The Only Light Left Burning

By: Erik J. Brown

Narrated by: Andrew Gibson, Barrett Leddy

Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

What If It's Us meets They Both Die at the End in this sequel to the beloved postapocalyptic queer YA adventure romance All That's Left in the World by USA Today bestselling author Erik J. Brown.

Perfect for fans of Adam Silvera, Alex London, and Heartstopper by Alice Oseman.

After a long and treacherous journey south, Andrew and Jamie have finally found safety in the Florida Keys. But they soon learn that safety doesn't always mean happily ever after.

Settling into life in the Islamorada colony with other survivors of the bug, Andrew believes they've finally found themselves a home, even a family. But anxious Jamie is less comfortable in their new community and is eager to return north to keep the promise they made to their friend Henri—to bring her to the colony and reunite her with her daughter. Besides, would it really be so bad to find someplace just for the two of them?

When a hurricane and a shocking betrayal force them to leave the colony in search of new shelter, it brings their tensions to a head—and puts them in the path of some old enemies. Andrew and Jamie must set aside their differences to survive once more and find a new home. But what if "home" means different things to each of them?

©2024 Erik J. Brown (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Awesome sequel!!

Spoilers kinda
I loved this book… honestly I think I might like it more than the 1st one. All the different characters were great additions. It was serious and funny. Rocky horror was definitely one of my favorite characters and I’m so glad he got a happy ending.

Andrew is so clumsy I can’t believe he got hurt again lol.

The complexity of Andrew and Jamie’s character was elaborated on and I’m glad everything turned out how it did. Especially for Jamie’s sake.

I’m glad it didn’t got into detail about their sex life. They are minors for f’s sake. They are happy and together at the end so what do you think happened?? Gosh

CRYING

The story was amazing and I am so sad it's over, but it was amazing.

Favorite of 2024!

I have been beyond excited for this book….. and let me tell you! It didn’t let me down. No doubt in my mind that it is one of my favorite books of 2024!

Great Second Book!

I loved this story - it has it all: adventure, romance, drama. There is great post-apocalyptic representation too.

Apocalypse Gays

I love this genre so much now thanks to this series. these characters grew on me really quickly

A perfect conclusion

Only gripe is we probably don’t get a third book with Jamie and Andrew as the main characters.

Believability is the issue, but the narrator is amazing

The Narrator is capable of immitating any voice be it Andrew, Jamie or any female character. Further they don't sound the same, they are all destrinctive and their emotions are really well imitated. Therefore the narrator is the saving grace of this tale.

When it comes to the story itself, its worth listening to, but its not believable, not in the slightest. Which is a huge shame, seeing as the characters are well written and the last story was both believavle and quite amazing.

This time without spoiling the story, you can expect incredibly illogical behavior by the characters which sometimes feels forced to create drama and sometimes feels like its a poor attempt by the author to set themselves in the shoes of the character. The thing is, if you've just had your hand mauled by an alligator and you're in incredible pain and your hand is becoming septic. Add to this that you suffered this injury to save a small child. You're definitely not in the mood for changing his peed through pants with your intact hand days later. If the child was being like "No i want you to do it" odds are I'd have evil thoughts about throwing the child over the side of the truck or that I'd at least say no. I get that the character is supposed to be kind, but noone, and i repeat noone would do that when the child has said neither thank you, nor done nothing but complain, put everyone in danger and peed his pants for the intire story.

Later the child complains about his toy "bobo" which got blood smeared over it from the inhured guy whom tried to save him. Firstof all, why did anyone care about the toy while being in a life treatening situation with someone you loved bleeding out and screaming in pain? Why did they later think it was sweet that the child seemed to care more about bobo than the man whom saved him, even resorting to put gauze on the bloodied spot on this toy?! It makes zero senseand it annoys the ever living stuffing out of me. And it's these sorts of things that remind me the book is a book, not a real thing and the characters i love and know are just words on a page.

That said, while moments like these are common, the mistakes the characters

Love to LGBTQIA+ Rep

I’m non-binary/ace spec and love romance stories. (Because I’m lonely-) I loved it <3 all the drama and oh the sad deaths to the lovey doves moments!

Amazing ending to an amazing story

What I continue to love about this author is their captivating storytelling style. Having both points of view of the two main characters at the same time creates a dynamic where you can't help but be totally engrossed and enamored with what's going on in their lives. You also want to scream at them at the same time. You hear both sides of their story and want to just be like, "Talk to each other, gosh darnnit!" But you can 100% understand how and why they are feeling the way they do and end up in the situations they find themselves in.

The story is so relatable that it draws you in, and it's also so fun and engaging that it makes it hard to put down. This love story conquers themes of young adulthood, overcoming trauma, growing into oneself, and persevering through tough times in a relationship. These themes are really complex and sophisticated, yet told through a lens that's very digestible to almost any reader. It's done in a way that makes you appreciate not only the story but also your own situation, your own life, and the world around us—even when the world is shitty sometimes and makes you want to scream. It makes you still appreciate the bigger picture.

I know this is the last book in the series, and I think Eric J. Brown did a really nice job of finishing the story and giving us an amazing way to put an end to it. It allowed us, as readers, to feel like we got some closure on the storylines. The characters were developed in a way that felt fulfilling and complete.

Family Friendly Gay Post Apocalyptic Adventure/Romance

I really enjoyed listening to this sequel (and the first book too). Good story, lots of descriptions let me watch the story in my mind. Plenty of angst, evil people, lovable people and humor.
I hope this author is prolific!