This Is Where It Ends

The concept of this book is interesting, the execution however...

I did not connect with any of the character. For as much information and backstory that they have, they all pretty much fell flat and did not feel like they could be real people. I did not connect with it care for any of the characters. There were some really awkward and contextually inappropriate scenes. Maybe this book just wasn't for me, but definitely one of the worst I've read in a while.

Could not put this book down. Marieke is an amazing story teller, and she tore my heart out in million pieces with this story! Tackling an important issue today, gun violence, Marieke tells the story of the students at Opportunity High, who are going through one of the most tragic things that could happen to someone - a school shooting. This story keeps you on the edge of your feet, and breaks your heart in half. A must read!

First of all, besides the fact that I did not like it as much as I thought, this book needs to be read. This subject is so important and it happens more every day. It will not help you to survive on if you ever find yourself in a situation like this, but it might help you a bit. I live in the Netherlands, and for, as far as I know, it never happened here. That did not stop my parents from telling me to lie under a dead person and cover myself with their blood to look death. It sounds terrifying and you don't want to go through something, but it does happen.

I did not like the book. I don't like multiple P.O.Vs and I did not like the flashbacks. I just wanted to read about a school shooting (okay this sounds bad) and the things the people went through (it keeps sounding worse and worse). I personally thought the whole ‘oh we went through this with that and that person' wasn't necessarily. The reason that I wanted to read this book was to read about a school shooting and, if I ever found myself in one, keep this book in mind to have a bit of help. The rest of the book was pretty good. The storyline was well written and I liked mostly all of the characters. You could tell that Marieke did some research because it all felt like there was done some research.

I do think you should read the book, besides all my complaining. The subject matters and this book is just well written!

It was always going to be difficult to find a book to follow Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, I wanted something that would have a strong story that would be engaging and yet also not an overly long ‘epic' marathon of a book. It needed to match up to the pace of the Potter play. I spotted This Is Where It Ends in a bookshop recently and reading the blurb on the back it immediately pulled in my attention.

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity 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.

I have very recently read another book about a school shooting, Steena Holmes' ‘Stillwater Rising' which I gave a moderate review to as it didn't live up to the standard of Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes, the book I've always felt made me think most deeply about such horrific events as these books seek to portray. I was keen to see how Marieke Nijkamp approached the subject matter.

Firstly this book isn't written for the adult audience but instead is aimed at a Young Adult and teen age group and where Holme's was focused upon the effects of school shootings on the adults left behind Nijkamp takes us into the heart of the event itself, inside the school through the eyes of four of the people involved as the shooting takes place. We see events through the eyes of people within the auditorium with the shooter including his sister and also two teens within the school grounds but away from the actual events as they desperately try to do what they can to help their friends and family inside the auditorium.

It is non stop action throughout, the chapters are short and snappy and within each chapter Nijkamp switches to different perspectives of different characters as they all recount their actions, emotions and observations of the events of the shooting that unfold that day. As a result it was very difficult to put this book down. You just want to know what is going to happen next, we have flashbacks interspersed into characters observations that help to flesh out the reasons why perhaps the shooter may be carrying out such a callous execution of his friends, classmates and teachers. I found it hard to stop reading, and although this isn't a hugely long book at less than 200 pages it felt like I was flying through it.

I've seen various reviews of this book, some of the more negative reviews I've seen have criticised the book for not taking time to explore the mind and reasoning of the shooter Ty, we are never granted any dialogue from his perspective. Instead he is always a third party character, observed by the other's in the book. Never do we get to break down properly what could have motivated him. Instead the reasons are reduced to him being abused by his father and the loss of his mother in a car accident. Some people have said this angered them and meant they were upset by this simplified approach. I can see their perspective and agree I would have liked even as part of the epilogue to have had a chapter from Ty's voice, talking about the message he intended to leave people as a result of the shooting, a letter found retrospectively or anything to have given this book a more rounded perspective. That is the reason why I've given only 4 and not 5 stars to this book.

It sits quite well within it's Young Adult genre and as an adult I loved it and didn't find it sugar coated the events however as a parent I'd be wary of allowing children too young to read it.

I enjoyed this book significantly more than Holmes' interpretation of the difficult subject of school shootings but on reflection I'd still say that Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult was the one that really allowed us to view the subject from all angles and left me unsettled for days after by the uncomfortable moral questions she raised about bullying, teen cliques and parenting. She covered it all. Nijkamp has done an amazing job of looking at the fear, drama and immediate responses during a shooting and it would definitely be a book I'd recommend to others as a strong book to read if you enjoyed Nineteen Minutes.

I did not love this book. Tons of action, certainly violence, but disjointed motives, and I felt emotionally flat, and skimmed a lot. Too many points of view for me to become absorbed.

Here is where I want to give the author all sorts of credit, and go to bat for her. The “cast” was diverse, and I love that. But I don't believe it was unbelievably diverse, as I've seen said in a lot of reviews. A handful of PoC and a few people who fall under the umbrella of LGBTQA+ does not seem implausible even for a small “white” school. Sometimes when people are underrepresented, when they do show up, sometimes readers or viewers are left with an inflated perceptive of how prominent they are.

a történet maga jó, segített elképzelni, milyen lehet ebben a szituációban rettegni, az elején még a szívem is a torkomban dobogott - ezért adtam három csillagot rá -, viszont a karakterek rettentő faékek. a felszínen úgy tűnik, kaptak mélységet (ez ám a megfogalmazás!), de jobban megvizsgálva kiderül, hogy egyáltalán nem így van. ráadásul több nézőpontot is kapunk, de gyakorlatilag mindegyik ugyanolyan, mind hozzáállásban, mind háttértörténetben, mind hangban. a könyv végi bemutatkozásból kiderül, hogy az írónőnek fontos a diverzitás, mégis úgy tűnik, hogy csak bábként használja ezeket a szereplőit.

kicsit olyan a this is where it ends, mintha azoknak írták volna, akik nehezen vesznek könyvet a kezükbe. a téma komoly, nagyon fontos, de a fogalmazás, a történetvezetés és pláne a karakterek (főleg a gonosz hókuszpók) szinte a végletekig leegyszerűsítettek.
kár érte.

What a terrifying story. This short glimpse into a school shooter and the kids being held hostage had me holding my breath and fighting back tears.

When my kids were in school this was a nightmare I often had as it could easily become a reality. Every day they made it home safe I could breath easier.

There was one day where I got a text from my kids, begging me to come get them. Someone had apparently threatened to show up during an assembly and shoot up the school. Was the threat real? Was the “shooter” already inside? Could I get there fast enough if it was real? I didn't even hesitate, I left work and grabbed my kids.

Reading this, reading what these teens felt and what they were going through?? Absolutely terrifying.