's focus isn't on a complete collapse, as Station Eleven focuses on; instead it's more like this present moment, issues and hitches and ongoing crunches; then all Hell breaks loose.
That is where Author Chen shines in his craftsmanship. All the stuff you've read until now, thinking "hmmm is this actually worth going a-dystopianing?" snaps into focus. Author Chen does not stint. Because it's not the World that's ending again; it's the world of each character's own making.
In other words, Life Goes On.
That's the post-apocalyptic novel I want to read, and the one I got here. The one where we're talking about "Post Apocalyptic Stress Disorder" or PASD. I absolutely devoured it because each story, the Britney Spears one and the fatherhood-in-dystopia one, kept me fanning pages as fast as I could.
Author Chen is, it is clear, a father, and that makes his storytelling from a father's perspective. That is very much what I want to read. And, I hope, to read his work when he becomes a grandfather...though it's not likely I'll live that long...because it's a refreshing change to find a man telling the emotional story of his parenthood against this backdrop.
My Review: First, read this:
“See, relations are people with the same blood. But family, that's different. Family is about who gives you hope, who gets involved. And earns the right for forgiveness. Or at least starts down the path.”
–and–
As a community, we still emphasized the importance of familial ties but finally understood that the definition of family wasn't about blood or even who or what you'd lost. It was about what gave you hope and who was willing to get involved.
You're fully in the thick of this book's ethos with those two quotes.
Post-apocalyptic Britney Spears story, full of the expected drama, and all the better for it. The book was published very early in COVID times, so it really felt too on-the-nose for me to get much distance to do more than gibber incoherently at it. Author Chen's first novel, see below for Here and Now and Then's review, was a very good, if simplistic, rendering of an extremely complex story. In this sophomore effort, he's definitely learned from the crafting of a novel for sale to the public and applied those lessons. In the manner of telling, in the effort to craft sentences, every way this book shows the growth of an artist who listens and learns.
Many are the comparisons made between this book and the superficially similar Station Eleven...post-pandemic societies with survivors doing what people always do, muddling through as best they can to get their livings, as much like they always have as possible. This story's focus isn't on a complete collapse, as Station Eleven focuses on; instead it's more like this present moment, issues and hitches and ongoing crunches; then all Hell breaks loose.
That is where Author Chen shines in his craftsmanship. All the stuff you've read until now, thinking "hmmm is this actually worth going a-dystopianing?" snaps into focus. Author Chen does not stint. Because it's not the World that's ending again; it's the world of each character's own making.
In other words, Life Goes On.
That's the post-apocalyptic novel I want to read, and the one I got here. The one where we're talking about "Post Apocalyptic Stress Disorder" or PASD. I absolutely devoured it because each story, the Britney Spears one and the fatherhood-in-dystopia one, kept me fanning pages as fast as I could.
Author Chen is, it is clear, a father, and that makes his storytelling from a father's perspective. That is very much what I want to read. And, I hope, to read his work when he becomes a grandfather...though it's not likely I'll live that long...because it's a refreshing change to find a man telling the emotional story of his parenthood against this backdrop.
December 20, 2020
3.5 stars, and I can't decide if I should round up or down.
What I appreciate a lot with Mike Chen is his take on utterly realistic characters who are trying to do the right thing and acting quite stupidly along the way, so that the reader wants to reach out and give them a good shake. But that is always because the reader has the necessary distance and more knowledge. Here again I was delighted by the group of characters Chen has created:
A father who wants to prevent his daughter from suffering and thus entangling himself in a lie that gets thicker and thicker and in the long run threatens the wellbeing of the child. He wants to make it right, but can't find the correct moment for it.
A woman who is full of reservations and anger against those who (actually or imagined) want to run her life, so that she stopped trusting anybody and put on an armour of snarkyness.
Another woman who was forced by her father into an unmerciful career as pop singer and who used the pandemic outbreak to run away from everything, trying to create a new life for herself, always fearing to be found out.
Those three are bound together via their connection to the girl Sunny who believes that her mother is being treated for the last 7 years, cause her father didn't have the courage to tell her that she actually died back then.
The interaction and the relationships are great and I dearly love reading Chen's characters.
