I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid- Book Review

The tagline for I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid is "You will be scared. But you won't know why" (sic). I don't think a marketing campaign has ever hit the nail on the head like this one.

This book is creepy. I don't think there is a better word to describe it.

The book begins with a road trip to Jake's parent's house told from the perspective of a unnamed girlfriend of Jake. Jake is an intellectual who has a conversation with the girlfriend about what reality is, what is truth, and other types of philosophical discussions. The girlfriend is thinking about ending things with Jake, even though she likes some parts of Jake. She has also been getting a strange call on her phone daily and sometimes multiple times a day. It is always the same message with the same voice. Thus begins the path toward creepville. 

As we arrive at Jake's parents' farm house, things start to shift. There are dead animals alongside of live ones, dinner is almost silent, Jake's parents are extremely odd, and the house is just creepy in and of itself. Jake's girlfriend starts forgetting things- like the fact she bit her nails to the nub. Her perspective takes an eerie tone.

Following dinner, we move into a school where we come to the ending of the book. Jake disappears into the building and the girlfriend is left alone with a janitor who may or may not want to kill her. She must go into the building to find Jake and get to safety, but things take a huge turn for her.

As stated, this book is more creepy than violent. There is one violent scene, but one knows it is coming. The creepiness comes from how Reid describes everything through the eyes of the girlfriend. At certain points the girlfriend will describe things as if looking at the scene through a 20x magnification. There is one scene entirely devoted to how Jake eats his cereal, for example. We read about how he chews, how he stares intently at the paper, how he doesn't dribble, etc. This goes on for a few paragraphs. Reid will use this technique throughout the book to give a sense of creepiness.

There is also a story being told in between chapters of unnamed voices who are describing a murder of some sort. I will say that it is important to follow along this story. I will also say that it is important to follow along with the opening conversation. It will not seem important, but it is extremely important to understand this book. I don't want to spoil anything, but these parts really matter to your "enjoyment" of this book and I think the reason why some are going negative with their reviews is they did not pay attention.

There is a twist in the book that will make one want to read the book again immediately, which is exactly what I did. As soon as I finished it, I went back and started to re-read it to see how incredible this book was. I know that people will not enjoy this one, but I loved it! It is definitely not for everyone, but for those that enjoy creepy, creepy books, I think you are going to like this one.

I rated this one 4.5 stars recognizing it isn't for everyone at all.

Here is your Amazon link- I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid