Honestly I wanted to like this book. I will not say I didn’t like it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to a friend either. I disliked the main character and I felt like the story was drawn out until I was 75% in. I was then intrigued but that didn’t last too long. The story had good potential, I imagine it is extremely terrifying being in another country being a witness to a possible crime. Many fixed feelings, but I’d give the author another try for sure.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC! This book definitely intrigued me from the start and was fast paced which is right up my alley! As I continued to read I fell a little off with interest but had to finish to find out what happens to the characters. Not a bad read overall!

The Ends Of Things, Sandra Chwialkowska - ★★☆☆☆

Laura Phillips, our main female character, always wanted to travel the world but was too afraid to go it alone. So when her new boyfriend, Dave, invites her on a romantic getaway to the remote island of Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, she jumps at the chance. What starts as a dream holiday quickly becomes the trip from hell…

Billed as a ‘propulsive literary debut’ and a ‘thrilling suspense’ I was very excited to dive between the pages of this one. And overall, I did enjoy reading it, it was an easy read and I was engaged throughout the first half. However I’m not quite sure that the suspense ever really quite delivered. I think the depth of characterisation is where this falls down, I just couldn’t get behind the motivations or inside the brains of our central characters and the plot lines seemed to build and then not really go anywhere as a result. I am all about character driven plots, so perhaps that’s just a personal preference, but I think it makes it all the more important in a thriller where we really need our plot to be grounded in some semblance of reality.

Having said that, there were some beautiful lines in this text and the writer does have a good style and turn of phrase. If you’re a fan of things like The White Lotus I’d definitely say it’s worth a go, at only 189 pages you could even race through it in one go!

This book started out as the fast paced page turning thriller I was expecting. Such a good start with a lovely set up for the story and character introductions. The story slowed down a bit in the middle, but was still suspenseful. I was a bit disappointed in the ending as it was fairly anticlimactic and not where I thought the story was heading based on the lead up and some speculations. While it was not the ending I was craving I still enjoyed this book.

Thank you to Netgally for providing this ARC.

Such a good read! I genuinely enjoyed it, nice simple easy read. Nothing crazy, the writing was also well written. I suggest it to anyone looking for a simple clean read!

A very fast read, which is always a plus. Started slow but then picked up and I couldn’t put it down. I read most of it in a day. Most of the action happens toward the very end, the pacing felt off. And the characters are all strangely mean to each other. I can’t imagine saying mean things to someone I just met. There was also no explanation for the boyfriend’s behavior toward the end. And Laura’s fixation on Diana being there alone and people eating alone in general was extremely strange. I didn’t connect with the MC. But 3 stars for keeping me engaged and being quick.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this book!! The characters are described so fully. The places and scenes are depicted so well I feel I’m there. Great story, almost like a dream….

Thank you to netgalley for this ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book started out strong, a strong FMC with an impulsive partner whisking her far away to a beautiful pink sand destination. An exclusive holiday resort on the breath taking island of Eleuthera, the descriptions were beautiful and then a mysterious woman travelling solo in a romantic, couples resort.
Then I felt things went a bit slow and a bit flat. I felt disappointed that Laura, who started off as strong, became a bit of a pushover. If my partner or boss had spoken to me like that, I don't believe I'd have been ok with it and stayed quiet. I felt like the excitement and potential of a thriller at the beginning didn't continue throughout.
Towards the ending, I felt like we'd left a thriller book and entered into a contemporary fiction storyline, the ending didn't sit right with me.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC of The Ends of Things. I have to admit that this book really pulled me in. It had all the trappings of what was going to be an intriguing thriller.

A couple (Dave and Laura) take a mini-vacation to the island of Eleuthera. Laura, who navigates life by taking the "safe paths", becomes interested in Diana, a woman at the couples resort where they are staying who is not only traveling alone, but seems quite comfortable doing so. Laura and Diana strike up an acquaintance and during a hike they take while Dave is at a business meeting, Diana disappears. Diana's disappearance would set in motion a myriad of events, including Laura being a suspect in her disappearance, Dave and Laura breaking up, and Laura being stranded during a tropical storm.

