Milo and Marcus at the End of the World is an emotional story about love in the face of it all. About religious trauma and homophobia, this book is about self-acceptance and questions. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
When Marcos moves to town, Milo is forced to acknowledge the feelings he’s kept hidden, especially from his religious parents. But as natural disasters begin to befall them the closer they become, Milo and Marcos soon begin to wonder if the universe itself is plotting against them in this young adult debut by playwright and creator of The Two Princes podcast, Kevin Christopher Snipes.
Milo Connolly has managed to survive the first three years of high school without any major disasters, so by his calculations, he’s well past due for some sort of Epic Teenage Catastrophe. Even so, all he wants his senior year is to keep his head down and fly under the radar like the quiet, well-behaved, churchgoing boy that everyone thinks he is.
Everything is going exactly as planned until the dreamy and charismatic Marcos Price saunters back into his life after a three-year absence and turns his world upside-down. Suddenly Milo is forced to confront the long-buried feelings that he’s kept hidden not only from himself but also from his deeply religious parents and community.
To make matters worse, strange things have been happening around his sleepy Florida town ever since Marcos’s return—sinkholes, blackouts, hailstorms. Mother Nature seems out of control, and the closer Milo and Marcos get, the more disasters seem to befall them.
In fact, as more and more bizarre occurrences pile up, Milo and Marcos find themselves faced with the unthinkable: Is there a larger, unseen force at play, trying to keep them apart? And if so, is their love worth risking the end of the world?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: anxiety, racism, religious trauma, homophobia, internalized homophobia, homophobic slur, hate crime
What I love about Milo and Marcus at the End of the World is the way it balances natural and disaster. The ways in which the world seems to be crumbling around them – quite literally. Because when we’re in our world we can feel like our world is ending. And this metaphor is executed perfectly. Not to mention that it’s not a metaphor, rocks are literally falling from the sky! But from a writing perspective, I cannot get over the imagery and what it means!
At the same time, Milo and Marcus at the End of the World is incredibly voice and character driven. Milo has such a unique narrative. Even the side characters immediately assert themselves in your head. In the core of this story, Milo and Marcus navigate deeply religious and homophobic parents who have made them keep pieces of themselves hidden. Yet it goes even further than that. All these options and possibilities of their lives which have changed.
Overall,
Despite it all, the inhospitable conditions, the fear of speaking out, tender feelings manage to bloom. And that, in and of itself, is one of the joys and uplifting pieces of Milo and Marcus at the End of the World. Even with the homophobia, fear of coming out, and the world maybe ending, this book also manages to explore our fears of an ending. How appropriate right? About how we are never guaranteed a happy-ever-after. And that’s just the way it woris. We have fears about what is against us, being hurt, and unable to trust.
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And sometimes what we want so desperately is right across from us, but we’re unable to cross that distance. Milo and Marcus at the End of the World is emotional from start to finish. It explores the whole spectrum of emotions even in the span of one moment. If you love stories about figuring out who we are, questioning the our own inherited biases, and searches for love you have to read this one. Find Milo and Marcus at the End of the World on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.