Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

29 reviews

lorraine19's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I was expecting a chaotic, gritty, realistic view of school shooting. I was thoroughly disappointed. Instead, this reads like an overly scripted Hollywood movie. There's so many long dialogues and every character just had to have some dramatic heroic moment even if it made no sense. The type of characters didn't really match the setting. 

I don't like telling spoilers in reviews but I feel like I need to provide examples of scenes to express how unrealistic it was written....

(SPOILERS) The shooter comes in and an auditorium of a hundred students just goes completely silent. When the doors open, not a single person panics or makes a run for it. Everything is controlled and there is little chaos. Police officers find students a couple blocks from the school and BRING THEM BACK. Like what?! (SPOILERS)

Reading the author's note, they state they grew up in a different country and we're unfamiliar with school shootings. They wrote the book in order to "learn about it". Clearly they should've done more research. Insulting to anyone that's been in proximity to violence like this and does not provide a realistic or fair view of school shootings at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Death, Gaslighting, Child death, Hate crime, Violence, Gore, and Confinement

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Racism, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

kashrae99's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Dementia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, and War

frogswimmer25's review

dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Dementia

sarah_chapman's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Addiction, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Chronic illness, Child death, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Mass/school shootings, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Violence

kanorve's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It’s a really hard read. Especially for a mom who worries about these things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Dementia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Death of parent, Homophobia, Rape, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

marisabenn's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow. What a gut wrenching, and all too realistic, story. 

I really liked how the chapters were laid out with the time stamps. The four POVs make this heartbreaking and hopeful. I honestly have few words for this one. It's powerful with so many layers and pieces to be taken away.

It was difficult to keep track of minor characters. I wish the author would have included a list of victims, even if it is fictional. There were so many names either half-remembered or never known that I got lost. 

I also wish there was more about Tyler. We don't know why he wanted to mass murder his classmates, but I guess that's not rare for school shootings. In the end it just felt a little..... forced? I'm not sure, but it was lacking something. 

Definitely need a light rom-com after this heartbreaker. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Dementia, Bullying, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, and Car accident

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

agoraphobic_crawfish's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 TW/CW: mass shooting, gun violence, mentions of abuse, mentions of grief, mentions of Alzheimer's, mentions of rape.

Reading this was painful. Upsetting. I probably won't read another book like it in the future.

Tyler said he "didn't want to be alone anymore". He was never alone. He isolated himself in his grief and then when he successfully pushed ppl away, he turned that grief to anger. I can't feel bad for him though. He wasn't a good person before the shooting. As much as autumn tried to paint him as a saint because he was there for her. he's homophobic, a rap*st, and manipulative/controlling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Grief, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Gore, Child death, Car accident, Blood, Gun violence, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Death of parent, Violence, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Child abuse, and Hate crime

iksme's review against another edition

challenging sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Every time I read this book, it emotionally destroys me. It is similar to an out-of-body experience. You will cry if you read this, even if you usually don't. It is a deep and sickeningly realistic depiction of what it is like to experience trauma and its effects on the community, including the beginnings of collective community trauma. There is a main character who is a queer domestic violence survivor, and her story is so thought out, so real it is as though she is guiding you through this book. this read hurt my heart and helped me feel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I listened to Nijkamp talk about their books some years ago, and put them on my list of authors to follow up. This is the only book of their's that my local library has in their ebook collection, so I borrowed it knowing pretty much nothing. It might have helped if I'd known the bare bones of what the book is about, but as it was it was incredibly confronting. 

I think this is probably the most tense book I've read. It has such a narrow focus, across multiple viewpoint characters, that at no point during this incredibly awful hour that the book covers is there any narrative breathing room. 

The rapid shift between the four viewpoint characters, plus the extra perspective that comes from a handful of tweets and/or short blog posts that end each chapter, makes it a maelstrom of 'what is happening'. Particularly because the distress of those inside the situation and the distress of those outside trying to work out what is going on are both conflicting and enmeshed in a way that is disorienting in a way that brings the immediacy of the traumatic even that the book portrays. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Child death, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gun violence, Death, and Homophobia

Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, and Rape