Just End It
Donna Blaber
Light House
Pub. 2020

January 19, 2022

This heart-warming story is a must read for anyone who likes books with a feel-good ending.

It all starts one day when teenager Jessie Brown goes to Whale Bay. It’s a beautiful beach that she hasn’t thought much of until she takes a glittering black rock that is lying on the sand. She has no idea how her life is about to change. Jessie doesn’t know that if it is taken without permission, you become cursed with bad luck. The rock also has a huge story to tell that explains Jessie’s new friend only appears in her dream but becomes a big part of life.

Suddenly, when new girl Alexis arrives, her best friend Hayley ditches Jessie and teams up with Alexis. The pair of them purposely go out of their way to make Jessie’s life miserable. Suddenly her favourite online game isn’t a place where she can get away from all of it. The worst part is everybody else can see it. She tries to hide but soon realises there is no point.

She needs to fill the gap in her life with new friends. When she does, she does not know whether she can trust her or if she will leave her. After all, they were the best of friends before Hayley stabbed her in the back.

Jessie knows she needs to fix everything but how can she by herself, when she is only one person? Will everything go back to the life she knows and loves?

What I didn’t like about the book is how after a character spoke the word after the dialogue
was usually ‘said’. I just think it would be more interesting if the author used some other describing words so we could get an even better idea of their feelings. In saying that, the rest of the time the characters were described in a way so that you could understand their emotions and connect with them.

The story is described in a way that paints a clear picture and makes it more interesting. I thought it was good how the author incorporates pieces of the unique New Zealand culture throughout the book. I liked how it all followed the same path and flowed smoothly. For me it was good as there were no sudden events that appeared out of the blue.

The message that the book carries about bullying is meaningful. It gives a perspective of it all unfolding and how traumatised it can leave people. And even though they are just words that might not mean much to you, they can really hurt others and cut them deep. Every time it happens, bullying ruins people’s lives. It is a severe thing that is more common than we realise and the consequences of doing so are severe as well.

Overall, Just End It is a very good book. The author picked a great way to get her message across.

• Samantha Waters is 12 and lives in Christchurch.