Louis E. Swanson

This is one future I never want to see happen, just the thought of it alone is a very bleak, unbearably sad way of life. The complete and utter ban on everything fictional. A life with no books, not even children’s books.

All are banned, with all books from before burnt to ashes, destroyed, never to be seen or read ever again.

Most of us are lucky enough to have been read to as a child, building inside us a love of stories and books that have stayed with us through to adulthood.

My Nan encouraged my love of books, reading to me on every weekend visit and even though I was young, I still remember the complete joy I would get from just sitting on her lap, or next to her at her kitchen table, listening to her tell me stories and it is a memory I will always treasure. That, and as I got older I would sneak into the living room and read the books on her shelf that I wasn’t deemed old enough for, such as James Herbert, which started my love of horror stories!
So to take that away from a child is criminal, let alone adults! Thank god this book is just fictional!

Just from reading part one of this book it had already fired me up! And I am pretty sure this book is going to hit plenty more than just me in the ‘feels’ department!

Ok, so now I have now finished all of the book after stopping at the end of part one to have my rant about a future with no fiction, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be the only one left feeling like that! And be warned, this book hits you with several powerful emotions on top of that one!

Is it to early in the year to put a book forward for ‘Book of the Year’? I have a really strong feeling this book will at the very least be a top contender! Described on Amazon as “The most original thriller you'll read this year with a twist you won't see coming”, they’ve certainly summed it up extremely well, because boy-oh-boy is the twist one you will never see coming but it will also blow you away.

It’s one of the best twists in a book I’ve truly and utterly been surprised by for a very long time!

End of Story is due to be published on the 23 Mar 2023 and it is available to preorder now from your local bookstore or from the link below

A huge thank you to the author Louise Swanson, publishers Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for my digital and audio advance copy of this book.… (más)

Imagine a life in which fiction is banned. You're not allowed to read it, write it, tell bedtime stories to your children. The only thing you can read is non-fiction, but when everything is being manipulated how do you even know what is fact and what is not?

The premise for Louise Swanson's book, End of Story, is a shocking one, especially for a book lover. There were times that I was able to imagine all too well how it would feel to have my beloved books taken away from me, such is the power of the writing in this book. Fern Dostoy, the main character, was a renowned author, a prize-winning one, and she had had her writing, and everything else, taken from her. Living in a soulless house and working a joyless job, her only glimpses of joy now are her exchanges with the Fine-Fayre tea seller and with Hunter, a young boy to whom she reads bedtime stories via a banned phone service.

I don't generally go for dystopian fiction but I knew from this author's books as Louise Beech that there was very likely to be a strong emotional element and it was here in spades. Swanson puts us right there in a world only slightly in the future but in which so much has changed (it reminded me how fast technology is evolving). There is a lot lying beneath the surface of this book just waiting to be discovered and it's very cleverly plotted with elements I really didn't expect.

End of Story is a book full of dangerous situations and the consequences of defying the rules, but it's also a book of grief and loss. This is not a fast-paced thriller but a unique and inventive novel in which the insidious horror of Fern's situation snakes its way into your psyche and doesn't let go. I doubt I will forget this book in a hurry, both for the terrifying menace and for the last section which turns everything on its head.… (más)