Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Author: Marieke Nijkamp

Published On: 1/5/16

Page Count: 292

I received this ARC for free in return for my honest opinion

Synopsis: (Found on Goodreads)

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.

Overall Rating: 5/5
Me: what happiness can come from this type of traumatic event?
Debate Friend: The Illumination of strengths and weaknesses each individual has.
Me: Sorry can't comprehend the epicness of this story that lasted 54min.
Debate Friend: ... Read a fairytale before bed that way you won't be as sad.

Cover: 5/5

See my Instagram for my rendition of the cover. Without picking the book up my friends knew it had to do with school and death.

Characters: 5/5

Tomas: He is such a trouble maker but when it comes down to protecting those he cares about he jumps at it. I fell for him so hard because I get what its like to be the smart kid who is tired of being judged. 

Autumn: What it must feel like to be the shooter`s sister. I`m disapointed in her ability to not only stand up for herself but also her inability to follow instructions. If this was a real event you would never disobey a direct command and run away. 

Claire: The shooter`s ex girlfriend. In all honesty she didn`t really fit with the story. Her brother Matt did more than her and I really cared about him. She just seemed to be more fuel to the reason he shoots up the school.

Sylv: All Sylv cares about is protecting Autumn as well as taking care of her Mama who is sick. This being so short of a story i wish her character could have been fleshed out more. 

Plot: 5/5

 I made a snap story while reading this for #Cramathon. Thank god its gone because I may or may not have cried during the ending snap. So many lives ended within a matter of 54 minutes and its terrifying to think how real this could be. Marieke does an amazing job of laying out the details of how not only the shooter thinks but also how everyone reacts to the situation.

Goodies:

Why YA as your genre?

Because YA is brave and rife with possibilities.

What book would suggest to be on the lookout for besides yours?

Oh my goodness, 2016 is going to be such a wonderful year for books! In contemporary YA, I’m so excited about Paula Garner’s Phantom Limbs and Julie Murphy’s Ramona Drowning. In fantasy, I absolutely loved Renee Ahdieh’s The Rose and The Dagger, Audrey Coulthurst’s Of Fire and Stars, and Traci Chee’s The Reader. S. Jae-Jones’s Underground is simply magical too. And finally, keep an eye out for Brooks Benjamin’s My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights, which is fun, dance, and happiness in book form.

                                                                                                                                 

How much research did you do for This is Where it Ends?

A lot of it. For every hour I spent writing, I spent (at least) another researching. I read firsthand accounts of shootings, I listened to 911 calls, I plowed through hundreds of pages of investigative reports, I talked to people, I kept up with news and social media feeds as active shooter situations emerged, I familiarized myself with the psychology of being held at gunpoint. As much as possible, I immersed myself in what we know about school shootings (which is both a lot and not a lot at all). And I tried to translate that to the book.

At the same time, of course, This Is Where It Ends is still fiction. The story isn’t about the technicalities of a shooting; it’s about four teens in a harrowing situation whose world is being turned upside down. So I allowed for that, too, in the way the story unfolded. But I wanted to ensure that any poetic license remained respectful to real life.

Do you listen to music as you write?

Yes! It depends a bit on which stage of the writing process I’m in, but I love my playlists to get in the right mood for a story. For This Is Where It Ends, The Fray’s How To Save A Life was a great song for tone, for example.

Outside of writing and reading what other hobbies do you have?

Writing and reading do account for a lot of my spare time! J But I also love to travel. I love exploring new places – be it cities, culture, or nature. These days, I travel around the US quite a bit, usually for conventions and other book-related fun, but I also backpacked around Ireland, spent a week in a yurt in Dartmoor, and loved the liveliness of the Tunisian souqs.

Marieke Nijkamp is a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek. She holds degrees in philosophy, history, and medieval studies, and wants to grow up to be a time traveler. Her debut young adult novel This Is Where It Ends will be published by Sourcebooks Fire on January 5, 2016.

For additional bio information + photos, see http://www.mariekenijkamp.com/musings/press-kit/

TTFN,

Ashley