Bethany Clift – Steph's Book Blog

About The Book

An unforgettable story about love in all its chaotic glory from the author of Last One At The Party

A book synopsis is fundamentally ridiculous. How can I possibly convey, in only 100 words, the events of the past year and their impact on my perfectly ordered existence?

It is insufficient space to accurately detail how I was blackmailed into demonstrating my flawless algorithm to find a soulmate, despite having no desire for one.

In my former life I avoided trivial human connections. I was alone, accomplished and brilliant.

Unfortunately, that solitary and driven woman no longer exists.

My name is Indiana Dylan and this is the extraordinary account of how I fell in love.

There: 100 words exactly.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I have confession to make, I can’t remember the last time I read a romance novel. But having thoroughly enjoying Bethany Cliff’s debut novel Last One At The Party I knew I had to read this. And I am so glad I did, I loved meeting Indiana, Lina and Jack. And off course the slightly different characters Peggy and Spider.

It’s easy to see that Indiana, Jack and Lina had something missing in their lives, but none of them could see it themselves. Indiana hid behind technology, convinced she would find her soulmate through her invention. Lina was struggling to balance her family life and her career and the real Jack was nothing like the Jack that he was in the office, the smiles and interest in his colleagues personal life were all fake. It made me wonder, how many people were like these three. Struggling and isolated and either not realising it or not knowing a way out.

I had a lot of sympathy for all three main characters. All of them lonely, slightly brittle and all coping differently. Indiana’s methods were a little unusual, her ‘colleague’ Peggy was a friend who not many would have, nor would they have Spider as an employee but these two made me smile a lot. Peggy showed her how to be a friend to others, especially those who needed it. Lina and Jack’s methods felt more real, and I think many will identify with both.

Set in the future, the novel concerned a slightly worrying advancement in technology. Much of this didn’t mean a thing to me but there were times, when reading, that I was wondering what my fitness watch could sense. And whether it was responsible for the many adverts that would appear across social media hours after anything was discussed!

A wonderful second novel by an author who is now one of my favourites. I’m looking forward to what she does next.

About The Book

THE END OF EVERYTHING WAS HER BEGINNING

It’s December 2023 and the world as we know it has ended.

The human race has been wiped out by a virus called 6DM (‘Six Days Maximum’ – the longest you’ve got before your body destroys itself).

But somehow, in London, one woman is still alive. A woman who has spent her whole life compromising what she wants, hiding how she feels and desperately trying to fit in. A woman who is entirely unprepared to face a future on her own.

Now, with only an abandoned golden retriever for company, she must travel through burning cities, avoiding rotting corpses and ravenous rats on a final journey to discover if she really is the last surviving person on earth.

And with no one else to live for, who will she become now that she’s completely alone?

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. A year ago I would never have expected to read a book about a pandemic during a pandemic. I am glad that I put any concerns aside and read this novel, even though at times it did feel a little strange.

It takes place during 2023 and 2024, when the world’s population is wiped out by a pandemic called 6DM. Named so because the maximum days you can expect to survive is six. As you would expect Covid-19 is mentioned but only with regards to social distancing and face masks etc. The unnamed narrator is the only survivor as far as she knows and she is aware that she needs to adapt as quickly as possible to try and find a way to survive.

I don’t really read dystopian fiction, nor do I read chick-lit. There were times I felt this book covered both genres. Especially when she was helping herself to all the designer gear, expensive body lotions and fine foods in Harrods. But this part of the novel didn’t last long, when she had to accept that everybody she cared about was no longer there. It briefly helped her cope with her heartbreaking scenes at having to accept that she has lost everyone she cared about, but she soon realised it wasn’t practical. From then on she became a different person, more likeable and after she found Lucky the dog more focused on her own and his survival.

With flashbacks to her early life, the things that worried her then combined with the many things she had to cope with at the present time, you could really see her character development. I think she coped a lot better than I would do, I would have taken the pill! Everything she had to see, her parents ,her husband, neighbours and friends, the starving animals that were survivors by the only means possible, the thousands of bodies. There were a lot things that I am still thinking about a few days after finishing reading.

This is such a hard hitting but good book to read, and strangely it also made me smile. Especially at the beginning with the constant u- turns and antics concerning government.