Marieke Nijkamp

In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.

This Is Where It Ends

Eliana Ramirez 

“I never realized that courage was so Terrifying.”

Hannah Alexander 

The #1 New York Times Bestseller A Buzzfeed Best Book of the Decade A Paste Magazine Best Book of the Decade 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: The auditorium doors won't open. 10:05: Someone starts shooting. In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun. Includes special bonus content: a letter from the author, discussion questions, two bonus chapters, a conversation with the author, and a playlist! Praise for This Is Where It Ends: A Buzzfeed Best Book of the Decade A Paste Magazine Best Book of the Decade A BookRiot Best Book of the Decade A Professional Book Nerds Best Book of the Decade "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

Jessie Winchester

I'm sooo confused, because who's Mei? And who are all these people texting? 

are they texting during a crisis? This barely feels like a crisis tbh. Also, I couldn't care less about the characters at all. Their personalities feel so one-dimensional. I 

liked Tomas and maybe Asha, but not enough to care about what happens to them. Cause to me, they're all pieces of cereal I left out for the whole day and now it's soggy and stuck together.

Tali 🧸ִֶָྀི𓂃

Booo. throws tomatoes  

I'm sooo confused, because who's Mei? And who are all these people texting? Why are they texting during a crisis? This barely feels like a crisis tbh. Also, I couldn't care less about the characters at all. Their personalities feel so one-dimensional. I kinda liked Tomas and maybe Asha, but not enough to care about what happens to them. Cause to me, they're all pieces of cereal I left out for the whole day and now it's soggy and stuck together.

The Myth Echo

** spoiler alert **
           *spoilers*

Initial Thoughts: DUDE?!??! FINISHED THIS IN ONE SITTING AND I AM FLABBERGHASTED?!?! DBJSKJLWBFKJEBFKJBEF

Organized Thoughts: I was talking to my brother how I finished reading a book in 2 hours and I would do it again, and he said "Okay do it, I want it done before I get back from running errands with mom and dad", so that is what I did. No music, no blanket, just a chair and a book. SO. This book is really good!! I never thought that it would have LGBTQ+ Rep, which was a pleasant surprise!! WHY did Matt and Tomas die though?!?! LIKE ACTUALLY TOMAS WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER!?!?! 
Rep I liked: THE QUEER REP?!?! Now I am not saphhic, so I can't say a lot, but as a queer person I did relate to Sylv's and Autumn's story. Autumn also seemed autistic coded to me (just from her traits and all that) which was played out well imo.

Bad Rep: Matt was infantisized imo, which from the context is because he is disabled.

Other rep: The cast had people from different religions, races, etc, which was nice to not have the copy pasted characters over and over like some books.

Overall 4.75!! Really enjoyed!!

sash.

This book is a reminder that not all authors are suited to tell certain kinds of stories. School shootings are particularly harrowing and this book treats the subject as spectacle and sensationalism more than anything else, plus there's such poor character development happening throughout the book. From the way this book was written, it's crystal clear that this author shouldn't be writing about this subject matter. 

Initially, my rating was 3 then 2 then 1. Lots of potential to create really great characters and a strong story. Tepid, at best.

Date read: 
 December 11-December 13, 2019 

 Actual Rating: 3.50 STARS 

This is one of the saddest, most heartbreaking 'real-life-event' stories I've come across with. And terrifying and traumatic, too. Calling this situation as a nightmare is an understatement. Reading this made my heart ached and I even felt the emptiness each of the characters feel, though this book is not suitable for everyone as it contains violence. This is not an easy read because this might trigger a lot of people, but it is a quick read. Be aware of that.

Jenna Sun

lmao this book is just an embarrassment. strongly advise against reading

This book is well written. I could recognise the characters fast and easily. The different perspectives let me feel all the emotions the characters were going through. 

It still was heartbreaking and unpredictable. I liked it very much. Definitely a must-read! And something I never read before.

Gina-Sophie Franz

This book is well written. I could recognise the characters fast and easily. The different perspectives let me feel all the emotions the characters were going through. 

It still was heartbreaking and unpredictable. I liked it very much. Definitely a must-read! And something I never read before.

Melissa Palmer

Book #27 Read in 2019
This is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

This is a horribly realistic story about a school shooting and the entire book takes place in the few hours that the shooter is holding the school in terror. It gave me chills. I read it in one sitting as I could not put it down. A powerful read.

