I read this book years ago when the ARC was provided but wasn’t an avid NetGalley user then and never reviewed this. I appreciate NetGalley having provided me with an ARC! This book just made me sad. I feel like it didn’t do justice to school shootings. Ugh. So much potential but ultimately I did not like it at all.

Fast-paced touch of what can be a reality at a moment's time and has been. The book doesn't disappoint. But I will say that just like any other book that's out there that has topics as this to go in knowing that it can be a trigger.

This is a fast read on a very emotional and topical subject but Nijkamp handles it fairly well. By reducing the time period, she portrays the chaos and terror of the event without, for the most part, going for the easy tear jerk – the characters react rather than analyze. Although many of the characters act in heroic ways, some of their reactions seem pointless or even counterproductive given the situation but I suspect that that is true in real situations like this. Given the fact that school shootings have become so common they are almost ubiquitous, I cannot in honesty say I enjoyed this book but I did like it and would recommend it with one caveat: this is a YA novel but there is a great deal of violence so it may be unsuitable for the younger reader.

3.5 Stars

I feel like we never quite get the opportunity to delve as deep into the minds or construction of any of the characters, and as a result the story has a tendency to feel two-dimensional to me. If only this book could have been longer! That being said, I did like this book, as much as one can like a book set around a school shooting, and recently reread it to find it still deserved the 3.5 star rating I originally gave it.

I have previously read and reviewed this book via my blog and YouTube channel. Unfortunately due to changing accounts these reviews were lost apart from the star ratings. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this title

Reading this book in 2022 with the increase in mass shootings at schools gives a new perspective on this book. It was definitely a tense reading experience, but I was able to kind of skim through parts of it and didn't feel as if I truly missed anything.

I am mad at myself for waiting so long to read it though, but would recommend it to teens who come in looking for books on the subject.

This was an amazing book. So heartbreaking and moving - I couldn't put it down. There are a few books that make me cry and ugly cry - this was it.

Thank you Net Gally for providing an ARC on this book

I know I'm several years late on a review but wanted to send one anyway because after 6 years I still remember this book clear as day and it was so gripping, raw, and emotional. I loved it!

It was a really nice read, but I think it's very targeted an american audience. I believe I would have enjoyed it more if I were american!

This was an extremely tough book to read, but one that I think is prevalent to the world we live in today. This is the nature of our society and while we can turn a blind eye all we want, the truth is still there, and Nijkamp brought that to the forefront with her story.

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nikikamp

9781492622468

292 Pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: January 5, 2016

Fiction, Violence, Gun Violence, School Shooting, Mass Shooting

It is the beginning of the new semester, and the principal is finishing her welcome speech. As she finishes her talk, the auditorium doors lock, and the shooting begins. The story takes place in 54 minutes.

I thought it was timely to read/review this book at the beginning of the school year. It is a reminder that we still have a long way to go with gun control. The story is written in first person point of view from multiple viewpoints. The story is fast paced, and the characters develop as the story. This is a well written emotional book. There were several times when I wondered what if one of my grandchildren were in this situation. I highly recommend everyone read this book.

This is one of my favorite YA books. As someone who has never been a teenage victim of a school shooting, it opened my eyes to the many ways a victim might experience trauma.

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

Did not have time to read this book - still on my TBR. Thank you for the opportunity and my apologies for not getting to it.

I heard Marieke Nijkamp speak at a conference, and she was great. She talked about plotting this book out on a spreadsheet with her minutes across the top and characters along the side so she could know what each character was doing all the time in relation to the others, and I thought that was so fascinating. It has a lot of characters and a lot going on, but overall kept my attention. I think my high school students will read and enjoy this book.

An extreme close up look at a school in Alabama and how it can all change in the matter of minutes told in a book that spans less than an hour. Marieke Nijkamp gives multiple students the opportunity to narrate the story and see this school shooting through their own eyes as they each have a different relationship and perspective in regards to the shooter and his intentions.

It is hard to say that I liked this book, but I more than liked it, I loved it. Being in the auditorium and in the halls with these students as they confronted hard truths, but also feeling throughout the book that this was an honest portrayal of the events AND of the emotions of these youth.

This book broke my heart as I know that many schools have been impacted by the actions of one or two both before this book was released and after and I hope that one day we can say that school shootings are a thing of the past and we have given students all the right tools and avenues to avoid these happening in the future.

***This ARC was provided by Netgalley for a free review***
This is such a sad book, it’s a sad topic that I really wish our World could put behind us. Everyone has a reason to fear a highschooler with a gun. It’s 10 o’clock in the principle of an Alabama high school is speaking walking in the student body to their new semester encouraging them to do well and succeed at 10:02 AM the students leave the auditorium and head to their classes. A few minutes later someone start shooting. In just under an hour for students come face-to-face with the gunmen. It seems that the majority of this book bags in the present that was fairly static in my opinion until about 80% of the way through the course of the story is essentially that someone start shooting and there are multiple flashbacks. I found it hard to keep up with all four perspectives occurring at the same time but I also feel like it like the perspective of the gunmen. It’s definitely a tough topic to write about and a hard book to read but it was very well written and was totally worth my time.

A powerful, emotional, quick read. I really enjoyed how this story was told. By focusing on 4 people you got a variety of different stories but you aren’t overwhelmed. Each character had there own role in this school shooting and in the aftermath. I do think some of it was a little rushed, but really a very strong book. I definitely recommend checking this one out.

This is such a powerful, emotional and moving book. One of the favorites around my department, especially in the times where school shootings only increase. So powerful and moving!

This Is Where It Ends is a book that has been on my radar for quite a while. I had heard lots about this book but just never got around to reading it. I really wanted to like this book. Its sounded great, a book that is gritty, raw and real. Something that I would usually love... but unfortunately I just didn't. I really struggled to get even 50 pages into this novel. It was a massive struggle.

With this book being about a school shooting, I knew it would be difficult to read and I did find it difficult... but for all the wrong reasons. It should have been difficult to read because of how emotional nad horrifying the storyline was, but instead I found it difficult to read as it was so boring and dry. I really had no motivation or interest to read it at all.

This Is Where It Ends is told from the perspective of four main characters, but the perspectives chop and change far too quickly, you don't end up feeling like you know any of the characters at all. I read around 4 chapters before I decided to give up on this book and I honestly couldn't tell you anything about the characters at all. I was confused because I didn't know who was talking as they all sounded like the same person. I didn't manage to get this emotional connection with any of them and I ended up not really know what was going on.

This book had so much potential. It could have been real and raw, going into the psychological aspects of a school shooter... what caused them to get to that point? It could have been a real insight into the psyche of someone like that but it wasn't. The shooter was just a 'psychopath' who was enjoying slaughtering children.

I had such high hopes for This Is Where It Ends. It could have been amazing but instead it was dry, boring and definitely not for me. I will probably avoid works by this author in the future.

Suspenseful and realistic, this depiction of a school shooting is what all of us dread happening at our own school. I also live in Alabama, so that makes it feel that much closer. It is in my middle school library.