The End of Everything: Book summary and reviews of The End of Everything by Megan Abbott

The End of Everything

A Novel

by Megan Abbott

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott X
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
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About this book

Book Summary

Thirteen-year old Lizzie Hood and her next door neighbor Evie Verver are inseparable. They are best friends who swap bathing suits and field-hockey sticks, and share everything that's happened to them. Together they live in the shadow of Evie's glamorous older sister Dusty, who provides a window on the exotic, intoxicating possibilities of their own teenage horizons. To Lizzie, the Verver household, presided over by Evie's big-hearted father, is the world's most perfect place.

And then, one afternoon, Evie disappears. The only clue: a maroon sedan Lizzie spotted driving past the two girls earlier in the day. As a rabid, giddy panic spreads through the Midwestern suburban community, everyone looks to Lizzie for answers. Was Evie unhappy, troubled, upset? Had she mentioned being followed? Would she have gotten into the car of a stranger?

Lizzie takes up her own furtive pursuit of the truth, prowling nights through backyards, peering through windows, pushing herself to the dark center of Evie's world. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power at the center of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secrets and lies that make her wonder if she knew her best friend at all.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Abbott (Bury Me Deep) expertly captures the nuances of lost innocence and childhood friendships, without ever losing an undercurrent of menace." - Publishers Weekly

"Explanatory monologues weaken the closing chapters; nevertheless, Abbott, well-known as a hard-edged noir author... has crafted a unique mystery lush with sensory details." - Booklist

"Edgar Award winner Abbott... offers a fascinating twist on the coming-of-age story, blending a tale of young women just discovering their sexuality with suspense and plenty of plot twists." - Library Journal

"A tangled tale that is more provocative than illuminating." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about The End of Everything 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.

Reader Reviews

Write your own review

Louise J

Enjoyable
Lizzie’s own pain is palpable and you can’t help but feel like transposing yourself into the pages of the story to help her look and walk the streets hand-in-hand. Her focus on the one man she thinks took Evie almost becomes all consuming to her and she remembers the car and knows it is his.

This was an enjoyable yet sad in a good way read and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I wish I could tell you the ending of the story but you’d all scream at me if I did that!

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Author Information

Megan Abbott Author Biography

Megan Abbott is the Edgar-winning author of the novels Beware the Woman, The Turnout, Give Me Your Hand, You Will Know Me, The Fever, Dare Me, The End of Everything, Bury Me Deep, Queenpin, The Song Is You and Die a Little.

Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salon, the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and The Believer. Her stories have appeared in multiple collections, including the Best American Mystery Stories of 2014 and 2016.

Her work has won or been nominated for the CWA Steel Dagger, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and five Edgar awards. Formerly a staff writer on HBO's David Simon show, The Deuce, she is now co-creator, executive producer and show-runner of Dare Me, based upon her novel, for ...

... Full Biography
Link to Megan Abbott's Website

Other books by Megan Abbott at BookBrowse
  • The Turnout jacket

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