I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel

I LOVED this book! I ENJOYED it very MUCH! I have a stack of TBR books on my desk. I've started more than one. This one gripped me so much that not only did I forget the other books, but I actually FINISHED this one in TWO sittings! It starts off normal, but the idea that the woman is "thinking of ending things" stays in your mind. As other reviewers said, you get this sense that something is off. That something strange is going on in the periphery. She seems to be getting along with her boyfriend quite well. She likes several things about him, is even attracted to him. So why does she really want to end things? It's certainly strange, but NOT off-putting, at all! People are strange! That's just a fact of life! I wanted to tell you what movies this story reminds me of, but I thought better of it. I would be giving too much away, and I really want you to enjoy this book. It was certainly my type of story! A scary psychological thriller! It has THE PERFECT ending! And you'll never guess what the ending will be! And what it is, that ends! As the story progressed and things started to unravel and become clear, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on "end." Which is, after all, what a GOOD book is supposed to do! It's supposed to suffuse you with emotions! It's suppose to catalyse a response, a reaction, within you! This was a quick and HIGHLY enjoyable read! It stayed with me for a few days after finishing it! It left an indelible imprint in my psyche! I LOVED IT! Now I want to find another book just like it! I HIGHLY recommend this book! No reservations!

Iain Reid’s fiction debut is unsettling, disturbing, and nerve-wrecking, an atmospheric novel about the fragility of the human condition. I’m Thinking of Ending Things will draw you in from the first page and drive you crazy trying to figure out what in the world is going on. “The most important things are perpetually overlooked. Until something like this. Then they are impossible to ignore. What does that say? We’re mad at these limits and needs. Human limits and fragility. You can’t be only alone. Everything’s both ethereal and clunky. So much to depend on, and so much to fear. So many requirements.” I won’t discuss what happens in this book at all but instead want to talk about how I felt when reading it. The synopsis—which you should read because it doesn’t give anything away—is what made me think, “Oh my goodness, I need to read this book right now!” It’s a true testament to the writing when an author is able to bring the reader into the scene and relay feelings so intensely like Reid did here. One of the most memorable parts about this book is how the suspense and unease just keeps building. That feeling deep in your guy that something is not right was ever-present and unyielding. And I loved it. I felt uneasy and uncomfortable throughout the whole book. I don’t often go through an endless range of emotions when reading, but this book did a number on me. I was creeped out and disturbed, and like the publisher promised, I didn’t know why. The author’s characterization is brilliant. Through “the Girlfriend’s” eyes you get a vivid picture of Jake’s character and a look into his brain and thought process. You also get a look at the Girlfriend’s state of mind, which left me feeling creeped out in the beginning too. I didn’t know which person to trust. “A memory is its own thing each time it’s recalled. It’s not absolute. Stories based on actual events often share more with fiction than fact. Both fictions and memories are recalled and retold. They’re both forms of stories. Stories are the way we learn. Stories are how we understand each other, but reality only happens once.” Amidst all of the unsettling moments are philosophical themes prominently displayed throughout the book. Reid explores the questions of solitude and independence versus choosing to pair up with someone, life and death, and human connections. These sections of the novel were beautiful written. I highlighted so much of what was said. “Sadness is a normal human condition, no different from happiness. You wouldn’t think of happiness as an illness. Sadness and happiness need each other. To exist, each relies on the other…” While this book is easily one you could read in a day or two due to its short length, I would recommend savoring it and picking it apart. I am looking forward to rereading this one because I’m positive the second read will be an entirely different experience. Reading this book at night may not be the best idea. I would have liked a few things tied up more in the end but overall this novel was riveting! I would whole-heartedly recommend this book if you like books that leave you with a sinking feeling in your stomach with one caveat: this book won’t be for every reader. I will warn you that this book is quite disturbing and dark. It’s the scariest ride to “meet the parents” that I have ever read. * I received an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I purchased this book based on reviews that suggested that it was an unusual approach to psychological horror, and I'm always interested in exploring something with a twist. The first thing I'll say is that this was pretty short for a "novel" -- more of a novella. It is 200 pages, but the type is big and the spacing pretty broad; I read it in one sitting. This is not a critique, necessarily. Warning: possible spoilers below. The book opens with you inside the thoughs of (allegedly) a girl, who is a passenger in a car driven by her (alleged) boyfriend, on a day trip to meet and have dinner with his parents. She opines that she is "thinking of ending things". We spend most of the rest of the book inside her head, the thoughts start to get a bit stranger, to the point where you begin to wonder what she means by "ending things". Their relationship? Or something else? The boyfriend, when he interacts with her, seems pretty straightforward normal, if a bit on the shy side. As things progress, you start to imagine that some weird twist is going to happen. Maybe the boyfriend is going to turn out to be a serial killer -- or maybe the girl is. At this point there was great potential for a really good psycho thriller. Unfortunately, a number of things intervene to spoil this set up. Not the least of these are italicized pages that start to appear between chapters, of a conversation between two people who are obviously investigating a crime scene involving a death. At first these seem to be unrelated to the story told in the girl's thoughts, but it but before very long these inserts pretty much telegraph the outcome of the story WAY in advance. Less than a third of the way through the book I was pretty sure that there wasn't really a "girl" and a "boy" present, but that one was in fact a delusion of the other. By the mid-point I was 99% certain that the "girl" was a figment of the boy's imagination, and my certainty was not disproven. At that point I started to lose interest in the story. The twist had untwisted, and thanks to the explanatory telegraph notes, I pretty much knew what the outcome was going to be long before I reached the end, and I kept wanting the story to just get on with things and be done. Not really the kind of reaction most authors want, I think. Overall not a bad story, exactly, so much as disappointing. It was a good idea that could have been done so much better. The italicized pages could have been left out altogether. Or least been less obvious, or maybe saved until much later in the story. I almost get the impression that the author may have been steered wrong by an editor here. Bottom line, it's an OK quick read if you like this genre, and don't mind having your mystery spelled out for you in bold letters as you go along. But it's probably not one I'll come back to. Oh well.

