Book Review: This Is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp

Title: This Is Where It Ends
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Published: 05/01/2016, Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 292
Source: Netgalley
Format: Ebook
Rating: 2/5
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 time.

10:03

The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05

Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

The subject of This Is Where It Ends seems so relevant at the moment. Barely a week goes by where there hasn't been a school shooting (or any shooting really) in the news. This Is Where It Ends is a decent portrayal of this difficult subject. But I feel that it could have been so much better. There needed to be more emotion. There should have been ugly tears... and there weren't any at all. It needed to be hard-hitting.

The four main characters did all tie in perfectly to the story. They all have a connection to the shooter - the ex-girlfriend, the sister, the sister's girlfriend, and the girlfriend's brother - so there should have been emotion everywhere. And I feel this fell short of the mark. Especially as the story is told via the alternating perspectives of the four of them. I also didn't feel much of a connection with any of the characters. This in part is probably due to the four perspectives as it took me a while to work out who was who. I also can't remember much about any of the characters either, even they're names I struggle with.

I would have liked some more background information as to why Tyler goes on his shooting spree. We do read snippets here and there but there was nothing concrete. I felt there were so many loose ends and questions left unanswered. But then again, even in real life, these things are rarely crystal clear.

However, on a positive note, the story wasn't too predictable. You never know who the shooter will target next, who will be killed or if the shooter will be stopped. This added a thrill to the story. There were definitely twists and turns.

Overall, This Is Where It Ends is a decent attempt at a tricky subject and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. However, I expected far more. All I can really say is give it a go, you might enjoy it more than I did.

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