THE ONLY NIGHT LEFT BURNING

Release Date : 2024-05-28

Duration : 12 Hours 37 Mins

Publisher : Harper Audio

SYNOPSIS

This is the third novel and sequel to ALL THAT’S LEFT IN THE WORLD from Erik J. Brown, an award-winning writer based in Philadelphia. His debut Young Adult novel, ALL THAT’S LEFT IN THE WORLD, was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award, shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, and won the UK reader’s choice Books Are My Bag award.

After a long and treacherous journey south, Andrew and Jamie believe they have finally found safety in the Florida Keys. Settling into life in the Islamorada colony with other survivors of the deadly pandemic, Andrew believes they’ve finally found themselves a new family and permanent home. Jamie is not convinced and less comfortable in their new community. He is eager to return north to keep the promise they made to their friend Henri—to bring her to the colony and reunite her with her daughter. Following that, he wants nothing more than to return to his cabin to live a quiet life with Andrew.

When a hurricane hits, killing several of the settlement people, Jamie and Andrew learn of a planned betrayal to turn over Jamie to those who hunt him from Fort Carline, and are forced to leave the colony in search of new shelter. Andrew and Jamie must set aside their differences to survive once more and find a new home. As they travel north, trying to evade their pursuers, they meet another small party travelling by RV. With no choice but to trust these new companions, the entire party heads to a new settlement in North Carolina. When Jamie realizes that his Fort Caroline enemies will never stop pursuing him, he makes a decision to face them head-on, against Andrew’s wishes. As a huge rift grows between Jamie and Andrew, their paths suddenly lead in different directions, and the love and future plans they shared become in jeopardy of being forever destroyed.

REVIEW

This highly anticipated sequel to ALL THAT’S LEFT IN THE WORLD is as action-packed and exciting as its predecessor. The plot is exciting and high-stakes, with a lot of emotional intensity. Brown also paces the novel very well and does a phenomenal job balancing all the intense action with moments with heartfelt humour and compelling dialogue.

Despite all that’s going on in the post-apocalyptic world, Jamie and Andrew still face normal teenage issues, including anxiety about sexual intimacy, indecision, and difficulty talking about their emotions. The concept of found family is very prominent, being presented many different times and in different locations throughout the story. The final found family for Jamie and Andrew is the most satisfying, and the epilogue is a wonderful depiction of this.

There are a lot of new characters presented in this book, all from various walks of life, sexual orientations, ethnicities, and with compelling backstories. This definitely makes for a different read than the first novel, where the story was mostly centred around Jamie and Andrew’s journey. By the end, there are several satisfying conclusions for many of the characters, making the book quite memorable. The final epilogue, although satisfying to the overall storyline, did feel a bit rushed and could have been more compelling if it explored more potential future outcomes for Jamie and Andrew. A third book in the series seems quite unlikely, but with the popularity of the series, readers would be eager to read more.

Narrators Andrew Gibson and Barrett Leddy return to deliver more outstanding performances. Gibson’s portrayal of Jamie is more intense and emotional in this book, accurately depicting the effects of the mounting psychological stress he’s facing. Leddy’s performance of Andrew and the other characters is very entertaining and exciting, keeping listeners fully engaged throughout. Both performances are well paced and easy to follow.

This unique duology is perfectly suited for those that enjoy action-packed dystopian or post-apocalyptic stories with elements of romance and adventure. Although these books are marketed as YA, the majority of the characters, outside of Andrew and Jamie, are adults. This, coupled with the heart-pounding intensity of the action scenes, makes these books very suitable for older audiences. Overall, these books stand out among similar YA books, so don’t hesitate to give them both a read or listen!