Book Review by Nuriel Rozenberg

At the moment, I am reading a psychological thriller titled, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" by Iain Reid. A girl with an unknown name is thinking of ending things with her boyfriend, Jake since she believes that the expiration date on their relationship has passed. To her, Jake is practically perfect. He is very smart working in a lab and randomly spitting facts. She explains that he is tall and kind, but otherwise, the reader is given a little amount of detail. She holds off on ending things with him and travels with Jake to meet his parent's. The time spent at Jake's house is unsettling especially since the reader does not know why they begin to feel creeped out. The couple finally decides to go home and the girl is relieved that they are leaving the discomforting atmosphere. Throughout dinner, Jake beings to appear odd and just off from his usual self. On the way home, they are caught in a snowstorm and Jake decides that he is in the mood for some Dairy Queen. Eventually, Jake takes the girl to an old, deserted high school. During the novel, the girl continually receives phone calls from her own number which only adds to the constant tension and paranoia a reader will possibly feel.

I am usually not much of a reader, but I definitely enjoyed reading this book. While reading, I was in perpetual fear since anything could happen at any moment. Reid started the book with an amount of innocence and calmness escalating to full-blown creepy fairly quickly. Reading this book feels casual until the atmosphere sporadically changes leaving the reader similar to viewing a horror film. I advise readers to not read this book at night unless you don't want to sleep. This book gives off a frightening feeling that is hard to immediately shake off.


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