At this point I was really looking for some drastic twist, but the only twist was the ending, and not necessarily in a good way. I felt the ending was flat. While there was some mystery in the story, I really wouldn't quite call it a thriller. It was more of a mystery with a message. A message to Laura to start taking chances, to reconnect with her teenage friend Chloe who the story kept reflecting on (something that Diana put in motion without Laura's knowledge), and for Laura to be more comfortable with her life than holding the lives of others up to comparison to her own.

This story shows a lot of potential for first time author and maybe it ended just the way they intended it to. I am confused about an inconsistency in that Laura mentions that her father died when she was young, yet also says the bear in her office was given to her by her parents when she graduated from Yale.

My Goodreads Review:

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy!

I liked the book overall. It’s interesting when you think you’re reading one thing but then it turns out to be something else.. I went into this thinking it was a thriller/suspense, but I would consider this more women’s fiction with a hint of suspense.. overall though, great for a first novel!

To the author - I love your writing style. Everything tied up very nicely.. I think you should write a book about Diana. I’d 100% read it.

Engaging writing but the lack of in depth characer development left me a bit disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley aan the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My feelings about this book are mixed. I liked it enough to want to finish and know what happened to the characters, but I felt that the ending was bit flat, confusing and honestly didn’t make sense to me.
I did not feel like any of the characters acted like people do in real life. This one just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone publishing for a copy of The End of Things in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading this book but expected more--wished for a more character driven narrative with better writing. And I think the novel could have been more expertly plotted.

The story started quickly enough, and I thought I would be easily absorbed into the book. However, there seemed to be a lot going on, and the story didn't really speak to me. It was interesting enough, but just not my usual cup of tea.

I absolutely loved reading this book because I felt like I was watching the next season of White Lotus and I couldn't get enough. I loved the descriptions of the resort and the people that were on vacation around the main characters - the writing was so good that even the smallest incidence or the slightest details of characters or events were portrayed perfectly - I felt like I was there! Sorry to reach the end of the story - i wanted more!
Thank you NETGALLEY for this ARC! This is my honest and voluntary review.

3 stars!

This had my potential to be REALLY good, when I saw the blurb I was instantly hooked! I couldn't wait to start to the point where I stopped reading my current book and started this straight away.
The first 30% was really good, I thought I was in for a treat. I really liked the writing style and the authors descriptions are 100% top notch, I really could feel the vibe and what it was trying to show, I loved it.
As we reached the middle mark, I found myself a tad disappointed. Firstly, I was confused with how much the story went back and fourth between Laura's relationship starting with Dave, to university, to high school and then back to the present again. I found this really confusing as it seemed to just happen randomly and I was a bit confused trying to wrap my head around what time frame we was currently in. I think this could've worked SO well by maybe adding shorter chapters explaining it was going back to earlier days etc as this would've really helped add suspense too.

I loved Diana's character, she really gave of a great character she was eerie and I wanted to know more about her! After Diana goes missing there was a few chapters where I thought this is freaky what is going on!


FULL REVIEW ON MY GOODREADS

I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC, and this is my honest & voluntary review

It started great and the ending I will confused

I felt like I just followed a women obsessing over woman.....I was expecting more and I didn't get it

I had mixed feelings about this book. It started SO strong, captured my attention from the beginning. But about 2/3 of the way it slowed down and got kind of ...weird.

SPOILERS AHEAD
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
My biggest issue is with the ending. It went from a very suspenseful thriller, to just kind of a "eat, pray, love" vibe of Laura finding herself and her whole personality changing? I feel like the book could have ended when Diana was found or somewhere near that point. But the ending dragged on and left not a good lasting feeling.

Thank you to NetGalley and BlackStone publishing for the ARC of this book.

2.5 / 5 Stars, rounded up : Laura goes on vacation with her boyfriend and becomes infatuated with another woman who is travelling alone. Suddenly, the other woman disappears. The plot for this book had me hooked, however, it did not deliver. First, it should not be in the "thrillers" category. The plot was very anticlimactic. Second, the characters were not very likeable. I found the main character to be annoying and everyone to just be very predictable and stereotypical. They had no depth. However, I do think the author really had something with the plot here. It was her debut novel, and therefore I look forward to her future books and hopefully seeing her grow as a writer!