Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Reagan Arthur Books (2011), Edition: 1, 268 pages
Description
Thirteen-year old Lizzie Hood thought that she and her best friend Evie Verver shared everything, but when Evie disappears from their suburban Midwestern community, Lizzie's search uncovers secrets and lies that make her wonder if she knew her friend at all.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jmyers24
There's Evie, and there's Lizzie. And there's Lizzie-and-Evie, almost inseparable best friends since before either one can remember, who constantly come and go in each other's houses and who know each other's secrets. Then one day after school, Lizzie looks back and Evie is gone; she does not
The story opens in May as the girls are looking forward to eighth-grade graduation with a whole summer before them. Come fall they will enter high school where Dusty, Evie's stunningly beautiful seventeen-year-old sister, is captain of the field hockey team. Lizzie, whose father left several years ago, spends much of her time at Evie's house across the street where Mr. Verver, Evie's father, serves as the perfect father substitute. Jovial and welcoming, he clearly loves being the center of feminine attention both at home and in public. His daughters mean everything to him and Lizzie, as Evie's closest friend, shares in his attention and affection. So when Evie disappears, Lizzie (as the last person to see Evie that day) becomes the hope he leans on. He wants her to remember anything—anything!—that will help them find Evie. And Lizzie aches to find Evie too, and to help Mr. Verver, who now seems so isolated and lonely. She desperately wants and needs her world restored to its former shape and substance. To that end, she begins her own stumbling investigation with the bits and pieces she can remember: the car the girls saw just before Lizzie left with her mother that day, the cigarette butts in the back yard Evie had shown her several weeks before, a memory of a cigarette lighter in someone's hand years earlier. But there are things she thinks she knows too, things she holds back because she doesn't understand how they fit the picture she holds of herself and Evie, of her own family and the Ververs, and of the cocooning neighborhood in which she's grown up. All of it is a tumble of memories mixed with the strange hormonal rush of puberty. And now she doesn't even have Evie to help her put the pieces together.
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott is a powerful story about friends and siblings, fathers and daughters, men and women, and how they all fit together. It's also a story about memories: how they shape who we are, how we bend them over time to fit us in the here and now, and how they can shatter in a moment of unexpected conversation, ending and reforming the past as we knew it. Although the actions of the two girls sometimes show a maturity and daring beyond the norm for their age, Abbot's writing is so captivating any momentary disbelief in the events as they happen is quickly extinguished by the overall truth of Evie and Lizzie as we come to know them. This is a story that is hard to put down and even harder to forget.
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return home. And everyone assumes the worst—except Lizzie. Lizzie is certain she would know if Evie were no longer alive.The story opens in May as the girls are looking forward to eighth-grade graduation with a whole summer before them. Come fall they will enter high school where Dusty, Evie's stunningly beautiful seventeen-year-old sister, is captain of the field hockey team. Lizzie, whose father left several years ago, spends much of her time at Evie's house across the street where Mr. Verver, Evie's father, serves as the perfect father substitute. Jovial and welcoming, he clearly loves being the center of feminine attention both at home and in public. His daughters mean everything to him and Lizzie, as Evie's closest friend, shares in his attention and affection. So when Evie disappears, Lizzie (as the last person to see Evie that day) becomes the hope he leans on. He wants her to remember anything—anything!—that will help them find Evie. And Lizzie aches to find Evie too, and to help Mr. Verver, who now seems so isolated and lonely. She desperately wants and needs her world restored to its former shape and substance. To that end, she begins her own stumbling investigation with the bits and pieces she can remember: the car the girls saw just before Lizzie left with her mother that day, the cigarette butts in the back yard Evie had shown her several weeks before, a memory of a cigarette lighter in someone's hand years earlier. But there are things she thinks she knows too, things she holds back because she doesn't understand how they fit the picture she holds of herself and Evie, of her own family and the Ververs, and of the cocooning neighborhood in which she's grown up. All of it is a tumble of memories mixed with the strange hormonal rush of puberty. And now she doesn't even have Evie to help her put the pieces together.
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott is a powerful story about friends and siblings, fathers and daughters, men and women, and how they all fit together. It's also a story about memories: how they shape who we are, how we bend them over time to fit us in the here and now, and how they can shatter in a moment of unexpected conversation, ending and reforming the past as we knew it. Although the actions of the two girls sometimes show a maturity and daring beyond the norm for their age, Abbot's writing is so captivating any momentary disbelief in the events as they happen is quickly extinguished by the overall truth of Evie and Lizzie as we come to know them. This is a story that is hard to put down and even harder to forget.
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LibraryThing member sogamonk
Another Megan Abbott disappointment.
Good story, choppy writing. Oh, trying to convey so many feelings and failing.
Could have been a great book. It was not.
Good story, choppy writing. Oh, trying to convey so many feelings and failing.
Could have been a great book. It was not.
LibraryThing member callmejacx
Thirteen year old Lizzie tells her story the way she see it and feels it. Her next door neighboor and best friend, Evie, has disappeared.
Lizzie was the last person to see Evie. Lizzie is desperate to find out what happened. She struggles with her mind. She feels Evie is alive. She would know if
Lizzie's life and the lives of others around her change. Nothing seems to be the same. Life without Evie has it's challenges.
Lizzie never stops thinking of what happened before and on the day of Evie's disappearance. She feels she has found clues, but doesn't understand them right away.
Months later Lizzie realizes that Evie was keeping secrets from her. She had always felt they didn't keep anything from eachother.
Lizzie wonders if life will ever be back to the way it was before Evie disappeared?
The story was narrated by Lizzie. At times her character seemed younger than her 13 years and then there were other times when I thought the words were much more mature than they ought to be. The style of writing is different from what I am use to. It took a while before I got into the momentum of the writing.
All in all, this book was enjoyable, but not page turning exciting. I am not familier with Megan Abbott writting and style. I would be interested in reading another one of her works.
Lizzie was the last person to see Evie. Lizzie is desperate to find out what happened. She struggles with her mind. She feels Evie is alive. She would know if
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she weren't, wouldn't she? Lizzie's life and the lives of others around her change. Nothing seems to be the same. Life without Evie has it's challenges.
Lizzie never stops thinking of what happened before and on the day of Evie's disappearance. She feels she has found clues, but doesn't understand them right away.
Months later Lizzie realizes that Evie was keeping secrets from her. She had always felt they didn't keep anything from eachother.
Lizzie wonders if life will ever be back to the way it was before Evie disappeared?
The story was narrated by Lizzie. At times her character seemed younger than her 13 years and then there were other times when I thought the words were much more mature than they ought to be. The style of writing is different from what I am use to. It took a while before I got into the momentum of the writing.
All in all, this book was enjoyable, but not page turning exciting. I am not familier with Megan Abbott writting and style. I would be interested in reading another one of her works.
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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
Lizzie and Evie have been best friends for forever. They're next door neighbors and have shared everything for as long as Lizzie can remember. Evie's family is perfect, too, from her charismatic father to her queen bee older sister. And then Evie disappears and Lizzie is left to wonder what
Megan Abbott has crafted a tense and finely tuned book about loss and growing up and the way memory can turn on you. Lizzie's determined to get her friend back, to put that golden family next door back together, even as she learns that nothing is perfect.
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happened, while feeling that she should know, that the clues must all be there since she and Evie were closer than sisters and told each other everything.Megan Abbott has crafted a tense and finely tuned book about loss and growing up and the way memory can turn on you. Lizzie's determined to get her friend back, to put that golden family next door back together, even as she learns that nothing is perfect.
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LibraryThing member lindasuebrown
THE END OF EVERYTHING by Megan Abbott
ReaganArthur, 07/2011
Book Review by Linda S. Brown
(7/1/11)
Abbott starts her latest novel, THE END OF EVERYTHING, with the freshness of shiny swimsuits on little bodies turning cartwheels in the summer grass, two best friends for ever and ever.
She finishes with
The opening scene is luminous and evocative of so many summer evenings: shrill kids’ voices as they play hide-n-seek (or, as they call it, “Bloody Murder”), the “sound of Keds slamming on the asphalt,” fireflies glimmering in the late summer grass… Adolescent girls – Lizzie and Evie, best friends from the beginning – with older siblings to study and imitate, parents to adore or ignore, soccer and scrapes, sleepovers and secrets…
Early on, Abbott’s 13-year-old protagonist, Lizzie, lets us know that not all secrets are shared. It’s not that she knows Evie isn’t telling her something. It’s a sense of something Evie isn’t telling her: “When I remember Evie now she is always slipping through shadows. Big, dark, haunted eyes rimmed with red. Running across the soccer field, face flushed, straight black sheet of hair rippling across her back. Running so hard, her breath stippled with pain to go faster, hit the grass harder, move forward faster, like she could break through something in front of her, something no one else saw.”
