This Is Where the World Ends

by Amy Zhang

Overview

A heart-wrenching novel about best friends on a collision course with the real world from Amy Zhang, the critically acclaimed Indies Introduce and Indie Next author of Falling into Place.

Janie and Micah, Micah and Janie. That’s how it’s been ever since elementary school, when Janie Vivien moved next door. Janie says Micah is everything she is not. Where Micah is shy, Janie is outgoing. Where Micah loves music, Janie loves art. It’s the perfect friendship—as long as no one finds out about it. But then Janie goes missing and everything Micah thought he knew about his best friend is colored with doubt.

Using a nonlinear writing style and dual narrators, Amy Zhang masterfully reveals the circumstances surrounding Janie’s disappearance in an astonishing second novel that will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062383051
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/25/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,045,412
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Amy Zhang was born in China and moved to the United States when she was a young girl. She grew up in Wisconsin and recently graduated from college. She is the author of Falling into Place and This is Where the World Ends, and she currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

Zhang’s effortless exploration of the complex intersection of memory and perception, and intricate, menace-laden plot is a perfect fit for fans of E. Lockhart’s compelling We Were Liars.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Zhang does a wonderful job of creating characters. …She creates a plot line that will be believable among most teens about secrets that are and are not shared. This will make a great pairing with Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review)

“A dark, complicated tale, steeped in obsession [and] painful secrets…this is most definitely a novel that will have fans talking.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Zhang switches between Janie’s thoughts before the fire and Micah’s after, bridging the two with unsettling fractured fairy tales from Janie’s senior English project…Zhang’s subject and tone recall books like Paper Towns and Thirteen Reasons Why.” — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

12/14/2015
Eighteen-year-old Micah Carter cannot remember what happened on the night his “soul mate” Janie’s house burned down. Though Micah is questioned by therapists, police officers, and his friend Dewey, his memory is disjointed, a problem exacerbated by frequent drinking. As he sifts through recollections of Janie, Micah realizes that despite their secret friendship and mutual desire, Janie, an artist obsessed with dream boyfriend Ander, is a stranger. Zhang (Falling into Place) switches between Janie’s thoughts before the fire and Micah’s after, bridging the two with unsettling fractured fairy tales from Janie’s senior English project that highlight her change after being assaulted. While Zhang’s subject and tone recall books like Paper Towns and Thirteen Reasons Why, the symbolic aspects of the text (Janie’s fascinations with Virginia Woolf and metaphors, for example) turn repetitive and blunt the emotional underpinnings of the novel. The mystery of the fire propels readers forward, yet Micah’s final lesson learned—“Just be a better friend, you idiot”—comes across as glib, and his relationship with Dewey underdeveloped. Ages 14–up. Agent: Emily Keyes, Fuse Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Zhang’s effortless exploration of the complex intersection of memory and perception, and intricate, menace-laden plot is a perfect fit for fans of E. Lockhart’s compelling We Were Liars.

Booklist (starred review)

Zhang does a wonderful job of creating characters. …She creates a plot line that will be believable among most teens about secrets that are and are not shared. This will make a great pairing with Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review)

01/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Edgy, taut, and compelling, this is a story of unrequited love, betrayal, and apocalyptic changes using lyrical language wrought with symbolism. Janie and Micah have been next-door neighbors and nighttime ninjas since childhood. Micah has long loved Janie from (not-so) afar while Janie remains elusive. Despite her steely exterior and manipulative ways, Janie loves Micah as much as he loves her, but she toys with him nonetheless. Similarities to John Green's Paper Towns (Dutton, 2008) end here. Micah wakes up at the hospital after a night of binge drinking; he vaguely recalls a fire, but details are missing. Where is Janie? Why are the police questioning him? Events unfold through the alternating voices of Janie and Micah in nonlinear fashion until Janie's past and Micah's present collide. Ultimately, this narrative choice creates suspense and works, yet initially it may confuse readers. Zhang tackles heavy subjects such as rape and suicide directly, realistically, and in a way that speaks to teens. Micah's quick acceptance after learning the tragic facts presents perhaps the novel's only real flaw. This abruptly tidy ending does not keep with the lugubrious tone. Both Micah and Janie are well-drawn, complex, and sympathetic. Janie explains her connection with Micah, "We had already drawn lines on our soul and stabbed little flags on it"; language such as this sets this novel apart. VERDICT The breadth of topics covered, figurative language employed, page-turning suspense, and spot-on delivery render this novel a must-have for high school libraries.—Laura Falli, McNeil High School, Austin, TX

School Library Journal

Michael Crouch opens the story in an “After” section in which hospitalized 18-year-old Micah Carter recovers from “an accident” he doesn’t remember. Crouch wistfully expresses Micah’s longing for and lyrical memories of Janie Vivian, his best friend since childhood. In contrast, Micah’s abrupt, shocked answers to police express his puzzlement about what has happened. Justis Bolding delivers Janie Vivian’s “Before” section, which is composed of journal entries. In contrast to Crouch’s subdued tones, Bolding’s narration brims with passion, sassiness, and, later, fury for a terrible hurt she keeps hidden. Her emotional highs and lows make sense for the pain she feels and inflicts on Micah. The alternating first-person narratives give excellent perspectives of both protagonists, and their contrasts give dimension to both characters and their powerful secret relationship. S.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2016 - AudioFile

Michael Crouch opens the story in an “After” section in which hospitalized 18-year-old Micah Carter recovers from “an accident” he doesn’t remember. Crouch wistfully expresses Micah’s longing for and lyrical memories of Janie Vivian, his best friend since childhood. In contrast, Micah’s abrupt, shocked answers to police express his puzzlement about what has happened. Justis Bolding delivers Janie Vivian’s “Before” section, which is composed of journal entries. In contrast to Crouch’s subdued tones, Bolding’s narration brims with passion, sassiness, and, later, fury for a terrible hurt she keeps hidden. Her emotional highs and lows make sense for the pain she feels and inflicts on Micah. The alternating first-person narratives give excellent perspectives of both protagonists, and their contrasts give dimension to both characters and their powerful secret relationship. S.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2016 - AudioFile

2015-12-08
A twisty, stylized examination of a catastrophic relationship. Eighteen-year-old Janie Vivian believed in fairy tales and metaphors and true love. Her best friend, Micah, believed that he loved Janie. Despite her crazy ideas and unrelenting mind games, he believed he loved Janie "apocalyptically." Little did he know that the end of their world was right around the corner. The story of the two friends' sometimes beautiful and oft-dysfunctional relationship is slowly revealed through an interesting combination of Micah's present-day accounts, Janie's flashbacks, and her occasional journal entries. Though it is Micah who wakes up in a hospital room unable to explain to police how he got there or what happened to Janie, the novel, just like Micah's world, revolves mostly around her, and she is a force. Watching Janie toy with Micah's heart while executing a plan to make another classmate fall hopelessly in love with her is cringeworthy and at times difficult to bear. When Janie's plans take an unexpected and horrible turn, it becomes equally difficult to watch her unravel and to drag an unsuspecting Micah down with her. Zhang weaves a dark, complicated tale, steeped in obsession, painful secrets, and mind-numbing vodka. Readers will be left to decide for themselves whether this is a tragic love story or a psychological thriller; regardless, this is most definitely a novel that will have fans talking. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews