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.
๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐? ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐? […] ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
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.
This is not a thriller so donโt go in expecting action. It starts out as a relationship drama with mundane, philosophical conversations in a normal setting. But thereโs a sense that something is not right. The road trip is suspenseful and awkward. 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 just don’t know why. And then slowly you realise youโre actually reading a mind-bending, psychological horror. The writing is deeply affecting. I swear the author broke into my brain and picked specific images that would freak me out!
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