This Is Where It Ends
The reviews are in! This Is Where It Ends, the #1 New York Times bestseller and one of the Best Books of the Decade (Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, BookRiot), "could break you." "I am speechless." "The saddest book I have ever read." "Literally tore my heart out."
Go inside a heartbreaking fictional school shooting, minute-by-terrifying-minute. Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun...
10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03 a.m.: The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05 a.m.: Someone starts shooting.
Over the course of 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun. In a world where violence in schools is at an all-time high and school shootings are a horrifyingly common reality for teenagers, This Is Where It Ends is a rallying cry to end the gun violence epidemic for good.
Praise for This Is Where It Ends:
- A Buzzfeed Best Young Adult Book of the Decade
- A Paste Magazine Best Teen Book of the Decade
- A Book Riot Biggest YA Book of the Decade
- A Professional Book Nerds Best Book of the Decade
- A Bustle.com Most-Anticipated YA Novel
- A Goodreads YA Best Books Pick
- A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Young Adult Fiction
- Kids Indie Next List Pick
"Marieke Nijkamp's brutal, powerful fictional account of a school shooting is important in its timeliness." --Bustle.com
"A gritty, emotional, and suspenseful read and although fictionalized, it reflects on a problematic and harrowing issue across the nation." --Buzzfeed
"A compelling, brutal story of an unfortunately all-too familiar situation: a school shooting. Nijkamp portrays the events thoughtfully, recounting fifty-four intense minutes of bravery, love, and loss." --BookRiot
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Community Reviews
My Thoughts
This is one book that instantly climbed to the top of the I DON'T KNOW HOW TO TALK ABOUT THIS list.
It's not a book you want to say is awful - because it captures so much emotion and touches so many. You don't want to say "I liked it" - because you may feel awful about liking a book that is so emotionally devastating and reverberated with many.
This Is Where It Ends has been on my mind since finishing. It has its high points that's for sure, but it does have its low points as well. But the fact of the matter is, it stuck with me because like I said, I can't stop thinking about it.
It was a fast read, considering I finished it within hours. It captivates you from page one, introducing to all the characters and POVs. Ms. Nijkamp's writing captures all the right emotions from each person and slowly reveals how each character is wrapped up in one another. The downside to this was my inability for full investment. (more on that later) Also, I didn't care for the flash backs. I know what the intent was, but for me, it put a pause on everything else that was going, and added this layer of disconnect. It was like a constant buffer or cushion from the blow, and what I needed to feel was the full impact.
While a large part me liked the multiple POV, it was at times, overkill. Again, I see the intent, and the emotions were THERE but all the voices sounded similar to me, leaving me confused and frustrated at times. I wont give advice as to HOW to write a book, because I am not a writer. But I do feel that a 3rd person narrator would have went a long way. For me, anyway.
That being said, the events that unfold are just heart wrenching and hard to read. Especially since those events have been REAL LIFE for people all over the world. It's just.. heartbreaking.
All in all - I did enjoy reading it. It has left its mark, which is probably what the intention was.
I received this book for free from The Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I was hesitant going into this one because of the subject matter and everything that is going on right now.
I really enjoyed the beginning of the novel, getting to know everyone, but i felt all of the female voices seemed to blend together.
When the shooting started happening, i was genuinely terrified. It felt so real. Ty was just so horrifying and he was just randomly shooting people towards the end. I hated how Autumn kept trying to figure out what was going on in his head. like to me, he's obviously just a psycho, just because he's your brother, it doesnt mean anything.
The most heartbreaking thing that happened in the entire novel was when Autumn is no longer going to be able to dance BECAUSE OF TY. HE SHOT HER KNEE.
Also Sylvia made me so mad. I hated the part when she was like "i was protecting autumn" BY NOT TELLING ANYONE OR HER THAT HE RAPED HER. Not telling your GIRLFRIEND that you were RAPED by her brother. WHAT! it could've prevented so many things.
Overall, i felt some of the subject matter was not discussed properly. thats mainly why i gave it 3.5. but also it felt like a novel just about killing people. it was very hard for me to read.
Liking might be the wrong word for this book. It's a tough subject matter - a school shooting spree. I've only read one other book with a similar subject matter, [b: We Need to Talk About Kevin|80660|We Need to Talk About Kevin|Lionel Shriver|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1327865017s/80660.jpg|3106720], and I can't get it out of my head several years later. After reading that this occurs in a locked school gym, I pessimistically thought this would be stealing the originality from that book. It did not. We Need to Talk About Kevin is a slow build. This is Where It Ends is not. We get to the gut of the book very quickly.
Gripes? I understand some of them, but I wasn't as annoyed and certainly no where near as venomous. Minimal/no character building gripe. Shallow story gripe. Action film comparison gripe. This is not a 400 page book. This is not a slow burn. This is quick, quick, quick. The characters were written well enough that I could remember who they were, what their connections were, and I could even feel empathy for them in a short amount of time. Did I roll my eyes a couple times? Sure. But I also cried. A lot. I don't agree that the pace or seemingly one-dimensional "villian" makes the author/book insensitive to the seriousness of the topic. There is no GOOD reason for a person to go on a killing spree at their school, so stop waiting for a legitimate explanation. No conceived "reason" would satisfy everyone.
This book is sad. And scary. And something I could not put down and actually read in a single sitting.
3.5 Rounding to 4 Stars
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