I also like the fact that Chen draws a post pandemic society that has been affected by the high death rate of the pandemic, yet not in the usual post-apocalyptic Mad-Max way. Government and people try to get back to the normality they knew before. It reads more realistically for me this way.
On the other hand, the plot is a bit lukewarm (a board that wants to take children away from their parents for rather superficial reasons sounds unrealistic) and in parts too sugar coated for my taste. I mean, it is nice to have a pandemic dystopian novel that goes for a positive vibe, but I would have needed some more gravitas in several scenes.
What I appreciate a lot with Mike Chen is his take on utterly realistic characters who are trying to do the right thing and acting quite stupidly along the way, so that the reader wants to reach out and give them a good shake. But that is always because the reader has the necessary distance and more knowledge. Here again I was delighted by the group of characters Chen has created:
A father who wants to prevent his daughter from suffering and thus entangling himself in a lie that gets thicker and thicker and in the long run threatens the wellbeing of the child. He wants to make it right, but can't find the correct moment for it.
A woman who is full of reservations and anger against those who (actually or imagined) want to run her life, so that she stopped trusting anybody and put on an armour of snarkyness.
Another woman who was forced by her father into an unmerciful career as pop singer and who used the pandemic outbreak to run away from everything, trying to create a new life for herself, always fearing to be found out.
Those three are bound together via their connection to the girl Sunny who believes that her mother is being treated for the last 7 years, cause her father didn't have the courage to tell her that she actually died back then.
The interaction and the relationships are great and I dearly love reading Chen's characters.
I also like the fact that Chen draws a post pandemic society that has been affected by the high death rate of the pandemic, yet not in the usual post-apocalyptic Mad-Max way. Government and people try to get back to the normality they knew before. It reads more realistically for me this way.
On the other hand, the plot is a bit lukewarm (a board that wants to take children away from their parents for rather superficial reasons sounds unrealistic) and in parts too sugar coated for my taste. I mean, it is nice to have a pandemic dystopian novel that goes for a positive vibe, but I would have needed some more gravitas in several scenes.
August 13, 2020
***Note: I received a copy curtesy of Netgalley and HARLEQUIN - MIRA in exchange for an honest review.
This is, at least in theory, a dystopia set in San Francisco, after a flu epidemic has wiped out about two thirds of the population. However, it's a big stretch to call it a post-apocalyptic novel, as its real focus are individual stories of a runaway pop-star, a father and his daughter and a wedding planner.
I found it odd that, even if most of the population was wiped out by this plague, somehow the society seems to continue functioning quite normal: there's still internet, cell phone service, flight travel, restaurants, etc
I think this would appeal to people who don't care about the dystopian/post-apocalyptic side of it or those who are willing not to look too closely at it.
This is, at least in theory, a dystopia set in San Francisco, after a flu epidemic has wiped out about two thirds of the population. However, it's a big stretch to call it a post-apocalyptic novel, as its real focus are individual stories of a runaway pop-star, a father and his daughter and a wedding planner.
I found it odd that, even if most of the population was wiped out by this plague, somehow the society seems to continue functioning quite normal: there's still internet, cell phone service, flight travel, restaurants, etc
I think this would appeal to people who don't care about the dystopian/post-apocalyptic side of it or those who are willing not to look too closely at it.
September 25, 2019
Absolutely top shelf. One of the best books of this genre that I've ever read, up there with Earth Abides by George R Stewart. My only complaint was the length. I wanted more. It would have been interesting to get more of Moira's backstory, and that's all I can say without spoilers. This book is a great read. Although it won't be released until 2020, it's one of my favorite pieces of fiction read in 2019. Looking forward to his other book.
September 5, 2019
Loved this book! A spectacular follow up to Mike Chen's Here And Now And Then. I loved the concept from the moment I heard it, and the author didn't disappoint. The characters are fantastic and the tension keeps you turning pages long after you told yourself you were going to stop. Definitely recommend (and if you haven't already, seek out Here And Now And Then).
January 3, 2020
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
More like a 4.5
A Beginning at the End gives us the opportunity to shed who we were in the midst of the flames. When we are faced with our own mortality, scared of the end, who will we be? What pieces of our lives become most important to us? A Beginning at the End maintains this balance between a post-apocalyptic setting with a quest for hope and family. Sure the world is plagued with this pandemic, but our lives go on. We pick up the ashes of the ruins and we have to figure out how we will continue living.
Told through four perspectives, A Beginning at the End tackles issues of stability, idealism, and hope. Faced with the demise of the human population, how does the government and our system of law and order morph? Stability becomes important not only for our own sense of self-preservation, but for the continuation of our species. It means that our decisions about love and families become political.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...
More like a 4.5
A Beginning at the End gives us the opportunity to shed who we were in the midst of the flames. When we are faced with our own mortality, scared of the end, who will we be? What pieces of our lives become most important to us? A Beginning at the End maintains this balance between a post-apocalyptic setting with a quest for hope and family. Sure the world is plagued with this pandemic, but our lives go on. We pick up the ashes of the ruins and we have to figure out how we will continue living.
Told through four perspectives, A Beginning at the End tackles issues of stability, idealism, and hope. Faced with the demise of the human population, how does the government and our system of law and order morph? Stability becomes important not only for our own sense of self-preservation, but for the continuation of our species. It means that our decisions about love and families become political.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...
January 21, 2020
A Beginning at the End is a post-apocalyptic novel primarily set in San Francisco in 2025, approximately six years after about five billion people died in a worldwide pandemic. It's a story of found family that follows three characters: Rob, a widowed single father who fears the Family Stability Board may take away his daughter; Moira, a former teenage pop star who ran from that life and the father who forced her to live it the first chance she got; and Krista, a wedding/event planner who firmly believes in getting over things and moving forward. There are also occasional brief chapters focusing on Sunny, Rob's seven-year-old daughter.
Though I was mildly curious about where it was going at first, I probably would have ended up leaving it unfinished if it wasn't a fairly short, quick read. I found it to be too plainly written with too little world and character depth for my personal taste, but it may appeal more to those looking for an effortlessly readable, hopeful book revolving around found family.
Full Review on My Website
Though I was mildly curious about where it was going at first, I probably would have ended up leaving it unfinished if it wasn't a fairly short, quick read. I found it to be too plainly written with too little world and character depth for my personal taste, but it may appeal more to those looking for an effortlessly readable, hopeful book revolving around found family.
Full Review on My Website
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October 16, 2020DNF @45%. It might be because I am in a reading slump/burnout/whatever but this one failed to keep my attention. Interesting set up for a world recovering from a pandemic that killed more than five billion people, but I guess I need more exciting plot and characters for me to continue. I just could not handle more 250 pages/6 hours listening. At least I tried.
PS: My second DNF this month. Gosh I hope my other current read is much better.
PS: My second DNF this month. Gosh I hope my other current read is much better.
February 29, 2020
This book surprised me a bit, at first I thought it would be a books about a dystopian word but what I got was a book about surviving a pandemic (very scary given the current times) and how the survivors still find ways to connect to each other , it is a book of hope among misery and how human relationships are the most important thing when the world falls apart.
September 16, 2019
I will read everything Mike Chen writes
February 1, 2020
I put this book on my TBR because I saw a bridge. For a challenge reader, this was important. I didn’t actually mean to read it, because I tried to read Mike Chen’s previous book and couldn’t even make it to page 50. But then there’s the coronavirus, and this book piqued my interest. I should really have reread Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven because that’s my definitive post pandemic book. But here I am.
Within minutes I was calling bullshit because I’m sitting here in the US, where there are currently 5 coronavirus victims in isolation and not a single surgical mask to be had in the entire country’s stores. Those are the first things for people to profit out of, and no one would hand them out like candy. The entire infrastructure of this book is off: there is exactly one power outage, and it’s in service of the plot. Things either work or they don’t, all when the plot requires them to.
I got through to the end of it, with only tiny bits of skimming here and there. I’ll give it that much. But it’s not very good. There are three people and one child. The dad said something to the child when she was tiny and he continues to maintain that facade and it has caused her to act out. The government is terrible and wants to take her away for reasons and he basically has to pretend that he has a social life. So he pays one person to be his friend and the other one sort of happens along. This is boring even as I write the short synopsis.
