This is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun…
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.
In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.
MY OPINION: **
There was something about this book that didn't sit well with me. I feel like my opinion of this book is fairly controversial, especially as I believe it's an award-winning novel about a really serious topic. However, with all the hype around it a few years ago in 2016 (I think), I am sorely disappointed by it.
I had high expectations. I built it up so much because it's been on my to-read for so long and a bunch of my friends love this book. It's also about a really important and sad topic that had so much potential in being a beautifully-written, poignant novel. I was expecting a monumental, powerful, hitting-all-the-emotions kind of a novel and for some reason, it just didn't click with me.
The book centers around four students at Opportunity High School over the span of 54 minutes. When first hearing about this book, I found that format so interesting to go a few minutes at a time and explaining what was going on with each student during each minute. However, I didn't like any of the characters and that makes me feel really guilty but in all honesty, they all felt so one-dimensional and underdeveloped that it was hard to feel anything for them. Obviously, I felt really sad for them when their loved ones were killed or injured, but towards them as people, I felt nothing. I don't want to seem like a coldhearted, emotionless person but to be quite honest, I didn't like any of them.
This is yet another novel where I wish we had a different character's perspective. I would have loved to have seen Tyler's (the shooter) perspective because his character felt the most underdeveloped. There were so many unanswered questions surrounding him: What made him do it? How did he go from the loving brother Autumn describes to the cruel, awful villain? What changed him? What was he feeling throughout the book? Why did he do what he did at the end?
There was nothing about Tyler and I needed to see more of his character to truly understand his motives. Instead, we just see a one-sided, awful, cruel, diabolical human being that had no depth and no potential to be understood. We cannot at all justify what he did but it would have been interesting to see WHY he did it. The world isn't all black and white but Tyler's character made it seem that way. There is a balance between good and evil and he was obviously good before according to his sister, Autumn, so it would have been better to have seen how he changed.
The other characters were all connected to each other and to Tyler somehow. I found it interesting to see how these seemingly random people all fit in in relation to each other and to Tyler.
Claire is a track-and-field star with an ill younger brother, Matt. She is the ex-girlfriend of Tyler and saw him as good person. When she finds out who the shooter is, she is understandably shocked and doesn't want to believe that the person she loved and who cared about her so much could do such an awful thing. Out of all the characters whose perspectives we got to see, Claire's felt the most underdeveloped. All we got to see from her was her denial that her ex could do something like that and the support she receives from her best friend, Chris, another track star. Thank god we didn't put a random romance in there because I was scared the whole time he was going to admit some feelings or something like that that we really did not need.
Autumn was the character I liked the best out of the four. She is the sister of Tyler and is a committed dancer. She is set for Juilliard, if she can make it through her audition. Through Autumn, we see the nicer side of Tyler, the protective, kind older brother that is completely different from killer-Tyler. She's also in a secret relationship with her girlfriend, Sylvia, which causes a LOT of problems with her relationship with her brother. Sylvia despises Tyler but Autumn doesn't really know why.
Sylvia is the girlfriend of Autumn. SPOILER Later on, we find out that she was raped or sexually abused by Tyler, causing her extreme fear and hate of him. END SPOILER She longs to be in a more open relationship with her girlfriend but obviously, because of the hate and prejudice that many hold towards people of the LGBTQ+ community. I felt the most sad for her because of everything she goes through both before the events of the book and during it.
Tomas was the fourth and final character. He is the brother of Sylvia but over the years they have grown apart. He is trapped outside of the auditorium that Tyler attacks because he was sent to the principal's office that morning. I felt really bad for him because he deserved better.
The characters were all bland and boring and had no depth. They were all so GOOD and the villain was so BAD and again, the world isn't so black and white. None of the victims had any real FLAWS and I would have liked seeing more personality from there.
Overall, this book just wasn't my cup of tea. For some reason, it just didn't click with me. However, I do think it is deserving to be on everyone's to-read list at least once because it is a seminal novel. Some people really love this book and who knows? That could be you. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a tragic, interesting take on a really important topic.
Main Character: Tomas, Claire, Sylvia, Autumn
Sidekick(s): Matt, etc
Villain(s): Tyler, school shootings, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book is very real to life.
Comments
Post a Comment