Published: January 5, 2016 by: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 285
Rating: 3/5 stars
The new semester starts off like any other at Opportunity High School. The students gather in the auditorium, as the principal finishes her annual speech. However, as the students get up to leave, the auditorium doors won't open. Then the sounds of gun shots ring out. This is Where it Ends is told from multiple perspectives over the timespan of 54 minutes. In those minutes, a student has taken revenge on his classmates and peers, and it will cost some of them their lives.
I don't even know where to start with this book. It was very upsetting, very emotional, but somehow needs to be taken with a grain of salt. It is about a school shooting. Now I can't really comment on the realisticness of the novel, but there were some moments where I wondered if this book was all that accurate. That being said, I do think that it was an important book with an important message.
The book had many diverse characters throughout it, which is why I think that it is very important. Not only was the main character a lesbian, but there were also many POC's, people with mental illness and other diverse elements. I think it was great for the author to capture the true student life of an actual high school.
I did think that there were parts of this book that were not very true to perhaps a real school shooting situation would be like. For instance, a lot of the students tried to act like a "hero" in the situation. Now put 200 teenage students in a dangerous situation, and it should be every man for himself. However many students made poor decisions that costed them their lives, which I thought was very unrealistic.
I also didn't like the portrayal of the shooter himself. Given his story, it may seem like he probably had a mental illness that drove him to this situation. However as he goes on, he is described as just evil, smiling as he kills students. It just didn't think he was very realistic, if anything, he fit more into the description as a stereotypical killer in a horror movie.
This book wasn't bad, however I don't think it was brilliantly executed. I liked the diversity, and I liked the message. However there were some things that didn't add up.
Have you read This is Where it Ends? What did you think?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
'Opportunity High School' - Really?! That's sounds like a name they give a failing school to make it sound better XD 'It's not bad - it has a shiny jingoistic name! It can't be bad! *shifty glances*'
ReplyDeleteSorry, I had a lot of jingoistic crap at a near-to-failing school. I know what it sounds like. Suddenly your head of house becomes a 'learning manager' and your registration class is made up of 5 kids from each year group to create 'vertical learning.' (I have no idea what was supposed to be 'vertical' about it - I'm still short!) XD
Can't say I've had the same experience, but that's interesting! I think the name of the school in this case was a metaphor for the situation, about stolen opportunities and stuff like that.
DeleteI read the book and I agree with you 100% It isn't very accurate and true to what teens, especially American teens, would do in this situation. We're hardly all heros. And the shooter's motivations weren't well thought out.
ReplyDeleteYeah. It's hard to compare accuracies when you're not (thank goodness) knowledgeable on the subject, but I think we know how teenagers think and that is not how they think.
DeleteThis is a book that I'm very intrigued by. I think the topic of school shooting is something that has been hauting me for years now. When I was younger, there was one case of a school shooting in my country and I was very scared the months after that.
ReplyDeleteI've never read anything surrounding school shooting, but I liked to know your opinion on it. The fact it has a lot of diversity makes me even happier!
Great post, Emily! :-D
It is a very heavy and scary topic but yet it did spark my curiosity. I'd like to know what you think of it if you read it Lais!
DeleteThere are a lot of mixed reviews on this one, from memory! But yeah, some reviews I've read mention that it doesn't stay true to what teenagers are like - so I might give this one a pass. Of course, it is important, with how diverse the characters are, etc. but I don't know, I'm just worried about reading it, and not liking it very much, and being conflicted (because I feel like I should like it because it tries to tackle sensitive and important topics). Very well written review, Emily!! Particularly with a book like this, with such sensitive material :)
ReplyDeleteI found it very hard to gather an opinion on this book because of that reason! Like I wasn't sure if I was supposed to love it or not. I mean, I wouldn't say that it's a must read, but it is important to talk about.
DeleteI haven't actually read this book, but Veronika did and I remember she had the same problems as you. It's a pity it couldn't have been executed in a better way, but the story itself sounds really good- and yessss to diversity!! Great review, Em!:)
ReplyDeleteYeah I talked about it with Veronika when I finished it and I was happy that some people felt the same way that I did. But I was so thrilled with the diversity!
DeleteI completely agree with your thoughts about the shooter. At first I was just, 'okay, I'm trying to see where you're coming from' but then after a few chapters I'm just, 'WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? YOU'RE JUST KILLING PEOPLE!!' and that just failed the book for me.. Great review!
ReplyDeleteYeah I definitely wish that there was more of his story. It just felt weird and out of place. Thanks for stopping by!
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