Abbott creates picture-perfect descriptions, staccato and abbreviated, just enough to glimpse the scene, but not so much as to distract the reader from the breathless confusion, the firefly flicker, the mixed emotions of young teen Lizzie as she and Evie move through a life-changing year. It’s a year in which Evie disappears one afternoon on the way home from school. It’s a year in which everyone looks to Lizzie, the best friend, for answers –because surely her best friend would know where Evie has gone.
It’s also a time in which Lizzie learns just how brutal girls can be. At school, her classmates talk openly – ghoulishly, even giddily -- about manhunts, dragging the lake, suicide; conversations led by one girl in particular, a girl whose father works at the local prosecutor’s office (so everyone believes she has the inside scoop). “It’s a big manhunt now,” she says.” My dad always said it was a sex crime…They’re looking for the body,” she says. “They’re wondering where he might have buried the body.”
But Lizzie knows Evie’s not dead. She knows she’d know if Evie were dead. Lizzie believes Evie may have run off, for adventure or perhaps with her secret love, a special love, an adult kind of love that Lizzie can only imagine. Not a kidnapping, not a murder, but a mystery of a different sort, of a mysterious kind of relationship Lizzie doesn’t yet grasp.
Desperate to console Evie’s father, the once-laughing, once-golden Mr. Verver, Lizzie turns teen cat burglar, looking for clues to the whereabouts of her best friend. And her dark mission would be exciting if it were not so frightening because, at times, even Lizzie has to wonder if Evie is still alive.
THE END OF EVERYTHING is a story in which Lizzie learns more about love, familial and otherwise, about the tricks memories can play on us, and how sometimes we see what we want to see, and not what is really there. It’s a story with a haunting theme song played over and over by Mr. Verver in his now lonely basement rec room. It’s a story where one golden daughter is set aside in the frantic search for another. It’s a story about change, of growing up and growing away.
Written as only Megan Abbott can write it, with diverse and complex characters, with breathless pacing and a disturbing atmosphere, this is a story about The End of Everything.
ReaganArthur, 07/2011
Book Review by Linda S. Brown
(7/1/11)
Abbott starts her latest novel, THE END OF EVERYTHING, with the freshness of shiny swimsuits on little bodies turning cartwheels in the summer grass, two best friends for ever and ever.
She finishes with
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the darkness of the aftermath of a young girl’s abduction and events that bring a series of surprising revelations.The opening scene is luminous and evocative of so many summer evenings: shrill kids’ voices as they play hide-n-seek (or, as they call it, “Bloody Murder”), the “sound of Keds slamming on the asphalt,” fireflies glimmering in the late summer grass… Adolescent girls – Lizzie and Evie, best friends from the beginning – with older siblings to study and imitate, parents to adore or ignore, soccer and scrapes, sleepovers and secrets…
Early on, Abbott’s 13-year-old protagonist, Lizzie, lets us know that not all secrets are shared. It’s not that she knows Evie isn’t telling her something. It’s a sense of something Evie isn’t telling her: “When I remember Evie now she is always slipping through shadows. Big, dark, haunted eyes rimmed with red. Running across the soccer field, face flushed, straight black sheet of hair rippling across her back. Running so hard, her breath stippled with pain to go faster, hit the grass harder, move forward faster, like she could break through something in front of her, something no one else saw.”
Abbott creates picture-perfect descriptions, staccato and abbreviated, just enough to glimpse the scene, but not so much as to distract the reader from the breathless confusion, the firefly flicker, the mixed emotions of young teen Lizzie as she and Evie move through a life-changing year. It’s a year in which Evie disappears one afternoon on the way home from school. It’s a year in which everyone looks to Lizzie, the best friend, for answers –because surely her best friend would know where Evie has gone.
It’s also a time in which Lizzie learns just how brutal girls can be. At school, her classmates talk openly – ghoulishly, even giddily -- about manhunts, dragging the lake, suicide; conversations led by one girl in particular, a girl whose father works at the local prosecutor’s office (so everyone believes she has the inside scoop). “It’s a big manhunt now,” she says.” My dad always said it was a sex crime…They’re looking for the body,” she says. “They’re wondering where he might have buried the body.”
But Lizzie knows Evie’s not dead. She knows she’d know if Evie were dead. Lizzie believes Evie may have run off, for adventure or perhaps with her secret love, a special love, an adult kind of love that Lizzie can only imagine. Not a kidnapping, not a murder, but a mystery of a different sort, of a mysterious kind of relationship Lizzie doesn’t yet grasp.
Desperate to console Evie’s father, the once-laughing, once-golden Mr. Verver, Lizzie turns teen cat burglar, looking for clues to the whereabouts of her best friend. And her dark mission would be exciting if it were not so frightening because, at times, even Lizzie has to wonder if Evie is still alive.
THE END OF EVERYTHING is a story in which Lizzie learns more about love, familial and otherwise, about the tricks memories can play on us, and how sometimes we see what we want to see, and not what is really there. It’s a story with a haunting theme song played over and over by Mr. Verver in his now lonely basement rec room. It’s a story where one golden daughter is set aside in the frantic search for another. It’s a story about change, of growing up and growing away.
Written as only Megan Abbott can write it, with diverse and complex characters, with breathless pacing and a disturbing atmosphere, this is a story about The End of Everything.
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LibraryThing member teresa1953
There is a time in every young girl’s life when she reaches puberty. Everything becomes confusing. Her emotions, her changing body, her friendships, all take on a different and puzzling perspective. This book encapsulates this transformation very skilfully. Lizzie and her best friend Evie are
Written in the first person, the writing here is superb and almost dreamlike. The adolescent crushes for older men, which seem so inappropriate at the time, are a fact of life and so well described. It becomes obvious that Evie knew that Mr Shaw was obsessed with her and had confessed to a bemused Lizzie, that he watched her through her bedroom window at night. Lizzie adores Evie’s father, a handsome, but strangely creepy character who seems to be overly fond of Lizzie and his older daughter Dusty.
The storyline mirrors the erratic feelings of these young girls and can be a little confusing at times. It is worth staying with it though, as nothing is as it seems. Evie, Lizzie and Dusty are wonderful characters, but not always likeable. The adults don’t fare much better, so this is a depiction of life “in the raw” not straightforward or contrived. I found it a satisfying and unusual read.
This book was made available to me, prior to publication, for an honest review.
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thirteen years old. They share everything and spend their whole lives together. One hot summer’s day, Evie disappears leaving her family and Lizzie distraught. Who has taken her? Is she still alive or at the bottom of the local lake? After Lizzie remembers seeing their neighbour Mr Shaw’s car cruising the road where she said goodbye to Evie after school, blame soon shifts to him. But Mr Shaw is nowhere to be seen. Lizzie needs answers and she sets about finding what has happened.Written in the first person, the writing here is superb and almost dreamlike. The adolescent crushes for older men, which seem so inappropriate at the time, are a fact of life and so well described. It becomes obvious that Evie knew that Mr Shaw was obsessed with her and had confessed to a bemused Lizzie, that he watched her through her bedroom window at night. Lizzie adores Evie’s father, a handsome, but strangely creepy character who seems to be overly fond of Lizzie and his older daughter Dusty.
The storyline mirrors the erratic feelings of these young girls and can be a little confusing at times. It is worth staying with it though, as nothing is as it seems. Evie, Lizzie and Dusty are wonderful characters, but not always likeable. The adults don’t fare much better, so this is a depiction of life “in the raw” not straightforward or contrived. I found it a satisfying and unusual read.
This book was made available to me, prior to publication, for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member picardyrose
I guessed about the dad, but not about anything else.
LibraryThing member justablondemoment
I really enjoyed this book. It took me back some to a time when friendship was everything. All the slumber parties,talking late into the night on the phone usually about boys ect ect. Never once did I find myself bored with either the story or the characters. I would recommend this book and also
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will be looking for others from this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member missysbooknook
I had hoped to enjoy this more. I was sadly disappointed in it. I can't put my finger on exactly what irritated me about the story, but this wasn't a book that I was in a hurry to pick up when I got home from work.
LibraryThing member jnavia
I'm really not sure how I feel about this book. It was one that I enjoyed reading and had to keep reading because I wanted to find out what happened. But there were several things about it that bothered me. As another reviewer noted, there were times when Lizzie sounded too young for her age, and
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other times when she (and her friend's sister Dusty) sounded way too old and wise for their ages. The basic story itself was good and believable (including the underlying emotions, thoughts, etc.), but it was hard for me to believe the girls (all three, but especially Lizzie and Dusty) would be as conscious of their underlying feelings about each other, about the men involved, about their situations, as they were. Still, hard to put down and interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member CDianeK
Lizzie and Evie are best friends. Finish-each-other's-thoughts friends. And when Evie disappears, vanishing without a trace minutes after Lizzie leaves her to go shopping with her own mother, Lizzie knows she'll come back. She knows she'd feel it if Evie was dead.
In The End of Everything, we learn
After the disappearance of Evie, Lizzie remembers, in bits and pieces, circumstances surrounding her friend's disappearance. When police aren't moving fast enough for her, she "helps" out a little, in a scene that could've jeopardized a real-life case. She comforts Evie's father, and notices unexpected actions and attitudes in Dusty that she doesn't understand.
In between scenes of the missing-child case, we see Lizzie gradually becoming aware of the presence of a new man in her mother's life, and confronts her own burgeoning sexuality, slower to do so than her friends.
Suddenly Evie is home, and Lizzie gradually then fully realizes that her friend is not at all as she seems. Neither is Dusty, or the relationship the sisters share. Neither is Evie's father, though I'll admit to having a bit a time understanding the father's actions and motives, never fully doing so. If this was by design, congratulations to the author. If not, sorry, but I didn't.
Tied together, this glimpse at the summer in the lives of two girls truly shows the end of everything; their innocence, some trust, childhood - chronologically and otherwise. Though it was not a "OMG I have to keep turning the pages right now" book for me, it was still very nicely done.
In The End of Everything, we learn
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about Lizzie and Evie. We also learn about their families; Evie's glamorous older sister Dusty, her mousy mother, her wonderful father. Less prominent, at least in Lizzie's mind, is her own mother and brother. Because Lizzie's father is gone - moved away after her parents divorced, Lizzie's idea of a family centers primarily on Evie's family, especially her fun-loving, all-around-great father.After the disappearance of Evie, Lizzie remembers, in bits and pieces, circumstances surrounding her friend's disappearance. When police aren't moving fast enough for her, she "helps" out a little, in a scene that could've jeopardized a real-life case. She comforts Evie's father, and notices unexpected actions and attitudes in Dusty that she doesn't understand.
In between scenes of the missing-child case, we see Lizzie gradually becoming aware of the presence of a new man in her mother's life, and confronts her own burgeoning sexuality, slower to do so than her friends.
Suddenly Evie is home, and Lizzie gradually then fully realizes that her friend is not at all as she seems. Neither is Dusty, or the relationship the sisters share. Neither is Evie's father, though I'll admit to having a bit a time understanding the father's actions and motives, never fully doing so. If this was by design, congratulations to the author. If not, sorry, but I didn't.
Tied together, this glimpse at the summer in the lives of two girls truly shows the end of everything; their innocence, some trust, childhood - chronologically and otherwise. Though it was not a "OMG I have to keep turning the pages right now" book for me, it was still very nicely done.
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LibraryThing member indygo88
I wanted to like this more than I did. I enjoyed the writing & I flew through the book quite quickly. But the story itself seemed to leave me with more questions than answers & I found that unsettling. I think Megan Abbott did a good job of exploring a 13-year-old girl's feelings in response to her
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emerging adolescence, but in some ways she seemed too wise beyond her years. At times, the story had almost a dream-like quality to it, which confused me & made me question exactly what the author was trying to say. To me, this book begs for discussion & interpretation, which may make it a good choice for a book club. Show Less
LibraryThing member m4marya
I was thinking that this book would be a good bus read, however I finished it that night. It was an easy book to read despite it being overly sentimental at times. The author does a brilliant job at describing the best friend relationship of two girls. That magical time before boys enter in when
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friendship is the most important thing in the world. It is a sweet and sad read, filled with nostalgia and sentimentality. Show Less
LibraryThing member lsh63
I found Megan Abbott's departure from her usual noir offering to be an excellent read, she captured the essence of what it's like to be a thirteen year old girl, the clinging to parts of one's childhood, yet also in a hurry to grow up at the same time.
The End of Everything is the story of Lizzie
When Evie disappears one day, Lizzie finds herself in a position of importance. As Evie's best friend, surely she has all the answers about what happened to Evie, presumably becaise the girls did not have any secrets from each other. Or did they?
