Endling - Reva

Long listed for the 2025 Booker Prize, Ending is a playfully ironic look at environmental ruin, the business in brides and the war in Ukraine. Ending's heroine, Yeva is trying to save snails facing extinction when she meets two sisters, also involved in the romance tour business, who are kidnapping bachelors on their tours in a PR stunt to highlight the mail order bride business. In the second half, the book moves to the author's fictional avatar, who is questioning the cliche subjects of the book presented in the first half and the problem of writing about a war torn country from a place of safety. All of these strands are pulled together in a novel reviewers describe as original and satisfying, while asking the question shouldn't we help those fighting for their existence.