Things To Do Before The End Of The World by Emily Barr

Thawing of the permafrost has unleashed The Creep, a massive cloud of carbon dioxide and other toxins, and there seems to be no way to avert disaster, not just for the human race but for all life on Earth. With nine months or so left, what would you do if you knew the end of the world was coming? For seventeen year old Olivia, it's step out of her shell and become the confident person she's always wanted to be, the person she can only become when acting on stage. She's always been the shy one, the one who doesn't have many friends or go to parties with the rest of the class, but now she wants to change - if only she knew how. Above all, she wants to pluck up the courage to speak to Zoe, the girl she likes.

Then through a quirk of fate, an unknown cousin, Natasha, gets in contact, and, saying she too was once unbearably shy, takes charge of Olivia's life, setting her a series of challenges, and promising that she'll soon be that outgoing, self-assured person she wants to be. At first these are small steps, just slightly out of Olivia's comfort zone, but when Natasha shows up out of the blue on Olivia's doorstep she doesn't seem quite the supportive friend she claimed to be. More like someone who wants to cause trouble, and drag her cousin on wilder and wilder adventures. 

 In this end-of-the-world thriller, shy girl Olivia is taken under the wing of bold, brash cousin Natasha, but while Olivia accepts her cousin at face value (particularly at first), the reader knows better and that Natasha cannot be relied on. While some of me was willing Olivia on, a huge part was thinking 'DO NOT trust Natasha!'.  

It's this which made me want to hurry to the end, to rapidly turn the pages (or the e-book equivalent), to find out if Olivia saw through Natasha's fake friendliness and uncovered her plans before something went horribly wrong. And in the course of uncovering those plans, a lot of family secrets come tumbling out of the closet!

Oddly, it's the fate of Olivia and Natasha that matters more than the greater fate of the world, so if you're looking for a sci-fi armageddon story, of  scientists battling against the odds to save everyone, this isn't it. It's a story of self-discovery, of learning to step out of one's shell and embrace the world, and as importantly to not accept others at their face value.