The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The lower halves of seven people can be seen at the top of the cover. They are dressed in formal party wear, appear to be sat on a white bench, and have a lot of colourful confetti littered around their feet and under the bench. The person in the centre is holding a silver disco ball. Below this image, the title “This is the Way the World Ends” in large white capitals all the way to the bottom of the cover. Centre right of the cover, next to the title, the tagline “A little party never killed nobody…” in very small white capitals. Blue capitals reading “A Novel” are lower right of the cover, next to the bottom of the title. At the bottom of the cover, in the lower right corner, the author’s name “Jen Wilde” in orange capitals. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Murder
• Death
• Classism
• Ableism
• Panic Attacks
• Racism
• Drug Use
• Alcohol

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Summary:

You are cordially invited to spend one fateful night surviving an elite private school’s epic masquerade ball

As an autistic scholarship student at the prestigious Webber Academy in New York City, Waverly is used to masking to fit in—in more ways than one. While her classmates are the children of the one percent, Waverly is getting by on tutoring gigs and the generosity of the school’s charming and enigmatic dean. So when her tutoring student and resident “it girl” asks Waverly to attend the school’s annual fundraising Masquerade disguised as her, Waverly jumps at the chance—especially once she finds out that Ash, the dean’s daughter and her secret ex-girlfriend, will be there.

The Masquerade is everything Waverly dreamed of, complete with extravagant gowns, wealthy parents writing checks, and flowing champagne. Most importantly, there’s Ash. All Waverly wants to do is shed her mask and be with her, but the evening takes a sinister turn when Waverly stumbles into a secret meeting between the dean and the school’s top donors—and witnesses a brutal murder. This gala is harboring far more malevolent plots than just opening parents’ pocketbooks. Before she can escape or contact the authorities, a mysterious global blackout puts the entire party on lockdown. Waverly’s fairy tale has turned into a nightmare, and she, Ash, and her friends must navigate through a dizzying maze of freight elevators, secret passageways, and back rooms if they’re going to survive the night.

And even if they manage to escape the Masquerade, with technology wiped out all over the planet, what kind of world will they find waiting for them beyond the doors?

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Notes:

There is an audiobook.

There is an ebook. There is a kindle edition.

Here is a link to Wilde’s website.

Other works by Wilde on the archive:

• Queens of Geek

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Archivist Comments:

This summary jumped from stereotypical angsty teen mystery to sci-fi dystopia so fast??? I remember having to re-read it the first time I researched it because I was convinced I’d missed something.

People seem to think that the author is trying to do too much in too little of a space. Some reviews felt like the technology apocalypse aspect in particular was just shoehorned in and not developed enough. But despite some complaints about “forced”/token diversity, the disability representation seems to be quite well received.

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