Archive · 31 Oct 2025
Maria Reva's Novel 'Endling' Explores Identity, War, and Extinction
Imagine a story about a woman named Yeva who really loves snails and wants to save the last snail of its kind.
She lives in Ukraine, and just as things get really weird with people looking for dates from other countries, war breaks out!
Yeva gets pulled into a wild adventure with two sisters who decide to kidnap some of the men looking for brides to make a point.
But then, the author of the book actually shows up inside the story, talking about her own writing worries!
It's like a story within a story, about trying to protect something precious, even when everything around you is falling apart, like a war starting.
The book asks big questions about why we do things and if we can find hope, even when we feel like the last of something.
Maria Reva's novel 'Endling' is set in Ukraine in 2022, on the verge of war.
The story follows Yeva, who dedicates her life to protecting snails, particularly the last of a species known as an 'endling'.
Yeva becomes involved with sisters Nastia and Sol in a plan to kidnap bachelors, which coincides with the declaration of war.
The novel features a metatextual element where the author, Maria Reva, appears within the narrative.
'Endling' explores themes of immigration, identity, ecological concerns, species extinction, and the chaos of war.
- Who
- Yeva, a woman dedicated to protecting snails; Nastia and Sol, sisters seeking their missing feminist activist mother; and Maria Reva, the author who appears within the narrative.
- What
- A novel that follows Yeva's life, her involvement with the sisters' plan to kidnap bachelors, and the author's metatextual intervention, all set against the backdrop of impending war.
- When
- Set in Ukraine in 2022, as the country is on the cusp of war and then as war is declared.
- Where
- Ukraine.
- Why
- The novel explores themes of the immigrant experience, identity, ecological imbalance, species extinction, and the absurdity of war.
- Book Title
- Endling
- Author
- Maria Reva
- Publisher
- Virago
- Price
- Rs 799
- Setting
- Ukraine, 2022