Vivian Apple at the End of the World

In this version of the United States, the evangelical Church of America and its leader, Beaton Frick, have become enormously popular. This book begins just before the date when Frick said the Rapture was supposed to happen.

Vivian Apple isn't a Believer the way her parents are, but she doesn't know what to think when she gets home after a Rapture party and discovers both of her parents gone, with two holes in the roof above their bed. Her parents aren't the only ones who've disappeared - other Believers are gone as well. But only a small number of them, maybe 3000, leading to confusion, panic, and fear.

At first, Vivian strives for some kind of normalcy. However, "normal" is never going to be the way it once was. The remaining Believers show more cling to the hope offered by Frick's prediction of a second Rapture, and there's still the issue of the end of the world, which Frick predicted would come several months after the first Rapture. With everything in chaos, Vivian teams up with her friend Harp and Peter, a guy she recently met who has connections to the Church of America, in an effort to find out the truth and hopefully reunite with her parents.

My copy of this is a 2015 ARC I picked up at a library conference years ago. Yes, shame on me for not getting around to it until now.

I finished this a couple days ago and am still not really sure how I feel about it. I will say this: wow, did the adults feel real to my adult reader self. Not really in a good way. When you're younger you often picture adults as being the ones who know what to do when things fall apart and you, personally, are terrified. The adults in this, though, were like a lot of the adults I know, doing their best to keep it together while probably hoping for an adultier adult to take over.

For folks like Vivian's parents, the "adultier adult" was Beaton Frick. Vivian's dad had lost his job, and during these tough times, Frick was a guy who seemed to have answers. The thing that Vivian couldn't get past was that the answers her parents were looking for didn't need to include her. When she didn't become a Believer the way they did, they left her behind emotionally...and eventually physically as well, after the Rapture. Vivian, Harp, and Peter were all teens who'd been failed by the adults in their lives - it just took Vivian longer to figure that out than it did Harp and Peter.

The whole road trip, Vivian's quest to find out what really happened during the Rapture and whether her parents were still alive - I was interested in all of that, and tense during times when Vivian, Harp, and Peter had to stop for food or gas. Most of the post-apocalyptic stories I've read have zombies or disease actively threatening the characters. Here, there were occasional disasters, but they generally weren't as direct a threat to the main characters as other people were.

This was largely a gripping read that fell apart a bit at the end. Several of the revelations strained my suspension of disbelief. It's funny, because I'd probably have been willing to roll with something more supernatural.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I started this book pretty annoyed, expecting a YA Left Behinds (Tim Lahaye) knock-off; non-believer survives the rapture only to find the light of god, yadda-yadda-yadda. I humbly apologize and admit this was so much more than that. In essence, despite its science-fiction, survivalist backdrop, it is at heart a coming of age story about a girl trying to discover herself - and the meaning of "family" - before her death. The subliminal and superliminal commentary on mass-commercialism and Big Business was all too real and close to home.

“The Rapture has been foretold for March 24th of three years hence.”

You know when you finish a really good book and you’re left speechless? You know, when you just want to hug the book and never let it go? That’s how I felt about this book.

I didn’t expect much when starting it, other than a light fluffy read. But it’s so much more than that.

From the very beginning, Vivian Apple is a very interesting heroine. She’s thrust into a situation that is completely unimaginable; the Rapture happened, and she, along with several other thousand people got left behind. How does she handle this? She’s so levelheaded even in the most difficult situation. Vivian always went into a situation thinking through her options. She is not a show more reckless and impulsive character. She’s strong when she needs to be, speaks her mind, and her whole journey is driven by her need to find answers. Vivian’s character solely evolved thanks to the Rapture, which is really interesting seeing how she changes subtly into her own.

I also love the fact that this book isn’t riddled with any of the typical YA tropes. No insta-love, no slut shaming, no Mary Sues. Instead it features a really strong female friendship between Vivian and Harper (which I’d like to add are two completely different people and still get along tremendously), a sweet, budding romance, and a lesson as to why family is so important.

There’s a sort of religious undertone to the book that really makes it better. It’s kind of a parody/comic depiction of religious obsession. It explains how the Rapture in the book came to place, and makes us all question ourselves.

Truly, this book has become one of my favorites merely because it was completely refreshing. I loved every second of reading it, and I can’t help but keep asking myself: “if the world ended, would I take it on as easily as Vivian did?” Highly recommend. show less

I couldn’t resist the idea of an Armageddon road trip and Vivian at the End of the World (originally published as Vivian Versus the Apocalypse) did not let me down--I read the book straight through because I couldn’t bear to stop. Sixteen-year-old Vivian had been on the meek side--she was the sort no one notices, including boys--but she’s not a blind follower so when natural disasters start piling up, a new religion’s prophecies predict the end of the world, her free-thinking friends are attacked by paranoid wanna-be-saved hordes, and her parents are apparently raptured away to heaven through the ceiling of their bedroom, Vivian makes the choice to chuck her passive persona, get some answers, and DO something.

That DOING show more something involves a car journey from Pittsburgh to California with her best friend and a good looking guy they’ve just met, battling weird weather extremes, rescuing a pregnant half-believing former classmate, hoping their limited money supply doesn’t run out (gas is over $13 a gallon and rising), dodging desperate converts looking earn paradise points by smiting nonbelievers, and falling in love.

This is the first book of the series and it’s full of wonderful characters I can’t wait to meet again. Though the new religion of the story is a rabidly patriotic End Times doctrine, people on all parts of the belief spectrum are ultimately treated by the author with sympathy and respect. There’s some violence and plenty of action and suspense, but the tone isn’t as grim as in The Hunger Games or Divergent--which are both series that I enjoyed, but even with the seriousness of Vivian’s situation there’s more fun in this book. For instance, Vivian’s blossoming first romance doesn’t diminish the tension, but it does allow for some witty repartee. show less

I didn't like the portrayal of a paranoid, conservative United States turning against its own people in the wake of a possible apocalypse. Because it was so well done, I felt real fear and horror for Vivian and her cohorts. The plot kept me turning the pages well into the night and the characters tugged on my heartstrings.

Extremely pretty-good. The premise is fantastic, the titular character is vividly imagined, the action is unpredictable, the story veers in mostly appealing ways from exuberant to sinister, the themes are sophisticated; but all the praises in this current sentence are qualified for me by "...for a YA novel." Unlike some other novels written with young protagonists, this one didn't for me bust out of its genre in ways that would make it as appealing to me as a GA ('Grown-Up Adult') novel on these themes would be.

When a book blurb mentions Young Adult and the end of the world you immediately picture a plot with action, violence, and the requisite love triangle. And Vivian Apple has none of these ... which makes it refreshingly different.

Vivian Apple's life changes when her parents, who are devout followers of a bizarre and popular cult, disappear on the night of the prophesied Rapture and all that is left of them are two holes in the ceiling of their bedroom. Did they ascend into heaven and leave their daughter and her friends to suffer with the rest of the sinners? Although there is a bit of a mystery and a long road trip, the main appeal for me were the descriptions of how people react when faced with the end of the world. Do you party madly, show more or do you try and toe the line and hope to get into heaven on the next round?

This book has a lot going for it - interesting premise, unusual characters, but there were parts that seemed to meander without purpose. Still entertaining and worth a read. show less