Review: I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Blurb from Goodreads:

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 deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and his girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. When the two take an unexpected detour, she is left stranded in a deserted high school, wondering if there is any escape at all. What follows is a twisted unraveling that will haunt you long after the last page is turned. 

In this smart, suspenseful, and intense 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 pulls you in from the very first page. 

My Review:
I think a lot of people read/will read this book and think WOW when they finish it.  That wasn't me.  This is a book where as soon as I finished it, I wasn't that impressed but the more time I took away from it, the better the book became to me.  It wasn't necessarily that I couldn't stop thinking about the book but more that I needed the time to process its complexity and simplicity at the same time -- it's so brilliant but also fairly straight-forward. You will need time to process this one and you will not be disappointed. You may even be freaked out a little . . . or a lot.  It's hard to even describe this book except to say that it is fairly miraculous in its details, in its writing, in the way it will make you think and question everything you thought while you were reading it.  I will say that, yes, I figured out what was going on pretty quickly and that's why I felt like I wasn't impressed but I was wrong. This is a stunning thriller!

I'm Thinking of Ending Things came out last week on June 14, 2016, you can purchase HERE, and I wholeheartedly recommend this one to fans of psychological thrillers.  

We can't and don't know what others are thinking.  We can't and don't know what motivations people have for doing the things they do.  Ever.  Not entirely.  This was my terrifying, youthful epiphany.  We just never really know anyone.  I don't.  Neither do you.   

It's amazing that relationships can form and last under the constraints of never fully knowing. Never knowing for sure what the other person is thinking.  Never knowing for sure who a person is.  We can't do whatever we want.  There are ways we have to act.  There are things we have to say.   

But we can think whatever we want. Anyone can think anything.   

Thoughts are the only reality.  It's true. I'm sure of it now.