“I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is the kind of books you can’t ever
fully review. It contains too many
twists and turns that in order to adequately digest what goes on in Iain Reid’s
debut novel, you must spoil everything—which would definitely be unfair to
those wanting to get their hands on this addictive short book.
And yet, the synopsis of the book does a pretty good job of spoiling
the reader for what is about to happen:
it forewarns an event that doesn’t happen until page 125 out of
225. To be fair, it did heighten my
enjoyment of the first two-thirds of the book, which plays out like a slow
burning thriller. The narrative is
uncomfortable and will keep the reader on high alert—even in mundane scenes,
where the tension doesn’t subside despite nothing nefarious happening.
I advise those wanting to read “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” to avoid
the synopsis on the back of the book, and definitely any extensive reviews of
the novel.
I’m just going to make a list of the things I can talk about in regards
to Iain Reid’s novel:
- I loved the philosophical discussions between the man and his girlfriend en route to the man’s family. Despite only being together for weeks, the man is introducing his girlfriend to his parents some two hours away in a small farm town. The aforementioned discussions range from love to identity—and I enjoyed the banter between the main characters.
- Mixed between the chapters is dialogue between two detectives who stumble on a very bloody crime scene. While I liked that it stressed that something very dramatic was on the horizon, the execution was clumsy—and the dialogue didn’t come off as natural by any stretch of the imagination.
- And then there’s the conclusion, which I *definitely* can’t talk about. Suffice it to say, it’s going to divide readers. In lieu of expanding on my opinion of it, I’m going to say that although my B- rating of the book suggests that the book is uneven, Reid’s novel is thoroughly engrossing right up until the last page.
Rating: B-
No comments:
Post a Comment