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Top reviews from the United States

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Greg Andree

surreal comedy at the edge of the apocalypse

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2018

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This is my favorite of Shaun Hutchinson's books, and I've t loved the others - especially his realistic novels that swerve into surrealism. WE ARE THE ANTS, and AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE are brilliant, and thoughtful, and full of dark humor. THE APOCALYPSE OF ELENA MENDOZA are all those things, except instead of dark humor, this book seems lighter. More hopeful. More comedy than dramedy, if that makes sense. The f/f romance is rom-com light and funny, and that's not easy to do when your title character is at the center of the end of the world, and hold the future of humanity in her hands. It's also amazing in that this is a comedy about the apocalypse, which in no way trivializes the end of the world.

I will insta-buy every book from this author forevermore.

This book AHHHHHH

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2018

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I read about this book and I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. I thought I'd like this book maybe give it a 3.4 star rating and then move on with my life. However once I picked this book up AHHHHHH I DEVOURED IT. So this book is about Elena Mendoza a girl born of a virgin mother and working at a Starbucks. Shes an outcast because of the fact that she was born of a virgin and is constantly taunted because of it. Her life completely alters when on that same day at Starbucks a boy who she doesn't know shoots a girl she has a crush on......and Elena HEALS HER because the Starbucks logo tells her to. Gahhh this book is so unqiue and special. It's my first book that I've read by Shaun Hutchinson and I can promise you I'll be reading everything he writes from now on. This book was incredible. From the characters to the plot, to the moral aspects of life from religion, to death, to alternate world's, to issues with politics everything is laid out in these pages. It was incredible I could just talk about it all day but I'm just going to leave at this. Read this book. It'll change you.

Ray

Trigger warning: Suicide, gun violence.

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2018

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I loved the LGBTQIA representation in this book, as well as the diversity. It is a very unique YA novel. I didn't enjoy how long it was and it was also very repetitive.

Debra McManus

A brilliant read about life and choice

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2018

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I loved this book, it was original, thoughtful and beautifully written. I think you should give it a try.

Jessica Danowski

Miracles

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2018

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of reading, but the books haven’t been grabbing and holding my attention, and always left me wanting more. Then I saw a BookTuber that was raving about how excited she was to read The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza. She showed her ARC and talked all about the premise of the book and I know immediately that I had to read it. I had never read anything by Shaun David Hutchinson before, but now I definitely know I need to read more of his work.
Hutchinson doesn’t take long to get into the action of the book and the pace doesn’t slow down until it’s over. In the beginning, we met Elena and she explains all about how she was born of a virgin birth. She works at Starbucks and on the day, she is going to finally talk to her crush Freddie everything goes downhill. See, Freddie gets shot by David Combs and Elena heals Freddie and saves her life. At the same time a beam of light comes down from the sky and David Combs disappears. Coincidence? I’ll never tell… You need to read the book to find out.
The characters were phenomenal and relatable. I don’t have anything directly in common with any of the characters, but I loved them so much. They were quirky, genuine, and loveable. The character development throughout the book helped to move the story along and unravel all the pieces. Each of the characters were critical to the story in their own way. They didn’t always seem like they were playing a roll, but it was mandatory for each of them to be there. Each character also learned a lesson which is amazing to see in YA fiction, as I feel it’s something that seems to be lacking lately.
Shaun David Hutchinson is an absolutely amazing writer and the way he weaves a story with the written word makes your want to curl up in his books and become one of his characters. His writing style is delightful, thought provoking, and engaging. I can’t wait to read more of his books and look forward to seeing what the future holds for such a talented individual.

Amy

I felt delighted to have such a serious theme come in a ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2018

THE APOCALYPSE OF ELENA MENDOZA is about the power and choice that young people have, even when they don't realize they have it. But it's also about a girl born of virgin birth who hears voices in inanimate objects and finds out she can cause miracles. I felt delighted to have such a serious theme come in a package so strange and delightfully wrapped. And now I know what a talking stuffed baby Cthulhu sounds like.

The characters here are fun to travel with - they are well-textured even if they are super YA tropey (Mean Girl, Crush Object, Best Friend Sidekick, Deadbeat Stepdad). My copy is post-it noted up with passages I want to return to at some point to examine a little further.

My one critique is that this book is deliberative over plot-oriented. It reminds me of those meditative walking labyrinths -- that feeling of swirling around decisions you have to/should/must make. I’m not sure that’s in the book’s detriment. Rather, I think it puts an upper boundary on the kind of teen reader who will find this book rewarding and accessible. Teen readers who want more plot twists are going to be disappointment.

This book is also a strong post-election readalike to A.S. King's GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE.

Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer

More of a 3.5 rating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2018

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I think it's perhaps more of a 3.5 rating, but I've decided to round-up purely because I appreciated the bi representation.

I'm really struggling with my thoughts about this book... I keep going back and forth. I want to love it...
- Definitely thought-provoking (although it was nothing really new, personally)
- As I got to the last 100 or so pages, I found myself a little irritated at the repetitiveness, so it started to lag a bit.

Kristel Vergara

As peculiar as I usually like my books to be

Reviewed in Italy on September 23, 2018

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I was so into the story that I didn't even realize the book was over when I reached that last part. Why did it end that way?? I want more and more and more!!

It was different, and it made you think. I was so happy about the cameos of Hutchinson's other books' characters. I almost cried when Henry appeared! I miss Henry every time I find myself thinking about We Are the Ants; it’s one of my favorite books.

This book can be officially declared peculiar. Elena was born from parthenogenesis; that can be explained scientifically, but her let’s say weird situation doesn’t stop to a virgin birth, because Elena hear voices from the siren of Starbucks to a My Little Pony, telling her she has the power to heal people, and she should do it, or else the world is going to end. That’s a little too much responsibility for a young girl struggling with a massive crush and trying to avoid bullies.

The first person Elena healed, that one first miracle that put in motion the apocalypse, was a girl named Freddie and Elena has a huge crush on her. Freddie is certainly not the person Elena thought she was and getting to know her is going to put her patience to test. It put MY patient to test, but then I got to know her and the reasons behind her hard façade and I ended up liking her.

With the end of world, people disappearing all over the world, her love life being a total mess, and the voices being very insisting, Elena doesn’t really know what to do. She is set on finding out why Freddie was shot like that would make her understand why the world is ending. Why does finding the reason is that important? Elena is trying to avoid the real problem!! Elena is like a lot of us.

I really liked this book. Like all of this author’s books, there are serious issues being portrayed and analyzed. I found that this had the right amount of serious and peculiar, just the amount that I usually love. Elena is a nice main character, she isn’t without flaw, often irritating, but you just cheer for her to be able to save the world, get the girl, be happy with her bff and family. Easy, right?

Not the lightest of reads, but neither one of the hardest. I enjoyed it and I recommend it. This author needs to have more love from readers all around the world.

Mr. M. Lloyd

A Great Apocalypse

Reviewed in Australia on October 6, 2019

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The problem with being special is that it polarizes your friends and even family. For Elena, the bisexual heroine, the swirling power of the voices and her own friends make the decision to save the world more difficult and interesting than you would expect.
Well-written and compulsive reading from Shaun David Hutchinson!

Kindle Customer

A solid story

Reviewed in Australia on March 14, 2018

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This story is worth the read. The romance is managed well, by virtue of not getting carried away with itself. Elena's struggles with herself and her voices provide the backbone of the story, while it is the characters and their choices that add colour and make this book worth the time.

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