Title: This Is Where It Ends
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Published: January 5, 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 292
Source: e-ARC via NetGalley
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads
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 class.
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.
My review:
The premise of this book looked so inviting that I had to grab a copy and read it. It ended up being kind of a middle of the road novel for me. There was some things that I liked about it, and some that I didn't. What I liked was the subject matter, which is so prevalent in today's society that it needs to be talked (and read) about often. I loved that there were so many diverse characters in this novel, from ethnic diversity, a lesbian relationship, and physical disability. Bravo for that. I liked that the novel was very fast paced, it kept me flipping pages quickly to find out how it would end. The parts that I wasn't as keen on were equal in number to those I enjoyed. My biggest problem was how long it took for the authorities to get to the school and enter the building. In this day of social media with every student having a phone, why did it take so long to take down one gunman? Speaking of social media, there were places at the end of each chapter where student's (who were trapped in the auditorium) tweets were included. Totally unnecessary part of the book in my opinion. The biggest problem I had was that none of the characters were well developed enough to actually care that much about them. It seemed like every kid had tales of woe, a bit too many in your average population, and there were so many of them that none were really given justice. I should mention that one of my all-time favorite books, Nineteen Minutes, deals with this subject. Naturally I couldn't help but compare the books as I was reading, and this one fell way short of that one.
A fast paced read, with lots of diversity, but a little short on the characterization aspect.
Hmmm, I don't know if I could read this--it just sounds so stressful! I do agree, though, that it is a subject that should be addressed.
If you have not read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, I would suggest that one. Same subject matter, but amazing writing that makes you look at both sides of the issue.