Episode 019: All That’s Left In The World
“Jamie and Andrew are strangers. And two of the last people left alive. After a catastrophic event wipes out most of the population, Jamie finds himself alone in a cabin in the woods.
He’s learned to fear other desperate survivors, but when he meets the injured Andrew, Jamie is compelled to help. as they step out into this strange new world together, their friendship begins to feel like something more…
Jamie and Andrew are hoping for safety, for shelter, for community. But ahead of them is a perilous journey through a world torn apart. They don’t know what they’ll find out there … but they may just find each other.”
This is Erik’s debut young adult novel and it was even named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and received a starred review from Kirkus.
This week we are reviewing “All That’s Left in the World” by Erik J. Brown, a book with a post apocalyptic setting where two boys run into each other and start to develop feelings for each other. I decided on this book for the episode since it feels like the world is already in that post-apocalypse setting when I read the news some days, and so having some queerness at the end of the world felt quite appropriate for October.
You can either listen to the podcast above, or you can read below for a majority of the transcript of the podcast! Now as always, our discussion will begin with a brief summary of the book followed by spoiler free thoughts and feelings. This will be followed by an in-depth discussion of some of the key plot points that occurred and we will then finish off with my overall rating of the book and a heads up about what we are looking at next time. If you have not had a chance to read All That’s Left In The World and don’t want to hear any spoilers, then please feel free to skip the detailed section and listen to it afterwards if you so wish.
The book’s chapters actually alternate between our two main characters of Jamison and Andrew, with each chapter letting you know whose point of view you will be reading from. It’s quite an interesting choice as it allows us to get more than one perspective on events as they unfold, but it also allows us to understand what each character is feeling for each other as we progress during their journey. And this is played off brilliantly as it means we get to know what is going on internally with each character about key aspects of the book well before they talk to each other about these things.
The story itself is fairly familiar for those that are fans of the post-apocalypse genre, where our protagonists are trying to survive in a world that has fallen apart, and need to make a journey to rumoured safety. So in some sense this is a very typical story, apart from the fact that this time there is a main focus on a member of the LGBTQ+ community, which does provide a refreshing lens to look through the post apocalypse through.
In terms of representation, both characters' sexuality is handled very well. Andrew is totally confident with his gayness and so it’s a really positive representation of queer youth, and he obviously highlights the common fears any queer person would have in the apocalypse; accidentally outing yourself to relative strangers, getting kicked out of safe places due to your sexuality, or even noticing when the ‘new society’ is clearly fueled by the white, hetronormative ideal. Meanwhile, Jamie’s questioning of his own sexuality is handled quite well and never feels rushed in how that develops either. It’s a really respectful way in how it is handled and presented throughout the book.
Finally, I just want to say a massive thanks to the map at the start of the book, giving a rough show of the stops on their journey with all the key places pointed out across the different states. As someone that has no grasp of American geography, it was referred to a lot during my reading to understand what states they were talking about and exactly what distance between the last point we were talking about. I don’t think it ruins the journey of the story either since it isn’t listed as a stop 1, 2, 3 sort of map, but merely points to all the key places and it's only through reading the book you understand what the journey is.
Final Feelings and Recommendation
Now who would I recommend this to? Well if you are a fan of stories in a dystopian or post-apocalyptic setting, or for stories of boy meets boy and there is a slow realisation of how much they mean to each other, you will feel right at home with this book. Obviously the world has just dealt with the covid-19 pandemic, so if having to read about another illness that caused the world to collapse is too much for you right now, then I would maybe pass on this for now until you feel ready to read about such things again.
In terms of rating, I am going to give this story a strong 9 out of 10. I am a fan of dystopian fiction and although it didn’t revitalise the genre with anything too out of the box, it was great to see traditional genre beats being focused through a queer lens.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, just a reminder that at this point, I will be going into a more detailed analysis of the book which means there will be spoilers! If you haven’t managed to read All That’s Left In The World yet and you don’t want anything spoiled, then this is your last chance to avoid the discussion. Or you can go ahead and close the page, go read the book and then come back afterwards to finish reading. I promise I won’t mind. Still here? Well then, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The book kicks off with us meeting Andrew and getting an introduction to the state of the world that we are joining in at. Clearly a humorous soul, he is a bit down on his luck since he was recently caught in a bear trap and his leg is fairly messed up just now. But lo and behold there is a cabin in the woods to be found, and although he is rightly suspicious, beggars can’t be choosers in this situation.
