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Postscript
From Stonewall Honoree Cory McCarthy, joyful, affectionate, read-in-one-sitting novel about letting go of the things we can’t change and holding on to the passion of our instincts.
On the far side of a swift and unknowable apocalypse, a few sapiens are surviving off the last scraps of humanity. No longer recognizable as Cape Cod, the dunes of their archipelago are empty apart from regrets and ruins—until West blows in like a storm.
West is a prophet of instinct, the last amateur anthropologist, ever aware of being present in life. He can’t help but move through Ani’s rage, Karen’s anxiety, and Emil’s immense longing with curiosity and care. West’s unbridled love and grief challenge the survivors to defy extinction with the most beautifully human thing imaginable: a family.
He may even impress Death.
★ “Simultaneously tragic, existentially terrifying, heartwarming, and sensual."—Kirkus, starred review
On the far side of a swift and unknowable apocalypse, a few sapiens are surviving off the last scraps of humanity. No longer recognizable as Cape Cod, the dunes of their archipelago are empty apart from regrets and ruins—until West blows in like a storm.
West is a prophet of instinct, the last amateur anthropologist, ever aware of being present in life. He can’t help but move through Ani’s rage, Karen’s anxiety, and Emil’s immense longing with curiosity and care. West’s unbridled love and grief challenge the survivors to defy extinction with the most beautifully human thing imaginable: a family.
He may even impress Death.
★ “Simultaneously tragic, existentially terrifying, heartwarming, and sensual."—Kirkus, starred review
240 pages, Hardcover
First published February 17, 2026
About the author
Cory McCarthy
25 books381 followersCORY (previously Cori)
…earned degrees in poetry and screenwriting before falling in love with writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. They have authored four acclaimed YA novels, with a middle grade series, young adult contemporary, and nonfiction picture book forthcoming. Cory coauthored the bestselling ONCE & FUTURE, a finalist for the New England Book Award, with their spouse A.R. Capetta.
…earned degrees in poetry and screenwriting before falling in love with writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. They have authored four acclaimed YA novels, with a middle grade series, young adult contemporary, and nonfiction picture book forthcoming. Cory coauthored the bestselling ONCE & FUTURE, a finalist for the New England Book Award, with their spouse A.R. Capetta.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
November 7, 2025
ARC for review. To be published February 17, 2026.
4.3 stars
It is the Post, the name for the time after the apocalypse and very few people are left. West is sold to Emil who has a dog. Emil introduces West to Ani and Kay. These are the survivors, eking out an existence on Cape Cod. What’s the use of going on? Is it different for each person?
This short book was interesting, and haunting, and also comes with a powerful anti-gun message. Well done characters and a rich sense of place.
****Edited to add: I did not realize this was YA. Me Bing up to the full 4 stars and would really move to something like a 4.3. This is a great YA book.
4.3 stars
It is the Post, the name for the time after the apocalypse and very few people are left. West is sold to Emil who has a dog. Emil introduces West to Ani and Kay. These are the survivors, eking out an existence on Cape Cod. What’s the use of going on? Is it different for each person?
This short book was interesting, and haunting, and also comes with a powerful anti-gun message. Well done characters and a rich sense of place.
****Edited to add: I did not realize this was YA. Me Bing up to the full 4 stars and would really move to something like a 4.3. This is a great YA book.
Did Not Finish
December 3, 2025DNF @ 32%
Reading this novella felt like being at a modern art museum. I honestly had no idea what was happening and I had no idea what I was reading more than half of the time. The details, characterization, and worldbuilding were very bare minimum and you pretty much fill in the blanks.
The post-apocalyptic vibes were more like The Road than The Last of Us. So if you're a fan of the Cormac McCarthy novel, then this might work for you.
Thank you to Dutton Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this arc.
Reading this novella felt like being at a modern art museum. I honestly had no idea what was happening and I had no idea what I was reading more than half of the time. The details, characterization, and worldbuilding were very bare minimum and you pretty much fill in the blanks.
