All the Ways the World Can End

by Abby Sher

Lenny (short for Eleanor) feels like the world is about to end. Her best friend is moving to New York City to attend Julliard and her dad has terminal cancer. To cope with her stress Lenny is making a list of all the ways the world can end—designer pathogens, blood moon prophecies, alien invasion—and stockpiling supplies in a bunker in the backyard. Then she starts to develop feelings for her dad's very nice young doctor—and she thinks he may have feelings for her too. Spoiler alert: he doesn't. But a more age-appropriate love interest might. In a time of complete uncertainty, one thing's for sure: Lenny's about to see how everything is ending and beginning. All at the same time.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Mental Health, Family, Teen, Young Adult Contemporary

320 pages, Hardcover

First published July 11, 2017

Reviews

[Katy O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and quirky, ALL THE WAYS THE WORLD CAN END is a story of preparing for the worst while attempting to cope with the present....all wrapped up in a witty and realistic YA package.

Eleanor's struggles with her father's cancer are tear-inducing and detailed, and her doomsday prep and self-harm are (to adults) obvious cries for help in a time of family turmoil - the reality is that often these things go unnoticed and end up manifesting exactly as they did for Eleanor, meaning they will be so easy to relate to for many teens.

The included "ways the world could end" sections were a clever addition and really demonstrated E's obsessions in a clear manner. I was cheering for Eleanor throughout the entire book, and raced to the end to see what would happen. A fresh addition to the YA world.

Highly recommended YA for fans of John Green, Rainbow Rowell and Jeff Zentner.

Thanks to the publisher for the galley of this title - all opinions are my own.

[Mellisa Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book swept me up in a rush of feelings that honestly I've been trying to deal with in my own family for the last 4 years. My husband's mother succumbed to brain cancer last year. It took me on the journey of Eleanor and her family's battle against her dad's cancer. How would you react? How would you deal? Bury yourself in work? Busy yourself among the living or turn to tactics of pain that are far easier to control when your entire world is spinning out of control. In All The Ways The World Can End Abby Sher wrote characters that I could relate to and champion. She wrote characters that were human and flawed. I'm thankful for that. She allowed Eleanor to fight back with list making when there was no other way for a child to fight back against cancer which has been wreaking havoc in so many of our lives!

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to the #kidlitexchange network for the review copy of this book - all opinions are my own.

[Kirsty Hanson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I always love reading novels that centre around family dynamics and it's actually one of the types of books that I look for the most. Gone are the days where I want to read about unrequited love all of the time; I want to read about families and the troubles or happiness that they go through. All the Ways the World Can End is one of those books.

Lenny (short for Eleanor) feels like the world is about to end. Her best friend is moving to New York City to attend Julliard and her dad has terminal cancer. To cope with her stress Lenny is making a list of all the ways the world can end—designer pathogens, blood moon prophecies, alien invasion—and stockpiling supplies in a bunker in the backyard. Then she starts to develop feelings for her dad's very nice young doctor—and she thinks he may have feelings for her too. Spoiler alert: he doesn't. But a more age-appropriate love interest might. In a time of complete uncertainty, one thing's for sure: Lenny's about to see how everything is ending and beginning. All at the same time.

The best thing about this book was the last 10/20 pages because that's where the raw emotion was and I feel like that's where the writing was at it's best. The rest of the book just didn't really do it for me. 

I thought that the characters fell flat, the plot just wasn't that prominent throughout the entire book which was a massive shame. The book centres around Lenny dealing with her father's cancer but most of the book was just her pining after her dad's doctor which I didn't find funny or a good plot point at all.

"I'm too hurt to hurt more."

- Abby Sher, All the Ways the World Can End

Another thing is that I had no motivation to read it. Normally, I can read a contemporary in a few hours (even if it's a 3-star book). But with this one, it took me a handful of DAYS, which is another way I know that I didn't enjoy reading it. Reading a book shouldn't feel like a chore, but reading this really did feel like it. I actually wanted to DNF it at about 25% but decided against it and I thought I would see what the rest of the book is like. I'm glad I've finished it, but part of me thinks that I could have read a book that I know I would love during that time. Oh well... At least I can say that I've read it. 

I know this seems like a very ranty review and very negative, but I genuinely can't think of a positive thing. There's actually one more thing that really annoyed me about this book. Lenny has a gay best friend. Who is sidelined. No. Sorry but I am SICK of the gay best friend trope who is just there so the author can say 'I'VE INCLUDED A DIVERSE CHARACTER'. No honey, you just placed him in the book. He's hardly in it because he is pushed to the side whilst the main character chases after her stupid romantic fantasy about her dad's doctor. UGH. 

Have you read it? What did you think because I'm honestly interested if I'm the only one who thinks this about the book?

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Released 27th July

[Tissy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.
I really tried to complete this but the MC is extremely self absorbed and selfish which makes it hard to get into. But then again so are her mother and sister and this is despite the father dying of cancer. It may very well be that her callousness is purposeful but their is nothing edgy or dark about her like Gillian Flynn's character to keep me invested. Instead it just comes off bratty and annoying. The writing is good though so I think others might appreciate this on a level I couldn't.

[Mandy]

DNF @ 13%

*I won this in a Goodreads giveaway - thanks so much for the publisher for sending me over a copy!*

I'm not really sure what to say about this one. This was one of the books that I added during a mindless Goodreads adding spiral. So when I won this, I was super excited but also sort of confused because I had no clue what to expect. What I got wasn't anywhere close to what I thought it was going to be. 

The first issue was that I felt bored. Like, really bored. A lot of the events together just kind of...went. Like, I didn't feel any connection to what was going on. There were only two events that I really remember in the book - Lenny dealing with her flushing her father's wounds from cancer and going out to lunch to some place with a lobster. Was there anything more? I really have no clue. I read this book about a week ago, and I got nothing. I don't remember anyone's name or what happened or anything. Just anything. 

The second issue that I had was the voice meshing up with the tone of the book. The book has a very sarcastic, black humor type of feel to it. However, when dealing with the material, it just didn't seem to fit. Like, her father is having some super intense cancer consequences, and we literally spent like three paragraphs on nuts and her being super sarcastic about them. And everyone was so selfish. 

I did like the addition of the list of all the ways the world can end, but it felt like it was something that was just tagged on to make the book different, for me. I think it had a lot of potential to be good, but I think I gave up too early to see it fleshed out. 

No crowns since I DNF'ed and a Snow White rating!

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 3 out of 5]

GRADE: C+
3.5 STARS

Lenny copes with her father's cancer and her best friend Julian's imminent move across country by listing ways the world can end. Her anxiety, OCD and self-injurious behaviors are untreated. She has a major crush on her dad's oncology residency, fantasizing about a life with him. As her father's condition deteriorates, Lenny struggles to hold herself together.

You probably wouldn't like Lenny if you met her. She's immature, narcissistic and thoughtless. At times she seemed more like a tween than a sixteen-year-old. She freaks out on people, treating them rudely when stressed. I have no idea why she wasn't in therapy. If ever a character needed treatment, it's Lenny. She never suffers consequences for her destructive behavior, it's all excused away by her father's illness. I am not unsympathetic to her struggles. She's not to blame that her parents didn't take her to therapy. Living with an untreated mental illness, particularly for a teen under such stress, is unbearable. Lenny is also charming, bright and has a quirky sense of humor. I loved Lenny's relationship with her father.

Abby Sher writes with an engaging strong voice. I was glad she gave Lenny an at times unlikable personality, instead of the poor, sad girl with a sick dad. Anger is one of the stages of grief that Lenny mastered.

I felt gypped with the wrap up for ALL THE WAYS THE WORLD CAN END, but I can also understand why Sher chose it.

A lukewarm recommendation for ALL THE WAYS THE WORLD CAN END.

[Stella Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Nobody was safe. Nothing lasted. Never, in the history of time, could we slow or stop ourselves from self-destruction."

Setting: 3 out of 5 ✩✩✩
The format of the book was interesting. I liked how each chapter began with an explanation of possible ways the world can end, but the topics themselves weren't captivating.

Writing: 2 out of 5 ✩✩
Oh my darling, I SIMPLY COULDN'T DO IT. I really wanted to like it, but I felt like the MC was trying to hard to be cool..? I loved the small bits of diversity and mental health incorporated. I liked how the character is very factual and refuses to succumb to grief, but that was probably one of the biggest problems for me, too. Most of the writing felt like dramatic ranting as opposed to a novel. It's very sarcastic, which I usually appreciate, but not this much.

Character development: 2 out of 5 ✩✩
I'm not sure if Lenny grew out of her teenage self, but halfway through, I couldn't do it anymore. There were parts of her that I saw in myself - the parts where she felt the burden placed on her - but the whole romance aspect was foreign to me. I felt as if the sarcasm and humor was a fascade, where she was lying to herself and the reader. Though most of the writing was blunt, I don't think it was honest to its readers until the very end.

Plot / storyline: 2 out of 5 ✩✩
Every time Dr. Ganesh came into the picture, it was super awkward. Then once I understood why, it got even worse..

Theme message: 3 out of 5 ✩✩✩
Dying is a reality we all must face, but it shouldn't make living any less worth it.

2.4 stars ✩✩

[Janay Brazier · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really can't decide between 2 or 3 stars for this. We'll say 2.5 then, shall we? I liked parts of it but overall it just didn't do much for me. There's not much else I can say really...

[Carli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the Kid Lit Exchange network for this review copy. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5 for this realistic fiction story about a family coping with a cancer diagnosis. Eleanor (“Lenny”) is just waiting for the world to end. In fact, she has an ongoing list of all the ways this might happen. Oh, and a bunker. She has a bunker. And why not? Her sister has abandoned her for college, her mother is always at work, and well, her father is dying. For real. As the family members all cope in their own ways, they must learn to look to a new, uncertain future while embracing the now.

I think teens will relate to this one. The characters are super relatable and the writing is packed with both human and sadness. I only wish the author would have addressed Lenny’s destructive coping mechanisms in greater depth.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.

Originally published on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Trigger Warning: This book features self-harm, homophobic language (overheard on a train), and the protagonist using ableist language.

All the Ways the World Can End by Abby Sher, an #OwnVoices novel about a Jewish girl with OCD, is not the book I thought it would be. I assumed it was going to be a light, silly read, what with Lenny's interest in how the world could end, the interpretive dance show, and fancying her dad's doctor. I was expecting a lot of eye-rolling and exasperation. I wasn't expecting this book to make me laugh out loud and cry because I was heartbroken.

Lenny has always been very close to her dad, but now he has bowel cancer, and it's really not looking good. But his oncologist, the gorgeous, friendly, easy-going Dr. Ganesh, thinks he's a suitable candidate for a drug trial that could make all the difference. Lenny is a little bit in love with him, and puts all her hopes in his hands. There's nothing she can do about her dad's cancer, so she reaches for a sense of control; she researches everything she can on the drug trial, until she has has everything memorised. And there's also her obsession with the ways the world can end or the human race could be wiped out - an obsession she's had since before her dad fell ill, but one she clings to now. But as her dad gets worse, and she finds out her best friend is graduating early and leaving, the bottom falls out of her world, and her obsessions and compulsions become the only thing keeping her going.

I had a much more personal reaction to All the Ways the World Can End than I expected to. Although I don't have OCD like Lenny does, I do have anxiety, and my Nan died of cancer three years ago, and I really related to how she was feeling, and how she was affected by her mental illness, when the news about her father just seemed to get worse and worse. There's no real plot to the story, it's more of a snap shot of the time in Lenny's life where everything changes; when her dad's cancer gets worse, and how that affects her. Lenny's OCD affects her in different ways; she likes things to be clean, and when she gets some particularly bad news, she spends the conversation cleaning the hospital room her dad's in with alcohol wipes, and the fruit bowl in the sink over and over. She washes her hands a number of times, and find relief in the sting when her hands are red raw. She also counts and does maths; tidying up her dad's books into groups of three, using putting dates into formula to get an answer that means something to her, is a sign. And she also self-harms. When the thoughts get too much and she can't escape them, she punches herself in the head really hard, hurting her hands as well as putting herself in a fog-like daze from all the punching. And again, she hits herself in groups of 50, but having a target she has to reach.

'Pounding was my favorite obsession, or maybe it was a compulsion. All I knew for sure was that each blow to my head was sharp and clear and rocked me completely out of my circuit of anxiety. When I pummeled myself in the head, all I could think about was the darkness and pain.pain that I gave to me.' (p134)

Then there are Lenny obsessions. She is unable to not research deadly viruses, natural disasters such an volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, the possibility of Earth being destroyed due to things happening in space. She has to know. It scares the crap out of her, especially the things she's unable to prepare for, but she has to know, and she has to know everything about it. Before the start of every chapter, we have a page written by Lenny - white text on a black background - showing us one of the many ways the world can end, and they are actually quite terrifying. I kept thinking, "I don't actually want to know all this!" She also has herself a bunker she's put together in her dad's tool shed, filled with cans of tinned food and space blankets, and all other things she thinks she'll need. As her life progressively gets worse, the more she spends on getting things for her bunker, on her emergency credit card that she knows her mum will freak out about, but she needs this stuff. It really is hard to watch as Lenny gets more and more out of control, while trying to control something. It's so hard, and knowing exactly how she was feeling made it harder, because I got it. Seeing her mental health spiral, understanding her lack of control, and not being able to hold onto anything solid as everything she knows is torn away from her was so upsetting. My heart broke for her over and over again.

Yet saying all this, All the Ways the World Can End isn't actually a terribly heavy book. I mean, yes, her dad has cancer and is dying, and she's struggling with her mental illness, but it's also really, really funny. I loved Lenny's voice, and how, even in the midst of everything going wrong, she was able to have a thought, or react to someone else's idiocy in a way that was just so, so funny. There was also how she and her best friend, Julian, created a life story for a lobster in a tank at their favourite diner, how he was called Don Juan Crustaceo, he was a ladies man with an Italian accent, who kept hitting on the female customers, and they'd make up dialogue for him, and it was just so funny.

And her dad! Oh my god, her dad is brilliant! He's bloody hilarious! He's so witty and has brilliant comic timing. He's in hospital with cancer, lying in his hospital bed, and everything is dire, and they would be having these somber conversations, and he'd just come out with something that would absolutely crack me up. I'd be on the bus or in the staff room, and I would literally laugh out loud. He was just wonderful, and I loved him. I also loved Lenny's mum, too. Lenny found her annoying and an embarrassment, and I got it, what with her researching ways to cure cancer that don't involve medicine and constantly changing their diet and so on. It was how she was coping with something she couldn't control, and I got it. But she was also so lovely. She was chirpy and cheery and optimistic, and it didn't seem, fake, you know? It wasn't like she was putting on a brave face, that's just who she was. I mean, she did have her moments where she was uncontrollably upset, but in general, she's just a happy, smiley person who genuinely loves her family, and mate, she was just so lovely. And funny herself in her cheeriness.

Lenny has a great relationship with her best friend, Julian, and it was just wonderful to see a best-friendship between two people of the opposite genders. They genuinely cared about each other, and Julian genuinely cared about Lenny's family. Her dad's cancer affected him, too, and he was almost like another member of the family, and would help out in anyway he could. He was a sweetheart. Mate, I just pretty much loved all the characters in this book!

There's just one thing I want to touch on quickly, and that's how Lenny's dad was coping. We need to remember that Lenny is 16, she's not an adult, and Lenny's dad is still her dad even if he has cancer and may very likely die. And we see him continue to parent her, to be her dad, to try and reassure her, to protect her and love her while this terrible thing is tearing through their family, and he's going to die, yet he still wants to make sure his little girl is going to be ok. Their relationship was just gold, and how he's still trying to look after when he can't even walk unaided, it broke my heart, it really did. Can you imagine? Knowing you're going to die, being terrified and angry and god knows what else, but still trying to be there to comfort and look after your daughter? Tears, god, there were so many tears. I just couldn't handle this heartbreaking situation, and remembering the conversations I had with my Nan before she died. Man, this book just really, really got to me. It's so, so beautiful.

There are a couple of issues I have with the book, though, and that's down to some of the language used. There's a scene where Lenny is on the train at night, and there are some older, drunk boys playing 'would you rather', and a homophobic word meaning lesbian is used, and it was just so unnecessary, you know? She's on the train heading home, and these stupid guys are being annoying and loud, but they didn't need to use that word. They're not even an important part of the book, they're just there. They could have said something else. And sure, it might be realistic for stupid, drunk boys to say stupid things, but it wasn't needed! And considering Julian is gay, I would have thought Lenny would have been unimpressed by their homophobic language, but she doesn't react at all. And there's another time when Lenny got too excited internally about brushing arms with someone, and describes herself as the "Empress of Spazland," (p286) and it just wasn't needed! And she's thinking it, not said out loud, so it's not challenged or anything. IT just bothered me that there were these two instances of offensive language, and there really wasn't any need for it (by which I mean in some books, in some situations, language like this can be used when someone is experiencing homophobic or ableist bullying, but those situations always make it clear that it is not ok!).

Otherwise, All the Ways the World Can End is such an incredible novel. It's so funny, and so emotional! It broke my heart and it made me laugh out loud. It's such a beautiful, poignant story, and if you can deal with those two instances where offensive language is used, I'd really recommend it.

Thank you to Hot Key Books for the review copy.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I won this arc in a giveaway auction. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: All the Ways the World Can End

Author: Abby Sher

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: LGBT side characters, bi-curious main character, jewish family)

Recommended For...: contemporary, death, cancer, and scared

Publication Date: July 11, 2017

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 16+ (depression, drugs, cancer character, CTSD, self harm, alcohol, inappropriate relationship, death processing and grief)

Publisher: Farrer, Straus, and Giroux

Pages: 256

Synopsis: Lenny (short for Eleanor) feels like the world is about to end. Her best friend is moving to New York City to attend Julliard and her dad has terminal cancer. To cope with her stress Lenny is making a list of all the ways the world can end—designer pathogens, blood moon prophecies, alien invasion—and stockpiling supplies in a bunker in the backyard. Then she starts to develop feelings for her dad's very nice young doctor—and she thinks he may have feelings for her too. Spoiler alert: he doesn't. But a more age-appropriate love interest might. In a time of complete uncertainty, one thing's for sure: Lenny's about to see how everything is ending and beginning. All at the same time.

Review: This was such an emotional rollercoaster. I thought the book did well with the characters and the plot. The book was well written and so emotional. It's a great one if you need to cry.

However, I did think that the book didn't have a lot of world building and I think it could have been better to tie up some of the loose ends like with Julian and the self harm issue.

Verdict: So so so so good!

[Lecs:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello friends!! So, I just finished up “All The Ways The World Can End” and boy oh boy was it really good. A friend of mine recommended this book to me a while back and I jumped right on buying it and have no regrets in doing so.
This book is really accurate to how it can feel to lose a loved one to cancer and touches on that subject in such a painfully real way, but also there is a kind understanding in the tone that feels really comforting. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, even when the scenes were full of sorrow. They were a reminder that you’re never alone in the world of losing loved ones. Also, I really enjoyed Lenny’s relationships with every last person in this book. From the doctor to her best friend, every character had such meaning to her life.
Yeah...this book deserves a bit more than 5 but sadly I can’t add more:(. It was a gut wrenching and heart warming book wrapped into one and I would 100% recommend it!

[Megan ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really really wanted to love this - the premise was right up my alley and I love family-oriented books. However, this wasn't really that much about family. Lenny, the narrator, was weirdly obsessed with her dad's doctor and just fantasised about him despite her dad being really ill. She had better things to do. Also, the writing seemed odd... quite a few times, I'd be reading and wonder why I was being told such seemingly irrelevant details. I'm very much a believer of only writing what is needed and literally none of this was needed. I just couldn't care when I was being told such detail about stuff that didn't matter (about 3 pages were dedicated to writing about her friend [Jonah? Jacob? James? Can't remember] and, like, their entire past as friends. I did not care).

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lenny is trying her hardest to keep it together, even though it feels like she has no support. Her father is dying, her mother is constantly at work (or trying to push a new, clean eating diet on her family) and her older sister has run away from it all to college. Without any support, Lenny clings to the attention she gets from her father's young doctor, a doctor that is keeping their relationship purely platonic.
Lenny broke my heart throughout this book but she was always able to put it back together piece by piece. I could only imagine what it would be like to be in her shoes.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not a fan of the main character at all. So great writing I guess? There were many times that I wanted to just shut the book and not pick it up again, but apparently, that is impossible for me to do.

The end was a bit redeeming for the character, but hoo boy, she was a doozy.

[Harold Walters · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of depressing.

[Grace Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lenny is 16, but by God all her decision are like a 11year old.

At no point was I ever routing for her.
The story was told well but all Lennys actions made me hate her or hate how silly she was. Mostly as no 16 year old would do half the things she did during the books.

I understand the storyline was about her dealing but dealing and just being a complete mess is different.

