Tomas is the twin brother of Sylvia and is a stereotyped troublemaker at school. He and his best friend, Fareed are outside the auditorium where the majority of the school is locked in with the shooter including his sister. Instead of leaving the school, Tomas ends up attempting to save the students and teachers in the auditorium but most importantly, Sylvia. He had gotten into countless fights with Tyler, the shooter, and is one of Tyler’s main targets along with Sylvia. 

Autumn is the sister of Tyler and Sylvia’s girlfriend. Autumn loves to dance and is looking to go to Julliard for college which Tyler saw as her abandoning him. She never believed that her brother would be capable of doing anything as serious as a school shooting because despite his issues she still loved him. Autumn tries to keep Tyler’s attention on her as Tomas and Fareed let students out of the auditorium and to safety. 

Sylvia is the twin sister of Tomas and the girlfriend of Autumn. Slyvia is also one of Tyler’s main targets due to the fact that he believes she is influencing Autumn in the wrong way. Earlier in the year, Tyler had confronted Sylvia about the fact that she is influencing Autumn and ended up raping her which Sylvia never told Autumn. 

The last student’s point of view is Claire, Tyler’s ex-girlfriend. Claire is another student who is outside the auditorium as this entire situation is happening and gives insight as to what is going on outside of the school. Claire had been at track practice when they heard shots. Claire had seen Tyler’s actions becoming worse but like Autumn, she never believed that he could do anything like this. Claire’s younger brother, Matt is in the auditorium with Autumn and Sylvia. 

This book had senses of tragedy and comedy which made the book a delight to read. I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen. I had to read it in one sitting due to the pure anticipation I had and the desire I had to know how it ended. 

This book also affected me personally as a high school student. School shootings are a real thing that is happening around the country and it’s scary for someone who is a high school student to have this constant threat. 

You get attached to the characters knowing that there is a chance that they might die.

Marieke Nijkamp is an amazing author in general and I love their work. I’ve never read a book of theirs that I didn’t enjoy reading so I knew that I would enjoy this one too. Just not as much as I did. 

The book is overall extremely well written and the fact that I felt the need to read it in one sitting says a lot.