The post-apocalyptic vibes were more like The Road than The Last of Us. So if you're a fan of the Cormac McCarthy novel, then this might work for you.
Thank you to Dutton Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this arc.
August 31, 2026
Nope nope nope
March 19, 2026
In a world where the sun has disappeared and most people on earth have rotted away, a few survivors remain. West, who was in 6th grade when the world turned, is now 18 and living on a ship. His optimistic outlook changes everyone he comes into contact with, from the young captain who is just waiting out life, to the angry woman who refuses to speak to the other angry woman on the other side of the island, to the feral child they rescue.
I definitely cried while eating breakfast and reading this short and achingly lovely little book. The lyrical prose is a stark contrast to the brutality of the post-apocalyptic world, and West's ability to find beauty in everything shone through. The worldbuilding was minimal but effective. It's a bit hard to say if this would fit better in adult fiction versus young adult, because although most of the characters are adults, this does follow West's coming of age.
I definitely cried while eating breakfast and reading this short and achingly lovely little book. The lyrical prose is a stark contrast to the brutality of the post-apocalyptic world, and West's ability to find beauty in everything shone through. The worldbuilding was minimal but effective. It's a bit hard to say if this would fit better in adult fiction versus young adult, because although most of the characters are adults, this does follow West's coming of age.
March 7, 2026
A tender, heartbreaking dystopian YA novella about a ragtag group of survivors living off Cape Cod island in a post-apocalyptic world. Filled with great banter, found family, queer love and the saddest ending ever! This story made me laugh, smile and cry - really what more can you ask for in a good book?? Recommended for fans of You and me at the end of the world and They both die at the end. Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!
Read
February 20, 2026A sad, slow post-apocalyptic YA novel-- an introspective one, sorta along the lines of The Road. I wished it'd been longer because I wanted to get to know the characters more! It probably won't be for every reader, but that's okay. I listened to the audiobook and am looking forward to picking up a physical copy to flip through and see the illustrations.
March 10, 2026
Having the main character referred to as child-like and having characters treat him that way made the romantic elements of the story very off-putting. I listened to the audiobook and the voice actor definitely read the character as younger too. Maybe the physical book isn’t as bad but I couldn’t really get past it.
May 29, 2026
A beautiful post apocalyptic novella filled with banter, love, grief and sadness. I had a difficult time getting through the start of it, I had to try three times laughably, but when I got into it I ended up reading it all in less than an hour. This was such a unique read for me as I don't quite read a lot of dystopian novels.
June 18, 2026
I love a weird little book about the end of the world. A collection of almost prose poems about grieving, loving, and letting go.
October 28, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with an eARC.
This was a quick read. I definitely liked the art style and the chapter separation into different feelings each with its own illustrations. The world building was too sparse for my liking. I know that's not the intended focus of this book but when the setting is post-apocalyptic, I expect at least a little background on what and why it happened. The writing style was too juvenile and abrupt for my liking. I understand this is YA but it reads like middle-grade/early readers with extremely short disconnected sentences. I wasn't able to get very attached to the characters either but the ending did make me sad and wonder what was the point of it all. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a found family book that can be read in a setting.
This was a quick read. I definitely liked the art style and the chapter separation into different feelings each with its own illustrations. The world building was too sparse for my liking. I know that's not the intended focus of this book but when the setting is post-apocalyptic, I expect at least a little background on what and why it happened. The writing style was too juvenile and abrupt for my liking. I understand this is YA but it reads like middle-grade/early readers with extremely short disconnected sentences. I wasn't able to get very attached to the characters either but the ending did make me sad and wonder what was the point of it all. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a found family book that can be read in a setting.
June 5, 2026
This book was not written for my interests. It was weird and agitating to me.
April 3, 2026
An ethereal, emotional book about the end of the world. Just give it a go. See where the tide takes you.
