Where the World Endsby Geraldine McCaughrean
Published by Usborne Publishing
YA, historical
Every summer Quill and his friends are put ashore on a remote sea stac to hunt birds. But this summer, no one arrives to take them home.
Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they've been abandoned - cold, starving and clinging to life, in the grip of a murderous ocean. How will they survive?
Where the World Ends got me very excited when I picked it up from a lovely Fort William bookshop. I want to read more books set in Scotland, and what's better than historical novel set in the outskirts of civilisation, the furthermost island of Kilda? I couldn't think anything, so I was pretty much burning to tackle this story. However, it didn't turn out to be what I had expected.
Where the World Ends is based on a true story, when a group of boys and three men got abandoned in isolated sea stac. They were there to collect birds, to spend summer harvesting them and then to get back to Kilda in autumn. But no one came back for them, and Quill and his friends are left there to wonder what happened. Sounds chilling, which describes the book very well; chilling and story about isolation and what it can do to a person. The atmosphere of the novel was right there, remote sea stac, cruel and unforgiving nature, and people who already lived in the extreme. Not many could survive nine months stranded on a stac, but then again the islanders were survivors and used to the unforgiving nature and might of the sea.
That's where my admiration ended. The book is not badly written, although I needed a moment to get used to the writing style. However, the first half of the book was dragging and it was quite boring. The pace was off, and the mystery of why they were abandoned there is not really enough to carry through three hundred pages. First half is basically full of religious analogies and two zealous characters convincing everyone that the world has ended and God has abandoned them. If you know me, you know I tend to avoid religious themes, especially anything to do with zealousness. This was almost too much, especially as it took over the story, but I pushed through because I wanted answers. It does get better, and the last third of the story is better paced and quite enjoyable.
In the sense of isolation and seeing what it can do to a mind of young boys and few adults, this reminded me a little bit of Lord of the Flies. Not nearly as gruesome and violent, but there's the same tone - what can happen, when survival is the only thing left. That's the most interesting part of the story, and if you're intrigued by it (and don't mind overly religious ranting), then I'd recommend Where the World Ends. The setting is also unique, and I definitely want to read about the history of Kilda now, but the book itself didn't meet my expectations. Especially since the characters were not easy to identify with - I could cheer for Quill and hope he'd make it, but otherwise the author failed to make me care for the characters.
All in all, it wasn't terrible, but the last third didn't quite make up for the boring beginning.
3 of 5 stars
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