-
Access Our
Most Anticipated
Books of 2025!
Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:An engrossing and thoughtful contemporary tale that tackles faith, friendship, family, anxiety, and the potential apocalypse from Katie Henry, the acclaimed author of Heretics Anonymous.
There are many ways the world could end. A fire. A catastrophic flood. A super eruption that spews lakes of lava. Ellis Kimball has made note of all possible scenarios, and she is prepared for each one.
What she doesn't expect is meeting Hannah Marks in her therapist's waiting room. Hannah calls their meeting fate. After all, Ellis is scared about the end of the world; Hannah knows when it's going to happen.
Despite Ellis's anxiety—about what others think of her, about what she's doing wrong, about the safety of her loved ones—the two girls become friends. But time is ticking down, and as Ellis tries to help Hannah decipher the details of her doomsday premonition, their search for answers only raises more questions.
When does it happen? Who will believe them? And how do you prepare for the end of the world when it feels like your life is just getting started?
Three elements help the novel stand out among other recent young adult releases about mental illness: Ellis's survivalist knowledge, her Mormon religion and the author's detailed depiction of the Oakland/Bay Area setting. The book's conclusion is both satisfying and open-ended, if a bit too neat...continued
Full Review
(604 words)
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by Catherine M Andronik).
Ellis Kimball in Let's Call It a Doomsday is ready for the apocalypse, whatever form it takes. Would you be prepared? Most of the population of the United States lives in a place where some kind of natural disaster is possible, be it tornado, hurricane, flood, drought, blizzard or earthquake. As soon as the radio or television stations announce an impending event, people race to the nearest market and clear the shelves of water, batteries and nonperishable food items like canned goods. But a small percentage of people do not need to participate in this rush; they already have a stash of what they will need to survive for days, even weeks, without electricity or running water. Ellis takes her preparation seriously, accumulating things like ...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
If you liked Let's Call It a Doomsday, try these:
by Mindy McGinnis
Published 2025
From award-winning author Mindy McGinnis comes a mesmerizing YA psychological mystery following a teen girl who is grappling with the death of her brother as she starts a new job in the caverns of Ohio—only to become the number one suspect in her coworker's murder. Perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Kathleen Glasgow.
by Jeff Garvin
Published 2021
A quirky and heartfelt coming-of-age story about a teen girl with bipolar II who signs her failed magician father up to perform his legendary but failed illusion on live TV in order to make enough money to pay for the medications they need - from the author of Symptoms of Being Human. Perfect for fans of Adi Alsaid, David Arnold, and Arvin Ahmadi.