March 1, 2026
thank you to NetGalley and to Penguin for the advanced digital copy.
this gem is out now.
--
postscript by cory mccarthy is the kind of book that feels less like a novel and more like a hand extended across the end of the world. man o' war is one of my favorite books of all time, so my expectations were high, and i am relieved to say that mccarthy's writing remains as lush, interesting, and carefully crafted as ever. reading this felt like watching a painter create art out of nothing, brushstroke by brushstroke, each line deliberate and alive.
the premise is spare. the world has ended in some swift and unknowable way. cape cod is no longer cape cod but an archipelago of dunes and ruins. a handful of survivors drift through what remains. and then there is west, who arrives like weather, like hope, like a question mark. he is curious, instinctive, and almost painfully open in a world that has calcified around grief and rage.
what struck me most is how little mccarthy relies on heavy description. the world building is intentionally sparse. we are not handed a detailed map of the apocalypse, nor do we get pages of explanation about what went wrong. instead, we are given feeling. atmosphere. presence. the writing gestures rather than declares, which feels exactly right. this is not a story about the mechanics of extinction but about what remains human after it.
the book is short, and part of me desperately wished it had been longer. i wanted to stay with these characters, to linger in their strange, fragile family. and yet the brevity feels purposeful. it mirrors the precariousness of their existence, the sense that nothing is guaranteed. the smallness of the text somehow amplifies the largeness of its questions.
because postscript is quietly philosophical. it asks what we cling to when the world offers no promises. it nudges at nihilism without surrendering to it. if everything has already fallen apart, what is the point of tenderness, of sex, of love, of building a family out of scraps? mccarthy does not answer this directly, but the novel itself becomes the answer. the point is instinct. the point is connection. the point is choosing to care even when extinction looms.
west, in particular, feels like a thesis in motion. he is not naive, exactly, but he is unguarded. he moves through other people’s pain with curiosity rather than fear. in another writer’s hands, that could feel cloying, but here it feels radical. there is something defiant about maintaining softness in a brutal world.
i also appreciated how the prose never becomes overwrought despite its lyricism. there is beauty in the language, yes, but it is controlled. mccarthy trusts white space, trusts implication. the result is a book that feels almost like a long poem, or a series of meditations stitched together by longing.
postscript made me think about purpose in the face of nothingness. it made me consider what it means to be human when society has dissolved. it is melancholy, yes, but also strangely joyful. it insists that even at the far edge of the world, love is still possible. and sometimes, that is enough.
this gem is out now.
--
postscript by cory mccarthy is the kind of book that feels less like a novel and more like a hand extended across the end of the world. man o' war is one of my favorite books of all time, so my expectations were high, and i am relieved to say that mccarthy's writing remains as lush, interesting, and carefully crafted as ever. reading this felt like watching a painter create art out of nothing, brushstroke by brushstroke, each line deliberate and alive.
the premise is spare. the world has ended in some swift and unknowable way. cape cod is no longer cape cod but an archipelago of dunes and ruins. a handful of survivors drift through what remains. and then there is west, who arrives like weather, like hope, like a question mark. he is curious, instinctive, and almost painfully open in a world that has calcified around grief and rage.
what struck me most is how little mccarthy relies on heavy description. the world building is intentionally sparse. we are not handed a detailed map of the apocalypse, nor do we get pages of explanation about what went wrong. instead, we are given feeling. atmosphere. presence. the writing gestures rather than declares, which feels exactly right. this is not a story about the mechanics of extinction but about what remains human after it.
the book is short, and part of me desperately wished it had been longer. i wanted to stay with these characters, to linger in their strange, fragile family. and yet the brevity feels purposeful. it mirrors the precariousness of their existence, the sense that nothing is guaranteed. the smallness of the text somehow amplifies the largeness of its questions.
