End of Story
By Louise Swanson
Blurb
Too much imagination can be a dangerous thing
It's the year 2035 and fiction has been banned by the government for five years. Writing novels is a crime. Reading fairytales to children is punishable by law.
Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.
But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding? And who can be trusted?
Our Review
"If you tell a story well enough, it's true."
End of Story was every bookworm's worst nightmare. It is 2035 and the government have banned all fictions. Writing novels is a crime and reading fairytales to children is a punishable offence.
Fern Dostoy is a former author who has been forced to retrain as a hospital cleaner. Officially she is towing the line but in secret she is writing about her new situation in her notebook and volunteering on a secret helpline reading bedtime stories to desperate children, including a young boy named Hunter.
As the story progresses it becomes clear that there is more to Hunter than meets the eye and that maybe not everyone in her life can be trusted.
This book was an a fantastic nightmare. From the beginning it felt unbearably sad, and there were many times towards the ends where I ended up in tears.
"One day the goverment will have their way though. With fiction no longer being printed - and with every physical paperback being hunted, surrended, destroyed - our words are dying."
"Reading aloud to children stimulates their imagination. It soothes them. Helps them understood the world.This is an indisputable fact. If it's fiction all the better. The warmth, safety and joy created by snuggling up with your child and giving them an imaginary world can never be underestimated."
End of Story has a massive 1984 vibe which I loved, and enough real life detail to aid the reader in believing this reality could exist.
"But towards the end of the twenties, the goverment grew afraid of their power. They were turbulent times with a major world pandemic, climate change, crippling recession, the growth of extremism in politics, oppression of minority groups and hard-won disability and BAME rights being cancelled. An avalanche of novels addressed these themes through fiction."
The Big Four books all sounded right up my street, especially Technological Amazingness.
An excellent read.
"When they each began to read, tears filled my eyes. The voice is different when it reads. The words are different when lifted from the pages. The ear holds its breath when a story is told."
Our Final Rating...
Read & Shared 8 Times.
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