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A review by hernamewaslily
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
3.0
The unnamed female narrator of Ian Reid’s debut novel ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ has been invited to visit her new boyfriend’s parents at their remote farm. As they embark on their journey, the narrator reveals to the reader that she is ‘pretty sure I’m going to end it,’ but keeps finding excuses to put it off – he’s nice, she’s lonely, etc. – but as their journey grows increasingly more disturbing, the narrator realises that she might be too late.
This novel was different to what I usually read, but I wanted something for spooky season, and this had been on my bookish radar for a while, and for the first few chapters of the novel, I was genuinely creeped out; Reid does a great job at creating a sense of unease and foreboding in these early chapters. However, this atmosphere was not sustained throughout the remainder of the book, which was disappointing considering that the novel is a psychological thriller. A key reason as to why the novel struggled to sustain the tension, and what I consider to be a major weakness of the text, is that it didn’t make sense as to why the narrator could not tell her boyfriend about the disturbing phone calls she receives until the very end of the book. This unfortunately took me out of a fully immersive reading experience as it was always on my mind.
This aside, Reid packs a lot into this short book and I found it compelling and smart – so much so that I think a lot of the philosophical discussion between the narrator and Jake went over my head. The subtle feminist underpinnings worked perfectly without being preachy or overwrought (I think this would make for a good analysis if one was so inclined).
Upon reflection, I think this novel deserves a re-read as knowing how it ends puts the earlier part of the novel in perspective (e.g., the narrator not telling Jake about the phone calls).
This novel was different to what I usually read, but I wanted something for spooky season, and this had been on my bookish radar for a while, and for the first few chapters of the novel, I was genuinely creeped out; Reid does a great job at creating a sense of unease and foreboding in these early chapters. However, this atmosphere was not sustained throughout the remainder of the book, which was disappointing considering that the novel is a psychological thriller. A key reason as to why the novel struggled to sustain the tension, and what I consider to be a major weakness of the text, is that it didn’t make sense as to why the narrator could not tell her boyfriend about the disturbing phone calls she receives until the very end of the book. This unfortunately took me out of a fully immersive reading experience as it was always on my mind.
This aside, Reid packs a lot into this short book and I found it compelling and smart – so much so that I think a lot of the philosophical discussion between the narrator and Jake went over my head. The subtle feminist underpinnings worked perfectly without being preachy or overwrought (I think this would make for a good analysis if one was so inclined).
Upon reflection, I think this novel deserves a re-read as knowing how it ends puts the earlier part of the novel in perspective (e.g., the narrator not telling Jake about the phone calls).