Its only stakes are a child who runs away because the plot needs her to. But again it’s boring because she goes exactly where she is supposed to, some nice people help her get there, and her adults meet her in maybe 2 extra hours even though they take some detours and get carrots for the road (I’m not making this up). They don’t get exposed to the mutated version of the virus even though they’re in a cordoned off hospital and this is a super dangerous horrible virus, and everyone goes home happy. The end.
Well. I really should have read Station Eleven.
Within minutes I was calling bullshit because I’m sitting here in the US, where there are currently 5 coronavirus victims in isolation and not a single surgical mask to be had in the entire country’s stores. Those are the first things for people to profit out of, and no one would hand them out like candy. The entire infrastructure of this book is off: there is exactly one power outage, and it’s in service of the plot. Things either work or they don’t, all when the plot requires them to.
I got through to the end of it, with only tiny bits of skimming here and there. I’ll give it that much. But it’s not very good. There are three people and one child. The dad said something to the child when she was tiny and he continues to maintain that facade and it has caused her to act out. The government is terrible and wants to take her away for reasons and he basically has to pretend that he has a social life. So he pays one person to be his friend and the other one sort of happens along. This is boring even as I write the short synopsis.
Its only stakes are a child who runs away because the plot needs her to. But again it’s boring because she goes exactly where she is supposed to, some nice people help her get there, and her adults meet her in maybe 2 extra hours even though they take some detours and get carrots for the road (I’m not making this up). They don’t get exposed to the mutated version of the virus even though they’re in a cordoned off hospital and this is a super dangerous horrible virus, and everyone goes home happy. The end.
Well. I really should have read Station Eleven.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2020
The publish date on this is January 2020 and the book is about the aftermath of a pandemic, which makes it a fascinating read in 2020 given what came just a month or so later.
Moira is a former teen pop idol who used the chaos of the pandemic to disappear. Rob is tying to navigate single fatherhood of his daughter Sunny after losing Sunny's mother in the pandemic. And Krista is just doing whatever she can do to survive. The four are navigating the post-disaster world with mixed amounts of success. Rob's grief-based house of cards starts tumbling down and Moira's abusive father draws close to finding her, all at the same time a new outbreak begins.
In general I though this book was ok. Like the author's previous book Here and Now and Then, it's about navigating the interpersonal dramas between a small group of characters while a big science fiction idea plays out in the background. I think how much you enjoy it is going to be based largely on your tolerance for these characters, particularly with Rob's inability to tell his daughter the harsh truth and with how (justifiably) abrasive Krista can be.
But the really fascinating stuff is just how wrong the predictions around the pandemic response are here. For instance, this book posits an incredibly strong governmental response that leaves the US as a weird cross between an anarchy outside cities and an authoritarian socialism within them. Everything about that is backwards from the lived experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. Arguably the most tepid response by a government in the English-speaking world, along with chaos in the cities and relatively unscathed rural communities.
It's also telling that the ideas of science-denialism around the real-world pandemic were far too bizarre to imagine for this SF novel. I can't take the author to task for that ... I don't find the real life attitude believable either.
Moira is a former teen pop idol who used the chaos of the pandemic to disappear. Rob is tying to navigate single fatherhood of his daughter Sunny after losing Sunny's mother in the pandemic. And Krista is just doing whatever she can do to survive. The four are navigating the post-disaster world with mixed amounts of success. Rob's grief-based house of cards starts tumbling down and Moira's abusive father draws close to finding her, all at the same time a new outbreak begins.
In general I though this book was ok. Like the author's previous book Here and Now and Then, it's about navigating the interpersonal dramas between a small group of characters while a big science fiction idea plays out in the background. I think how much you enjoy it is going to be based largely on your tolerance for these characters, particularly with Rob's inability to tell his daughter the harsh truth and with how (justifiably) abrasive Krista can be.
But the really fascinating stuff is just how wrong the predictions around the pandemic response are here. For instance, this book posits an incredibly strong governmental response that leaves the US as a weird cross between an anarchy outside cities and an authoritarian socialism within them. Everything about that is backwards from the lived experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. Arguably the most tepid response by a government in the English-speaking world, along with chaos in the cities and relatively unscathed rural communities.
It's also telling that the ideas of science-denialism around the real-world pandemic were far too bizarre to imagine for this SF novel. I can't take the author to task for that ... I don't find the real life attitude believable either.
