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A review by atlevine
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
5.0
5.00/5.00
Genuinely chilling - I lost sleep over this book.
It's best to know nothing going into this story, but essentially it's about a guy named Jake and his new(ish) girlfriend taking a road trip to meet his parents for the first time. But unfortunately, his girlfriend doesn't see things working out in the long-term, and is thinking of ending things between them.
Enter spoilers:
I was incredibly impressed with the AMAZING tension Iain Reid was able to create during this short book. As the reader, you know something is wrong almost immediately. The way Jake and his girlfriend talk to each other in the car is just too weird, and the phone calls she keeps getting? Very strange. Things turn even weirder at Jake's parent's house. When they arrive, Jake insists on taking his girlfriend on a tour of the farm. It's dark, there's a snowstorm, his parents are seemingly waiting inside for them, and as it turns out, most of the farm animals are dead anyway. This really put me on edge. It was just so weird. The house scenes are uncomfortable, eerie, and quite scary (especially when the girlfriend goes down to the basement), but nothing is technically out of the ordinary. I could vividly see every scene in my mind. In particular, the part where the girlfriend goes to use the bathroom.
At times, the dialogue doesn't really make sense. It feels like you're always missing something. I personally didn't understand the twist until the very end, but there are enough clues to probably figure it out a little sooner (the overlap of their childhoods, the knowledge Jake has about the high school, how at one point the girlfriend (who is nameless in the story) is called "Jake," etc.). But it is true that the book is incredibly hard to guess, especially compared to the movie (which gave away a little too much too soon in my opinion, in addition to completely changing the point of the story).
As Jake and his girlfriend are heading back home after dinner, they stop at Jake's old high school to throw away untouched Blizzards from Dairy Queen. The girlfriend is BEGGING Jake to take her home, or else they'll be stuck in the storm. Then, as both Jake and his girlfriend enter the high school, the fantasy comes to life. Jake's fantasy of what his life could have been, what his potential was, how it was wasted, and why it only makes sense to end things. Of course, by "ending things," Jake is not talking about ending a fabricated/imagined relationship, but rather he is referring to killing himself. Ending his own relationship with himself. Ending things.
It turns out, the young Jake, his girlfriend, his parents, the house, the car ride, even the Dairy Queen and all its employees are just the daydreams/fantasy of an older Jake - a quiet janitor who works at the high school he attended. A daydream in which he discusses with himself the pros and cons of killing himself. It's clear he's had the daydream/fantasy of killing himself often. In the end, the question posed isn't whether he should kill himself or not, but rather what exactly, is he waiting for? The story ends with the graphic suicide of the janitor.
The twist/ending left me fucking speechless. It all made sense. I immediately wanted to go back to page one and read the whole thing again knowing how it ends. It was all just so poetic albeit incredibly sad. An old janitor (who is very intelligent), loses his parents, loses himself, and his job in a lab to mental health issues. He is constantly reminded by his aspirations, wants, and opportunities (represented by the girlfriend) that he is constantly on the brink of letting it all go.
Yeah, it really is that hopeless and bleak.
But it was unapologetically so, and that was particularly impressive.
I read it in one sitting, which is apparently how Reid intended this to be read. I recommend doing that.
Genuinely chilling - I lost sleep over this book.
It's best to know nothing going into this story, but essentially it's about a guy named Jake and his new(ish) girlfriend taking a road trip to meet his parents for the first time. But unfortunately, his girlfriend doesn't see things working out in the long-term, and is thinking of ending things between them.
Enter spoilers:
At times, the dialogue doesn't really make sense. It feels like you're always missing something. I personally didn't understand the twist until the very end, but there are enough clues to probably figure it out a little sooner (the overlap of their childhoods, the knowledge Jake has about the high school, how at one point the girlfriend (who is nameless in the story) is called "Jake," etc.). But it is true that the book is incredibly hard to guess, especially compared to the movie (which gave away a little too much too soon in my opinion, in addition to completely changing the point of the story).
As Jake and his girlfriend are heading back home after dinner, they stop at Jake's old high school to throw away untouched Blizzards from Dairy Queen. The girlfriend is BEGGING Jake to take her home, or else they'll be stuck in the storm. Then, as both Jake and his girlfriend enter the high school, the fantasy comes to life. Jake's fantasy of what his life could have been, what his potential was, how it was wasted, and why it only makes sense to end things. Of course, by "ending things," Jake is not talking about ending a fabricated/imagined relationship, but rather he is referring to killing himself. Ending his own relationship with himself. Ending things.
It turns out, the young Jake, his girlfriend, his parents, the house, the car ride, even the Dairy Queen and all its employees are just the daydreams/fantasy of an older Jake - a quiet janitor who works at the high school he attended. A daydream in which he discusses with himself the pros and cons of killing himself. It's clear he's had the daydream/fantasy of killing himself often. In the end, the question posed isn't whether he should kill himself or not, but rather what exactly, is he waiting for? The story ends with the graphic suicide of the janitor.
The twist/ending left me fucking speechless. It all made sense. I immediately wanted to go back to page one and read the whole thing again knowing how it ends. It was all just so poetic albeit incredibly sad. An old janitor (who is very intelligent), loses his parents, loses himself, and his job in a lab to mental health issues. He is constantly reminded by his aspirations, wants, and opportunities (represented by the girlfriend) that he is constantly on the brink of letting it all go.
Yeah, it really is that hopeless and bleak.
But it was unapologetically so, and that was particularly impressive.
I read it in one sitting, which is apparently how Reid intended this to be read. I recommend doing that.