Book Review: The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

YA dystopian tale with a twist!

The Last Bookstore on Earth is a new YA dystopian/speculative fiction novel from Lily Braun-Arnold, and it offers a fresh twist on the plethora of end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it tales. While Liz, the main character, has suffered the loss of her family, friends, and the life she knew (like everyone else in the story), she retreats to the only place of safety she knows left standing (the local bookstore where she had an afterschool part-time job). She creates a little beacon of “normal” for others as she continues to open the store daily, offering book recommendations and a place to leave messages. However, as a repeat of The Storm looms on the horizon, the bookstore faces a much more imminent threat. A small group of organized survivors are out for revenge against her new partner, and they’ve tracked their prey to the bookstore’s doorstep.

Liz Flannery is the unusual protagonist of the story. She and her twin, Thea, were only a few weeks away from heading off for their first year of college when The Storm arrived, changing everything. Liz was the only one in her small family to live through it and suffered the burden of survivor’s guilt and more. When circumstances allowed, she fled to the familiar safety of her workplace and the comfort and companionship of another coworker who apparently had the same idea.

Liz, escaping her grief and guilt, is content with the setup and begins to feel a responsibility to maintain the facsimile of normal operations for the occasional survivor who happens upon the open store. Eva, though, chafes to escape the claustrophobia of the routine and her feelings of responsibility for Liz, and she abruptly abandons her. Locals and transients alike express their gratitude and appreciation for the continued existence of the story and their ability to leave messages there for friends and loved ones and trade supplies for what they need, which keeps Liz from ever having to forage through the rubble and death of her New Jersey hometown. Their generous offerings, though, isolate her further and keep her from understanding just how much the world outside the bookstore has changed for the desperate.

The plot just gets established when rumors that another storm is headed their way. Customers leave messages for those coming behind them and urge Liz to evacuate; the store was greatly damaged in the first storm and is unlikely to withstand another. But Liz sees a solution to leaving her safe place in the appearance of Maeve, a drifter about her age, who breaks in one night looking for shelter and salvage and claiming to be able to make the necessary repairs to the building. Maeve, having started her journey in New York City, knows how much life has devolved and has had her run-ins with some of the more organized survivors. She’s tougher and more aggressive than the passive, polite Liz, but they eventually form an attachment and help each other work through the past year of trauma and scramble to prepare for the coming storm.

The author can certainly tell a mesmerizing tale! I read this in one enjoyable evening with no regrets after staying up way past what was prudent in order to reach the finish. The story’s pacing kept me engaged, and I needed to see what happened next. The vivid descriptions of the settings created strong visuals, placing me in the scenes firsthand. Characters are well-developed, and I felt sympathy for even those I didn’t particularly care for or agreed with their actions. I was delighted by the premise, a bookstore all to oneself, but in a Twilight Zone twist, staying open for business as usual as the society around it collapses, creating a little island of “normal” and a haven of familiarity, comfort, and even, safety for those left behind. Liz’s collecting the stories of the survivors willing to share them with her was an absolute bonus.

I recommend THE LAST BOOKSTORE ON EARTH to readers of young adult post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, especially those who enjoy a positive LGBT, however low-key, representation.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.

View all my reviews