I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Reviews
I read I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid in 2023 over the span of six days. It's such a captivating psychological thriller that focuses on themes of identity, relationships, and the complexities of the human mind.
I was immediately gripped and intrigued by the ambiguous title, because it truly keeps you wondering what exactly the protagonist is considering ending—their relationship or their life.
From Film to Book
I was initially introduced to the story through the film adaptation on Netflix. I discovered afterward that it was based on a novel, and I only cared enough to want to read it in 2021. I've watched the film multiple times, and I never understood it fully, but I had a blast each time. At some point, it was my favourite film, and I wouldn't stop recommending it to people.
Now that I've read the novel, I feel like my understanding for the plot and story has been enhanced, and it's made the film even more enjoyable. Albeit, I haven't re-watched it since reading the novel. I might just do it now after writing this review, because it's one of those rare moments whereby a film/series adaptation of a novel has done its source material/inspiration some justice!
Plot and Structure
As the plot unfolds, readers are gradually introduced to an ever-growing sense of unease and mystery. The first half of the book immerses you in the protagonist's thoughts, gradually revealing the strange and unsettling events unfolding around her and Jake. I mostly enjoyed the storyline about the man whom the protagonist keeps seeing and thinking about. And also, the person who kept calling her.
As the story progresses, the narrative shifts between perspectives between the protagonist and Jake. And I may have misinterpreted this, but at some point, Jake is she, and she is him, and they are one. Why, you ask?
SPOILER STARTS HERE
[
Because it's always been Jake -- he's always been the one thinking about everything and fantasizing. He never even spoke to the girl, he was fantasizing about what it would be like if they'd met and spoken. He's thought about her so much and so hard, that he's manifested her into a semi-real person.
It’s done now, and I’m sorry.
I look at my hands. One is shaking. I try to steady one with the other. I
can’t. I slump back into the closet. A single unit, back to one. Me. Only me.
Jake. Alone again.
I decided. I had to. No more thinking. I answered the question.
]
SPOILER ENDS HERE.
"And the girl.
She. He. We. Me."
Anyway, there's one interesting aspect of the book that I wanted spotlight: the protagonist remaining nameless throughout the story. This creative choice allows readers to easily insert themselves into the story and experience the events from a first-person perspective, enhancing the immersive quality of the narrative. By keeping the protagonist nameless, the author encourages readers to form a deeper connection with the character and the unfolding events.
Writing Style
Iain Reid's atmospheric and unsettling writing style perfectly complements the story's eerie tone. He was able to create an immersive reading experience for his readers and keeping them guessing until the very end. His unique approach to storytelling left me questioning everything I had just read, in the best possible way.
Recommendation
Both the book and film adaptation of "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" offer a thought-provoking and masterfully crafted exploration of the human psyche. I highly recommend this book to fans of psychological thrillers and those who enjoy an unforgettable, mind-bending story -- or as I call books and movies like this, ✨mindfuck stories.✨
This book will stay in your mind for a long time.
So, while the story was very creepy, atmospheric, and disorienting, I was left wanting MORE from it. I can’t say much without giving spoilers, but the characters didn’t appeal to me. No one in this book has any official diagnosis, but as a person with ASD, I’m diagnosing both the main characters with autism. And let me tell you, MY autism is enough for me. Enduring the conversations between these two and then being in the main character’s autistic brain was… a lot.
It’s like when one ND person meets another, and the person whose special interest is Marvel meets someone’s whose special interest is coins produced before the civil war. Like oh… we have the same diagnosis but NOTHING in common. That’s what it felt like to me. I couldn’t wait to get back into my own brain.
There was a lot of philosophical yapping that I had no interest in. It’s very clear that the author is interested in that and is a very intelligent man, but I simply couldn’t care less. The pace (and thus my interest) picked up around the halfway mark, but overall, the characters weren’t compelling enough for me to enjoy this the way I could’ve if I didn’t find the people annoying.
It's an interesting read. It's one of those that I need to read again (the audiobook is apparently very good). I have a feeling I'd like it more the second time since I've got an idea of what's going on. The plot twist was very unexpected!
