Unfortunately, I believe I placed too many personal expectations on this book, thinking it would be a high-intensity suspense novel, but I got an entirely different reading experience than anticipated. My own personal hype is absolutely a huge reason as to why I don't think I enjoyed this book to it's full potential. I think, had I been more aware of the actual plot of the book as opposed to just knowing "it's about a school shooting," I probably would have been more prepared to read it with an unbiased mind. Claire was probably my favorite, I don't know why since I didn't really, as I said "get to make an emotional connection with her," but I don't know, I just liked her POVs. Minerva, the main character, is so raw … so real … so relatable … so genuine. While recognizing her life on earth was ending, she remained steadfast in her faith and prayers. My copy of This is Where It Ends has so many highlighted one-liners and passages. This book is truly something special. Topic or themes I saw: Receiving genuine love, the value of elderly. Rejection, unworthiness, sadness over a life you wished had been lived differently. Setting our eyes on eternal things, not temporal. The beauty of relationships.

It Ends with Us is a romance novel by Colleen Hoover, published by Atria Books on August 2, 2016. Based on the relationship between her mother and father, Hoover described it as "the hardest book I've ever written." This is an absolute must-read heartfelt and unforgettable treasure! I have read a multitude of fantastic, five-star books, yet this book is in a class by itself and deserves at least ten stars! The incredibly descriptive and gut-wrenching, heart-ripping writing is majestic! The Christian faith content is real and superb! This is a really hard one to review because on one hand, I think it is a fantastically written book that deserves all the praise, but on the other, it wasn't really for me and I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. So I'm settling in the middle with a good 4 star rating (5 for overall great writing, 3 for my personal reading experience) and hopefully I won't fail at explaining why I appreciate the genius of this book, but why it also wasn't that enjoyable for me.

Did we miss something on diversity?

This book is simply unforgetable. It's the first book I've read about a school shooting, and it was just as horrifying and jarring as you would expect. I'm very glad i'm not in high school anymore, because for the rest of my life I'm going to be a little bit startled walking into an auditorium. Sadly, I think this book's only selling point is the subject matter, however. It was gripping and tragic, but the characters, writing, and structure didn't support that very well. I liked how diverse this book was, but it was very hard to interconnect the 4 perspectives as they were described because the way this book is told is very confusing. A lot of the time I was grappling for details, not sure what was going on or who was who. The characters themselves didn't have a lot of time to be fleshed out, and by the end of this book, I didn't find myself particularly attached to them.

In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.But, overall...the ending. It just catches in your throat. Nothing is going to be okay. I started the preview off on that note. I'm telling you right now, guys. Nothing is going to be okay. Even in that moment, waiting for some sort of outside help and trying to form a solid strategy, Tomas spares a thought for Fareed and how, with his Afghani heritage, accent and Muslim faith, he may seem a threat to the police officers rather than a hero. 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.

But this book never looks at such things. This is a very underdeveloped tale of drama. Right away, the different narrators tell their own sympathy stories - each is hurting, abused, though not really flawed, and diverse (and often victimized because of it). No mistake can be made: these are our victims. And they all have the same narrative voice. Blood doesn’t make a relationship. Kindness, caring, love makes a family. You don’t have to be blood to be the perfect fit.” Kayle, Hilary S. (June 3, 2017). "BookCon 2017: Colleen Hoover: Different Endings". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved February 11, 2022. The book is sensationalistic. Like come on, when the bad guy is about to kill you, would this moment really have happened? Like, REALLY? “You know, sweaty chic doesn’t suit you,” I muse. The end of this book crept up on me much like the book The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. I knew what was going to happen...but when it does it just gets you in the heart. I teared up and had to bite my lip due to emotions several times.There are times when Minerva repeats herself, but that doesn’t make the story boring. This is a book you want to savor. You’ll laugh, and at times tears will come to your eyes. It’s my first time reading anything by this author, but it won’t be my last. A solid five stars from me.