because postscript is quietly philosophical. it asks what we cling to when the world offers no promises. it nudges at nihilism without surrendering to it. if everything has already fallen apart, what is the point of tenderness, of sex, of love, of building a family out of scraps? mccarthy does not answer this directly, but the novel itself becomes the answer. the point is instinct. the point is connection. the point is choosing to care even when extinction looms.
west, in particular, feels like a thesis in motion. he is not naive, exactly, but he is unguarded. he moves through other people’s pain with curiosity rather than fear. in another writer’s hands, that could feel cloying, but here it feels radical. there is something defiant about maintaining softness in a brutal world.
i also appreciated how the prose never becomes overwrought despite its lyricism. there is beauty in the language, yes, but it is controlled. mccarthy trusts white space, trusts implication. the result is a book that feels almost like a long poem, or a series of meditations stitched together by longing.
postscript made me think about purpose in the face of nothingness. it made me consider what it means to be human when society has dissolved. it is melancholy, yes, but also strangely joyful. it insists that even at the far edge of the world, love is still possible. and sometimes, that is enough.
September 25, 2025
I am so entirely lucky to have a friend who got me an eARC of this book sent to my email. I am so entirely lucky to be the first person to leave a review of this book on here.
My heart has latched onto this story so thoroughly. Postscript is found family. Postscript is humanity facing consequences. Postscript is forgiveness. Postscript is falling so deeply and tenderly in love. Postscript is holding on for dear life to old love. Postscript is reflecting on humanity's failings. Postscript is loss.
It took me a moment to get into the motion of McCarthy's writing style for this book. But even before I did, I was continuously filled with emotions. I'm sure there are some who this story won't reach and impact as deeply. Not every story made to touch every person. But Postscript is absolutely a new favorite book of mine. I cannot wait to have a physical copy to annotate in my hands.
From the characters to the post-apocalyptic setting to the natural commentary on humanity and the things we got/did wrong, all of which are things that need to be addressed and called out. I was fully committed to it all and didn't want to be done with this book.
And West.... West is such a special character. He will remain with me for a long time.
My heart has latched onto this story so thoroughly. Postscript is found family. Postscript is humanity facing consequences. Postscript is forgiveness. Postscript is falling so deeply and tenderly in love. Postscript is holding on for dear life to old love. Postscript is reflecting on humanity's failings. Postscript is loss.
It took me a moment to get into the motion of McCarthy's writing style for this book. But even before I did, I was continuously filled with emotions. I'm sure there are some who this story won't reach and impact as deeply. Not every story made to touch every person. But Postscript is absolutely a new favorite book of mine. I cannot wait to have a physical copy to annotate in my hands.
From the characters to the post-apocalyptic setting to the natural commentary on humanity and the things we got/did wrong, all of which are things that need to be addressed and called out. I was fully committed to it all and didn't want to be done with this book.
And West.... West is such a special character. He will remain with me for a long time.
February 21, 2026
A really lovely story of found family and joy in the face of devastation that I think is more adult literary fiction than YA. Publishers Weekly called it "luminous" and they're not wrong, though it's also heartbreaking and philosophical. A couple of explicit scenes place it at the upper bound of YA, while the overall narrative feels more akin to adult novels like Station Eleven.
Pair with the aforementioned Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel or The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold for other moving, character-driven stories of post-apocalyptic survivors.
My thanks to Penguin Random House for giving me access to this audiobook for review.
Pair with the aforementioned Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel or The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold for other moving, character-driven stories of post-apocalyptic survivors.
My thanks to Penguin Random House for giving me access to this audiobook for review.
July 3, 2026
4.5 stars, I really enjoyed this. West is the most golden retriever character I have ever read and he carries the most of this at times nonsensical story on his shoulders. But does the end of the world really need to make sense? Loved the writing.
Read
March 26, 2026beloiter
v. intr. to look around in a state of mild astonishment that your life is somehow still going, as if a part of you had just assumed that your allotment of days would’ve been used up by now, standing there like a player at a slot machine, perpetually surprised that your winnings continue to trickle out, but not sure what you’re supposed to do now.
