Book Review: This Is How It Ends by Jen Nadol

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This Is How It Ends
Author: Jen Nadol
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery
Released: October 7th 2014
Review Source: Simon Pulse

If you could see the future, would you want to? After the disturbing visions Riley and his friends see turn out to be more than hallucinations, fate takes a dangerous twist in this dark and suspenseful page-turner.

Riley and his friends are gearing up for their senior year by spending one last night hanging out in the woods, drinking a few beers, and playing Truth or Dare. But what starts out as a good time turns sinister when they find a mysterious pair of binoculars. Those who dare to look through them see strange visions, which they brush off as hallucinations. Why else would Riley see himself in bed with his best friend’s girlfriend—a girl he’s had a secret crush on for years?

In the weeks that follow, the visions begin to come true...including a gruesome murder. One of Riley’s closest friends is now the prime suspect. But who is the murderer? Have Riley and his friends really seen the future through those mysterious binoculars? And what if they are powerless to change the course of events?

A group of teenagers, Trip, Sarah, Nat, Tannis and Riley go on their usual camping trip when they find binoculars that show them what could possibly be their future. Once these visions come to fruition their goal is to figure out what the binoculars are, how they work, and if they are actually seeing the future when they look into the binoculars or if it is a trick of the imagination. All the while a murder case is going on and it's possible that the murderer is someone that Riley knows.

I'm picky when it comes to books-and it's rare for me to want to say that a book is one of my all time favorites. But honestly I think This Is How It Ends is one of my all time favorites. In the beginning I felt that it was cheesy-kids finding future seeing binoculars? Where is the story going to go? And then it evolves into this whole other story that focuses so much more on the murder and Riley wanting to know how the binoculars work, if they really are showing the future. There's some parts in the end that I could live without, but if it weren't in the story there would be holes so I understand why they are included in the book. By the end of the book I loved it, I was attached to the characters and was intrigued by their stories. When I got to the last page I was sad that there wasn't more to the story-I wanted to follow the characters on the journey they had ahead of them. I had to give myself a day before writing the review because I just wanted to let the characters and the story settle in my mind, I wanted it to be just mine for a little while before I shared my thoughts with everyone. And now I want to tell everyone to go read this book! There's so much that I want to tell, but so much I can't tell because this is the kind of book that you have to experience for yourself.