[Jamie Lindemulder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fast and easy read. I thought it would be a tear jerker but it wasn’t. There were actually some very funny parts. If you like YA you should definitely read this. It ended my 2020 reading year with 70 books read!

[Lauren-Tess Anderson-Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this book just didn’t do it. 

It was one that sounded very intriguing with a beautiful cover. I really wanted to love it! 

There were quite a few words I didn’t understand e.g. pembrolizumab.. what is this!? 

This is a relatively short book with only 22 chapters and is aimed at young adults. 

I don’t usually read young adult novels but this one stood out for me, after reading the first impression, I wanted to read more. 
I'm not sure if I struggled because YA isn't my usual genre. I needed a change of genre and this book was a welcome change but it just didn't work for me. 

This is a book I can recommend to all lovers of young adult novels or if you are wanting a change of genre. 

Overall rating - 3.5 stars

[Hannah Stepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much!
I can relate to “Lenny’s” anxiety and fear of losing someone she loves.
Overall, spectacular storyline and a MUST read. <3

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the Ways the World Can End teaches about how to deal with anxiety, stress, love, and death. Lenny's dad has an illness. At the end of the marvelous tale, Lenny and her dad are sitting by the dock, for the last time. She feels confused and sad and can't ignore the fact that he is taking all of his lasts, last ginger ale, last trip to Wahonsett Bay, last night alone with Lenny. She feels that he is falling down a spiral, unable to pull him up and out of the clutches of a certain black hole called death. She has prepared for the world to end all her life, with her secret bunker filled with hummus, her compulsive hand sanitizing, and all her research. She has always known this would happen someday, that her dad would have to...go. She just didn't believe that it would be so soon, or that she would feel the way she feels.

Her dad brings it up, and it hurts a lot. But within these last few pages, I have learned more lessons about death than I have learned in the past twelve years of my mostly sheltered and change-free life. "Lenny, it hurts a lot less when we do it together"-page 300. I learned that death, just like birth, is a celebration. It is God telling you that you did it! You conquered life and lived it to the fullest. If your celebration is a little sooner than others, well then you already lived your best life.

The second lesson I have learned and come to understand is that nobody losing a loved one is going to miss them and mourn them the same way. When my Papa became died, I missed him. But I was also afraid that I wasn't mourning right. I thought that uncontrollable ugly-crying near the casket is ina[ropriate, that wanting it all to end is selfish, and that the words 'passed away' and 'died' don't feel right. At. All. After reading this book I have come to the conclusion that everyone's death is different, just like how everyone's life and birth is different. After much confusion, I have decided that when talking about my Papa, I will use the term 'became an angel'. I think it shows who he really is, deserves to be, and puts me in a happy, loving mood rather than a distressed one. Feel free to use this phrase as your own. Also, there isn't a quote for this, I just sensed it throughout the whole of the book.

"Yeah, but I want to do them with you here.""Well, I'll be here." He tapped lightly with one finger just below my clavicle. "Also here." This time, tapping on my head. "And most of all, here." Three taps on my nose, because I used to blame him for it being so big. -page 300. When people go, they aren't just with us in memory. We carry them with us every time we love, every time we make decisions, and every time someone sees us. They will always be with us not just in memory, but in our hearts, in our minds, and in our looks.
"I guess I have a question." I gulped. "What does it feel like?" My father smiled. And swallowed. And breathed. And then he said,"It feels like wading.""Waiting?" "Yeah, that too." -page 300-page 301. Dying is terrible. Death is terrible. I already knew that. But what I din' realize is that it is confusing and unpredictable and scary. But I know that my Papa was reassured the second he left. He got his Portillo's in heaven.

"Don't worry, Len. It'll come back."-page 301. The days on the porch. The laughs. The papa sweaters. The beer mugs. The fist bumps. It'll all come back. Nothing is gone forever. When somebody dies, everything-all the memories will come back again when we become angels, too.

This review is dedicated to my Papa. I love you. You have taught me so much, especially to work hard, have fun, and be a good person. Enjoy being an angel. I'm taking care of everyone for you. Enjoy your everlasting supply of Portillo's, $5 Cosco footlong polish, and beer! I love you!

Thank you, All the Ways the World can End. You have taught me so much and helped me grow even more.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

My brother-in-law and father both died of cancer within two years of each other. At some point shortly after both of those events, my sister and I took my nephew to see the movie "Up." Not a great idea, since someone dies, OF CANCER, in the first ten minutes of the film. Needless to say, we were both complete wrecks, and decided afterward that there needs to be an alternative rating system for movies that includes a rating of "C" for cancer.

There's no spoiler in saying that this book needs to have that "C" rating. Actually, it doesn't need that kind of warning at all, since official synopses of the book say straight up that the narrator Eleanor's dad is dying of colon cancer. As if that weren't enough, her best friend, Julian, is getting ready to move from upstate New York to San Francisco to attend a prestigious dance school, Eleanor's sister is away at college, and Eleanor's OCD leads her to engage in some pretty self-destructive behaviors.

As heartbreaking as all of that sounds (and it is), there's some humor here, as well. Eleanor and Julian are both involved in an improvisational performance-art production at school, whose flaky director conceives of it as a mini-"Vagina Monologues" show focused on the life and loves of Georgia O'Keefe. It's as weird and disastrous as it sounds.