Meanwhile in the cabin we have Jamieson, or Jamie as he likes to be called, who is doing a stock take now that he is all alone, having previously lost his mother while they were hiding out here. He hears the door going and so there is a bit of a stand-off before Andrew finally gives up, sinking to the floor and saying either shoot him or help him. It’s such a sad thing that Andrew has been through so much already that he is willing to face the bullet, but thankfully for him Jamie is a kind soul who decides to help this other boy.
Jamie tends to Andrew's leg the best he can, and although they are tense around each other for a while, they realise the other is going to kill them and settle into a comfortable routine. It will take time to heal and so we have a chance for a friendship to strike up between them along with a domestic routine on how they spend their evenings. It really does make it feel like a natural progression to how their relationship will develop over the course of the book as we see how comfortable they get with each other.
Yet Jamie does at one point find an address Andrew has, but doesn’t decide to pry on why he needs to go there, and Andrew is fretting about missing a deadline but is also now conflicted on leaving Jamie. But even though Jamie has hot water and electricity in the cabin, gold standard for apocalypse living by the way, Andrew needs to go down South as there are rumours of the EU coming in the summer to help, as well as having another place he needs to get to before that deadline.
It’s really funny slash sad to hear about what happened in this book compared to real life when facing a global pandemic like COVID-19. The fact the US didn’t bother to lockdown in this book totally makes sense considering the last few years of foolish anti-science sentiments, but also the hilarity that the book version of the UK went into a full lockdown with closed borders. Maybe the shit show that is the Tory party wasn’t in charge of the UK in this fictional scenario, as no way they would put the good of the country that far on their priority list in real life.
But this is the apocalypse people and that means we can’t have nice things for long and the choice will be made for both boys soon enough. It starts one day when Jamie spots several cigarette butts near the shed and wonders who has been watching, and then on another trip out for supplies at Home Depot he hears other survivors who have clearly banded together. Obviously since the world has collapsed it must be a terrifying time to know if strangers are a threat to your own supplies and how do you keep yourself and others around you safe.
So on the sixth week of living together, we finally have Howard and his crew of raiders hold the boys at gunpoint, demanding their supplies. Although Jamie stands between the threat and Andrew, the boys are clearly outmatched and so the raiders take most of their food, leaving enough for a week to show some kindness I guess. And one of them secretly confirms this is more performance than anything else in a way to push them to join with them in a few days time. Not sure if it's the best tactic to win friends, but desperate times I guess.
In the morning after, Jamie goes out by himself to try and hunt something so they can start to ensure they have enough food past the next week. But while doing so he starts to wonder why he put himself between the guns and Andrew yesterday, obviously the start of some reflections on what this new person in his life means to him. And as he stumbles across a deer, he again faces his inability to really shoot another creature which is a major development point for him during the book.
Upon coming back to the cabin, it seems Andrew has left a note to say sorry he is going, it’s not Jamie's job to look after him. Obviously Andrew hasn’t made it super far on a fucked up leg and crutches yet, the world was not very accessible before the apocalypse let alone after it. But when he hears something fast approaching him, he hides under a car to let it pass before he realises Jamie has come after him and so he breaks cover and calls out to him. Seems like it’s gonna be two boys on the road now as they figure out what they mean to each other!
We get some other stops along the way, but eventually they get to DC after going through a partially flooded tunnel. Here Jamie is very aware that Andrew keeps directing towards Alexandria without actually saying why they are going there, so he tries to gently push to be told but doesn’t directly ask since he trusts Andrew. But during all their talking as they pass through DC, they are taken by surprise by an old lady with a gun to their backs.
However Henri quickly introduces herself when she figures out these two kids are alright, and takes them back to her bunker for the night. She gives them food, a place to sleep, and even gives Andrew some advice to tell Jamie the truth since she can see they care deeply about each other. And in the morning they are on their way, with Henri choosing to stay where she is.
Unfortunately it's not long before the boys have another threat to face where they end up getting separated, with Andrew waiting for hours before coming to the sad realisation Jamie has died saving him. He soldiers on alone to his address in Alexandria, where it turns out Jamie has survived and waited for him to show up since he remembered this street when he originally found the note. We get a lovely but tearful reunion and through all they have been through together, Andrew is finally at the point where he trusts Jamie enough to tell him of what has been driving him to come here all this time.
