This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
When a book makes me feel as if I am truly there and feeling either the emotions of the characters OR gives me strong emotional reactions to what I'm reading, that's when I truly know it'll be rated pretty high in my view. This Is Where It Ends certainly accomplished that. I felt my heart racing and the tears fall down my face more than just a few times throughout the book. Without further ado, here's a bit about this phenomenal read.
Synopsis: The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech welcoming students back to the new semester. But in a matter of minutes, the doors to the auditorium are locked and shots ring out. This story is told from four very different perspectives and takes place within a 54 minute span. So much unravels during this time and a very life-like tragedy tears this high school apart. The reader is transported into the book while the characters, in their many connections to each other, tell the story of why this tragedy is occurring.
I typically don’t read YA novels, but the topic matter interested me as the tragedy within this story hits close to home for far too many people. With that being said, this book comes with a trigger warning. The book touches on mental health, relationships in high school, and a school shooting.
I felt that Nijkamp did an amazing job telling the story from the multiple perspectives of very intertwined and unlikely-related characters. Throughout the book you find out so much about how each character is thoroughly connected up until the very last second. I found this book chilling, heart-breaking, and terrifying. The way the characters try to understand why this tragedy is happening within the 54 minutes it takes place is so very real. I was able to clearly visualize every. single. event. of this novel—so much so that the layout of the high school made me picture the exact layout of my own high school. Talk about bone-chilling.
Maybe it was knowing from the start of the book that it takes place within a 54 minute time span, but I could not put this book down. I started it in the evening and stayed up far past normal "bed time" hours to finish the book in one sitting. I was truly invested in the lives of each character and found their reflection and thoughts of how life would be without them if they were to die in this tragedy to be extremely realistic. This book makes you think about relationships and how your actions in life cause you to reflect on the type of person you are in the face of a true tragedy.
"There is no way to express how a heart can burst and break at the same time, how the sun can cut through the darkness but will cast shadows everywhere." --Claire
I highly recommend this read, but make sure you’re prepared to be reading the whole thing straight through with many tears to be expected.
4.5/5 stars in my book
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