- The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
- not sure how to rate this as the writing style was at times clichéd and I predicted the ending easily :/
- but it was also immensely enjoyable and I read it in one sitting!! and it compelled me to leave a review, so
- off the top of my head, it’s not really comparable to any other book I’ve read
- conceptually so cool + I loved the characters (the main two to a lesser extent but the side characters weren’t especially overshadowed)
v. intr. to look around in a state of mild astonishment that your life is somehow still going, as if a part of you had just assumed that your allotment of days would’ve been used up by now, standing there like a player at a slot machine, perpetually surprised that your winnings continue to trickle out, but not sure what you’re supposed to do now.
- The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
- not sure how to rate this as the writing style was at times clichéd and I predicted the ending easily :/
- but it was also immensely enjoyable and I read it in one sitting!! and it compelled me to leave a review, so
- off the top of my head, it’s not really comparable to any other book I’ve read
- conceptually so cool + I loved the characters (the main two to a lesser extent but the side characters weren’t especially overshadowed)
August 11, 2026
(5) I’m not really sure how to rate this one.
Vibrant and devastating, Postscript is a novella about what it means to be human in a world without. It explores the nature of humanity, learned and inherent, and the depth of meaningful connection. It was gorgeously written (but too verbose at times, and often internationally vague), in ways that carried less careful meaning as they did raw, bloodied feelings.
Grey versus Gray, and how a short story can so desperately hold human emotions in only two hundred and twenty pages.
Devastating. Beautiful. Tragic.
Vibrant and devastating, Postscript is a novella about what it means to be human in a world without. It explores the nature of humanity, learned and inherent, and the depth of meaningful connection. It was gorgeously written (but too verbose at times, and often internationally vague), in ways that carried less careful meaning as they did raw, bloodied feelings.
Grey versus Gray, and how a short story can so desperately hold human emotions in only two hundred and twenty pages.
Devastating. Beautiful. Tragic.
June 11, 2026
For starters this book was recommended to me and I don’t think I would have chosen this for myself. Overall I liked the creativity and quickness to this style of read, however the writing was at sometimes very hard to follow. It was definitely written to the style of the book, which is why I gave it 3 stars, I just personally wasn’t the biggest fan.
Read
May 12, 2026"Yo can I check my answers against yours?"
"Sure bro, just don't copy them."
"Never, bro!"
"Sure bro, just don't copy them."
"Never, bro!"
August 30, 2026
When I read the "blurb" and figured out that it was post-apocolyptic/dystopian and was set on the Cape, I was in! Having lived on the Cape, I could picture the setting extremely well. It was fascinating to think of the Cape being overrun by nature and settling back into itself. Mind-blowing to think of it split into little islands. The addition of the Mall scene was funny. The anthropology topics were interesting. The very few descriptions of sex seemed unnecessary to me, and I worry this book would be censored because of that. Others have mentioned the fact that West is described as a boy all the way through, and yet he has sex with the older Emil, which can be unsettling to the reader. Like others, I went back and forth trying to figure out the age of the two because it didn't seem right, at first. I felt like the author just threw out their ages mid-book, to calm us all down. So for those two reasons I took off a star, but overall I was very engaged in this book, and it was a super-interesting escape read. You need your imagination for this and that can be very enjoyable if you have the time. The book is short, so I would also recommend it for that reason-- an excellent escape, that makes you think, with a short enough investment of time.
April 8, 2026
Read like a poem with some great quotes
April 11, 2026
I really didn’t think this odd little story would matter much to me but here I am, emotional over the ending and all of the characters anyway. Worth the read for sure
August 28, 2026
An utterly unique story, I don't think I have read anything quite like it
April 5, 2026
What a strange little book…
October 1, 2026
can't wait to be so pissed off at my young adult book award committee again this year. i don't care what they say, this book was beautiful. realistically a 4.25 stars for me, but she's getting the whole 5 out of bitterness
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
This book was short but filled with emotion, each of the characters were so well written. The ending was rough, but it kind of tied everything together.