It’s all to do with a couple that tried to rob him as he slept and which ended up in him accidentally killing them. Andrew has taken it upon himself to bear the burden of telling their kids and grandkids about their fate, but as they go to the house Jamie holds his hand and acts as the biggest of emotional support possible, even if internally he is also having an internal panic about whether to kiss Andrew. Sadly though, all the family has passed away and so all they can do is bury the family and move on.
So with another stopping point crossed off on their journey, they head along to the airport to prepare for the EU arriving in a few days. But when there they stumble across some kids who let them know that even Europe and other parts of the world collapsed and so nobody is coming. Thus meaning the whole trip South has been a bust, but rather than giving into despair, they decide to continue down to Florida to see if they can find out what happened to Henri’s daughter to at least do something for her in return for her kindness.
On their trip there, they see fireworks for the fourth of July and decide to maybe introduce themselves, which is how we end up meeting the less than ideal situation at Fort Caroline. On their introductory tour, both of them start to notice the lack of diversity of the people there, with it being mainly able-bodied, young, white people. Sufficient to say, neither boy really wants to live in the white supremacy collection, especially Andrew who gets the feeling that sexuality may also be a big pushback. And as soon as they are alone again they both let the other know how they feel about getting the fuck out of there.
Back at the hotel their stuff has already been taken by the city. But after a quick conversation with the receptionist Cara, including asking her to help them plan a way to leave and get to Florida Keyes, the boys split to go and get food and weapons back as part of the system without drawing attention. And that very night they are out of there!
While Jamie is deep in thought around whether he does want to kiss Andrew and what this means, since he has had plenty of girlfriends before so maybe he is bisexual but he also has the fear of not wanting to ruin his one good friendship at the end of the world, they stumble across a river. Since it's been a hot summer’s journey down, they go for a skinnydip and just as they are about to have a moment when they get really close to one another, Harvey and a buddy from Fort Caroline ruin the whole thing by showing up after having tracked em down. After a tense standoff, Harvey gets shot in the face and his friend manages to escape to let the rest of Fort Caroline know what’s happened.
The next few days are understandably hard as Jamie processes the fact he has killed someone and his new feelings of being ready to kill to keep Andrew safe. But soon they stumble upon Cara, as it turns out she had been planning to escape for a while and so, although tense at first due to Jamie being distrustful, the three develop a rhythm together and continue on their journey.
One night at the campfire, Andrew goes off to pee while Cara then tells Jamie she knows he loves Andrew, and that it is a mutual feeling, again giving us another character that can clearly see the boys like each other. She tells him to tell Andrew before making herself scarce. Yet when Andrew comes back, it's tied up as more people from Fort Caroline have found them and are now planning on what needs to be done with both boys for the murder they committed. It’s really bittersweet as while these boys are facing down death, they admit how they feel to each other and share their first kiss! Even they think about how unfair it is that their first time is ruined by the fact it was at the brink of gunpoint.
Cara saves the day, attacking from the woods and it means both boys can escape before the majority of Fort Caroline people decide it’s no longer worth it and choose to head home. However it’s not all plain sailing now as it turns out Jamie has been shot, and so Cara runs off to try and find more medical supplies for him. Cause like fuck are we having it where our boys confess their love for each other to then end up with a bury your gays trope!
Andrew and Cara do what they can but unfortunately infections in the post-apocalyptic world are never that easy to deal with, so they are against the clock to get down to Islamorada in time to hopefully find help. After a bit of a stand off at the gate keeping the community safe, they can enter. In the end, Jamie recovers and they both find Henri’s daughter alive and well with her child, so they let her know about her mum. There is a mariana and so while they wait out the bad weather season, they plan the trip back up the country to go and get Henri.
The final ponderings in the book are whether or not Andrew and Jamie will stay with the settlement in Islamorada or if they will choose to split once they get to Henri’s and she is being taken back. Although maybe slightly bleak in some sense, it also feels fairly believable since they have both been through a lot, it would be hard to trust people in the apocalypse, and eventually communities are going to need to start talking to one another to rebuild society. But it leaves it on this cliffhanger, which is very clever as I am left wanting more and really wanting to know what the future holds for Andre and Jamie!