The Last Bookstore on Earth: The New York Times Bestselling Tale of Queer Romance and Dystopian Survival - Softcover

Braun-Arnold, Lily

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241701554 ISBN 13: 9780241701553

Publisher: Penguin, 2025

Synopsis

The instant New York Times bestseller. A heartbreaking and high-stakes story of queer love and survival set against the backdrop of a climate change apocalypse, this book is Station Eleven and The Last of Us meets All That’s Left in the World.

The world is about to end. Again.

It’s been a year since a devastating storm ripped Liz’s world apart. Haunted by the memories of those she couldn’t save, Liz holes up in the only place she felt safe before her world fell away: the bookstore where she used to work. Now she spends her days trading books for supplies and collecting stories from the remaining survivors who pass by.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering storm is coming . . . and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a spiky out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. When Maeve’s secrets and Liz’s inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives and asking themselves one big question.

As the end of the world approaches, is there time for one final love story?

‘A thoroughly original, intimate and sometimes harrowing meditation on survival, forgiveness and learning how to love again at the almost end of the world’ Nicola Yoon, New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star

‘Hopeful, thrilling, and twisty, The Last Bookstore on Earth is the snarky sapphic dystopian of our dreams’ Jennifer Dugan, author of Some Girls Do

‘Hauntingly beautiful’ Jarrod Shusterman, New York Times bestselling author of Dry

'I was hooked from the first page' Jenny Ireland, award-winning author of The First Move and The Boy Next Door

'A slow-burn sapphic romance plays out against the challenges of apocalyptic life in a reflective, poignant take on climate dystopia' Observer

'Vivid' Publishers Weekly

'Stellar' Kirkus

About this title

About the Author

Lily Braun-Arnold is nineteen years old. She is a sophomore at Smith College and works at her own local independent bookstore in New Jersey. The Last Bookstore on Earth is her debut novel.

From the Back Cover

The instant New York Times bestseller. A heartbreaking and high-stakes story of queer love and survival set against the backdrop of a climate change apocalypse, this book is Station Eleven and The Last of Us meets All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown.

The world is about to end. Again.

It's been a year since a devastating storm ripped Liz's world apart. Haunted by the memories of those she couldn't save, Liz is holed up in the only place she felt safe before her world fell away: the bookstore where she used to work. Now she spends her days trading books for supplies and collecting stories from the remaining survivors who pass by.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming... and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a spiky out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. When Maeve's secrets and Liz's inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives and asking themselves one big question.

As the end of the world approaches, is there time for one final love story?

Reviews:

'A thoroughly original, intimate and sometimes harrowing meditation on survival, forgiveness and learning how to love again at the almost end of the world' #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon

'Hopeful, thrilling, and twisty, The Last Bookstore on Earth is the snarky sapphic dystopian of our dreams' Jennifer Dugan, author of Some Girls Do

'A hauntingly beautiful story of love, loss and the raw fight for survival' Jarrod Shusterman New York Times Bestselling author of Dry

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241701554
• ISBN 13: 9780241701553
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320