(1/22/2017)
WOW! This crazy little book just took me for a ride...and all I can say is WOW!
I'm Thinking of Ending Things was a little slow getting started because nothing really happened until about pg 80 but i could tell it was building up for something and that I'd either be very disappointed or very pleased with the outcome. Luckily I was pleased. This is definitely a book that's best read without knowing much, if anything, so I'm not really going to get into a description or summary, other than to say it's about a guy named Jake and his girlfriend, who is also the narrator but whose name is never revealed. They're going on a long car ride to have dinner with Jake's parents, all the while she's thinking of ending things with him. It's very well written and nicely paced although, it's not a very long book, about 205 pages, but I couldn't put it down because I was dying to figure out wtf was going on and the further I read the more I needed to know, it was very well paced for optimum tension and anticipation! Iain Reid did an amazing job both creating an atmosphere that is both terrifying and extremely realistic and deceiving his readers.
Psychological thrillers can either be the best books, when done well, or the worst books, when done poorly and this book was one of the best! Reid has way of creating scenes that I can imagine myself apart of and he knows how to give his readers the ability to really empathize with his characters and what they are experiencing on a very deep and personal level, literally giving me goosebumps as I was reading. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book when I started it but I knew I would either love it or hate it, as the reviews of others have reflected in pretty much equal measure, but I thought it was amazing and I would love to read more by this author and hope he continues to pursue writing fiction.
This book is like reading a puzzle, with bits and pieces that finally come together at the end creating a final result that is incredible and leaves the reader feeling satisfied (and possibly a little shaken up). I don't know why I'm Thinking of Ending Things is not getting higher ratings but to each their own, I guess. I loved it and I'd love to see it made into a movie. If you're a fan of really griping, suspenseful, psychological thrillers this book is for you.
There's a little blurb on the cover that reads "You will be scared. But you won't know why..." and that couldn't be more accurate.