Thank you for my spot on this blogtour and for my advanced copy of the book, all opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.
SYNOPSIS
This is no ordinary apocalypse…. Hannah Ashton wakes up to silence. The entire city around her is empty, except for one other person: Leo Sterling. Leo might be the hottest boy ever (and not just because he’s the only one left), but he’s also too charming, too selfish, and too devastating for his own good, let alone Hannah’s.
Stuck with only each other, they explore a world with no parents, no friends, and no school and realise that they can be themselves instead of playing the parts everyone expects of them. Hannah doesn’t have to be just an overachieving, music-box-perfect ballerina, and Leo can be more than a slacker, 80’s-glam-metal-obsessed guitarist. Leo is a burst of honesty and fun that draws Hannah out, and Hannah’s got Leo thinking about someone other than himself for the first time.
Together, they search for answers amid crushing isolation, but while their empty world may appear harmless…. it’s not. Because nothing is quite as it seems, and if Hannah and Leo don’t figure out what’s going on, they might just be torn apart forever.
MY REVIEW
What would you do if you woke up one morning and found that everyone had disappeared?. You seem to be the only person left behind. Harriet has been alone for five days when she decides to go to a friends bookstore to pick up some books, she has no idea what else to do. Her imagination is in overdrive, as she thinks she hears footsteps when she leaves her car but each time she looks around there is no one. When she is in the bookshop she starts to hear music which appears to be coming from the store next door. She climbs up and raises the ceiling tiles where she can look through and there she sees a boy, but not just any boy she knows him, he goes to her school, she knows him to look at but not to talk to but she knows he is hot. But she is just pleased there is someone else alive.
Hannah is a ballerina, she lives, drinks and eats ballet. But does she do the ballet for herself? She is from ambitious parents, she is prim and proper and never takes risks, the day she meets Leo is the day things change for her. Leo names her “Ballet girl”. Leo is a guitarist, he plays 80’s heavy metal rock music, but he does have a softer side to him. He is more adventurous than Hannah and persuades her to take a chance and go explore. To let her hair down for once. Because there is no one else around. From there the adventure begins.
As the two embark on navigating the new world they find themselves in, they learn from each other. Leo comes across as confident and cocksure of himself initially but deep down he is just a lonely young man who doubts himself. Hannah realises that there is more to life than ballet as she learns from Leo. But if they want to survive they really have to pull together.
The story is told in alternating first person points of view. The characters are well written, believable and three dimensional. As they try to work out what has happened to everyone even wondering if they are dead. The reader gradually learns what has happened as the end of the book draws nearer.
This is a fully character driven novel everything is about Leo and Hannah and their journey into finding out about each other. A beautifully written debut novel. A perfect read for YA.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brianna Bourne is author of You & Me at the End of the World. When she’s not writing, she works as a stage manager for ballet companies. Originally from Texas, Brianna grew up in Indonesia and Egypt and now lives in England with her rock musician husband and their two daughters.
Social media
Twitter: @briannabourneYA
Instead of the usual author Q&A, I’m doing something a little unconventional – I’m sharing songs from the exclusive playlist I put together for You & Me at the End of the World. Music is so important to both of my main characters: Hannah, who is anelite ballet dancer, and Leo, who plays guitar and fronts an 80s rock cover band.
Here are three of the songs from the playlist!
1. “Black Smoke Rising” – Greta Van Fleet
I discovered Greta Van Fleet during one of the later rounds of edits for this book, and as soon as I heard this song, I knew Leo would love them. Leo himself looks like a combo of the lead guitarist and Harry Styles – so if YOU&ME ever gets made into a movie, let’s all try to get Harry cast as the lead.
2. “Mad World” from Donnie Darko
This song (and the movie) has always fascinated me, and I feel like YOU&ME can trace its lineage back to some of the seeds planted in my mind by this movie. It was so surreal and cracked open storytelling possibilities for me.
3. Swan Lake Finale
This one’s for Hannah. The finale of Swan Lake is so dramatic. When Hannah feels like everything has fallen apart around her and flees to her basement in one of the last chapters of the book, this is the song she starts dancing to.
* * *
Link to playlist:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6wdXmjLX97tD6iQzFvQALc?si=d3a26d4091374e45
More info: https://briannabournebooks.com/playlist
THE #TEAMENDOFTHEWORLD PLAYLIST
THE #TEAMENDOFTHEWORLD PLAYLIST!
Brianna Bourne has created this special playlist inspired by the two main characters in You & Me at the End of the World: Hannah, a repressed, tightly-wound ballet prodigy, and Leo, a reckless 80s-rock-obsessed musician. The songs in the playlist alternate between Leo and Hannah’s choices to reflect the multi-voice narrative of the book. Leo’s songs are a crash course in 80s Hair Metal, and Hannah’s are a mix of ballet staples that are mentioned in the book and melancholy slow songs. Listen along on Spotify by following this link!
Rock You Like A Hurricane- Scorpions – Leo
Dance of the Little Swans (Swan Lake Op.20a:3 Danse des petits cygnes)
Swan Lake / Berlin Philharmoniker / Tchaikovsky. – Hannah
Alone Again – Dokken – Leo
Dance of the Knights (Romeo and Juliet Op.64)
Romeo and Juliet / Cleveland Orchestra / Prokofiev. – Hannah
Paradise City – Guns N’ Roses – Leo
Dark Paradise -Lana Del Ray – Hannah
Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love – Van Halen – Leo
Mirrorball – Taylor Swift – Hannah
Black Smoke Rising – Greta Van Fleet – Leo
Swan Lake No. 29 Scene Finale – Swan Lake / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Tchaikovsky – Hannah
Is this Love (2018 Remaster) – Whitesnake – Leo
The Sound of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel – Hannah
Crying in the Rain – Whitesnake – Leo
when the party’s over – Billie Eilish – Hannah
If Tonight Is Our Only Chance – The Night Flight Orchestra- Leo
Mad World- Gary Jules/Donnie Darko – Hannah
Jackie’s Reading Corner 