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A review by spookycece13
This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Oh God, where do I even start with this? It was, to put it lightly a fucking mess.
I was absolutely obsessed with this book in high school but reading it again as an adult has left me with some feelings. First of all, the writing style.
The characters all felt flat and kind of just...tropey and one dimensional. They all felt like they had one trait. Also, the 4 POVs at once probably wasn't the best way to do this. It felt like there was entirely too much going on at once. I didn't even get to know any of the characters enough to sympathize with them. The little backstory we did get on the characters all made it feel like trauma porn. An on top of that, everyone wanting to be a hero kind of felt...icky. I absolutely love that there's diversity in this book but the diverse characters are the ones that feel the most one dimensional. It feels like them being diverse is the only thing about them. I definitely do not want to speak over POC but on the note of the diversity being their only trait, the random Spanish words and phrases just thrown in felt very forced and not like actual bilingual people.
Tyler, the shooter, feels like a caricature of what an actual school shooter would be. He's evil because??? Well, mostly just because. He came from an abusive home and his sister "betrayed" him and his classmates ignored him, I guess? He also really dislikes that his sister is lesbian which is never explained. It's just him rambling about it being "unnatural". There was also the random detail that he raped his sisters girlfriend. It feels like the author wanted to write a thriller rather than a book about a school shooting.
THE POLICE RESPONSE OMG. Almost none of it was realistic. The police arrived very fast for it being a small town with only 2 police cars. And them setting up tents and stuff as quickly as they did? Yeah, would never happen. Also, why on gods green earth did they call a SWAT team instead of just, I don't know, regular backup? The most realistic thing about the police in this novel is that they waited outside for help to arrive.
The random romance scenes just tossed in at the end? What the hell was that? Not the most appropriate for the subject matter. On that note, the line "the he blew his brains out" was also extremely insensitive given the subject. What the fuck was that. That was the most disgusting line in this book and that's what really pushed me to give it 1 star. If the author wanted to write a thriller, she should have written a thriller. Not a poorly done book about a school shooting. I can't believe I used to love this book so much.
I was absolutely obsessed with this book in high school but reading it again as an adult has left me with some feelings. First of all, the writing style.
The characters all felt flat and kind of just...tropey and one dimensional. They all felt like they had one trait. Also, the 4 POVs at once probably wasn't the best way to do this. It felt like there was entirely too much going on at once. I didn't even get to know any of the characters enough to sympathize with them. The little backstory we did get on the characters all made it feel like trauma porn. An on top of that, everyone wanting to be a hero kind of felt...icky. I absolutely love that there's diversity in this book but the diverse characters are the ones that feel the most one dimensional. It feels like them being diverse is the only thing about them. I definitely do not want to speak over POC but on the note of the diversity being their only trait, the random Spanish words and phrases just thrown in felt very forced and not like actual bilingual people.
Tyler, the shooter, feels like a caricature of what an actual school shooter would be. He's evil because??? Well, mostly just because. He came from an abusive home and his sister "betrayed" him and his classmates ignored him, I guess? He also really dislikes that his sister is lesbian which is never explained. It's just him rambling about it being "unnatural". There was also the random detail that he raped his sisters girlfriend. It feels like the author wanted to write a thriller rather than a book about a school shooting.
THE POLICE RESPONSE OMG. Almost none of it was realistic. The police arrived very fast for it being a small town with only 2 police cars. And them setting up tents and stuff as quickly as they did? Yeah, would never happen. Also, why on gods green earth did they call a SWAT team instead of just, I don't know, regular backup? The most realistic thing about the police in this novel is that they waited outside for help to arrive.
The random romance scenes just tossed in at the end? What the hell was that? Not the most appropriate for the subject matter. On that note, the line "the he blew his brains out" was also extremely insensitive given the subject. What the fuck was that. That was the most disgusting line in this book and that's what really pushed me to give it 1 star. If the author wanted to write a thriller, she should have written a thriller. Not a poorly done book about a school shooting. I can't believe I used to love this book so much.