Ian Park’s Reviews > I'm Thinking of Ending Things > Status Update

Chapter 9: That amped up quickly. This chapter had me stressed out bad. The narrator started biting her nails, which she was warned not to do by the Caller. I think her killing the fly who can’t fly away is a metaphor, similar to the pig. The reveal that Jake no longer works at the lab, the creepy paintings in the basement, and the trap door to the basement locking from the inside, are all mysteries that worry me.

Chapter 8: The barn in the back is very unsettling. I have a feeling that the lambs being “alive but dead” and the pigs being eaten alive and “put out of their misery”, is foreshadowing; if so, I have a feeling the story the story will turn very bleak. The little cliffhanger at the end with the picture of Jake looking like the narrator is very interesting. The setting of the story is a lot scarier now.

Chapter 7: My theory that the event in the dialogue took place in a lab and then finding out Jake works in a lab has me thinking he’s the person they’re talking about. It’s also heavily implied that it was a suicide. It’s interesting to compare all the little more philosophical parts about relationships, in the book, to my own life and I find a lot of interesting parallels. This has been an amazing setup.

Chapter 6: I’m not sure what to think of this chapter. It was very engaging. I have a feeling Jake saying that memories are always made up and the only truth happens in experience may be foreshadowing a false memory of some sort. The dialogue at the end makes me think there was a murder. I thought it may have been a hospital, but now I’m thinking more laboratory, because hospitals wouldn’t go on holiday breaks.

Chapter 4: This chapter lightens off a bit, but I feel that there’s more to her predicament than what she’s telling us. I think that the calls are warnings from someone, or maybe herself. The caller knowing so much about her intimately makes me believe it’s her.

Chapter 3: Well things ramped up a lot. My first thought was to assume that the man in the window when she was young and the unknown caller are the same person. It’s far fetched, but I also theorize that the caller is maybe her in different time, or at least something supernatural, from that she’s getting called from her own number. I can’t wait to find out how all these plot points will connect to each other.

Chapter 2: I think the setup is very well done. Them going to his parents barn/house in the middle of nowhere reminds me a lot of Get Out by Jordon Peele. I’m guessing it’ll have a similar plot direction of her being trapped in the house, unable to leave. I believe her remarking that her parents don’t know about her relationship will come up again. The unsettling vagueness of the chapter ending has me on edge.

I can tell this first chapter/page is alluding to the theme of the book. The vagueness of the narrator saying “I’m thinking of ending things.”, with no specifics is a great hook. I have a feeling that it’s bigger than ending a Relationship