Nah because wtf was this. I truthfully have ZERO clue how this book ended. I’ve never been so confused. The entire time you get it but then the end leaves you with so many questions. It was still extremely well written
one of my favourite books — sparked my love for mild psychological thrillers and plot twists
the ending had me pondering for days ... don't watch the movie, it's incomparable
Approaching a book after first enjoying a film adaptation is always risky...but thankfully, I enjoyed them both. They’re equally haunting, contemplative, and unsettling in their own ways.
I recommend the audiobook 🎧
i came away from this book with the knowledge of what a "bait-and-switch" is.
POPSUGAR 2020: Past prompt (a book from 2016) WOW.
i'm a slut for philosophic banter
3.5 stars (generous) This took everything in me to finish, but the payoff was sort of worth it. Half-expected it to be more terrifying than bleak, but I guess the horror existed in the mundane, introspective dialogue that polluted the first half of the book. Regardless, I appreciate the concept and its novelty, and I have to admit, the twist made my jaw hammer through the ground. I'm quite disappointed that I didn't connect with this book the way I wanted to, it's just very difficult to forgive tedious reading in a novella like this, at least to me. edit: turns out I cant stand postmodernist texts LOL
This book blew me the fuck away
Last 4 chapters absolutely blew my mind
What a fun little mobius strip of a novel. Even before Reid starts to turn up the uncanny dial at Jake's parents house, you always feel a little off kilter like one of those gravity illusion tourist attractions in the American South. Looking forward to reading something else by this author.
I swear I've read this story before — not this particular one but a short story that was SO VERY SIMILAR. And it's bugging me. It's right there on the tip of my tongue and I just can't quite put my finger on it. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2017/comm...
Where to start with this mind-fuck of a book?
The premise of the book is about Jake, who takes his girlfriend to meet his parents at their rural farm. Only his girlfriend is thinking about ending their relationship.
From start to finish, the book was incredible. But the book’s ending is where my highest praise comes for. My jaw was wide open when I finished it.
I can already tell this book is going to be running laps around my brain for months. The writing is incredible. If you like really descriptive, observational writing, this will be right up your street.
It made me feel uncomfortable in ways I didn’t know existed whilst reading. It made my skin CRAWL and my stomach drop in places, but my god this was a good read. It’s creepy, scary and completely unnerving - but if you can stick through it, the final few pages of the book are mind blowing!
I thought I'd calculated all the possibilities.... but boy was I bad at maths
3.5 Listening to the audiobook while reading made this book so good. I think if I only read it alone, I wouldn't be too impressed. The audiobook gave it a more eerie feeling, and the book gave a thrilling experience. There's this part at the latter part of the story that creeped me out so much (mainly because of how it was made in the audiobook, i don't think i'll get creeped out if I was only reading). I had to stop reading for a while because I was genuinely terrified (I was reading this at around 2am, probably not a good idea). However, I am extremely disappointed with how it ended. There was so much potential for this novel, but it all crumbled down. This could have gotten an instant 5 star if only the ending was different. It genuinely had me sighing in disbelief. I don't necessarily think it's a bad ending, it definitely has a twist in it. It was really predictable and common, so I was really hoping for a different ending. The whole story was very bizarre, and the uneasy tension was high. I loved it, but the ending just didn't blow my mind like I hoped it would (considering all the build up).
I have to read this again twice more and then once backward to understand. Gripping.
However you think this book is going to end, that's definitely /not/ it. And yet it makes absolute sense by the time you're done reading it; I'm super excited to reread this somewhere down the line with context behind everything.
there were so many possibilities for this story, like i honestly believed it was gonna be good… and they chose that ending ???
i couldn't sleep with the lights off
i've been seeing reviews saying it's better on the second read, and without reading it a second time i can already see why that would be the case HOWEVER i don't want to reread a book that i just finished so. three stars for now because the suspense and anxiety were so palpable for me even when i wasn't entirely sure what was going on which was very neat!!!
i am genuinely perplexed. i have never been this confused on an ending in my entire life. i enjoyed the writing style, the characters' internal thoughts and didactic conversations that blends well with their nature and personalities, but THE ENDING SO MAKING ME HURT MY BRAIN
Highlights
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Interaction, connection, is compulsory. It's something we all need. Solitude won't sustain itself forever, until it does.
