This is a book about a school shooting in progress perpetrated by one disenfranchised student. It is graphic. The body count is high. 
 Tyler and Autumn are siblings. The book spans one day, one morning, when Tyler locks the student body in the auditorium and begins shooting, with purpose, those kids and teachers he believes wronged him. It also marks the second anniversary of the death of Autumn and Tyler's mother. She had been a prima ballerina, and died in a car wreck while driving to pick Autumn up from dance class. Since then their father has become an abusive drunk, mostly abusing Autumn, but sometimes Tyler when he stood up for his sister. 
 Autumn is a lesbian, in a relationship with Sylvia, a senior at the high school. Tyler has tried, unsuccessfully, forcefully, to break them up. His problems with Sylvia led to the end of his two-year relationship with Claire, and also cost him a few beatings from Sylvia's twin brother Tomas. Tyler was alternately described as a bully and a weakling. It was hard to ascertain his true character--outside of this maniacal spree. He quit school the spring before, and is today returning as a student. Well, that was his ruse. In the intervening six months, Autumn has hardly seen her brother, but he returned over Christmas break to goad their father into beating Autumn for dancing against his wishes. 
 Here's the thing, there's a lot of tension in the book, but it's all...terror, with little resonance. I had issues with some of the interactions, some of the thoughts. I am sure that kids in the crowd would be praying or in shock or wishing, hoping, for rescue, and some of that occurs, but there were definitely scenes that made little sense--like Tomas hoping that the cheerleader notices he comes to her rescue... Um? Get the F*** out. Ask her to prom next week, k? 
 As for the rescue, I was a bit stumped. If Tyler's so enthralled with Autumn's distraction, why does no one rush him--as hundreds of kids escape. I don't know. There were so many logical disconnects for me with this one. The awkward "jokes" the deliquents-cum-heroes tried to crack to each other. The convenience of five track runners training outside while the entire school sits in a mandatory assembly. The unrealistic physical layout of the school that would leave everyone trapped in an auditorium wing. It's a five year old building--I'm fairly certain that building codes would have dictated half a dozen fire exits with doors that cannot be locked to keep students in--only alarmed to alert egress. Classroom windows that lead to a roof? But, I digress. 
 There was a token attempt at diversity. Lesbian couple. Mexican-American farm kids. Black kids. The thing is, we barely knew anyone and then they were dying. I can find it sad, and a terrible waste, but it's hard to sympathize. To empathize. To mourn. The language was stilted and read a bit like an object lesson: don't ignore the signs of abuse, or else! There was little scratching of the surface of Tyler and Autumn's family tragedy, and continuing abuse. Both of these kids have "loving" partners who stand by and do nothing. Tyler assaults Sylvia. She does nothing. The kids in the auditorium...do nothing. 
 At the end of the day, I'm not a fan of tragedy porn. I don't look up stories on mass shootings. I raise my voice against the availability of guns and wish that we could change the powers that be so we can limit access and limit death. I know that my voice goes unheard because the laws do not change, and yet I still object. This book didn't seem to capture the emotional horror of a school shooting. There was too much happening, and little of it relevant. Few of the principals were present enough to be relatable and the end message was: Bad kid does bad things. That's too superficial, sorry, for a book where nearly forty kids and teachers are killed and nearly thirty more injured by one of their own. The Epilogue was preachy and ill-conceived. One student organizing a memorial rally via text? We've all seen the vigils on TV. They don't just "happen." 
 I felt that the book was short on heart and long on melodrama, which is unfortunate. A subject matter this severe should have been given more gravity. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.