Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

85 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. :/

---

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

zackneuman's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, and Stalking

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Mental illness

ewwa18's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

emminkirjakasa's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

 🇬🇧 This book left me confused of what the hell did I just read. Both in a good and bad way. I loved the feeling of not knowing where the book would go or how it would end with the characters. 

 

About the ending. I didn't love it. I think there could have been a bit more and this felt like a easy way out. If the ending would be a little bit more explaned, this would have been a 4 star book. 

 

🇫🇮 Kirja jätti hämmentyneeksi siitä, mitä helvettiä mä just luin. Sekä hyvällä että pahalla tavalla. Rakastin sitä tunnetta, kun en tiennyt minne kirja menee tai miten se päätyy hahmojen kanssa. 

 

Sitten kirjan lopusta. Mä en rakastanut sitä. Mun mielestä siinä olisi voinut olla vähän enemmän jotain, ja tämä tuntui helpolta ulospääsyltä. Jos loppu olisi ollut hieman selvempi, tämä olisi ollut 4 tähden kirja. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Stalking

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! 

---

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

moxiereads's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

allisonleslie's review against another edition

Creepy and not what I expected. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

jennasucato's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I’ve heard several people say they don’t like this book, and I understand why they think that. But this book really worked for me. I found it to be clever and sufficiently unnerving/scary. The more I think about it, the more I enjoy it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Animal death

darlenechatt's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Kidnapping, and Stalking