Leah
Written on Apr 16, 2017
The writing in this book is incredible – how Caroline Pignat weaves the story is outstanding. I could always tell whose turn it was to narrate, and I liked that Isabelle’s included texts, Xander’s was mostly homework assignments and Noah’s didn’t really make sense, but it did make sense as to what was going on in his head, if that even makes sense. To offer five view points was so intriguing, and I think it helped my enjoyment of the book that, despite everything, despite the fact these five people were virtual strangers (except Alice and Noah who were siblings) they had each other. They weren’t alone, in the bathroom. And the way they all spoke so freely was so refreshing, because who’s going to judge you when you all might die any second? I feel like we really got to see into all of their minds. Alice and Hogan intrigued me the most, although I found Xander’s honesty (or lack of filter) refreshing and I changed my mind multiple times about Isabelle.
This was a genuine book that properly effected me. I’m lucky enough to live in a country that doesn’t have many shootings and hasn’t, to my knowledge, ever had a school shooting. I cannot imagine the terror of going through that, and Caroline Pignat really brought that through on the page. She created amazing, likeable characters and combined them with a plot that had me on the edge of my seat throughout.