While Evie is gone, Lizzie spends her time assisting withthe investigation and becoming closer to Mr. Verve, while alienating her sister Dusty. What Lizzie learns is that nothing is perfect, which makes for a fascinating read.
The End of Everything is the story of Lizzie
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Hood and her best friend Evie Verver. Lizzie believes that Evie's family is the epitome of what a fmaily should be complete with the father that she doesn't have, so she gravitates toward Evie's father, who is charming and captivating. Evie's family also includes her older sister, the sultry seventeen year old who both girls are in awe of, and Evie's mother, who pretty much pales in comparison to the dynamic personality of Mr. Verver.When Evie disappears one day, Lizzie finds herself in a position of importance. As Evie's best friend, surely she has all the answers about what happened to Evie, presumably becaise the girls did not have any secrets from each other. Or did they?
While Evie is gone, Lizzie spends her time assisting withthe investigation and becoming closer to Mr. Verve, while alienating her sister Dusty. What Lizzie learns is that nothing is perfect, which makes for a fascinating read.
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LibraryThing member Coyote99
Kind of wish I hadn't read this one. It was adequately written, just uncomfortable subject matter. Personally, don't like wallowing in kidnapping, rape and loss.
LibraryThing member zmagic69
A rather dark story narrated by 13 year old Lizzie about the disappearance of her best friend Evie. Many times I thought I had it figured out only to turn another page and get another surprise.
LibraryThing member Sensory
I enjoyed this book though it was somewhat darker than I expected. The characters were flawed (always a plus for me) and the story was good. The author conveyed a sense of panic and suspense about the events surrounding the disappearance of a thirteen year old and still did not let on what exactly
The portrayal of the family dynamics is also interesting given the stress of dealing with the missing girl. It goes without saying that the family was in a panic but how they each dealt with the issue and the effects it had on their relationship with each other was honestly depicted. The only thing I disliked was a slight let down anti-climatic wise at a certain point (I won't say more so as not to give anything away). However, that wasn't at the ending of the book and the story did pick up again for me.
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was going on throughout most of the book. I especially enjoyed the missing girl's best friend's efforts to find her friend.The portrayal of the family dynamics is also interesting given the stress of dealing with the missing girl. It goes without saying that the family was in a panic but how they each dealt with the issue and the effects it had on their relationship with each other was honestly depicted. The only thing I disliked was a slight let down anti-climatic wise at a certain point (I won't say more so as not to give anything away). However, that wasn't at the ending of the book and the story did pick up again for me.
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LibraryThing member ForeignCircus
This novel is a well-written look at the girls transitioning into young women, trying for the first time to understand what it means to be growing up. Lizzie and Evie are best friend who share everything until one day they don't, one day when Evie goes missing and Lizzie is the last person to see
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her. As Lizzie tries to understand what she knows, she delves deeper and deeper into Evie's family and Evie's disappearance, and slowly comes to realize that everything is not as it seems even in Evie's perfect family. An excellent look at a time of transition, a time when innocence is lost (one way or another), a time when childhood is finally left behind. This book captures those delicately posed moments and every one of the characters rings true. Highly recommended! Show Less
LibraryThing member TerriBooks
At first this book reminded me of The Lovely Bones, only from the perspective of the best friend rather than the victim. Then it became less and less clear who really was the victim, if there was any at all. And by the end, the cause of the awful things had shifted. so that the apparently guilty
Written with the voice of a thirteen-year-old, the narrator often irritated me with her self-centered actions. I found the writing to be occasionally florid and overblown. On the other hand, the author managed to build and maintain an interest so I kept with it, wanting to know the why's and how's. This isn't a bad book, just not one that I enjoyed.
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has become a victim, like everyone else, of a dark, inexplicably twisted, situation. I know that doesn't make sense but I don't want to give away the book -- it's meant to explain that I became less and less comfortable with the story and the characters, until at the end, there wasn't anyone left that I felt good about.Written with the voice of a thirteen-year-old, the narrator often irritated me with her self-centered actions. I found the writing to be occasionally florid and overblown. On the other hand, the author managed to build and maintain an interest so I kept with it, wanting to know the why's and how's. This isn't a bad book, just not one that I enjoyed.
