This Is Where It Ends
This Is Where It Ends, by Marieke Nijkamp
Blurb: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.My ReviewWhen I finished this book last night - after only starting it in the morning, before work - I was ready to give it a raving 5 star review. Sure, it's not perfect but it totally hooked me. Not to mention how much emotion and food for thought are in this book. However, after thinking about it, I decided to downgrade it to a 4 star and here's why... Although the rest of the book hooked me, I found Claire's POV very boring and although I felt like the book needed a POV from someone outside the school I felt like it could have been done so much better. Claire could have made the whole book so much more emotional, especially since her brother was inside, but it just fell flat and I didn't feel any of the desperation she was supposedly feeling.Then there was Tyler, the shooter. I never felt like his motivation was explained; clearly he had a tough time, but how did he turn into that person, especially when Claire's memories show him as a caring boyfriend. I just didn't feel like the motivation and reasons given were enough, or at least they weren't explained enough, or shown well enough.And finally... the characters made seriously stupid decisions sometimes, which is fair enough since its hard to be clear minded in such a situation, however, it felt like it was just done to move them from one scene to something else and it was kind of irritating. Like I said, there are some problems with this book... And yet... It is such an important book. Not only is the subject matter important considering current events, but it's also beautifully but simply written and the emotion is staggering. It's about friendship, love and standing together. I loved that there were multiple POV, so that we could see the situation from different sides and Tomas was definitely my favourite character, which made the ending even sadder for me, though it also made the story feel more realistic.I'd definitely recommend grabbing a copy of this book - even if you just want it for the gorgeous cover! - and making up your own mind. :-) 
My favourite quotes from 'This Is Where It Ends':'The only things that give us purpose are the stories that tie us together.' 'Terror is out strongest force because we're only afraid when we have something to lose - our lives, our loves... our dignity.''We might not be able to beat this together, but we definitely can't face it alone.''Together we could be so strong, but the gun has made us individuals.' 'We're more than our mistakes. We're more than what people expect of us.''How could I possibly push you away when you were nowhere to be found?''I'm not sure if I pushed her away or never had her at all.''I don't need to die for him to kill me.''we may not have forever. But we still have tomorrow.'
Blurb: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.My ReviewWhen I finished this book last night - after only starting it in the morning, before work - I was ready to give it a raving 5 star review. Sure, it's not perfect but it totally hooked me. Not to mention how much emotion and food for thought are in this book. However, after thinking about it, I decided to downgrade it to a 4 star and here's why... Although the rest of the book hooked me, I found Claire's POV very boring and although I felt like the book needed a POV from someone outside the school I felt like it could have been done so much better. Claire could have made the whole book so much more emotional, especially since her brother was inside, but it just fell flat and I didn't feel any of the desperation she was supposedly feeling.Then there was Tyler, the shooter. I never felt like his motivation was explained; clearly he had a tough time, but how did he turn into that person, especially when Claire's memories show him as a caring boyfriend. I just didn't feel like the motivation and reasons given were enough, or at least they weren't explained enough, or shown well enough.And finally... the characters made seriously stupid decisions sometimes, which is fair enough since its hard to be clear minded in such a situation, however, it felt like it was just done to move them from one scene to something else and it was kind of irritating. Like I said, there are some problems with this book... And yet... It is such an important book. Not only is the subject matter important considering current events, but it's also beautifully but simply written and the emotion is staggering. It's about friendship, love and standing together. I loved that there were multiple POV, so that we could see the situation from different sides and Tomas was definitely my favourite character, which made the ending even sadder for me, though it also made the story feel more realistic.I'd definitely recommend grabbing a copy of this book - even if you just want it for the gorgeous cover! - and making up your own mind. :-) My favourite quotes from 'This Is Where It Ends':'The only things that give us purpose are the stories that tie us together.' 'Terror is out strongest force because we're only afraid when we have something to lose - our lives, our loves... our dignity.''We might not be able to beat this together, but we definitely can't face it alone.''Together we could be so strong, but the gun has made us individuals.' 'We're more than our mistakes. We're more than what people expect of us.''How could I possibly push you away when you were nowhere to be found?''I'm not sure if I pushed her away or never had her at all.''I don't need to die for him to kill me.''we may not have forever. But we still have tomorrow.'
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