Vivian Apple at the End of the World (Vivian Apple, #1)

by Katie Coyle

[Angie]

Vivian Apple at the End of the World is a very different kind of Dystopian novel. There's no overly controlling government, no teen-on-teen violence, and it's not set in some far off time in the future. It's just modern day America after a new "prophet" has arisen. Several years ago, a man named Beaton Frick was visited by God, wrote a new bible, and proclaimed that the Rapture was coming. It wasn't until three years ago that people really started following him in the wake of natural disasters, school shootings, terrorism, and disease. Sound like a world you know? Exactly. Well, Vivian Apple doesn't believe, so she's shocked and confused when she returns home the morning after the supposed Rapture to find her parents gone. The news reported 3,000 people missing, but it wasn't really God who took them away right? It's just a hoax. Maybe, maybe not, but Vivian is determined to find the truth.

I thought Vivian Apple at the End of the World was extremely unique and refreshing in that it combined a realistic dystopian-ish society with a contemporary road trip. It was easy to believe in this actually happening, even though I would not classify myself as a Believer. Vivian isn't one either, but she knows something must be happening if so many people just vanished overnight. With the help of her best friend, Harp, and a boy who claims to have connections, Peter, she takes her grandparents' van on a cross-country trip toward answers. Her only clue is a mysterious phone call from San Francisco, so that's their ultimate destination. But on the way, Vivian learns more about her parents, and most of it not good. It's like she didn't even know these people she's been living with for seventeen years. Then again, how many of us actually give a second thought to our parents having lives outside of being our parents?

I seriously could not put Vivian Apple at the End of the World down! The more Vivian, Harp, and Peter learn, the more disturbed and nervous I got. I couldn't even imagine what they'd find once they made it to California. And I was shocked! I did not see that coming at all! What in the wrong is wrong with people?! While Vivian may have made it to her destination, there's still a lot more she needs to do and more answers she seeks. I cannot wait for the next book!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.