SOON TO BE A NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM DIRECTED BY CHARLIE KAUFMAN AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 “I’m Thinking of Ending Things is one of the best debut novels I’ve ever read. Iain Reid has crafted a tight, ferocious little book, with a persistent tenor of suspense that tightens and mounts toward its visionary, harrowing final pages” (Scott Heim, award-winning author of Mysterious Skin and We … author of Mysterious Skin and We Disappear).
I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.
Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”
And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.
In this “dark and compelling…unputdownable” (Booklist, starred review) literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel “packs a big psychological punch with a twisty story line and an ending that will leave readers breathless” (Library Journal, starred review).
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Wow!!!! This book is a roller-coaster ride. I had absolutely no idea where the story was going. The characters were all a bit off and I just had this feeling that something terrible was coming but I had no idea what. The ending was an absolute shock. This is definitely a book worth a second read. I suspect with a new perspective, I’ll interpret the book in a whole new way the second time around.
This was a disturbingly weird and unusual story. It was also a bit confusing as to which character was talking but I think that also added to the odd factor. Despite that, it was still a very good read that was beautifully written.
This is an unusual book. The writing is excellent, brings you right into the experience of the characters and the mystery is compelling. All through the story, there is a nightmarish feeling that builds and builds. It’s horrifying and sad, but admirably done.
Whatever you do, don’t read the last third of this book alone, on a rainy night when your partner is out of town.
UGH!
Congrats to Reid for ratcheting tension and unease to freak out proportions. This book starts out innocuously enough – a newly minted couple on a road trip, en route to dinner at the rural farmhouse of one of the couple’s parents. Told in first person, the prose is efficient and easy to read, with lots of short sentences. Reid does a great job capturing the meandering thoughts and conversations of a road trip and its this casual, stream of consciousness approach that tugs you into the story.
But any idea that this will be a normal journey abruptly ends when we find out the narrator has been getting creepy phone messages in advance of the trip which…has triggered the very title of the story.
From here it turns very unexpected. What is it with remote farm houses, winter and basements? Nothing good ever comes of this combination.
All I can say is, I kept turning the pages in dread.
This scared the living hell out of me. Like the “girlfriend” in the book says, the most terrifying things aren’t the gory, bloody, surface-level or even paranormal scary stuff…it’s the small, quiet things that shake our perception of reality. Like this book.
An existentialist roadtrip written in a simplistic style, which makes it very easy to read, but don’t be fooled because the plot does get you places, even though the physical trip isn’t significant. There is an unreliable, unnamed female narrator, there are dead sheep, and there is a very frightening, very dark ending (to things). The twisted plot kept me turning the pages to the very last. The movie adaptation (by Charlie Kaufmann) is really sensational, too.
If you’ve watched the movie, I guarantee the book is a hundred times better
3.8
This is the first book I’ve read that actually had me feeling a little spooked and uneasy. It was an extremely quick read and I couldn’t stop once I hit 20%. I saw quite a few reviews recommending reading the book twice and giving the audiobook good marks so I may give that a listen eventually. Looking forward to watching the film and seeing how they adapted it.
*update: don’t watch the movie, weird as heck and the book is 10000x better
Very interesting twist at the end, but it was a long, snooze inducing journey to get there. I probably could have just watched the Netflix movie (which I will tonight) to get the gist.
Couldn’t put it down and read it too fast. Now I need to go back and re-read it again.
“I haven’t been thinking about it for long.”
Recently, I had the pleasure of reading FOE, Reid’s second book and was blown away. Just a dread-filled trip that really pushed the boundaries for me. It was a book where I felt that I always knew what was going to happen, but never really knew what was going to happen.
Before I was even finished reading it, I’d purchased the Kindle version of ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things,’ as well as a physical copy.
I ended up reading this slower than expected – which had no bearing on the book, writing or story – because of pressing reviewing commitments that came up. If those commitments hadn’t been there, I would have read this in one sitting.
The story, much like FOE, is barren of anything happening. Simple set pieces and minimal extraneous happenings keep you on your toes. I think it was either Edward Lorn or The Behrg on Twitter who commented on my reading this book, that every single page drips dread. This is absolutely true.
The story never really goes off the rails into a crazy event, but as things ramp up, Reid goes from a cinematic scope of storytelling to a claustrophobic environment and it was at this point I realized that he’d taken the story to a whole different level. I can’t describe exactly how it felt – the closest I can say is that I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me and I had a split second moment of realization before I began to fall. My heart was pounding and my breathing hurt.
Astounding.
In two books, Reid has done something only a handful of other authors have ever done for me – made me want to reread the book right when I finished it.
I want to say so much more about this book, but if I discussed any key moments that really had me go down different rabbit holes with the story, I’d potentially end up spoiling the big reveal, if you will.
I’ve seen that this book is being adapted into a movie and what a slow burn, panic-filled movie that will be.
Can’t recommend this enough and if you really want to get yourself ready to be checked into an insane asylum, read this one and FOE back to back.
This book was slow and I could not follow it, especially at the end. I think I understand what was going on, but it really wasn’t clear. They then suggest that you read the book a 2nd time to have the benefit of knowing where it’s going. I can’t say I enjoyed reading it the first time, I certainly would not waste my time reading it a 2nd time. If I have to read the book twice to understand it, it’s not a good book in my opinion. I can’t even remember what sounded so interesting that I put this book on my reading list in the first place, but it was seriously misleading. I cannot recommend this book to anyone.
“You will be scared and you won’t know why. “. I couldn’t put it down.
Awful. Hard to understand what is happening.
This books makes you uncomfortable the whole time and then when you finish you need to reread it because looking at what’s happening again makes it even scarier.
Completely unpredictable ending. Page turner.
Scary, creepy and edgy. I was seriously creeped out the whole time! I wasn’t expecting the ending. I highly recommend reading this book.
What the hell was this. I’m glad it was only 200 pages. I only finished it cause I won in a giveaway and wanted to give my HONEST opinion. So many questions left unanswered. I do NOT RECOMMEND.
Thank you good reads.
A surprising & great story concept. I read this book many months ago and it’s stayed with me.