Endling

“Endling’s brilliance lies in Reva’s willingness to yank on the dangling thread of the unanswerable, unraveling the whole genre, only to masterfully stitch it back together again. Written in vivid, clear-eyed prose, at times both hilarious and devastating, Endling is an astonishment.”
—2025 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize Jury

“Maria Reva is heartfelt and scalding in her tour de force. . . . An urgent tale of loss, camaraderie and holding on to even the smallest of hopes.”
—BookPage (starred review)

“A thrilling ride.”
—Financial Times

“Virtuosic…Starting out as a straightforward story about a Ukrainian biologist, this witty, shape-shifting book turns into something trickier and more interesting.”
—NPR, Fresh Air

“An impressive high-wire act—one that blends the horror of the war with all the bleak and unintended absurdity it has produced in its wake.”
—The Nation

“Undoubtedly one of the best books of the year.”
—Minnesota Star Tribune

“A startling and ambitious whirlwind of a debut novel.”
—New York Times

“[A] brilliantly bizarre novel . . . The smartest thing [you’ll] read all year, but don’t forget the tissues.”
—Good Housekeeping

“Bold and blistering . . . A shape-shifting, snail-hugging, war-weary, fist-shaking blast of a book . . . It’s a rare debut novelist who can combine a seemingly random set of topics and make them cohere. Maria Reva wraps together serious subjects like war and extinction into an entertaining and meaningful book.”
—Christian Science Monitor

“Brilliant and heart-stopping…Maria Reva creates beautiful, purposeful chaos….Endling is a forceful mashup of storytelling modes that call attention to its interplay of reality and fiction — a Ukrainian tragicomedy of errors colliding with social commentary about the Russian invasion.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Remarkable….Reva tests the boundaries of storytelling with freshness and humor.”
—The Washington Post

“This work on feminist outrage, environmental destruction, and the inhumanity of war is not didactic; instead, it is a page-turning, genre-bending meta-novel as entertaining as it is gut-wrenching, whose experiments with literary form will keep readers on their toes.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“Full of suspense and humor, while never letting go of what is really happening in the lives of Ukrainian people at home and abroad…A noteworthy literary achievement and also a good story, sure to be widely discussed and enjoyed.”
—Kirkus (starred review)

“Astonishing… this inspired and urgent novel is bound to make a major splash.”
—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

“In Maria Reva’s all-around brilliant novel Endling, the fate of some snails serves as a harbinger for the fate of Ukraine. The book is funny and smart, full of science, longing and adventure, all the while reminding us what the world stands to lose, and what it has already lost. This is essential reading.”
—Ann Patchett, bestselling author of Tom Lake

“Maria Reva has gifted us a lifeline. Wild, exhilarating, heartbreaking—Endling is a tale of perseverance and survival for dark times.
—Anelise Chen, author of Clam Down: A Metamorphosis

“Ironic, sharp, and wise, this is a big (meta)fictional achievement.”
—Karan Mahajan, author of National Book Award finalist Association of Small Bombs

“Maria Reva has made a fantastic novel. It’s about so much and yet is laser focused. A scientist who funds her research with sex work, a wild and, at the same time, sensible and normal move. This novel turns corners and tables. I love works that are smarter than I am, and this is one.”
—Percival Everett, author of National Book Award winner James

“Heartbreaking, hilarious, profound, and vital, Maria Reva’s debut novel Endling is a brilliant, visceral journey that pulses with a powerful sense of urgency and relevance to our times.”
—Lara Prescott, author of The Secrets We Kept

“Maria Reva’s dazzling debut novel Endling will take you on a ride you will never forget. Into this brilliant stew of a novel the fearless Reva stirs Ukraine’s “romance tour” industry, feminist activists, a kidnapping caper, the fine science of snail conservation, the eternal mysteries of family dynamics, and Europe’s first major land war since World War II. Only a supremely talented writer could handle material like this, and Reva–who seems incapable of writing a dud sentence–shows she’s more than up to the task. Open this book, fasten your seatbelt, and brace for impact.”
—Ben Fountain, National Book Award finalist and author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk