The Great Unknowable End

by Kathryn Ormsbee

“Unlike any book I’ve read.” —David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik
“Breathtakingly imaginative and ambitious; dazzlingly beautiful and profound.” —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award–winning author of The Serpent King
“A coming-of-age novel like no other.” —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces

From the author of Tash Hearts Tolstoy comes a funny, moving novel about the lengths we’ll go to make our dreams come true that’s perfect for fans of Shaun David Hutchinson and Rainbow Rowell.

Slater, Kansas, is a small town where not much seems to happen.

Stella dreams of being a space engineer. After Stella’s mom dies by suicide and her brother runs off to Red Sun, the local hippie commune, Stella is forced to bring her dreams down to earth to care for her sister, Jill.

Galliard has only ever known life inside Red Sun. There, people accept his tics, his Tourette’s. But when he’s denied Red Sun’s resident artist role, which he’d believed he was destined for, he starts to imagine a life beyond the gates of the compound...

The day Stella and Galliard meet, there is something in the air in their small town. Literally. So begin weeks of pink lightning, blood red rain, unexplained storms...And a countdown clock appears mysteriously above the town hall. With time ticking down to some great unknowable end they’ll each have to make a choice.

If this is really the end of the world, who do they want to be when they face it?

• ISBN10: 1534420517
• ISBN13: 9781534420519
• Publish Date: 18 February 2020 (first published 19 February 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

I have really enjoyed everything I have read by Kathryn Ormsbee. And I didn't dislike this one, but it definitely isn't my favorite of hers either. There are definitely some good points, and some that are... less so, so might as well break 'em down!

Things I Liked:

• •The atmosphere and time period were fabulous! The 70s, punctuated by some eerie shenanigans, was quite the trip to read about! I mean, 1977 Kansas probably wasn't the most exciting place to grow up, so an unexplained potential "end of days" has to shake things up. I definitely felt the vibe of both the time period and the ominousness of the events taking place.




• •I enjoyed the mystery aspect, and wanted to know how it would unfold. I mean, what is happening here? And why? And what about everywhere else? Can it be stopped? Will it be stopped? So many questions, right? And I was quite eager to find out the answers, since I really didn't have any idea where things were headed, which is another plus.



• •The character growth was really well done. Stella really needed something to shake up her daily mundanity. She was stuck, let's be honest, and she wasn't going to become unstuck without some serious intervention. Galliard was stuck too, though I suppose in a more literal sense, considering he was in a cult. But they're at a precipice when the book starts, and it's clear that they're going to have to decide what they want out of their lives.



• •Speaking of the characters, I really enjoyed the family dynamics, especially within Stella's family. Her sense of responsibility and duty warring with her own dreams and desires is all too common. I also loved the friendships that were presented during the book, and yes, eventually the romance!

Things That Sent Me Down a Research Hole:

• •There is no such thing as 98.5 AM. Okay look obviously I am not going to factor this into my rating, but it drove me bananas, because 98.5 is an FM frequency. I searched many, many sites to make sure that back in the 70s, frequencies weren't done differently, and my research seems to indicate that this distinction between AM and FM radio has been in practice in the US since the 1930s. If anyone has any different info, please share! Anyway it's mentioned so many times in the book that I just couldn't let it go, so here I am, perseverating on a tiny detail. 🤷‍♀️

Things I Didn't Love:

• •The "talking to dead musicians" is my least favorite trope in the history of books. Ugh I don't even know why I loathe it so fully, I just know that it irks me and I can't help it.



• •I wanted the cult to be... cultier. The cult wasn't actually all terrible? Which is not what I want from my cult! I wanted it to be a little more awful, I guess. Maybe some cults aren't the worst, and this is some kind of... equal opportunity cult representation? I have no idea, but when I hear "cult", I am hoping for dark and twisted, and it really wasn't so much here.



• •I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I'd have liked. I liked the relationships and their struggles and development and such, but I just wanted to feel a little more of an emotional connection with them, and I didn't.



• •The end was a little underwhelming for me. I don't think I necessarily had any particular expectations for how I wanted it to be, but it just felt a little easy, perhaps? Anyway, I don't want to say anything else about that, for obvious reasons.

Bottom Line: Not bad, but not as epic as I'd expected. The friendships, family, and ambiance made it worth it, though.