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A review by jazzyreads_99
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Wow…this was a disappointing read unfortunately. Which really sucks because I was so excited when I started reading this since it’s a book people raved about and even has its own Netflix movie. But this was just not for me.
1. For starters, a good chunk of the book, pretty much about half of it, is literally nothing but these two characters, a young man and a young woman, bantering back and forth about different scientific and philosophical ideas and questions. It was interesting at first but you get to a point where you realize that you’re on page 68 and nothing has happened but some college kids having philosophical arguments. Now part of this philosophy banter actually has a lot to do with the ending, and pretty much the main theme of the book. Which is mostly why I decided to give this book atleast two stars; because I did like how the conversations did kind of tie in together with the ending. However, after a while, it kind of gave me the feeling that the author wrote this book just to kind of…show off his knowledge of science and philosophy? Which, I don’t mind if an author does this. But eventually, with the way it was written, and because it goes on for so long, it really started to feel like that might have been the only purpose for this book being written.
I may be wrong, and to be honest, I kinda believe that I am. I feel like Iain Reid really wrote this because he had ideas and thoughts to share. But like I said, it went on for so long, I couldn’t help but feel like I was reading the words of a an r/Iamverysmart Reddit post. But then again, the boyfriend, Jake, is pretty much one of the r/iamverysmart guys so…maybe that’s why.
2. The young woman narrates the entire book and is constantly retelling random memories from her childhood. Some of which have to do with the plot of the book but then…some of them don’t? I felt like sometimes her memories were kind of out place and odd. Like, not all of them fit.
3. The twist at the end, I saw a thousand kilometers away. From pretty much a quarter length through the book, I figured out atleast a part of the twist, to the point where once it was officially revealed, I wasn’t surprised at all, even though my initial guess wasn’t entirely correct. And to be honest, the ending left me a bit annoyed. *Small Spoiler Ahead(If u can count it as a spoiler) I just don’t enjoy the “Read this whole book, then read the ending, now dismantle and toss out basically everything you just read”, trope. I feel like it’s kind of overdone at this point.
I fully empathize and my heart goes out to anyone out there who is feeling lonely, depressed, anxious, and any of the other things that the characters struggle with in this book. I don’t want this review to make me sound insensitive to people who suffer from these things. It’s just, I really didn’t like the big twist at the end and, although I did really enjoy and appreciate Iain Reid’s analogies and philosophy on things like loneliness, isolation, confusion, and all the other big scary things of life, for some reason, this book just did not do for me what it did for other readers. And the way it “ended things” just did not stick the landing for me.
1. For starters, a good chunk of the book, pretty much about half of it, is literally nothing but these two characters, a young man and a young woman, bantering back and forth about different scientific and philosophical ideas and questions. It was interesting at first but you get to a point where you realize that you’re on page 68 and nothing has happened but some college kids having philosophical arguments. Now part of this philosophy banter actually has a lot to do with the ending, and pretty much the main theme of the book. Which is mostly why I decided to give this book atleast two stars; because I did like how the conversations did kind of tie in together with the ending. However, after a while, it kind of gave me the feeling that the author wrote this book just to kind of…show off his knowledge of science and philosophy? Which, I don’t mind if an author does this. But eventually, with the way it was written, and because it goes on for so long, it really started to feel like that might have been the only purpose for this book being written.
I may be wrong, and to be honest, I kinda believe that I am. I feel like Iain Reid really wrote this because he had ideas and thoughts to share. But like I said, it went on for so long, I couldn’t help but feel like I was reading the words of a an r/Iamverysmart Reddit post. But then again, the boyfriend, Jake, is pretty much one of the r/iamverysmart guys so…maybe that’s why.
2. The young woman narrates the entire book and is constantly retelling random memories from her childhood. Some of which have to do with the plot of the book but then…some of them don’t? I felt like sometimes her memories were kind of out place and odd. Like, not all of them fit.
3. The twist at the end, I saw a thousand kilometers away. From pretty much a quarter length through the book, I figured out atleast a part of the twist, to the point where once it was officially revealed, I wasn’t surprised at all, even though my initial guess wasn’t entirely correct. And to be honest, the ending left me a bit annoyed. *Small Spoiler Ahead(If u can count it as a spoiler) I just don’t enjoy the “Read this whole book, then read the ending, now dismantle and toss out basically everything you just read”, trope. I feel like it’s kind of overdone at this point.
I fully empathize and my heart goes out to anyone out there who is feeling lonely, depressed, anxious, and any of the other things that the characters struggle with in this book. I don’t want this review to make me sound insensitive to people who suffer from these things. It’s just, I really didn’t like the big twist at the end and, although I did really enjoy and appreciate Iain Reid’s analogies and philosophy on things like loneliness, isolation, confusion, and all the other big scary things of life, for some reason, this book just did not do for me what it did for other readers. And the way it “ended things” just did not stick the landing for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide