This Is Where It Ends (edición 2019)

Ok, wow. I feel like this was one of the saddest books I have ever read! When Tomás and Matt died I completely lost it! I definitely recommend this book if you want a good cry because I sure got one. ( )

I've researched the psychology of school shooters, and have read some marvelous non-fiction, and fictional accounts as well. Perhaps that is why this didn't ring true to me, or perhaps I'm simply too distracted by real life to really connect right now. For whatever reason these characters felt thin and stretched, with little depth or consequence. ( )

Mahathi Chinthapalli

This Is Where It Ends est un livre de fiction réaliste. La livre est sur quatre points de vue d'élèves dans un école qui s’appelle Opportunity High School. Le problème dans le livre est quand un jour une personne tue les élèves et professeurs dans l'école. Il y a beaucoup de tension et c’est très intense tout le livre. J’aime cette livre beaucoup et je pense que c’est très différent des autres livres que j’ai lu.

I was disappointed with this book. I felt like it was too big of a topic to tackle in one novel.

Also, I was not a fan of the four characters that was followed. I did not feel any connection with any of these characters nor did I really want to. ( )

What is it?
This Is Where It Ends, by Marieke Nijkamp, takes place over 54 minutes of time during a high school shooting, switching narrative perspectives each chapter to highlight how each character is dealing with uncertainty in his or her life at school and outside of school. Characters in This Is Where it Ends are juggling their personal uncertainties as well as the uncertainty of survival while a classmate goes on a killing spree in their high school.

Should you read it?
YES! This book was really hard to put down. The chapters switched perspectives of students experiencing a high school shooting from different areas of a high school. As a reader, you get into the minds and hearts of most of the characters because of this. Each character is unique, as is their role not only in high school, but each character has a connection and influence to the unraveling that is happening during the shooting. I would not recommend this reading for students under 9th grade. The descriptions of violent scenes are quite blunt and not censored at all. Bullets go through body parts, throats are slit, and there's a lot of death. There isn't a lot of figurative language or description that glorifies the violence, but there is a lot of violence and death that would not be appropriate for younger or less mature readers. There are a few f-bombs and some derogatory slang, too. The characters, their connections, and how they respond to the actions around them really make this book an intense read.

The cover of the edition I read is above.

Want to know more about the author and her research in writing this story? Check out this interview: https://latinosinkidlit.com/2016/01/18/qa-with-debut-author-marieke-nijkamp-abou... ( )