Blog Contributor: Rhiana Boutot
This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp is a story of every public school's worst nightmare: a school shooting. The book takes place over a suspenseful 54 minutes full of terror, grief, and acceptance, and is told from the perspective of four students all connected by this traumatic event.
I know personally, being in a mass shooting is my worst-case scenario; I've had nightmares of shootings and I'm all around terrified of living through a mass shooting. However, since schools all around the country experience a shooting almost every week it seems, society as a whole has become desensitized to this violence. This shouldn't be the norm, but here we are. This book is so interesting because it showcases what it actually is like to be in the center of a school shooting and helps shed light to the problem our country has with not only gun control, but also mental health services. The story was extremely surreal and eye-opening.
Not only was the depiction of the scenario so realistic, but the characters' relationship and arcs were realistic as well. Nijkamp does a wonderful job building such complex characters. The diversity in the book was refreshing also. There were people of color, lgbtq+ characters, characters with mental and physical disabilities, single parents, so on and so forth. The four narrators didn't fit the "normal" YA character, A.K.A. a white, cis-het male. It was nice to see representation for everybody. Also, these characters weren't perfect people; the characters in this story HAD problems and they weren't "good vs. evil". Anyone reading this book can find someone to relate to, which makes the book that much more terrifying.
I would recommend this book to everybody. Seriously. It tackles serious topics that are relevant to our society today, all while staying interesting and fun to read. It also helps to diversify the YA novel industry, which is much needed. I really feel that every high school student should read this once, because this really could happen to any one of us.
I think this is a very important topic. Though I do disagree on a few of you points. I don't believe that as a society we have become desensitized to the horror of school shootings. I think that instead of being desensitized, we as a society have realized that the frequency of these events show that while we must mourn those we have lost, it is more important to see the problem and focus on preventing it in the future. As idealistic as this may be, it is the way I view our societies response to these issues.
ReplyDeleteI find the concept of this book to be extremely enticing. The worries of being in and dealing with an active school shooter is a common and dreadful fear which due to current societal structuring, allows this to be a commonplace among the youth of today. I also appreciate the diversity and (hopefully) well done representations that the four narrators help show throughout the story, but without having any further knowledge on the book I can only hope it isn't a lazy way to appeal to younger audiences. Overall it seems like an amazing book worth the time and effort to engage myself in.
ReplyDeleteI think that this type of topic is something to be explained. The horror of school shootings can scare lots of people. One thing I don't agree on is when you said as a society we desensitized while I think lots of people know how to stand up against it and try to prevent these tragedies from happening.
ReplyDeleteThis definitely sounds like an interesting book. I like the idea of something that takes place during such a short and panicked time. I'll definitely be trying to find it sometime, I tend to like things that have more serious real world themes and this one definitely seems important. Also what does YA mean or stand for?
ReplyDeleteThis book serves as an eye-opener for today's society. Today, mental health issues are often ignored, and that leads to horrible situations like school shootings. As someone who hears about these tragedies from the outside, it's nearly impossible to know what it's like to be in the situation. This book is a way to empathize with those who suffer trauma from school shootings, and provides readers with more awareness of the health of their peers.
ReplyDeleteThis book serves as an eye-opener for today's society. Today, mental health issues are often ignored, and that leads to horrible situations like school shootings. As someone who hears about these tragedies from the outside, it's nearly impossible to know what it's like to be in the situation. This book is a way to empathize with those who suffer trauma from school shootings, and provides readers with more awareness of the health of their peers.
ReplyDeleteI always like learning about school shooting stories and how they happened so I know that the same situation would never happen at my school. This seems like a book I would be interested in because I always wondered what it would be like to be in the center of a school shooting. It seems like it could be pretty scary considering it is about someone actually at a school shooting.
ReplyDeleteI read this book a few summers back and it was definitely an important read. The author did an incredible job with making the reader feel the story, rather than simply being told it. It is a difficult read due to the plot, but you'll never want to put the book down. Unfortunately, school shootings are common today and I do think it helps students to read about them to be aware.
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