Review: 'The Beauty of the End' by Lauren Stienstra

Imagine an alternative version of our world in which humanity discovered that its own extinction was encoded in its DNA. How would our lives look? How would we think of our own bodies? How much control would we have over our own futures? The Beauty of the End by Lauren Stienstra is a very ambitious novel. While I'm not entirely sold on the execution, I think there are interesting questions being asked her. Thanks to Little A and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 01/04/2025
Publisher: Little A

In this provocative work of speculative fiction, two sisters navigate the complex moral terrain of reproductive ethics, individual freedoms, and society’s duty to a future facing imminent extinction.

Charlie Tannehill and her twin sister, Maggie, are just eight years old when an unfortunate scientific discovery upends their world—and the world order. The revelation? Extinction, encoded in every creature’s DNA. The expiration date for humans? Only four generations away.

A decade later, unsure of what tomorrow holds, Charlie and Maggie enroll as counselors in a government-run human-husbandry program. By offering cash rewards for reproduction, they hope to forestall humanity’s decline and discover a genetic mutation that might defeat it. While Charlie struggles with the ethical implications of the work, Maggie makes unspeakable sacrifices to improve her odds of success—but such unchecked ambition could come at a greater cost than even she realizes.

Torn between her own morality, her love for her sister, and the pressures of a vanishing civilization, Charlie must search deep within to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice—for herself, for Maggie, and for society—to salvage hope for the whole of humankind.

Bodily autonomy is one of those topics that can shift a conversation into a surprising number of directions. For some, like me, it is a major element of our belief in a right to abortion, a key cornerstone in feminist arguments. I imagine it is also an important topic in the trans community and in conversations around disability. However, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it has become a talking point on the right side of the political spectrum as well, with people arguing for their right to not mask or get vaccinated. I had all of this and more in mind when I began reading The Beauty of the End by Lauren Stienstra. The alternate version of our world which she creates is one in which the body suddenly becomes both a threat and a potential salvation. If the cure against human extinction is hidden in your eggs, womb, or genes, do you have the right to deny humanity that salvation in favour of body autonomy? If humanity requires you to have children (as some right-wingers are already arguing), how do you justify being childless? And where does the line lie between "saving humanity" and eugenics, messing with the genes of future generations for your own sake? As I said, heavy topics. Stienstra used to work for the US government and it is clear she has done research and extensive thinking on these themes. For me, personally, I don't know if her writing is strong enough yet to fully wield these heavy themes in a way that feels consistently intentional.

Charlie and Maggie are twins from Marshallese parents, now adopted into a suburban, working class family. Their lives are largely normal, until the news begin to affect them directly. It turns out most humans only have a few generations left in their DNA, meaning the extinction of humanity is on the horizon unless a scientific breakthrough happens. Charlie and Maggie become part of the Mendelia, who are trying for this breakthrough through a form of human-husbandry, matching up interesting genetic adaptations in the hope of changing humanity's fate. While Maggie has fully bought in, Charlie is skeptical, unsure of where this is all heading. This all comes to a head in various dramatic ways, ending with Charlie having to find a path between remaining loyal to her sister, sticking to her own ideals, and, perhaps, saving humanity. The Beauty of the End is told entirely through Charlie's perspective and covers a period of roughly fourteen years, I think, from ages 8 to somewhere around 22. I have to say the timeline isn't super clear to me. The early childhood years, up until maturity pass pretty quickly, with us mainly getting an insight into important events and decisions. I did enjoy the world-building in these early chapters, which looked at some of the immediate fall-out of the extinction becoming known. But there is a speed to this, as well as the more detailed years after Maggie and Charlie turn 18, which made it hard for me to keep track. Unfortunately Charlie was a tad annoying to me, which perhaps is also caused by the sheer effervescence and intelligence that is given to Maggie. Charlie doubts everything but she makes no choices and it is hard to truly engage with a character who is so removed, for most of the novel at least, from taking any action.

For a debut novel I think the aim and thought behind The Beauty of the End is impressive. Stienstra clearly went into the novel with ideas she wanted to discuss and explore in this alternate version of our own world. As I said above though, I wasn't always convinced she was fully in control of the messaging. Of course there is the chance that some of the things I picked up and thought "yikes" about were intended that way, in which case Stienstra messages successfully, but I am not sure about that. I went into The Beauty of the End expecting a novel which would deal, intensely, with the pressure of having children many women experience, but in a heightened way due to its dystopian-esque setting. While this theme is a part of the novel, it isn't really at its heart. Instead, The Beauty of the End focuses much of its energy on considering medical overreach, the cruelty of adoption malpractices, the push and pull between siblings, a love story that made me roll my eyes a bit, and something of a revenge plot. All of these are interesting themes worthy of discussion, but they just don't come together into something that felt fully cohesive to me. Especially the last third or so of the novel felt a little gross to me, which might just be me and my childless self, but it didn't feel entirely in keeping with what I thought the book wanted to say. For those who have medical trauma or trauma regarding birthing, I'd probably not recommend this book. For those looking for a real deep dive into the themes mentioned before, I also am not entirely sure it is the one, although it is sure to ask some questions you'll be thinking about! I would be intrigued to see what Lauren Stienstra does next, though.

I give this novel...

2 Universes!

I was very intrigued reading The Beauty of the End, despite in the end not being fully sold by it. I wanted to know where Lauren Stienstra would guide us and yet by the end I felt a little betrayed by my guide. It almost felt like an attempt at social commentary wrapped in a dystopian YA suspense jacket and that is, as Suzanne Collins proves consistently, a very difficult balance to strike.