And one of the ways Eleanor copes with her stress is by reading up on, as the title tells us, "all the ways the world can end," which are also (usually) presented in a sarcastic, funny manner. Eleanor's obsession with end-of-the world scenarios aligns this book with Shaun David Hutchinson's _We Are the Ants_, whose protagonist also imagines a range of apocalyptic scenarios.

But I find Nora a far more sympathetic character. Maybe too sympathetic for me, personally: my mother had cancer my senior year of high school (she recovered and is still kicking 30+ years later, thank god), so I was completely empathetic when Nora talked about how she kept super-busy and avoided going home so as not to have to "go home and act like everything was fine or manageable...to go home and just wait for something to get better. Or worse."

Unsurprisingly, this strategy doesn't work for the long haul, and as her father gets more ill, Nora gets more desperate and acts in increasingly bizarre ways. Her unraveling is believable, but disturbing--some young readers might find Nora's head too uncomfortable a place to be. Although even in Nora's most chaotic moments, author Abby Sher manages to inject some humor. For example, Nora's pursuit of her father's oncologist is equal parts mortifying and hilarious; even Nora knows Dr. Ganesh must see her as "the troublesome daughter with misplaced outrage, chronic halitosis, and obsessive-compulsive, continuously annoying idiosyncrasies with a dollop of Electra complex on top."

None of this ends well. But Sher does manage to bring a very sad story to a touching and optimistic end. And _All the Ways the World Can End_ handles the magnitude of grief in a far more realistic way than, say, Carol Weston's recent _Speed of Life_. This is a tearjerker, for sure, and again, some young readers might not like the emotional intensity. I don't know if I'd teach it in my YA literature class, but I will definitely recommend it to students who enjoy writers like John Green but who also want that kind of story with a female narrator.

[Jess Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the Ways the World Can End by Abby Sher is a cringe-inducing, tearjerking novel for all the right reasons. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

For years, Lenny (Eleanor) has been researching how to cope with the end of the world. She’s taught herself about diseases, black holes and anything else that could threaten our extinction. But while she focuses on the abstract, it really does feel like the world is ending. Her father has terminal cancer and her best friend is hoping to leave for a school miles away. A lot is changing – fast. It's not all bad though. Dr. Ganesh, the young doctor working on her fathers case, is attractive, friendly and fun. She’s sure he feels a connection too (he doesn’t – it’s cringe). There’s an absolute ton going on for Lenny as she finds everything is beginning and ending, all at same time.

This is one of the less gripping mental health-related novels I’ve read in the past year. All the Ways the World Can End revolves around how family dynamics evolve during a crisis, for better and for worse.

Lenny’s mother is a work-a-holic. It’s disastrous. When she’s there she’s completely present, but when she’s gone she’s uncontactable. Her absence leaves Lenny floundering when her father potentially needs to be rushed to hospital and she's the only one at home. It’s terrifying.

Meanwhile Lenny’s sister Emma is partying with her college friends. Her life sounds fun and carefree while Lenny's home, stressed out of her mind.

Between her mother and her sister, Lenny has a lot of pent-up anger for the two of them. But in true teenage fashion, instead of talking out-loud about it, she just gets snappy until it dissolves.

Then we’ve got Lenny’s father who used to support her through her anxiety – but now he’s dying and he isn’t exactly emotionally available when he’s breathing through an oxygen mask. He was the one to help her stop self-harming, but now she wonders what was the point in giving it up?

That's a recurring thought throughout the book actually – Lenny will stop self-harming for other people, but not for herself. When she's alone, she loses it. Combine this with her OCD-like coping mechanisms and you'll be begging for someone to get this girl a therapist.

In the midst of everything, Lenny’s only support comes from her best friend Julian (who may be moving soon to a performance arts school) and Dr. Ganesh, who’s working on her fathers case. A cringe-inducing series of events follows as Lenny repeatedly mistakes Dr. Ganesh’s support for ‘something more.’ It's purely platonic and we can see that, but she's sure this thirty-six year old man is made for her. Lenny clings to any understanding and friendliness he shows her, which isn’t surprising when she’s got such little support from her family. Honestly, you will feel so embarrassed it will hurt as you read how wrong she gets it.

All the Ways the World Could End reminded me of my love for platonic friendships between people of the opposite sex (it’s reason #234 for why I love Grey’s Anatomy). For once, we have a story where the main character doesn’t fall in love with her best friend. He’s gay (yas for inclusivity and diversity), so it’s not like it would ever happen anyway, but it’s still such a luxury in YA fiction to find an opposite-gendered friendship like theirs.

I should probably state the obvious before I finish – anybody with a heart will cry at this book, potentially multiple times. Realistically it's no surprise. When there's a story about a family affected by cancer, tears kind-of come with the territory.

This review was originally published on Breathe and Read.

[James Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: this book mentions cancer and terminal illness, issues of grief, self harm and others but not too graphic due to its YA audience
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up

The basic plot is we follow Eleanor (Lenny) as she tried to get to grips with the fact her dad is dying with cancer. Additionally, she’s dealing with the possible loss of her best friend Julian, a tense-ish relationship with her mum and sister and researching the many possibly ways the world might end. She places hope in her dad’s temporary doctor Dr Ganesh, with possible cures and drug trials, to whom she forms a crush on. We mainly follow Lenny spiralling with the possibly loss of her dad and does many frustrating things - these we obviously know are not the right choices but you have to place her actions in the context of her being at a young age where she’s dealing with general teenage problems (friendships, school, the future, crushes, etc) but also growing grief. So yes, whilst there’s a lot I didn’t like I do find it hard to critique the plot and certain actions because of this.

The writing was okay, it’s nothing spectacular or that sophisticated but is readable. There are many small sentences and it lacks complexity which would have followed more fluidly. The timescale is very short taking place over about a month and this was kinda jarring in my opinion where I just wanted it to move on a bit more. However, it also read as rather fast paced despite this which was weird - I guess you are mostly intrigued and due to the writing’s simplicity you can get through it quickly. There weren’t that many take-away messages for me, or at least rehashing ones I’ve read before, but there was sort of sense that grief can come in many ways. Two quotes I liked best were:
‘…feeling homesick, not for a place but for a time. Timesick.’ And
‘today is here, tomorrow is pretty likely, besides that, it's all just what if.’
I also don’t know if people would actually talk or act in certain ways to be honest, it’s not that logical in parts.

Now to the characters. They were somewhat developed but most relatively one dimensional. Julian was for sure my favourite character - and not just because he was gay - as he was a great friend, funny, dealt with his own issues but emerged stronger and just an all around lovely person. The rest, inc MC Lenny, were nuanced cases mostly. Her mum, dad and sister I guess I liked but yh I dunno. Lenny definitely did stuff that made me be like ‘agh why???’ But like before you need to put these in the context of what she was going through. She was the most developed but I don’t know if I’d say I necessarily liked her. The others at school, the hospital, diner, elsewhere were Yhh alright. Dr Ganesh was another character I did like, he was very positive, friendly, funny at times - albeit with a seasoning of cringe.

Overall, it was a good book and I mostly enjoyed it. I’d only recommend it if you want to read it really, it’s not one I’d shout about. So Yhh… alright, not great but not terrible.

[Becs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an emotional, erratic (and slightly reminiscent of Bridget Jones if she was young and had a poorly dad) rollercoaster. Eleanor, or Lenny to you and me, is going through a lot right now. Her dad has rectal cancer, his doctor is super cute and she's SURE he fancies her (he so doesn't but she royally embarrasses herself regardless as all of us have done in our time! Bad memories!) and her best friend is leaving town. So how does she cope? She doesn't really. She makes a bit of a mess, along a slightly destructive path, and all whilst making lots of lists. Even before all of this Lenny was a list maker, but now her lists of how stuff in the World might someday be the cause of our eventual doom have become a coping mechanism for her.

This might be an incredibly sad topic (expect plenty of tear jerker moments), but this is actually a pretty humorous book. Lenny is so funny, very silly and does a lot of things I think we've all done and regretted years later! It almost feels like a nostalgic read to be honest. It is sometimes quite a rushed narrative, and by this I mean that Lenny almost has a super fast, rushed pace of narrating, but it makes her all the more likeable. It can be a little confusing at times, but it's worth it.

On a more sensitive note, this book deals very compassionately with cancer, and how people manage together to deal with such an overwhelming diagnosis. This will be close to home for many readers, but the author certainly nails what it feels like to be utterly helpless but entirely determined to find some way, any way, to help your loved one. I can't explain how perfectly they capture, through Lenny, how someone might feel during those moments.

A likeable character, a painfully honest representation of what it feels to swim against the tide when faced with the imminent death of someone you love, but also an overwhelmingly heart warming and positive message at the end. Lenny is a goofball, but she's a goofball in a position nobody would wish upon anyone, and her story is worth a read.

ARC provided free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Marisa Goldsborough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Hot Key Books for so kindly providing an advanced copy of “All the Ways the World Can End” by Abbey Sher for an honest review.

I loved it. A raw, honest, beautiful, heart wrenching read.

I was initially drawn in by the beautiful cover and then the description – and I’m glad I was! Having never previously heard of Abbey Sher I didn’t know what to expect….

Achingly sad but beautiful too; this is a delightful, poignant read about friendship and family facing terminal illness. I thought it was really impressive how Sher so smoothly centred the story around Lenny and her best friend Julian whilst so cleverly including the struggles and stories of all the family. By the end of the novel you feel so close to them all; like you really know them.

Lenny is pretty messed up for sure and I’ve seen some criticism about her anxiety and possible OCD not being ‘addressed.’ I didn’t feel this at all and only reflected on this after finishing the book and seeing other reviews on Goodreads.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I feel like Sher made the right call here. I think the book felt so much more real because of it. I felt like I’d literally opened the pages and landed right in the midst of what the family are going through and experiencing. In so many ways what came before and what comes after doesn’t matter in the end.

Lenny is all the more remarkable for getting through this because of that. In reality many of us struggle with underlying anxiety/depression and many develop ‘OCD-like’ coping mechanisms. I think this novel is an insightful reflection on how real families, with real people and real issues deal with the devastation of cancer.

“Tomorrow is pretty likely. Besides that, it’s all just ‘What if?’”

I found myself laughing out loud or literally cringing at the loopy behaviour of Lenny. Seriously though, we’ve all been there as teenagers! At the end though you love her, how could you not? Also, talking of endings; hats off to Abbey who handled the ending of the book just perfectly. (Tears happened).

I’d definitely recommend this book. Thanks again to Hot Key Press and NetGalley.

