Shooter by Caroline Pignat

Teens being their usual narcissistic selves

The author did a great job at assembling a diverse cast of high school students who couldn’t be more different from each other.  Despite their social and personality differences, the cast was forced to interact with each other in a confined space due to a shooting threat-related lockdown enforced on the entire school.  Through their constipated conversations, the teens end up realizing, in each of their own ways, how they have all been too insecure, selfish, and preoccupied with themselves and along the way, denied the formation of authentic friendships which crossed boundaries set by cliques.  As you may have guessed, this shared traumatic experience allowed them to reveal more of themselves to each other — something that wouldn’t have been possible under normal circumstances.  Amongst this small circle of students lay the key to deflecting the plot of the school shooter.  The story revolves around their discovery of each other, and how, together, they were able to change the destiny of their school, their classmates and their teachers.

I enjoyed this story.  Great beginning, slow middle (around the 30-60% mark), with an action-packed and positively charged ending.  I received a review copy from NetGalley.