Book Review | I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

A woman and her boyfriend are on a road trip, heading to a remote farm where his parents live. She is narrating and considering ending their relationship. But when they reach the farm, it is clear that nothing is what it seems.

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕? […] 𝑨𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a stunning debut. It’s hard to review this book without giving anything away! The best way to read this book is to go in without reading other reviews so that you can form your own opinions and feelings.

The book begins seemingly as a relationship drama between a man and a woman, narrated by the woman. They share mundane, philosophical conversations as they drive towards the man’s family home. But there’s a sense that something is not right. The road trip is suspenseful and eerie. The recollection of the narrator’s life throughout the journey is perturbing and gives me a real sense of unease. You want to scream at the narrator to leave but you don’t know why. And then slowly you realise that you’re actually reading a mind-bending, psychological horror. The writing is deeply affecting, with images that are seared into my brain.

This is a book that you would either love or hate. More than a linear story, sections of the book are like a dream — or a waking nightmare. But I loved it. It’s messy and complicated, living in characters’ heads and having to decide whether we can trust them. This book fully utilised the unreliable narrator technique to a bleak, harrowing effect. It stayed on my mind for days after I had closed the final page.

About the author: Iain Reid

Photo by Nathan Anderson