I'm Thinking of Ending Things

WOW. Reading this i felt it had so much depth and also lacked so much depth. What was her name? That drove me crazy. Why don't i know anything about her? When it all came together in the end i just had to sit there and think over the book again with the knowledge that she's simply a delusion and was in awe that a book with so little character development kept me so hooked that i read it in one sitting. I am so impressed with the authors writing.

I really dislike this book. After all the hype, I'm let down. I understand the ending is supposed to wrap it up in a neat little bow but it was PREDICTABLE! I knew that the girl was a figment of Jake's imagination. It wasn't much of a shock like everyone told me it was going to be.

I also despise the main character. She complains about every little thing and it was frustrating to listen to the narrator b***ch the entire time. I felt no connection to any character at all and could care less what happened.

Also, what's with the phone calls from “her number?” Personally I feel like that little tidbit was added to make the story seem creepier but it was more confusing than anything.

Kind of disappointed I wasted my audible credit which is the only reason I even saw this book through.

Wow, what a rollercoaster! This book really impressed me on so many levels. Firstly, the writing. The author does an amazing job of keeping the reader on their toes. You are constantly wondering “what's happening? What's about to happen?”. This suspense-ridden feeling lingers till the end. Thematically, the author plays with several aspects of the horror and suspense genres. The premise seems at the outset pretty straightforward: the protagonist is taking a trip with her boyfriend to meet his parents on a cold and windy day. She has been seeing this boy for a few weeks now and she's planning to drop a bomb on him - “I'm thinking of ending things”, but she's conflicted. What ensues forms the rest of the plot. I can't go into too much detail as this would spoil the plot. All I can say is, go into this one with an open mind. You won't be disappointed.

Characters: 4
Plot: 5
Writing: 4
Execution: 5

Overall: 4.5

I was so very bored with this one I'm not sure why I even finished it (probably because it was so short even though it felt absolutely endless). I really need to learn to stay away from anything “atmospheric” because 9/10 times I end up feeling like it's tedious and pretentious more than anything else.

Not going to rate this one because I'm obviously not the right audience for it.

WOW. WOOOOOW. THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME. EVER. i loved the lead up to the ending. it was terrifying. it kept me on the edge of my seat. the imagery was scary, the scenes were unsettling. the dialogue at dinner with the parents was JUST PLAIN ODD. & the meaning at the end made it so much better. i had a sneaking suspicion as to what the title was alluding to and the ending solidified that for me. thinking of suicide as ending a relationship inside yourself is very powerful. seeing the intrusive thoughts as a constant anonymous caller akin to something from Scream... AHHHH. this was simultaneously a horrifying thriller and a beautiful allegory. in love with this book.

Story : Some girl and her boyfriend drive to his parents to met them, but things start to get weird and stuff... that ending is so weird. From the middle of the book I started being interested, because the rest are just flashbacks with that girl that I couldn't care about. The second half has some really nice tense parts, but the final pages are so confusing and random + you know who is behind this whole thing because it's so predictable! Maybe I've seen things like this before, so it wasn't a surprise, but for people that don't know this plot twists, maybe they will enjoy it more, idk. There are parts with an investigation that I kinda liked, but gave away the whole plot.

Characters : This girl, we don't know her name, is so annoying, my God! She wants to break up with him, then she doesn't, then she does, then she doesn't... can you decide or not? She says that she shouldn't do something, but then she does it anyway... how can I care for this person? Jake was alright and I really liked some discussions in the car... life, death, cars, you know, thought provoking things.

Overall : It has some suspense, but if you know what's going to happen, it doesn't matter. Also, the ending is not satisfying because you don't know what happens... I have to come up with my own theory, or Reid explained it and I didn't get it because I'm not so smart? Anyway, I read this because I saw that Charlie Kaufman is going to make an adaptation of this...

Iain Reid is like the boy version of Gillian Flynn for me. This book legitimately had me curled up under my blankets while wide eyeing every page. The end reveal was perfect for me because I re-read certain passages and pages to see how it all lined up and how I missed it.


Really, really random update now that the movie is out:

The movie came out so my partner and I watched it. When we watched it we had an apartment ghost and we called her Marcy (we've since moved and miss her terribly), and Marcy loved messing with technology. That was her thing.

There's a scene when she's meeting the parents and they go back and forth saying “what?” due to being hard of hearing, etc. So they just start repeating themselves and speaking louder/deeper, you get the idea. Marcy blocked out the sound, like completely muted our TV on and off so when his Mom was saying “what???” her replies ended up silent. It was so masterful and well timed, we honestly thought that's how they had made the movie. Nope, that was just Marcy doing us a solid.

It made the movie that much better, so the book and the movie both have a special place in my heart.