We can never be the best kisser alone.
Maybe that's how we know when a relationship is real. When someone else previously unconnected to us knows us in a way never thought or believed possible.
Even considering the data that shows the majority of marriages don’t last, people still think marriage is the normal human state. Most people want to get married. Is there anything else that people do in such large numbers, with such a terrible success rate?
He was reading a magazine. There was a faint white film or residue under his bottom lip, concentrated in the corners of his mouth where the top and bottom lips meet. This happened most mornings, this white lip film. After he showered, it was usually gone.
When we choose to bring the end closer, we create a new beginning.
What holds this together? What gives life significance? What gives it shape and depth? In the end it comes for us all. So why do we wait for it instead of making it happen? What am I waiting for?
Interaction, connection, is compulsory. It’s something we all need. Solitude won’t sustain itself forever, until it does. We can never be the best kisser alone.
What do we do when we’re always alone? When there’s no one else, ever? What does life mean then? Does it mean anything? What is a day then? A week? A year? A lifetime? What is a lifetime? It all means something else.
People talk about the ability to endure. To endure anything and everything, to keep going, to be strong. But you can do that only if you’re not alone. That’s always the infrastructure life’s built on. A closeness with others. Alone it all becomes a struggle of mere endurance.
The custodian’s room is ours. It’s where we’re meant to be. In the end, we can’t deny who we are, who we were, where we’ve been. Who we want to be doesn’t matter when there’s no way to get there.
The most important things are perpetually overlooked. Until something like this. Then they are impossible to ignore. What does that say?
I think there’s a perception that fear and terror and dread are fleeting. That they hit hard and fast when they do, but they don’t last. It’s not true. They don’t fade unless they’re replaced by some other feeling. Deep fear will stay and spread if it can. You can’t outrun or outsmart or subdue it. Untreated, it will only fester. Fear is a rash.
We can’t and don’t know what others are thinking. We can’t and don’t know what motivations people have for doing the things they do. Ever. Not entirely. This was my terrifying, youthful epiphany. We just never really know anyone. I don’t. Neither do you.
Something that disorients, that unsettles what’s taken for granted, something that disturbs and disrupts reality—that’s scary.
We can never really know someone else’s thoughts. And it’s thoughts that count. Thought is reality. Actions can be faked.
“To exist means nothing other than we despair . . . for we don’t exist, we get existed.”
We don’t just understand or recognize significance and validity through experience. We accept, reject, and discern through symbols. These are as important to our understanding of life, our understanding of existence and what has value, what’s worthwhile, as math and science.
What if suffering doesn’t end with death? How can we know? What if it doesn’t get better? What if death isn’t an escape? What if the maggots continue to feed and feed and feed and continue to be felt? This possibility scares me.
“And you also know things are real when they can be lost.”
I think that’s it. Maybe that’s how we know when a relationship is real. When someone else previously unconnected to us knows us in a way we never thought or believed possible.
“It seems like more people, if not depressed, are unhappy these days. Would you agree?” “I’m not sure I’d say that. It does seem like there’s more opportunity to reflect on sadness and feelings of inadequacy, and also a pressure to be happy all the time. Which is impossible.”
How much of you can fall off before something important is lost?
Getting to know someone is like putting a never-ending puzzle together. We fit the smallest pieces first and we get to know ourselves better in the process.
Are small, critical actions enough? Small gestures make us feel good—about ourselves, about others. Small things connect us. They feel like everything. A lot depends on them. It’s not unlike religion and God. We believe in certain constructs that help us understand life. Not only to understand it, but as a means of providing comfort. The idea that we are better off with one person for the rest of our lives is not an innate truth of existence. It’s a belief we want to be true.