Friday, September 9, 2016

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

First off, the title refers to a woman contemplating ending her relationship with her boyfriend, not suicide.  Second, this is not like anything you have ever read.  
A young woman has been dating a man, brilliant, a great conversationalist, if a little odd, for a couple of months.  Jake’s bringing her to the remote farm where he grew up to meet his parents.  He seems to think that the relationship is going well while she has her doubts.  As the book progresses you realize something isn’t quite right.  Who is calling the girl with strange and cryptic messages?  Why the strange detours after the road trip?  Does Jake know she’s thinking of ending things?

I finished this book last night and I think it haunted my dreams because I did not sleep well.  This is psychological horror so I was expecting mind games, but I have to admit I still don’t really know what happened.  There is a conversation between two unknown people that occasionally happens in the course of the book that foretells something awful, so you know something really bad is going to happen, but I’m still at a loss over what actually happened.  Maybe I read too fast?  I did skim the ending again this morning and I didn’t really miss much so I’m assuming the author wants the reader to fill in the blanks because let’s face it, our minds fill those empty spaces with all sorts of interesting things in the middle of the night...