A Glimmer of Hope in This Post-Apocalyptic Gem #barrioblues

5 stars for The End of the World Running Club. Only $1.99 on Kindle. The Audio book was also outstanding. For teachers, there are great study questions. (Now onto The Last Dog on Earth.)
======
My husband bought this book for me at a bookstore, and he could not have bought me a better gift. I also had the pleasure of reading parts of the ebook on Hoopla and listening to chunks on audio. Five stars for all the formats. Now, other reviewers have commented on how unlikeable the protagonist Ed Hill is, and yes, in the beginning of the book he is self-absorbed jerk and later gets criticized for being an unattentive father by his companions. Nevertheless, I enjoyed going on this journey with Ed and his palls through encounters with cannibals, villains, foul weather, and a bit of magical realism. I loved all the characters, especially the nasty ones like Jenny Ray, a controlling woman with dehumanizing tendencies. I loved how Ed encountered conflicts until the very end, making Ed’s journey to reunite with his family moving. I found the ending, though not a fully happy one, to be realistic and satisfying. The study guide questions at the end were also on par with questions I would ask my college composition and literature students. Overall, this book gets five stars, and I look forward to reading more of Walker’s work.

---