I went into this book expecting a lot from it. This book did bring a lot to the table, but not anything that I was expecting, in a good way! With such a compelling title and a mysterious description, I don't see how anyone could come across this book and not want to flip through the pages right away. Basically, the book centers around an unnamed narrator, who is dating a young man named Jake. The speaker is thinking of ending things with Jake, but is currently on her way to meet his parents. During the drive, the girlfriend (along with the reader) is haunted by perplexing flashbacks and an unknown caller. Things just get weirder and more addicting from there, so I will refrain from saying anything else about the plot. Let me tell you what I was expecting from this book: A little bit of Gone Girl mixed with a Stephen King book, along with a romantic Nicholas Sparks movie. Here's what I actually got: Nothing that I have ever read before. In my opinion, this book should be in its own genre because of how well the point of the story is executed and how it really can't be tied to any other book I have read. The way it is written really draws you into the book. To be honest, I have never felt so eager to finish a book in my life due to the writing style. The characters in the book all enter a part of your mind and refuse to leave because the author makes each one of them compelling and visually unforgettable. This is a thriller on the surface but once the reader finishes the book, it becomes something much more than that. It becomes a fresh book about a very important topic, which is perfectly handled by the author. I am looking forward to this author's future works. It was a book that I finished a few weeks ago and one that I am still thinking about. It is a book that you'll want to discuss with your friends (but not while hanging out at a Dairy Queen). It is a book that makes you want to go to every bookstore around you and move all of the copies to a spot where customers can easily see it (yes, I actually did that). So, what are you waiting for? Buy this book and read it. I promise that it will stick with you.

I got recommended this book by someone saying it was some of the best horror they'd ever read, so admittedly I may have had high expectations going in. I was immediately jarred by the very terse and punctual writing style of the author, but hey, this is a first person perspective. Its just capturong the voice of the narrator, so I wont complain about a choice that I'm not personally a fan of. We're introduced to the main characters, the narrator and her boyfriend Jake, as they are on a road trip up to see Jake's parents. Both characters can be described as incredibly pretentious and bland. On the car ride, they discuss various topics, mostly musing about the nature of life, where they drop hot takes on each other with the smugness of a college freshman who's just finished a philosophy 101 class and wants to illuminate everyone with his wisdom. During the trip, the narrator keeps struggling with the fact that she's "thinking of ending things" with Jake, but is unsure if she wants to because she still sees something in him. In an astonishing parallel that's either a great coincidence or proof of the galaxy brain ability of the author, I kept thinking of ending things with this book, but just before I gave up each time I got just a taste of horror that made me excited for when the book would pick up, whether it was the mysterious calls from the narrator's own number, her story of the man in the window, or the strange happenings at Jake's parents' house. It never picked up. The final act of the story felt as if it was trying to just throw psychological horror tropes at the wall and see what sticks without wrapping up the MANY loose ends it had created. Instead, it just made more and more. At one point, I started connecting the dots and saw an incredibly cliche twist coming along. It was bland and predictable, but at least it made sense and made the plot cohesive. The only problem was that the twist never happened. Instead, the story just kept derailing itself off the deep end. Keep in mind that this whole time, practivally every other paragraph is some sophomoric observasion about the world that rips you away from the story. In a different context, taking an entire paragraph to explain how fear and dread are not fleeting feelings but instead lingering emotions could definitely help set the mood. In this book however, I just started bashing my head on the nearest hard surface until this umpteenth non-sequitur was over. I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. For as annoying and stiff as I found Jake and the narrator, the little snippets of horror in the first and second acts kept me going in the hopes that I would get something good. But a completely nonsensical third act had me wanting to pull my hair out.