Raven K

Autumn Henderson

Julia McKenzie

4.5 stars for sure. Loved it, had a great pace and loved the different povs and connections of the characters. Ended on a wholesome note which I loved.

great book, it was really fun thatyou looked at is trough the eyes of different people, and how 15 minetes can be so long it was amezing

Ilse van Seeters

Jordan Layne

This book is up for a GoodReads award? You're joking, right?

this was heartbreaking and hard to read at times, but i quite like the author's writing and how they chose to portrait such a topic (minus the random kiss).

Beatrice

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

For more reviews, visit Book for Thought.

This will definitely be a very controversial book, the love-it-or-hate-it kind, both because of the theme it deals with and the way it is developed. I'll admit, the fact that it talks about school shootings was one of the main reasons I wanted to read this book. Now, I don't live in the USA, so I certainly don't have the same kind of emotional connection to this topic as people who feel these happenings as being closer to their daily reality, but I have often wondered what drives someone to commit an act such as these. I hoped that this book would help me get more into the mind of the shooter, understand his motive and his psychology and I'm sorry to say that in this respect it fell short.

The book is told in alternating POVs of four different characters, all of whom have some connection to the shooter. While this was very confusing at first, I did manage to get all the characters and the relationships straight in my head eventually. Once I did, I definitely managed to be swept up in the story and I absolutely developed a very strong emotional connection with most of the characters. I may or may not have cried a little during a couple of scenes, which only ever happens to me when I feel extremely close to the characters. As far as development goes, it was fairly limited, but I guess that's a consequence of having many different POVs in such a short book: the actual development time that the author can possibly devote to developing a single character is limited by the book's very nature. Although I am usually a stickler for character development, they did work well for this book even if at times they felt slightly too one-dimensional. The fast-paced plot and the timing of the story (the whole plot takes place during 54 minutes) made it feel natural for limited change to occur to the characters, and it is made clear in the epilogue that none of the survivors is left unscathed by the events.

What I did miss was seeing the world directly through the shooter's eyes. While there is a lot of backstory, and the shooter himself gives some kind of reason for his actions when questioned by those who know him, I would have liked to get into his head. I think one of the most difficult things to accept when tragic events, such as a school shooting, happen is the why. What brings one kid to get a gun and shoot his teachers and his classmates? What goes on in his head while he's doing it? Why can no one get him to stop? These are all the questions that were in my head as I was reading, and sometimes it just felt like the answer I was given wasn't good enough. It's all very well saying you want revenge, but why try to kill everyone? How was the shooter justifying this to himself? I didn't really get an answer in the book, and it just felt like a missed opportunity to bring something new to the discussion. By having the shooter talk to the victims about his motivation, it is all filtered by the victim's own emotions and relationship with him, and it lacks authenticity.

That being said, this was still a real page-turner and a book that I think will stay with me for a very long time. There are some fairly disturbing scenes that may upset the most sensible readers, so please keep that in mind if you do decide to read this. I loved how the author incorporated a truly diverse cast (there are LGBT main characters, minority characters, disability...) and how she tried to incorporate more than one theme, dealing at the same time with abusive families, illness and even rape. My only complaint is that (again probably because of the total length of the book) some of these themes weren't really developed very much, when it would have been a lot better to maybe have one less but fleshed out in more detail.

Still, this was a truly compelling read. This Is Where It Ends is a true "punch-in-the-stomach" read, that delivers heartbreak and love, cruelty and humanity, tragedy and hope all together in a conveniently-packed under-300-pages bundle.

I really loved the book, even tho I sometimes found Claire’s pov useless, but overall I liked it. But Tómas’s death destroyed me. And the love story between Autumn & Sylvs love story was fantastic.  I gave it 3,5⭐️ because I would have liked a pov from Tyler.  

Ester Waclavova

it’s so sad how Tyler outed his own sister and all he did to Sylvia then went on bitching on how he didn’t have anyone as if he wasn’t part of the problem like be fucking for real 

Maria Morales 

Victoria

“We are not better because we survived. We are not brighter or more deserving. We are not stronger. But we are here. We are here, and this day will never leave us. Nor should it. We will remember the wounded. We will remember the lost.”

I am torn. A friend (hello, bbgrl) recommended this to me. She even reviewed this and gave it 5 stars. Of course, I wanted to know what it was about.

I remember reading something similar. Same plot (school shooting) but one that was honestly better written than this.

First off, the writing and pacing was horrible. The author kept going back and forth to the voice's (as this was written in several people's POVs) 'memories' that didn't really need to be interjected in the story. Those pages would have been better allotted on something else entirely, but alas, it wasn't.

Second, this is not supposed to be black and white. A "villain" isn't just a bad person point blank. There's always a reason behind it. And I hate that the author made it seem like this is one of those fairy tale stories where the evil stepmother is bad just because and there's just nothing more to it. (Maleficent, anyone?)

