This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
Narrated by Nick Podehl, Whitney Dykhouse, Kate Rudd, Lauren Ezzo, Amy McFadden, Brittany Pressley, Scott Merriman
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire / Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: January 5, 2016
Date Read: January 30, 2019
Length: 286 pages / 6 hours 18 minutes
Source: NetGalley / Library
★★★★☆
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.
I hate the fact that we live in a world where school shootings happen. I have mixed feelings about the fact that a book like this even exists because I don’t want to use a tragedy as entertainment. I have had a review copy of this book for years but never got around to it. My daughter actually encouraged me to read this book because she thought it was well done. I didn’t grow up in a world where school shootings happened with alarming regularity but my daughter has and it is something that she thinks about. I found this to be an engaging story and a really quick read.
This book is told from multiple points of view while a school shooting is taking place. We see what is going on in the locked auditorium and outside of it as well. This is a tragic story filled with needless death but there is also a bit of hope and a few individuals that prove to be heroes. This book doesn’t really get too deep into why the shooting happened but I can’t think of a good reason or one that would make sense so I am okay with the decision to focus on the students fighting to survive.
The story did have a few problems. Students do call 911 as things start and the police in this little town must have been out having a few doughnuts because it takes them forever to actually get to the school. I had some pretty big issues with that delayed response and I think it made the story very unrealistic. I also never felt like we got to know any of the characters very well. I didn’t want any of them to die but I wasn’t particularly emotional when it happened either.
I did really like the fact that this audiobook was narrated by a full cast. Each point of view had its own narrator which made it very easy to keep track of who the focus was on. I thought that each narrator did a fantastic job with the story. I know that I liked this book a lot more because I decided to listen to the audiobook.
I would recommend this book to others. I thought it was a well-told story despite having a few issues. I wouldn’t hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
About the Author
I've been curious about this book for a while but previous books like this haven't delivered so I'm wary!
i am not sure, maybe because time stretches differently inside the panic classroom than out? But a little sad you didn't like it, it does sound like a scary nightmare
I look at this book whenever I go to the store, but I haven’t been brave enough to pick it up. I’m not sure if I want to read about a school shooting.
Aj @ Read All The Things!
I have been trying to avoid stuff like this, news…Too depressing.
sherry @ fundinmental
That would be a hard subject to take on in a book. Glad to hear that it was a good read.
It is really awful that school shootings happen and I find it so hard to read about because I find it so heart breaking. I have this one on my kindle but I need to be in a good mental place to read it. I see why you have problems about the delayed reaction from the police though. If you appreciated this book I would say you should try Violent Ends by Shaun Hutchinson.
I do love it when a book has multiple narrators! It is sad that this is based on a school shooting, something that's become a too common occurrence. I'm happy to hear it was well done. I'll look the audio up on this one.
This seems like an early story in this "trope" which is all too common IRL now. Excellent review. I would be interested in the full cast recording for it. I know and like some of those narrators. Anne – Books of My Heart
Look at all those narrators! I don't think I've listened to an audiobook with more than two. Unless you count guest narrators in a memoir, which I don't. I am glad it worked well for this book. It's too bad the characters weren't more developed, but I am glad you enjoyed this one just the same.
Thanks for sharing your review of this one. I keep thinking of reading it but the subject is so sad and horrifying I need to be in the right mood.
I just can not. Damn I want every child to live in a better world :/
I actually have this book, but I need to be in the right mood to read something like this, and every time I think about picking it up, I just am not in the proper headspace.
Wonderful review <3
Erica | Erica Robyn Reads
I understand your hesitancy to have an entertaining fiction book about such tragedies. But I think it is good for people to have a way to read about their life. It would be a hard read and something I would have to be in the right mood for. I'm glad you enjoyed it, even if you had issues with not loving the characters. I love how you explained your hesitancy too. Great review.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
man this seems intense. I'm with Melanie that I'd have to be in the right kind of mindset to want to jump in.