Between the Lines: REVIEW: Ruin of the World (World Without End #4) By, Nazarea Andrews

When the zombies rose, we thought the world ended.

It didn’t—it just broke, in a way we couldn’t fix. And we found ways to continue, reasons to fight.

Faith. Family. Politics. Obsession. The most dangerous of all—hope.

But when all of that is stripped away, and nothing remains but rage and betrayal—that is the true end of the world.

Return to the World Without End, for a final battle for hope and survival in the exciting conclusion to Nazarea Andrews’ phenomenal series.

Review

**WARNING**

This is the fourth and final book in the series, so if you haven’t read the first three read them and then check out my other review J

There is something about the World Without End series that sucks you in and doesn’t let you go. Both of the characters are complex and amazing. They have their frustrating moments, their awful moments, and their beautiful moments. If Finn and Nurrin don’t completely win you over the story will. It’s a story about survival in a time where there is no hope for anyone to see the next morning. It’s action packed and full of the feels that you can’t help but love. This series is probably one of my favorites, with that being said I can’t help but feel a little let down with the ending.

“I don’t know how to move on from this. I don’t know how to let go of the only thing that matters.”

When we left off The Priest was willing to do anything to bring Finn back to the east and he does. Nurrin was bitten and now he has no choice. The opening of the book seems to be a month or so into their fight to take back the east. Finn has his own group and he is only willing to stay as long as Nurrin is ok. Nurrin is now living with the disease she never wanted. While the antidote is working The Priest left out a few very important details and now they are both stuck. Ren and Finn cannot trust anyone and Finn is going to have to face history that he wanted to keep in the past.

“For a moment, I’m a world away, on my back in a bed and the entire world is Finn O’Malley, his hard body braced over mine as he moved inside me, and whispered my name like I was the only thing in the world. That tiny slice of eternity, I could believe it was true, could believe he wanted nothing more than me.”

Finn has always been a complex character. One that has many secrets even from us as the reader. I feel like in this installment we get to see more of a vulnerable side to Finn. He has to deal with so much more than he was ready for. We finally get to see him open up to Ren about his mom, his family, and even a little bit about Kelsey. He finally sees that one thing really does matter and he is that one person for Ren. Nurrin wants nothing more than to save Finn from going back into the east. He lost everything there once and she doesn’t want to be the reason he loses the only thing left, his life. Ren has gone through such a transformation in this series. Her character arc is ending but she got there. She is still the snarky badass she was in the first three books but there is more to her now. She realizes there is more to living than running and fighting the hordes. Ren has to come to her own conclusions about Finn in this book. Ren finally needs to admit that he is all she wants.

“But every person has a story. Every single one of us has a personal apocalypse, and that- that is the true cost of the disease.”

Ren and Finn’s romance has always been a complicated one and in this installment it’s no different. They both move and dodge the problem that’s between them. Ren doesn’t want to be a replacement Kelsey and Finn doesn’t want to lose another person. While it’s complicated I definitely love their romance. It’s a romance that is the result of the times and heartache they are living in. I don’t feel like everything came to a head for them. We finally moved past the ghost of Kelsey but we never got any time for them to actually acknowledge their feelings to each other. They barley acknowledge their feelings in their narration. I was hoping that we would get more from their relationship with this being their last book. But what we did get made me extremely happy. For most of the previous books I wasn’t really sure if Finn was only interested in Ren because of the resemblance to Kelsey but in this book we finally get the reassurance I have been looking for. Finn was always a great character but seeing his deadly and more vulnerable side toward Ren sealed the deal.

“She’s gorgeous and so fucking deadly. And mine. “How could you not?” I ask. “He looks at Park the way I look at you.” Her eyes go wide, and for a moment, I think she’ll respond. That everything between us will finally be acknowledged. We hear the gunfire first.”

This installment in the story was just as action packed as the others. Finn and Ren are in the most dangerous part of the United States and what they find there they never expected. Survivors never left the East and they don’t want more people to cross that invisible line. The zombies are finally dormant and the survivors are willing to do anything to make sure that they stay that way. There were so many new things being introduced that I had a hard time letting go. There were parts of this story that I wish we had spent more time in. Some parts felt rushed and not completely flushed out. We met new people that I would have liked to get to know more as well for so many reasons. The first three books focused on the action, violence, and even the politics of this world and this last installment was different. We got the action, and even the violence, but we also got emotion and even more growth from the characters.

“Why do the important ones never realize it? He lives for you. And he keeps the peace between your people and ours. He is the reason Sylvia will help the West. And if you had died on that bridge, he would have too. Finn won’t exist long or well in this world without you.”

I loved this series and it is going to be hard to let it go. The characters are some of my favorites. Finn and Ren buried themselves in my heart and I don’t want to see them go. I still have so many questions and its kind of disappointing the way we are leaving their story. Nazarea Andrews said she might come back to this world but not Finn and Ren. I truly believe their story isn’t complete and I hope she changes her mind. The writing as always was flawless. There were so many feels my heart almost couldn’t take it. If you love apocalypse, survival, and zombies with emotions and tons of feels…this series is definitely for you.

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