Review: Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

The Handmaid's Tale meets Wilder Girls in this unique, voice-driven novel from Kelly McWilliams.

Agnes loves her home of Red Creek--its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet.

Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek?

As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

Pages: 417

Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Brittney Pressley

Published By: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre:.YA ~ Dystopian

Rating:
✮✮✮

Review:

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams really intrigued me when I saw that this book was about a virus and a cult, and how Agnes essentially navigates through her new world. The synopsis sales this story as being one of faith, which if you are considering picking this book up, it has very religious aspects.

What I got was a book with a split perspectives of Agnes and Beth as they both see their world upended by realizing everything they once knew isn't how they knew it. Which necessarily isn't a bad thing, but it was very slow and drawn out. Personally, this book could have been half the length with some parts taken out and the whole plot wouldn't really have changed. I felt there was added information that was kind of fluff for a longer story, and it made it hard to really get through.

There was also this supernatural aspect about Agnes, that is written as something from God, but doesn't really feel like it has anything to do with her religion. It just kind of took a lot of what I was enjoying about the story and ruined it some for me. I'm not going to get into it much but Agnes calls it "The Prayer Space", but doesn't even pray to enter it, so I don't get the idea behind the name.

Even though there was a lot of negative feelings that I have associated with this novel, it wasn't a bad story. I liked seeing how Agnes grew as the story progressed and really found out who she was, and how her sister also really learned who she was as an individual, and there struggles really stood out to me and that's really what I loved about this book.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending. Without spoiling it, it felt like the author wanted more of a happier ending then it should have been considering, but I will digress on that. I also want to point out that there are patriarchal ideals presented by this book through the cult perspective so if that would bother you, I would probably not recommend picking this book up.

Overall, I thought it was a good book, but it definitely could have been improved upon. Something that I really wanted to say is that if you are planning on picking up this book, I highly recommend the audiobook. At the beginning of the novel, there are overlapping voices talking about stuff, and then at points during the story, people talk on walkies and it really sounds like that.

If you have read Agnes at the End of the World, let me know what you thought of the ending?