This happens in real life. It has happened in real life. And it would have been better had the author thought about talking about the gray areas of this reality.

Tyler may have killed dozens of people. But there's a reason behind it. And that reason wasn't even explored. He was made out to be a bad person and nothing more. Regardless of how 'evil' his actions were, he was still a human being that should have been portrayed that way. It would have been better had we known where all the anger and rage and pain from him sprouted from, but no. We were left with nothing but speculations and empty answers where we are pushed to just assume this or that.

This was a sensitive topic that is a reality for many people out there and it wasn't given any justice. They were all victims, including Tyler. And their stories could have been written better.

This book was rly sad but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It’s powerful and it made me angry at Tyler. It’s something different to what I’d usually read but I’m glad I did.  

Marcie Allen

3⭐️

This book was rly sad but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It’s powerful and it made me angry at Tyler. It’s something different to what I’d usually read but I’m glad I did.  

The storyline is really sad but the writhing wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be. 

Beatrix Haase

I had a friend who was in the Parkland shooting and I was scared to read this because of what he told me about it. I decided to though and I don't regret it. Read this book, you're gonna learn a lot about it.

xoxo,
bebe

Kaitlin Duane

Loved this book, I was hooked on the intensity and every character who we witnessed the perspectives of (and even their friends) won me over.. 

I think the shooter himself was portrayed perfectly, down to the name, and I hated him so much it was making me angry - perfect amount of emotion provoking that always makes me love a book. 

As an Australian reader, I recognised throughout reading it that I have the privilege of seeing it from a fascination perspective, rather than the potential of being personally triggered by the storyline. 

Overall, solid and “easy” (aside from the lots of death) read

Alexa M

Thrilling from start to finish! I read it in one sitting

Salem Jackson

Now this book is told from four different perspectives: 

Autumn: Tyler’s sister, a dancer, and Sylv’s girlfriend
Sylv: Autumn’s girlfriend, and Tomás’s twin sister (older)
Tomás: Sylv’s twin brother (younger), a prankster, Tyler’s threatener(?) (he threatened him, but because he was worried that he had done something to Sylv, which he did)
Claire: Tyler’s ex-girlfriend, Matt’s older sister, and a part of the track team

Now, I didn’t find it hard to navigate through the POV switches at all, probably because I’m used to it, but to others it might seem a little hectic. So there’s a little info to tell you who each character is. If you haven’t already guessed it, Tyler —who’s been mentioned multiple times in the small POV guide I made— is the antagonist of the story. As the story progresses, you’ll get to see flashbacks from each character, which reveal more of Tyler’s character and ultimately, his motive for becoming the shooter of the school. Now, I don’t know why readers wanted a more grey story as to how a school shooter is made, especially since the story is told from the victims, but if they wanted it they could have read between the lines a little

Catherine

Starting a fund for my man Fareed to get a chiropractor for all the back problems he must have developed from carrying the rescue plot so hard.

Also, a lot of the negative reviews of this book seem to talk about how the villain was undeveloped and shallow, but I disagree with the notion that this underdevelopment hurts the book. I found it refreshing to read a book in which the villain, specifically a school shooter, was not portrayed to be a deeply complex individual with sympathetic motivations. Tyler lashes out because he feels unseen and unloved, an outcast and a pariah, and that is a perfectly fine stopping point for explaining his motivations. The concept that school shooters and murderers are complex individuals is overplayed in real life with the worshipping of actual school shooters and serial killers being seen. 

Often, analysis of the psychology of school shooters is done in bad faith. The media pulls out the mental health card for every white boy school shooter, but are quick to dismiss minorities as being inherently violent or dangerous. There is a trend in the overglorifying of the mental states of those who commit such crimes and ignores that not all people are complex. Some people kill for simple reasons. Some people are "shallow" and "underdeveloped" in real life. Mental illnesses and mental health problems do not make a person interesting and should not be used to justify the actions of school shooters. The amount of murderers who are actually interesting psychologically are far and few in between. Most, like school shooters and Tyler, are bland people who think their emotions to be paramount and so they take a turn at playing god while wallowing in their arrogance and self-pity. 

There are a lot of valid criticisms about this book, such as the handling of diversity among the characters and that some scenes felt like sensational action scenes that came off as unrealistic and cheap. Criticizing the villain for being underdeveloped is not a criticism that I find valid. The author was right in making him shallow and underdeveloped and not giving us any reason to sympathize or suggest a more complex motive for his actions because real school shooters rarely have complex motivations beyond what Tyler wants in the book: to be seen and acknowledged, to feel powerful, to lash back out and get revenge on those who have hurt them.

This Is Where It Ends

Reviews

Highlights