The end of the world happens on a Monday before noon, when one moment people are going about their normal business, then abruptly, all human life ceases to exist. Teachers and students collapse in school hallways, cars on the street crash into each other and into buildings, bodies lay in the aisles at grocery stores, and some people never step foot outside of (or into) their homes again. Now imagine any sixteen-year-old being the only human being left after this event. Happy Doomsday.

Our story focuses on the lives of three teenagers – all ironically suicidal – in different locations in the United States, when everyone around them drops dead where they stand. Dev, who has Asperger’s, was hiding away from bullying classmates. Lucy, a goth girl, was alone in trying to figure out what to do about her unplanned pregnancy. And then there’s “Marcus” (real name Mohammad), a Muslim quarterback who had become susceptible to the radicalization of online terrorist groups. As expected, each of these individuals handles the situation differently.

The new world is a wasteland of death and the unpleasant yet inevitable odors that come with it. What happens to all of the decomposing bodies? What happens to the farm animals, zoo animals, those left in pet stores, and domesticated fur-babies that no longer have anyone to care for them? David Sosnowski’s version of a post-apocalyptic story is unique in this regard – he addresses these scenarios that tend to be glossed over this particular genre. And it isn’t pretty.

Our three survivors don’t meet until towards the end of the book, but Dev’s specialized interest in mechanics, survivalist scenarios (convenient for his ability to carry on in this world) and his need to maintain a strict routine helps to keep most of the story moving. Some readers might argue that he is the only fascinating character in Happy Doomsday; Marcus and Lucy tend to get on each other’s nerves (and sometimes the readers’), even though they develop a sexual relationship. Overall, they don’t grow much as characters, despite the dramatic extermination of the human population surrounding them.

Sosnowski’s style of writing was tricky at times – he tends to build up to a particular issue the characters may have to face, and then jumps to the characters dealing with it, without telling the event itself. It’s kind of like you find a recipe for a cake, collect ingredients, then all of a sudden you’re eating the cake. But once you get used to that – in addition to snide remarks towards Republicans and violence within the animal kingdom – you might enjoy the comedic yet realistic take on a common theme.

Happy Doomsday is not action-packed, and the characters are not profound. But there’s something intriguing about the only human life left on Earth consisting of three suicidal teenagers with nothing in common, and large herds of animals becoming a new and serious threat. At the very least, you want to know what happens to them at the end of the book.

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