This Is Where It Ends

De: Marieke Nijkamp

Narrado por: Nick Podehl, Whitney Dykhouse, Kate Rudd, Lauren Ezzo, Amy McFadden, Brittany Pressley, Scott Merriman

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).

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.

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

©2025 Marieke Nijkamp (P)2025 Sourcebooks

could have been better...

my step daughter recommended I read this. I get what the author was trying to do I just wish it was slightly better executed. as a former police officer, the depiction of the police is alarmingly inaccurate and if it were accurate the entire story would have been cut in half. which may have been beneficial for it. I felt as though the story went on and on too long, repeating a lot of the characters' thoughts. finally, the narration, specifically Claire's sounded very robotic at times.

tl;Dr: compelling story and I appreciate the characters' thoughts but not an accurate depiction of what a school shooting would be like, with questionable narration.

Overall, it was okay.

Some of the narrators sounded robotic but they did a great performance as the characters. This wasn’t my favorite book, but I think it’s more because of the narration style. It is very poignant for the time we live in.