February 26, 2026
4.5*
Postscript is a melancholic yet beautiful take on the apocalypse. Weird sentence, sure, but let's go with it. The vibe is spot on- you can really feel the isolation, and the desperation, at the end of the world. The author does not sugar coat that things are bad, and that people can be bad, but they also can be really great too. It's all in how the characters choose to live and what they live for. The world-building is sparse, but I feel like that was kind of the point- it didn't quite matter to the characters why things got this way, they just had to live with it. There was a lot of character growth in this tiny book, and I absolutely adored the found family aspect. Main character West is wonderful, and it's impossible to not like him. He has a sort of childlike wonder that is hard to keep in tact in any time, but I imagine especially so at the end of the world. The only thing I felt a little iffy on was that West seemed quite a bit younger than Emil- was he? Perhaps not, perhaps Emil just seemed older, and maybe it doesn't quite matter when there are only a handful of people left, but I did kind of wish that was explained a bit better, mostly for my own peace of mind. But, a small gripe in an otherwise really lovely story. I could not put it down- when the synopsis tells you "read-it-in-one-sitting", it isn't lying.
Bottom Line: Heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once, this short novel packed a big punch.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Postscript is a melancholic yet beautiful take on the apocalypse. Weird sentence, sure, but let's go with it. The vibe is spot on- you can really feel the isolation, and the desperation, at the end of the world. The author does not sugar coat that things are bad, and that people can be bad, but they also can be really great too. It's all in how the characters choose to live and what they live for. The world-building is sparse, but I feel like that was kind of the point- it didn't quite matter to the characters why things got this way, they just had to live with it. There was a lot of character growth in this tiny book, and I absolutely adored the found family aspect. Main character West is wonderful, and it's impossible to not like him. He has a sort of childlike wonder that is hard to keep in tact in any time, but I imagine especially so at the end of the world. The only thing I felt a little iffy on was that West seemed quite a bit younger than Emil- was he? Perhaps not, perhaps Emil just seemed older, and maybe it doesn't quite matter when there are only a handful of people left, but I did kind of wish that was explained a bit better, mostly for my own peace of mind. But, a small gripe in an otherwise really lovely story. I could not put it down- when the synopsis tells you "read-it-in-one-sitting", it isn't lying.
Bottom Line: Heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once, this short novel packed a big punch.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
March 28, 2026
3.75
This post-apocalyptic novella is set on Cape Cod. Its protagonist, 18-year-old West, is a rare beam of warmth in a grayer, harsher world—someone whose kindness quietly transforms nearly everyone he meets.
After sailing with a man known as Captain, West is traded—along with some Benadryl—for a gun and a single bullet when they encounter another boat. The 22-year-old Emil takes West in and brings him first to Ani, a queer woman who helps nurse him back to health while speaking with the memory of her late husband, and then to Karen, a Christian woman who maintains a lighthouse and a nearby compound.
Blending themes of loss, hope, grief, and found family, this young-adult novella is enhanced by striking block-print artwork between sections, which deepens the atmosphere and emotional resonance of the story.
This post-apocalyptic novella is set on Cape Cod. Its protagonist, 18-year-old West, is a rare beam of warmth in a grayer, harsher world—someone whose kindness quietly transforms nearly everyone he meets.
After sailing with a man known as Captain, West is traded—along with some Benadryl—for a gun and a single bullet when they encounter another boat. The 22-year-old Emil takes West in and brings him first to Ani, a queer woman who helps nurse him back to health while speaking with the memory of her late husband, and then to Karen, a Christian woman who maintains a lighthouse and a nearby compound.
Blending themes of loss, hope, grief, and found family, this young-adult novella is enhanced by striking block-print artwork between sections, which deepens the atmosphere and emotional resonance of the story.
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