Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - This Is Where It Ends

This is where it ends is a book about a school shooting. It has 4 different POV’s which are all likeable characters but you might feel more attached to specific ones since there is a pretty wide range of personalities, interests, race, sexuality and their home situations. There is a LOT of death in this book, also with characters you might have started to care about a lot. I personally didn’t cry but I was on the verge of. The POV’s are people that are all connected to the school shooter in different ways, the nature of their relationships with him are all very different which makes it so interesting. Ex-girlfriend, sister, sister’s girlfriend and sister’s girlfriend’s brother/school shooters ‘enemy’.
In between chapters it sometimes also has tweets or blog posts from other students or people connected to students/ teachers at the school and also some that aren’t connected to the school or it’s pupils and staff whatsoever. They show different reactions from the outside and inside to what is happening.
I gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 because even though this is an important subject and the character POV’s we’re very interesting, I don’t want to read this book again. I don’t feel very attached to it, BUT I would recommend this to people. I think it’s a good read for once and then you kind of just… move on.
It’s written in easy English and I think anyone could read this, unless you get triggered by things that happen in the book. Which is why I think it is important to read trigger warnings.

Content Warnings

melplays9000's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was absolutely everything and it broke me. The tension is maintained so well all the way through and then at the end the emotion finally catches up and it’s heartbreaking. All the characters feel so intricate and real, the was they respond to the situation and their connections to it was crafted so well. The 4 perspectives from which we see this story are all connected to each other as well as to the situation and she shooter. It is clear that all these perspectives were chosen for a reason and although we may not see the situation from all angles we see it through those to whom it has the biggest impact. I loved the way this subject matter was handled and reading this made me more aware of this horrifying reality that some people have to face. 5 Stars.

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sassyshark's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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fandomckb's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a heavy read. The content is so dark, but I could barely put it down. The way it's written is haunting and incredibly powerful. I cried at multiple points because the story was so sad, and I think it accurately portrays how horrifying something like this would be.

<spoliers> The use of dramatic irony was so perfect. Jay asking Kevin to text him back but knowing Kevin was dead... Matt dying at the end... The way that Tyler almost seemed to win at the end because of him killing Tomàs and killing Autumn on the inside by shooting her knee. It was all so incredibly sad. <spoliers>

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ainsleyexe's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Book 3 in the Bookshelf Unhaul Series.
1.0 star.

The first time I read this book, I was in the middle of a traumatic 5-day trip to Toronto, and I've decided to fully blame that for my initial 4-star rating. I had precisely 1 brain cell left after getting approximately 6 hours of sleep across 4 days; that is the only explanation for why I enjoyed this wildly mediocre, almost offensive book. It was simply the least of many evils.

This book throws away any potential for a nuanced, meaningful story about a problem that has plagued American schools since the 70s for a bland, boring, black-and-white tale that comes to the resounding conclusion that "shooter bad". Wow, thanks for sharing that. All of the characters feel like cardboard cutouts of diversity; there is no real dive into any of their complex identities, cultural backgrounds, histories, or really, character building of any kind. They are simply reduced to "immigrant bad boy" or "Latina lesbian", and it is a massive disservice to not only the story, but the representation that the story touts. These characters aren't complex, realistic humans- they are like sock puppets that the author pushes around, all performs in the same voice (except for the occasional grossly misplaced dios mio) and occasionally has them reference queerness or something. They are the most milquetoast interpretations of diversity imaginable. As well, the story feels so slow, but not in a reflective way; it feels like the author is padding pages. It tells the story in dullest way possible- straight, chronological, linear. There is no pace change, no dynamic- just straight through. And finally, we arrive our shooter, Tyler. What a one-note, bland character. No real effort is made to explore his motivations, his feelings, even his thoughts- he just waves a gun around for a while, shoots some extraneous characters and the author then announces through a metaphorical loudspeaker that "shooters are bad". I didn't know that, thanks for sharing! It comes to the single most obvious, uninteresting and uncomplicated thesis possible. For all these reasons, I will be getting rid of this book.

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kristyndcruz's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wanted to read this book because I have always been interested in school shootings and understanding them. I was hoping this book would be such a good read because I haven’t seen any other books that revolve around this topic. However, this book was just okay. It wasn’t as good as I thought or hoped it would be. I understand that it was an important topic and supposed to be like real life, but I wanted more of a book story with drama and plot twists. I didn’t really like the way this was written. I also wish there was a POV into the shooter’s mind. There were POVS of all the main characters, except the shooter. I wish there could have been at least one with his mindset. There wasn’t really any real explanation for why it happened and why e did it. It was exactly like real life, without any explanation sometimes, but I wish n this particular book there was. It would be perfect if you were looking for a story that is exactly like real life, but I think I was looking for a story. I also thought the characters were just okay. They each had their own complex backstory, but it wasn’t delved into enough. Thy also weren’t that loveable and I didn’t understand some of their problems and why they thought and acted the way they did. I had only bonded to one specific character, which coincidentally was the only main character who died. Overall, I just expected more and didn’t really enjoy reading this book and they way t was written. I would recommend it for anyone who wants a true story that follows real life, but for anyone like me, I wouldn’t expect much.
“We’re more than our mistakes. We’re more than what people expect of us.”
“It doesn’t matter what comes mext as long as I keep moving forward.”
“Together we could be so strong, but the gun has made us individuals.”
“We’ll be stronger than our fear.”
“Some days you think you can’t go on because the only thing waiting for you is more despair. Some days you don’t want to go on because it’s easier to give up than to get hurt again.”

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