Teen reviewer – Gwenyth I.

This Is Where It Ends (2016)

Author: Marieke Nijkamp

Total Pages: 282

Personal Rating: 4.5 /5

Review:

After finding this novel off “BookTok”, I was so excited to indulge in this book and just based on the fact that I finished This Is Where It Ends in a day, this novel was pretty outstanding. Written from the perspectives of different students and various time stamps, this novel covers the events that pass at Outstanding High School after a former student, Tyler Browne, shows up to the school with a gun and no motive but to kill his classmates. The main characters of this book include: Autumn Browne, Claire Morgan, Sylvia Morales, Tomás Morales, all figures who are tied in some social obligation to Tyler.

This book is definitely fast-paced and will get you out of a reading slump if you are currently in one. Each chapter is a page-turner as the audience is placed in a different teenager’s perspective. Since Nijkamp includes a multi-perspective lens on the situation, I found myself favoring some characters rather than giving my full attention to the whole character list. With this being said, my favorite character is Autumn Browne, sister to Tyler Browne. Autumn is an aspiring dancer, taking after her deceased mother’s passion, with the hopes of becoming what her mother couldn’t. What made me most interested in Autumn’s character was the way that she carried herself in the presence of her destructive brother. Although Tyler emotionally tortured her after the death of their late mother, she still had a piece of her heart that cared endlessly for her brother, which shows throughout the progression of the novel.

This book is so well written and I personally believe that anyone can read this book to gain a greater perspective of the severity of school shootings, emphasizing the fact to never judge a book by its cover and stressing the importance of mental health within the school system. If you’re interested, this book includes overarching themes such as LGBTQ+, gun violence, growing up, and family relationships.

Thank you for the review! – Mrs. Long