This Is How It Ends
Jen Nadol
This Is How It Ends
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Jen Nadol
The text is written at a 7th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
Riley and his friends are deep in the woods, playing Truth or Dare and sipping beer on their last night before senior year. Suddenly, they find strange binoculars that show visions no one can explain—like Riley seeing himself in a secret moment with his best friend’s girlfriend. But what if these visions aren’t just in their heads? What if they’re seeing the future—and a murder is about to happen?
Themes
Quick Assessment
This middle-grade novel explores themes of friendship, secrets, and suspense as a group of teens discovers mysterious binoculars that reveal unsettling visions of the future, including a murder. Appropriate for readers ages 9-12, it involves mild references to underage drinking and a violent crime, handled in a suspenseful but not graphic manner. Parents should be aware of the dark tone and themes of suspicion and fear within the story.
Why we rated This Is How It Ends 12ME
This Is How It Ends is written at a Level 7 reading level across 320 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 8.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, This Is How It Ends works for readers up to grade 9.0.
We rate This Is How It Ends as 12ME ("Moderate — Emotional") because the content sits in the "Moderate" range — moderate conflict that may involve loss, scary scenes, or interpersonal stakes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Mild underage drinking, Murder theme.
Thematically, This Is How It Ends explores friendship, mystery, coming of age, and suspense — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, mystery, coming of age.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
12ME — Moderate — EmotionalReal stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Content Flags
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
2/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
3/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9781481402125
- Pages
- 320
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
- Published
- 2014
- Type
- Fiction