Review – This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

I have recently read this wonderful book,  This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp, and I have to say it gave me ALL the feels and left me quite emotionally scarred for a long time after finishing it!

When signing up to this tour I was fully warned in advance by the lovely Luna’s Little Library who organised the #TIWIWUKTour….

“On a personal note, while I was reading THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS there was a lot of FEELS.  So when you begin TIWIE I want you to know I’m here for you. (via twitter (in non-spoiler form) or DMs/email).  Also as a tour participant you have the Luna-Helpline.  Basically I’m available for you to discuss all things TIWIE and provide comfort for the FEELS with virtual hugs, gifs and chocolate!”

Fair to say I was warned in advance don’t you agree?

A huge thank you to Luna’s Little Library and Marieke Nijkamp for having me on this wonderful tour and letting me be the first stop on the tour to read it after receiving it from you both at #YALC.

You can find a Q&A with Marieke here

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
The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05
Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Publisher – Sourcebooks Fire

Published – 5th January 2015

Pages – 281 Pages

Format – Paperback and E-Book

Category – YA Contemporary

Source – I was lent a copy of this book for the #TIWIEUKTour by Luna’s Little Library and Marieke Nijkamp  – thank you both!

** Please note Tales Of Yesterday Reviews are written as spoiler free as possible**

This book made my heart beat with every page and eyes sting with tears!  I was literally like this following tweet throughout the whole book….

This Is Where It Ends tackles a subject that for me reflects real life events that have occurred in the world and although this book is a work of fiction, whilst reading, these real life events and the pain people must have suffered really do niggle at your emotions and along with the brilliant writing style it really intensified my feelings whilst reading this book.

This Is Where It Ends is set in a school called Opportunity and told over the course of 54 minutes from four different view points, Claire, Tomas, Autumn and Sylv, broken down into chapters.  When the doors to the auditorium do not open after the principals morning speech most of the students are locked in…and then the shooting starts.  Tyler has returned to Opportunity for revenge and he doesn’t let anybody get in his way!  These 54 minutes turn into a race for survival.

As the tagline on this book says…

“Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun”

From the offset within the first few pages I felt emotionally connected to all of the four characters telling the story.  All of the characters voices were strong and unique and Marieke tells their stories with such heartfelt emotion I was fully captivated and emotionally invested and wanted to reach out and protect them so much!

This being said there were some key moments for me that had me crying real tears which involved secondary characters….this shows how powerful this book really is!

Another thing I loved about this book is the sense of what is happening in the real world during these 54 minutes.  At the end of every chapter is a page of tweets or an excerpt from a blog all in real time along with the book giving a point of view of what people are saying or feeling  in the outside world.  Some being students who are not in school on this particular day etc and some of these tweets, just within in that restricted text, are pure emotion and heartbreak rolled into one page!  Marieke broke my heart with one particular set of tweets!

For me personally I adored Tomas and his friend Fareed, who without giving to much away, prove themselves to be unselfish, forward thinking and brave.  That being said all of the characters show their bravery in one way or another throughout the book and it made me admire them as characters even more than I already did.

I can honestly say I hated Tyler with a passion!  As a reader I did not feel any sympathy towards him and rightly so, but that is credit again to Marieke as she does not sugar coat any reasons why he is doing this or justify any justifiable reasons.

I loved the sense of friendships, family and community that push themselves to the forefront due to the situation and adored the input of flashback scenes of the characters within the writing that gradually unravel as the book and the minutes tick along expanding our picture of these wonderful characters lives and what they have experienced and been through prior to this life changing event.

On a side note also I wanted to give a huge cheer to Marieke for the diversity in this book which is the norm in this book.  The characters are just who they are and it was lovely to read.

I also have a favourite quote from the book which just touched me ……

“If you’re afraid think of tomorrow, because tomorrow will be a new day.  Tomorrow there’ll be new chances.  Tomorrow I will be home”

I don’t want to go into anymore through fear of spoiling this brilliant book…I just highly recommend that you pick up a copy upon it’s release along with a pack of tissues and some chocolate for the journey.

A huge congratulations to Marieke with this fab debut YA ….although a hard painful read full of emotion it is written brilliantly and with care.  A brilliant book from start to finish!

*blows nose into tissue*

I award this book 5 out of 5 Tales Of Yesterday Books!

You can buy This Is Where It End here (not released until 5th January 2016)

Or why not add it to your Goodreads wish list here

You can find my Q&A with Marieke here

 About Marieke Nijkamp

Marieke is a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, and diversity advocate. She holds degrees in philosophy, history, and medieval studies, and wants to grow up to be a time traveller.

Marieke is proud to be the founder of DiversifYA and VP for We Need Diverse Books™

In the midnight hours of the day, Marieke writes stories full of hope and heartbreak. Her debut YA novel THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS will be out from Sourcebooks Fire in 2016.

Find out more about Marieke on her website – http://www.mariekenijkamp.com/

Or you can follow Marieke on twitter using @mariekeyn

Check out every reaction happening on the tour on this fab storify session here or use the hashtag #TIWIEUKTour on twitter!

Or in this brilliant Storify by the lovely Luna …

Also the lovely Luna’s review of This Is Where It Ends is so worth a read too – check it out here

For the tour we have also been asked to write a little message in the book once we have finished reading it!  Here’s what I wrote….

Have you read This Is Where It Ends?  What did you think?  Has this review made you want to go pre-order a copy?  Are you on the #TIWIEUKTour?  I would love to here from you!  Why not leave a comment using the reply button at the top of this review or tweet me on twitter using @chelleytoy!

Happy Reading….*passes tissues*