Lizzie and Evie are two thirteen year old girls who are inseparable, until Evie goes missing, and Lizzie realizes that their friendship wasn’t quite what she thought. It’s a story about lies, secrets, sexuality, and family.
The End of Everything is told from a first-person point of view from Lizzie, and it’s one of the main problems I had with the book. The voice of the author comes through strongly and it’s written really well. The style is evocative, sharp, and distinctive, but it doesn’t feel like a thirteen year old’s voice. It feels more adult than that. But the characters are developed well, and although the middle of the book is filled up with suspense, it comes crashing down in the last third, and it’s a real page-turner.
That being said, this book isn’t going to be for everyone because of its content. Some people are just going to be disturbed by the idea of thirteen year olds talking about and discovering sex, especially with the objects of their affections. It does present a warped idea of love, and it’s sometimes difficult to read in the sense that you feel real sorrow for Lizzie as she confuses a beautiful love with an ugly one, and it’s challenging in the fact that it makes you think about what love is, and what it should be.
I really enjoyed it but I know some people won’t, and this probably accounts for the mixed reviews on Amazon. If the subject matter doesn’t immediately put you off then it’s worth checking out because it’s well-written and has good characterization.
