FABLE FOR THE END OF THE WORLD by Ava Reid

In Fable for the End of the World, the people run under a credit system where they use credits for things they need and earn credits through work. Even helping out a neighbor can lead to an exchange in credits or put them in your debt. The problem is, once you have reached a debt limit, you must pay with your life or the life of a relative in a live-streamed game where cybernetic "Angels" will be sent to hunt the "lamb." In the often flooded hillside town of Esopus, Inesa is a self-taught taxidermist, stuffing the last of the non-mutated creatures for the rich in the city. Her brother hunts them and brings them back for her to prepare and sell. Unbeknownst to the children, their mother has a shopping addiction and has wracked up her debt to its limit. When the corporation, Caerus, comes calling, she puts up Inesa as her "lamb." With the help of her brother, Luka, Inesa is on the run with no sleep and little to eat, simply to survive. The "Angel" after her is Melinoë, a young woman whose memories were wiped before she was given a cybernetic eye and other "upgrades" without her consent. She is the newest model, and Caerus is watching her closely. She may seem like an emotionless cyborg, but her main purpose in playing the game is not to win, but to never fail. She knows if she does, her memories will be wiped and her cybernetic eye removed before becoming a concubine to one of the many powerful business leaders of Caerus.

Without spoiling the story, I will say the world building was amazing and the characters were wonderful, even if some of them didn't start out as likeable. The enemies to lovers relationship between Inesa and Melinoë was well developed, which made the ending somewhat disappointing, even if seemingly realistic for the story. I can only hope in my mind what happened after the end of the book.