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by Lily Braun-Arnold
Two teen girls fall in love and fight for survival in an abandoned bookstore weeks before another cataclysmic storm threatens to bring about the end of the world in this unforgettable YA debut. Perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Last of Us.
The world is about to end. Again.
Ever since the first Storm wreaked havoc on civilization as we know it, seventeen-year-old Liz Flannery has been holed up in an abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey where she used to work, trading books for supplies with the few remaining survivors. It's the one place left that feels safe to her.
Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming ... and everything changes.
Enter Maeve, a prickly and potentially dangerous out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. Though the two girls are immediately at odds, Maeve has what Liz needs—the skills to repair the dilapidated store before the next climate disaster strikes—and Liz reluctantly agrees to let her stay.
As the girls grow closer and undeniable feelings spring up between them, they realize that they face greater threats than the impending Storm. And when Maeve's secrets and Liz's inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives as their world crumbles around them.
What are you reading this week? (8/14/2025)
I have finished two books that I highly recommend. One is The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold about a dystopian time where a young girl is holed-up in an abandoned bookshop trading books for supplies with the few remaining survivors. The secon...
-Kay
"[A] poignant sapphic debut dystopia turns a suburban New Jersey bookstore into a haven for survival and romance in a world of 'death, and rot, and memories.'" —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The story contains just the right amount of action, balancing the introspective scenes, a blossoming queer romance, and a well-executed slow doomsday reveal...A beautifully realized addition to the genre." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A thoroughly original, intimate, and sometimes harrowing meditation on survival, forgiveness, and learning how to love again at the almost end of the world." —Nicola Yoon #1 New York Times bestselling author
"In a post-apocalyptic world, The Last Bookstore on Earth tells a hauntingly beautiful story of love, loss, and the raw fight for survival." —Jarrod Shusterman, New York Times bestselling author of Dry
"Hopeful, thrilling, and twisty, The Last Bookstore on Earth is the snarky sapphic dystopian of our dreams." —Jennifer Dugan, author of Some Girls Do
This information about The Last Bookstore on Earth was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lily Braun-Arnold is currently an undergraduate at Smith College studying English. When she isn't writing, she can be found working at her local independent bookstore, Watchung Booksellers, or daydreaming about living in outer space.
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