I’m Thinking of Ending Things

I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.

Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”

And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.

In this “dark and compelling…unputdownable” (Booklist, starred review) literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel “packs a big psychological punch with a twisty story line and an ending that will leave readers breathless” (Library Journal, starred review).

• I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
• Published: Gallery/Scout Press on June 14, 2016
• Genre: Thriller/Horror (psychological), suspense, mystery
• Pages: 240
• Dates/Time Read: 10.12.25 – 10.13.25 (3 hours 31 minutes)
• Format: Paperback
• Add on Goodreads
• Purchase on Amazon
• ⭐⭐
• ☠

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I’ll be the first to admit, I read strictly for entertainment. I read because I love to read. I don’t mind books that teach me something, or that get me to sit and think about a topic, but ultimately…I want to be entertained. I’ve never been a huge fan of the psychological plot twists where at the end you find out that everything was all in someone’s head. I don’t like it in movies, unless it’s done just right (such as M. Night Shyamalan’s Sixth Sense), and it can be really hard to accomplish in a book and also has to be done just perfectly (Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl comes to mind). I know that it’s meant to be a mind-blowing plot twist, but it leaves me feeling really confused and questioning myself, “Am I the crazy person?”

That’s how I felt about this book, and clearly I am in the minority here, since it was mind-blowing enough that they turned it into a movie. The one positive thing that I can say about the book was that it was short, and only took me a total of 3 ½ hours to read. When I finished the book, I wasn’t entirely sure that I even understood what happened, so I decided to watch the movie. Oddly enough, I had never seen the movie. If a movie or show is based on a book, I try to read the book before I watch it. If I find out a movie or show is based on a book AFTER I’ve watched it, I will never go back to read the book. The way that I look at it, is you often spend way more time reading a book, than you do watching a movie or a show, so I want the book to be spoiler free, but I don’t really care if the cinematic is spoiled. So when the movie for this book first popped up a few years ago on Netflix, I added it to “my list” and decided to read the book first.

Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”

Well, since it’s October and I’m trying to get into a spooky, dark mood, I finally decided to give it a go. The movie made the whole plot of “something isn’t quite right here” way more obvious than the book did, but ultimately…I still didn’t even like the movie either. The movie was much less thriller-ish and suspenseful than the book though because of this. My mother, who was doing dishes in the kitchen while I was watching it and could see the movie, even eventually asked me “What in the hell are you watching?” lol It…was definitely a bit weird. If you’re into movies like Inception or Being John Malkovich, then I have a feeling you’d be a fan of the movie and probably the book. It just wasn’t for me unfortunately.