February 9, 2020
I read ALOT of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic books. A Beginning at the End was probably one of the most realistic books I’ve read in this genre. I loved everything about it. Ok, maybe not the bits about the virus killing off 70% of the people. But, definitely about how the vast majority of the survivors pick themselves up and actually rebuild their world.
Is this new world like it used to be? Not quite. But close. Cell phones still work. There’s still internet. And TV. Technology doesn’t revert back to the Middle Ages. People actually move on with their lives. Yes, there’s grief and loss and support groups. But there is life, and love.
This is the world I’ve always pictured if there is ever an apocalypse.
In Mike Chen’s story, the world is recovering from an epic flu that happened six years before. Moira, Rob and his young daughter Sunny, and Krista, are all strangers who come together. The story is told from their alternating POVs. Each and every one of the protagonists were extremely likable and interesting.
I was actually hooked in the prologue when it started out with a pop star teenager running away from her life and disappearing into the apocalypse. It was actually an interesting look at the probable life of a burnt out teen with a parent who pushes his kid into stardom. I knew right then that this book would be unique from others of this genre.
I’m new to Mike Chen’s books, and I’m happy to say that I’ll be looking for more from him.
Is this new world like it used to be? Not quite. But close. Cell phones still work. There’s still internet. And TV. Technology doesn’t revert back to the Middle Ages. People actually move on with their lives. Yes, there’s grief and loss and support groups. But there is life, and love.
This is the world I’ve always pictured if there is ever an apocalypse.
In Mike Chen’s story, the world is recovering from an epic flu that happened six years before. Moira, Rob and his young daughter Sunny, and Krista, are all strangers who come together. The story is told from their alternating POVs. Each and every one of the protagonists were extremely likable and interesting.
I was actually hooked in the prologue when it started out with a pop star teenager running away from her life and disappearing into the apocalypse. It was actually an interesting look at the probable life of a burnt out teen with a parent who pushes his kid into stardom. I knew right then that this book would be unique from others of this genre.
I’m new to Mike Chen’s books, and I’m happy to say that I’ll be looking for more from him.
February 5, 2020
4.5 To my surprise, this was even better than I expected! Although I don’t read near enough in these genres my goal is to change that this year. This book is a different spin on other sci-fi/post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read in the past.
Mike Chen’s character-driven story centers around the chance meetings of four engaging main characters after a deadly flu has wiped out much of the earths population; there’s Rob who’s struggling after his wife’s death to care for his very precocious 7 year old daughter Sunny, pop-singer MoJo - now Moira who’s in hiding from her domineering father, & event-planner Krista who’s indifferent to everyone with the exception of her cat. Never knowing what tomorrow will bring, can these strangers become friends in order to survive, and if so, how much are they willing to sacrifice for one another.
Chen touches on the background stories of each character “before the end,” and from there weaves their personal growth - - forming their identity, morality and strengths into the rebuilt new society they now live in. With an endearing cast of characters you’ll want to root for, it’s a fantastic story I found relatable due to their daily personal struggles and allowing themselves to trust in others. Even if this isn’t one of your favorite genres, I highly recommend it.
Mike Chen’s character-driven story centers around the chance meetings of four engaging main characters after a deadly flu has wiped out much of the earths population; there’s Rob who’s struggling after his wife’s death to care for his very precocious 7 year old daughter Sunny, pop-singer MoJo - now Moira who’s in hiding from her domineering father, & event-planner Krista who’s indifferent to everyone with the exception of her cat. Never knowing what tomorrow will bring, can these strangers become friends in order to survive, and if so, how much are they willing to sacrifice for one another.
Chen touches on the background stories of each character “before the end,” and from there weaves their personal growth - - forming their identity, morality and strengths into the rebuilt new society they now live in. With an endearing cast of characters you’ll want to root for, it’s a fantastic story I found relatable due to their daily personal struggles and allowing themselves to trust in others. Even if this isn’t one of your favorite genres, I highly recommend it.
November 7, 2020
Well almost 4 stars. The first half was really good but the last half was a little too pat. Still I enjoyed it. And it was eerie to listen to the masked people in their pandemic as our city reversed their order to open.
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