This Is Where It Ends (Hardcover) by Marieke Nijkamp

About the Book

Minutes after the principal of Opportunity High School in Alabama finishes her speech welcoming the student body to a new semester, they discover that the auditorium doors will not open and someone starts shooting as four teens, each with a personal reason to fear the shooter, tell the tale from separate perspectives.

Book Synopsis

The reviews are in! This Is Where It Ends, the #1 New York Times bestseller and one of the Best Books of the Decade (Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, BookRiot), could break you. I am speechless. The saddest book I have ever read. Literally tore my heart out.

Go inside a heartbreaking fictional school shooting, minute-by-terrifying-minute. Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun...

10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m.: The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05 a.m.: Someone starts shooting.

Over the course of 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun. In a world where violence in schools is at an all-time high and school shootings are a horrifyingly common reality for teenagers, This Is Where It Ends is a rallying cry to end the gun violence epidemic for good.Â

Praise for This Is Where It Ends:
A Buzzfeed Best Young Adult Book of the Decade
A Paste Magazine Best Teen Book of the Decade
A Book Riot Biggest YA Book of the Decade
A Professional Book Nerds Best Book of the Decade
A Bustle.com Most-Anticipated YA Novel
A Goodreads YA Best Books Pick
A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Young Adult Fiction
Kids Indie Next List Pick

Marieke Nijkamp's brutal, powerful fictional account of a school shooting is important in its timeliness. --Bustle.com

A gritty, emotional, and suspenseful read and although fictionalized, it reflects on a problematic and harrowing issue across the nation. --Buzzfeed

A compelling, brutal story of an unfortunately all-too familiar situation: a school shooting. Nijkamp portrays the events thoughtfully, recounting fifty-four intense minutes of bravery, love, and loss. --BookRiot

Review Quotes

[A] compelling story of terror, betrayal, and heroism... This brutal, emotionally charged novel will grip readers and leave them brokenhearted. - Kirkus Reviews

A compelling, brutal story of an unfortunately all-too familiar situation: a school shooting. Nijkamp portrays the events thoughtfully, recounting fifty-four intense minutes of bravery, love, and loss. - BookRiot

A gritty, emotional, and suspenseful read and although fictionalized, it reflects on a problematic and harrowing issue across the nation. - Buzzfeed

Harrowing first-person narrations reveal the way characters try to understand what is happening, where they are in relation to the emergency, and what they can do to save those they love... readable, gripping, and well balanced. - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Intense and compelling, this debut novel balances the senseless violence of a school shooting with uncommon acts of courage and compassion by a diverse cast of characters. - Common Sense Media

Love, loyalty, bravery, and loss meld into a chaotic, heart-wrenching mélange of issues that unite some and divide others. A highly diverse cast of characters, paired with vivid imagery and close attention to detail, set the stage for an engrossing, unrelenting tale. - Publishers Weekly

Marieke Nijkamp's brutal, powerful fictional account of a school shooting is important in its timeliness. - Bustle.com

Nijkamp's emotional, powerful debut fictionalizes an all-too-frequent occurrence in today's world. Her strong storytelling pulls readers into a school shooting, leaving them amongst the gunman's victims in Opportunity High's auditorium. - RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

The core message and potential to open thoughtful discussion make this a solid choice for teen readers. - VOYA Magazine

With an ending that will leave readers rocked with fear, grief, chills and tears, this outstanding debut will hit close to home and is best suited for older teens. - BookPage

With narration firmly rooted in the moment and smooth transitions in and out of flashbacks, each first-person account reveals an intricate web of betrayal and pain that connects the four to Tyler and the horror he has unleashed. - The Horn Book Magazine

You'll finish this book in a single evening, guaranteed. - Paste Magazine