Reviews tagging 'Blood'

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

89 reviews

elysests's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

So, so weird! Really interesting and atmospheric, but painfully slow at times. This book swerves from a tense and drawn own suspense novel to a devastatingly drawn out psychological horror ending. Even as a person who loves suspense/thrillers, and psychological storylines, I wish the author would have cinched together more of the (very cool) threads. Love the symbolism though, and the characters feel fresh. More specifics below the spoiler tag.

I really felt like the ending was unsatisfying— there are so many details I’m left confused by. I get that Jake was the janitor the whole time, and he was imagining what could have happened with a girl to care about him, but what was the man outside the window waving when she was a little girl? What about the scratches in the basement? What was the deal with the video in the janitor’s room, and the freaky notes? I feel like I barely understand what the caller signifies, and what their message means. This book is haunting, and definitely tense, but I wish the ending could have relieved some of the tension instead of just letting out the air. :/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

ratislactoseintolerant's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Kidnapping

mediocrebest's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

gentle_garbage_baby's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Pretty good read. A little confusing in parts but it all comes together in the end in a very poetic way.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Suicide, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Mental illness

viniciusdx12's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Death of parent

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is an incredibly confusing but beautiful book. I went into this expecting it to be about suicide, then thought it was about the end of a relationship, and then it went full circle and back to suicide. The experience of reading this feels like watching Black Mirror, very trippy and gut wrenching. 

The writing is absolutely beautiful, and for a horror/thriller, it has some amazing lines that really hit me in my personal feels. This book covers the difficulty of relationships, family dynamics, mental health and stalking all in one tiny little novel, and i truly think it’s one of the best modern literary fiction books i’ve read; this will definitely be considered a classic in the future! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

jaylene's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Ooooooookay..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Blood

Minor: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, and Suicide

pchamblee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is the first audiobook I’ve tried and made it all the way through, so I have to give major credit to Candace Thaxton and the rest of the narration team for pulling it off so well. Considering the psychological suspense factor, I’ll forever be curious what it would have been like to experience it the first time in print (possibly would have been even more mind-boggling)—but, I thoroughly enjoyed the delivery of the narration.

This is a very eerie and disturbing story. It’s obvious early on that there’s mystery involved and there will be a twist at the end, but I don’t think any reader can be fully prepared for what comes (despite all the hints woven in). Even though I typically go for comfort fiction with happily ever afters, I love a good psychological thriller story and this book does it really well. It’s unique in the way it balances a meandering intellectual commentary with a thoroughly terrifying cautionary tale.

I’ve heard the Netflix film adaptation isn’t 100% true to the book and many fans say it doesn’t do it justice, but once I get a chance I’m gonna watch it out of curiously and just because I liked this story so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, and Blood

Minor: Gore, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

drpeeper's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Grief and Injury/Injury detail

alliefresh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A quote from the book that almost brought me to tears:

What if the maggots continue to feed and feed and feed and continue to be felt.

A detailed yet small book, filled with philosophical questions left without an answer. 

A horror of the human mind.

A book of small, yet seemingly large, human anecdotes that are tied into a bow at the end. Wrapping it up perfectly for a sinister ending.

I highly recommend this and it's film. A film that takes the book and twists it into a kafkesque existential dream. It may be different, but it's core is the same. Only the decorations are different.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood