This Is Where It Ends - Marieke Nijkamp

I saw This is where it ends for the first time in the Buzz Books but after I was rejected on Netgalley, the book kind of disappeared from my radar until I saw it again last week (there has been very little publicity in The Netherlands for it, even though this is where the author lives).

 

Mass shooting, especially on schools, are a hot topic so it was only a matter of time before the books started coming. This is where it ends follows four teenagers during the shooting.

 

I don't know. It didn't live up to my expectations. I read some reviews after I read the book, and maybe, had I known these things before hand, I would not have had these expectations. My main concern was the fact that all four main characters sounded the same. I sometimes had to go back to the start of the chapter to see who was talking. Also the shooter's reasons were never really explored, which was rather strange as it would have made the most interesting part of the book as it is often such a complex situation.

 

The author is part of groups to promote diversity in books, but in her book it didn't work. To me it was like she was trying to show how diverse her book was, but this way it felt the opposite because the diversity was so much emphasized. It felt more segregating, completely the opposite.

 

To me, it didn't live up to the hype.