What did I just read? I went into this book thinking it was going to be suicidal, then changed my mind and I’m like “okay, she’s going to break up with her boyfriend”. But the entire premise was confusing as all get out. Why don’t we learn her name throughout the book? Who is the mysterious Caller? Why does Jake leave her in the car? Does Jake unalive himself at the end or WTH is going on? I will be watching the Netflix adaptation just so I can hopefully get a better understanding of what I just read. UPDATE: I watched the Netflix adaptation and I think I have a better understanding of what’s happening in this entire book and I’m updating my rating to a 4 star. I think this is a book that might need multiple rereads for the reader to really understand what is going on. One- I think the woman in the novel isn’t real. I think she’s a figment of Jake’s imagination, which is why toward the end of the book the narrator (who has been the woman up until now) starts to refer to themselves as “we” instead of “I”. There’s commentary mixed in every few chapters that seem to be following the death of someone.. and I think it was Jake. It’s hard to explain without reading it yourself, and the movie may or may not help you but I think the authors ultimate goal was to showcase depression and loneliness, especially as we age and grow to have regrets about what our lives could have been like. Please note, this is not a light hearted, easy read. It can be very triggering and as someone with depression myself, it was a very tense read. Please be cautious going into the book and/or the movie and remember that your mental health matters.

This is a very quick read that I cannot say too much about without giving away the ending, and the ending is best experience without knowledge. Before I begin reading this novel, I read some of the reviews. Several people had commented that while reading you felt scared. You didn’t know why, you just did. I think that’s a pretty good summary. There is definitely a creepy vibe happening. The novel starts with a woman describing her relationship with her boyfriend and how she is thinking about ending the relationship. They are on a trip to Jake’s parents house (the boyfriend). Jake seems awkward, the girlfriend seems rather narcissistic. The story only gets stranger. This is a very short read, I read it in a couple of sittings. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes psychological suspense, or just an exciting twisty story

I recently ventured into what might be the oddest reading experience I’ve ever had with “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” by Iain Reid. Initially intrigued by its adaptation into a Netflix movie, I dove into the book expecting one thing and ended up with something entirely different. At first glance, the title (and the beginning of the story itself) suggests a straightforward narrative about ending a relationship, and for a significant portion of the book, that’s the journey we’re on. The protagonist’s contemplation about her relationship and the ensuing road trip with her boyfriend kept me hooked. Reid’s writing style, tinged with sarcasm and a unique tone, made the read enjoyable and engaging—until it wasn’t. As the story progressed, “weird” took on a whole new meaning. The narrative took such a bizarre turn that I found myself questioning the reality Reid had constructed, leading to a jarring disconnect from the initial intrigue. This twist, while perhaps intended to shock and awe, left me more horrified than impressed. After finishing the book on a Friday night, curiosity led me to the movie adaptation the following day. If I thought the book was strange, the film amplified that tenfold, adding additional layers of visual weirdness. It pains me to give this book three stars because there’s a part of me that genuinely enjoyed the ride for a good 80% of it. However, it just got too weird for me. If you end up reading “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” just be prepared for a conclusion that might not sit well with everyone. As for me, while I appreciated the journey for the most part, I couldn’t fully embrace the destination…hence the three-star rating.

Começo dizendo que esse livro não vai ser do gosto de muitos. Ele é escrito no estilo de fluxo de consciência, e a narrativa foca nas conversas entre os personagens e memórias intercaladas para avançar, a localização é limitada a poucos espaços fechados e atmosfera é bastante claustrofóbica. O livro possui uma boa mistura de mistério com uma pitada de terror psicológico, e como o próprio autor descreve nas páginas: o que importa é apenas uma pergunta. O interesse está em encontar as pistas que os personagens vão deixando entre suas falas, para assim montar o quebra-cabeça das memórias e acontecimentos narrados e chegar à resposta final junto à personagem. Acredito que esses sejam os principais pontos para ter em mente antes de iniciar a leitura, e eu recomendo que, assim como eu, ela seja feita sem haver lido muito da sinopse, e de preferência em uma única sentada. No mais, é importante atentar para os gatilhos da história.

Very strange and creepy, probably not everyone cup of tea but very interesting.

My second time reading this book, after a number of months and it still drew me into the story. It’s tense and psychologically insightful. The author builds an ongoing sense of mystery, of not being completely sure of what is happening. Questions of identity, the disintegration of personality and death actually make a beautiful book. You wonder, why did this have to happen? But it had to be this way, there was no escape really, no other possibility. It manages to maintain its sense of disorientation, of psychological rather than physical terror. Something remaining hidden but waiting to crop up, that can no longer be avoided. It sits in the mind. Or to borrow the words of the author, “it stays, it sticks, it lingers”. And that’s what the book does, while you’re reading it and even after you’re finished. Very worthwhile.

Just finished it.When I was looking for reviews regarding this book.I was not able to find many but the ones I did find were on two sides of the poles.They either loved it of they hated it.I happened to love it.It is quick paced ,interesting and a definite page turner especially towards the end.It has a fantastic mind blowing twist which I did not see coming and probably neither will you.I am tempted to say more but won't cause it might spoil things.Buy I will say that even though it is a mystery novel ,it scared me.Really scared me.I highly recommend it .

This is one of my favorite books ever. I keep re-reading it when I'm in the mood. Incredibly dark and disturbing but very introspective.