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LibraryThing member smik
Some might argue that THE END OF EVERYTHING is not really crime fiction. When Evie disappears no-one is sure that a crime has been committed, although the longer she is gone, the more likely it seems that she has been abducted. The question of planned sexual abuse is raised. There's plenty of
Much of the story relies on the memories and interpretations of Evie's friend and neighbour Lizzie and her memories are unreliable and her interpretations often one-sided. Lizzie's mind has played with some of her memories, trying to make sense of them.
Both our memories self spun, radiant fictions.
THE END OF EVERYTHING is really about relationships, particularly between adolescent girls and their fathers and male neighbours. Although Evie and Lizzie are almost exactly the same age, their bodies are not in sync, and Evie has secrets from Lizzie. Their mothers don't seem to understand much and Evie's mother in particular does not cope well. Their older siblings, Lizzie's brother Ted, and Evie's sister Dusty, have more clues but Dusty's interpretations are tinged with jealousy as she sees Evie about to move into the centre stage that she has occupied for so long.
As Evie's father searches to understand what may have happened to his daughter, Lizzie and he seem to grow closer. Lizzie comes up with the initial clue to who took Evie, and after that plants "evidence" to reinforce that conclusion, and at the same time seems to place herself centrepiece.
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mystery though and, in the end, the reader can't be sure he knows he/she has all the answers.Much of the story relies on the memories and interpretations of Evie's friend and neighbour Lizzie and her memories are unreliable and her interpretations often one-sided. Lizzie's mind has played with some of her memories, trying to make sense of them.
Both our memories self spun, radiant fictions.
THE END OF EVERYTHING is really about relationships, particularly between adolescent girls and their fathers and male neighbours. Although Evie and Lizzie are almost exactly the same age, their bodies are not in sync, and Evie has secrets from Lizzie. Their mothers don't seem to understand much and Evie's mother in particular does not cope well. Their older siblings, Lizzie's brother Ted, and Evie's sister Dusty, have more clues but Dusty's interpretations are tinged with jealousy as she sees Evie about to move into the centre stage that she has occupied for so long.
As Evie's father searches to understand what may have happened to his daughter, Lizzie and he seem to grow closer. Lizzie comes up with the initial clue to who took Evie, and after that plants "evidence" to reinforce that conclusion, and at the same time seems to place herself centrepiece.
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LibraryThing member Scrabblenut
This book blew me away. It started out as a disappearance/kidnapping of thirteen year old Lizzie's best friend, and turned into something way more nuanced. All the characters rang true, and perceptions changed constantly as Lizzie tried to find out what happened to her friend, with new revelations
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and realizations of a psychological nature until the very last page. Unforgettable. Show Less
LibraryThing member nightprose
Lizzie and Evie have been friends their entire lives. They share everything, from clothes to sports to thoughts and secrets. They have carved out places in sports, equaling the boys on that playing field.
Now, at 13, everything is changing. They watch Evie’s 16 year old sister as she blossoms
Lizzie realizes that Evie is changing, as she herself is, too. Their discussions and secrets have taken on new tones, new topics. When Evie disappears suddenly, Lizzie still feels the connection and a responsibility to find her friend. Her bond with Evie’s family gives her strength, but is also a source of mixed comfort and pain.
Lizzie has many revelations and grows up in unexpected ways in Evie’s absence. She realizes things about Evie, herself, and the ways of the world. These things drive her to find Evie, but they also put an end to many things that she felt, believed, and thought she knew.
Megan Abbott has written a book that explores the frightening dark side of adolescence, regarding sexuality and what is the end of innocence. The truth is that when we lose our innocence, we lose our childhood.
Now, at 13, everything is changing. They watch Evie’s 16 year old sister as she blossoms
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into a beautiful and feminine being, and her effect on the males in the neighborhood. The boys, other kids, adults, families, or perhaps it is their perception, their awareness that is changing.Lizzie realizes that Evie is changing, as she herself is, too. Their discussions and secrets have taken on new tones, new topics. When Evie disappears suddenly, Lizzie still feels the connection and a responsibility to find her friend. Her bond with Evie’s family gives her strength, but is also a source of mixed comfort and pain.
Lizzie has many revelations and grows up in unexpected ways in Evie’s absence. She realizes things about Evie, herself, and the ways of the world. These things drive her to find Evie, but they also put an end to many things that she felt, believed, and thought she knew.
Megan Abbott has written a book that explores the frightening dark side of adolescence, regarding sexuality and what is the end of innocence. The truth is that when we lose our innocence, we lose our childhood.
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LibraryThing member michelle_bcf
I can see why some may really like this book, but it wasn't for me. The style of the writing is rather dream-like, and most events and issues are hinted at, rather than fully explained. This is a book which is meant to capture the feeling of being 13, but due to the circumstances happening, it's
Evie and Lizzie have been the closest of friends, an one day Evie goes missing. The story is told by Lizzie, as she tries to work out what may have happened to Evie, and whether she's alive or not. During the course of the story, we get to see her relationship with the various people around her, and how they all try to cope with this disappearance.
On reflection, the confused tone of the book is probably trying to reflect a young girl who doesn't know how to comprehend or deal with various issues, but to me it's overdone - the simplicity of being young is missing, and would have balanced it out.
As others have said, it's not really a book you 'enjoy' - the various people in the book are a little too realistic, without enough redeeming qualities, and there are dark subjects raised and hinted upon. However, some will appreciate the style, and will find plenty to keep them reading. This could possibly become one of those 'marmite books'.
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tone is rather confused and dark.Evie and Lizzie have been the closest of friends, an one day Evie goes missing. The story is told by Lizzie, as she tries to work out what may have happened to Evie, and whether she's alive or not. During the course of the story, we get to see her relationship with the various people around her, and how they all try to cope with this disappearance.
On reflection, the confused tone of the book is probably trying to reflect a young girl who doesn't know how to comprehend or deal with various issues, but to me it's overdone - the simplicity of being young is missing, and would have balanced it out.
As others have said, it's not really a book you 'enjoy' - the various people in the book are a little too realistic, without enough redeeming qualities, and there are dark subjects raised and hinted upon. However, some will appreciate the style, and will find plenty to keep them reading. This could possibly become one of those 'marmite books'.
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LibraryThing member melaniehope
I finished this book and then let out a long sigh of air. I think I had been holding my breath as I read the ending. I so enjoyed reading every minute of this book. I had to force myself to savor the story because I felt myself wanting to read as fast as I could to discover they mystery of what
This is a tale of two inseparable 13 year old friends. They share everything, including their secrets. Until one day Evie disappears and Lizzie is left behind to piece together what really happened. Running through darkened neighborhood streets at night, looking for clues, tormented by dreams of her friend. Slowly Lizzie begins to realize that she and Evie may not have shared all their secrets. Some may be too dark to be voiced aloud.
Mixed into the drama is Mr. Verver who is Evie's dad. Before Evie's disappearance, he charmed the attention of both Evie and her older sister, Dusty, as well as Lizzie. All three girls idolized and adored him. Once Evie disappers, Dusty finds that her dad now is focused only on Evie. It is apparent that the two sisters are not very fond of each other, and we are left wondering why. As the novel moves along, we are slowly given bits and pieces of the puzzle.
The writing is both haunting and riveting. I loved the way the story was told in bits and pieces and from Lizzie's point of view. I finished the book, but will be thinking about this story for a while. A very hard book to put down!
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happened to Evie.This is a tale of two inseparable 13 year old friends. They share everything, including their secrets. Until one day Evie disappears and Lizzie is left behind to piece together what really happened. Running through darkened neighborhood streets at night, looking for clues, tormented by dreams of her friend. Slowly Lizzie begins to realize that she and Evie may not have shared all their secrets. Some may be too dark to be voiced aloud.
Mixed into the drama is Mr. Verver who is Evie's dad. Before Evie's disappearance, he charmed the attention of both Evie and her older sister, Dusty, as well as Lizzie. All three girls idolized and adored him. Once Evie disappers, Dusty finds that her dad now is focused only on Evie. It is apparent that the two sisters are not very fond of each other, and we are left wondering why. As the novel moves along, we are slowly given bits and pieces of the puzzle.
The writing is both haunting and riveting. I loved the way the story was told in bits and pieces and from Lizzie's point of view. I finished the book, but will be thinking about this story for a while. A very hard book to put down!
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LibraryThing member Charrlygirl
The End of Everything features some more messed up teenage girls, just like You Will Know Me. I think these young ladies were even worse.
I had fun reading this strange, mysterious, psychologically focused novel.
I had fun reading this strange, mysterious, psychologically focused novel.
Awards
Anthony Award (Nominee — Novel — 2012)
Spinetingler Award (Nominee — 2012)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Mystery/Thriller — 2011)
Language
Original publication date
2011-07-07