Review: This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Title: This is Where it Ends

Author: Marieke Nijkamp

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publishing Date: January 5th, 2016

Pages: 288
Audio Length: 6 Hours and 18 Minutes

Genre: YA Realistic Thriller

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

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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.
Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

What made me pick this book up: 

The cover is what first caught my eye.

What did I like about the cover: 

I basically love everything about it. From the title written in chalk, to the chalk looking like it had been shot. It's a really great cover that matches the book well.

What made me read this book:

Well once the cover caught my eye, the story really grabbed me. School shootings are very real and very scary things that actually happen. 

And for some reason I like reading about them. The fictional ones at least. 

And as bad as that sounds, I think it's because of the emotions it invokes. The fear, the not knowing, the being on the edge of my seat, and then the sadness because you know people are going to die. 

What did I like the most: 

Like I said up there, school shooting books usually keep you on the edge of your seat, holding your breath, never knowing what's going to happen next.

And this book was no different. In fact there was so many parts where I just didn't know where it was going next, who might get shot next, who might escape.

I liked reading about the "why" as well. Why did Tyler come in and start shooting up an auditorium full of teaches and students. Why Tyler picked that day to do so. Why he picked the people he did.

The author did a really good job in portraying the emotions. I felt everything the characters felt. 

The sadness, the loss, the anger, the pain. Everything. And it hit me hard. I was literally sitting on the couch staring off into space. I could picture it and I could imagine having to be there.

I liked the characters a lot too. You didn't get to know them as much as I would have liked, but from what you did they were great. 

Tomas (I listened to the book on audio, so might be spelling his name wrong) was my favorite character. The things he did for his sister. You could tell how much he loved her.

Each MC had a different narrator and I think that really adds to it, because each character had their own voice and it made them each so individual and I think that's really important when you have a book that has multiple characters. It also made it so much more real. 

There was a part of the book where one of the characters had a big secret about something that happened, and the mystery of that was a good one too. I mean, I figured it out pretty quickly. But I can understand why she didn't want to tell anyone. 

What didn't I like: 

This book was kind of confusing at parts. And it's probably because I listened to it on audio, but I had a really hard time keeping the characters straight and remembering who was who and what they were to the other characters and it was just confusing.

I think that's really the thing I didn't like. 

Oh and some of the people who died, I felt my heart breaking. It was so sad.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Absolutely.

(I almost feel bad picking 4 stars because of what it says under the stars. That was so not on purpose!)

“The only two people who matter now are in front of me- the boy who broke me and the girl who put me back together.” 
― Marieke Nijkamp, This Is Where It Ends

Marieke Nijkamp a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek. She's the author of THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS and the forthcoming BEFORE I LET GO.


Her short stories can be found in: PILGRIM PLAYWRIGHT GENIE GUARD, FERAL YOUTH, and THE RADICAL ELEMENT.