[Gayle Cappelluti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lenny's dad has rectal cancer and his prognosis is not good. Her mom is a high powered attorney who works long hours.. Her sister, Emma is living a typical student's life away at college. That leaves Lenny to take care of her dad, to keep him company, to accompany him to appointments, and generally to make sure he is okay. She doesn't mind having this awesome responsibility as she and her dad are very close. However, she cannot deal with the possibility of his death. She cannot lose him; it cannot be true.
Lenny is juggling too many balls high in the air. On top of completing her senior year at high school, dancing in a school production for which her dear friend, Julian, is the choreographer, she must also come to accept the fact that her best and closest friend is planning to move away to attend school in California. She is also very busy with her obsession with all the ways the world can end, an obsession that is the foundation for a thorough, detailed list. She is also compiling her running list of weird diseases, while handling her crush on her father's doctor. After all, it seems to her more than likely that the feeling is mutual. With all of these worries plaguing her mind, she finds she can think of little else but finding a way, a treatment, a medicine that will save her father's life. There is just so very much for her to think about! How can everything be ending, and also beginning at the same time?
Lenny is a deeply caring character with a heart of gold. She's the character who decides to buy her favorite restaurant's fish tank when she learns they plan to discard the tank and the decrepit lobster that tank holds. She cares so much, so deeply. How will such a soft and loving heart come to terms with the impending death of her dear father? At times funny, at other times sad, All the Ways the World Can End will show you how Lenny comes to terms with such a difficult fact of life. while it gets you to care as well.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's odd that some other reviewers found this book's protagonist to be self-absorbed and the plot to be dull. I couldn't disagree more. To my way of thinking, sixteen-year-old Lenny (Eleanor Rosenthal-Hermann) is behaving much as might be expected when someone realizes that his/her beloved father is terminally ill. Of course, Lenny grasps at straws and the hope offered by resident Dr. Ganesh, and she makes several embarrassing decisions, even denying just how ill her father is and withdrawing from her best friend, Julian. It's clear from the start that it won't be easy for Lenny once Julian leaves for college and other changes in her life take place. Like many others before her, Lenny keeps track of all the ways the world might come to an end, but in the end, there isn't a lot she or anyone else can do about those doomsday scenarios so she might as well seize the day and enjoy what it has to offer instead of sitting frozen in place, afraid to move in case something bad might happen. One of my favorite scenes occurs at the very end of the book as they watch the waves roll in and out and Lenny's father reassures her that the tide may be going out, but it will come back. This is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of coping with illness and death and all the things that are out of our control. Sometimes our coping mechanisms aren't the best choices, but in the end, we do the best we can do. In Lenny's case, her self-harm through repeated punches to her head were frightening and dangerous but allowed her to feel comfortably numb for a brief period. I wish the author had explored that behavior a bit more, but I still finished the book, moved by Lenny's experiences and how each family member tried to deal with this approaching death in different ways.

[Becca shybookstagramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This was a rough read given that it is a book all about a character's dad having cancer and how she is coping/not coping with it. It's a hard topic to deal with, but I'm sad to say that I just didn't feel for it like I thought I would. Given the fact that I have gone through a relative close to me actively dying of cancer, I feel like it should have affected me a lot more than it did. The only time I actually felt a very strong sadness was the last 2 pages of the book. I almost didn't even get there because I thought about DNFing this one many times. I do also think that this book was trying to be humorous around this dark topic and it just didn’t work for me.
At the beginning of the book, as characters are introduced, there is a lot of desorption about past encounters with these characters. I get that they need to set up how the main character knows them and their relationships, but it seemed to go a bit overboard. Once the characters were all introduced, it stepped away from that and got a little less overwhelming in that sense.
Something I did like about this book was the inclusion of explanations/descriptions of the many ways the world can end at the beginning of each chapter. They all seemed to correspond to something that occurred in the chapter following it. I did like that aspect since making a list of the ways the world can die is something the main character does. So these are from her own personal research.
Overall, I was not a huge fan of this book. I do kinda of wish I had DNFed it but I'm also glad I didn’t because those last 2 pages did give me some feels. Was it worth it? For me I'm not sure.

Content warning: cancer, mentions of past drug abuse, self harm, scars, anxiety, mental health, OCD type behaviors, medical content

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sher, Abby All The Ways The World Can End, 301 pages. Farrar Straus Giroux (Macmillan), 2017. $17.99. Language: R (21 swears, 2 “f”), Mature Content: PG-13 (death, self-harm, drinking, mild sexual references), Violence: G

Eleanor is having a difficult time accepting that her father is dying of colon cancer. She tries to put it into perspective by concluding that life is not guaranteed, and in fact, the entire human race could be wiped out in a number of catastrophic ways: mass extinction, nuclear war, pollution, supervolcano, etc. Eleanor is dealing as best as a teenager can. Her mom has little time to give. Her sister is away at college. Her one true friend, Julian, is leaving to attend an elite dance school across the country. It’s no surprise that she’s attracted to the medical resident on her dad’s team, since truly only a doctor can solve her problems.

One of the things I like about this book is the character development. It’s definitely a character book, not a plot book. First Eleanor is afraid and anxious. Then she gets her voice and fights for her dad to get in a drug trial. Then she moves toward peace and the realization that there are endings but also beginnings and you must value every second you have. Because this book has a complex main character and is more stream of thought than plot, I think it has a limited teen audience.

HS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Valerie McEnroe, Media Specialist
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