I did not expect to love this book as much as I did but I was left feeling a little bit "huh". It felt like there was so much build and build but then it just kind of ended without a satisfying feeling

Initially, 'The Ends of Things' had a lot of potential but this quickly turned repetitive, slow and quite underwhelming. The main character is severely self conscious of everything - literally everything - and cannot have thoughts or opinions on anything without having to second guess, contradict or justify herself. Honestly, it was slightly exhausting at points reading her internal monologue of self pity. As for this being compared to 'The White Lotus', I have to massively disagree, there is no humour or satire in this at all!

The whole Diana storyline was just odd. It genuinely seemed as if Laura wanted her to show up dead just so something interesting would happen in her life. And when it finally resolved it just felt very rushed like it was nothing???

The ending to this book was also quite anticlimactic although I could see it coming in some sense due to constant mentions throughout. I think this could have been improved if the author didn't outrightly tell us so many things and left a little more to be figured out. Ultimately, Laura just needed therapy or something rather than getting wrapped up in a missing person's case whilst on holiday with her useless boyfriend who I cannot be bothered to waste my time writing about.

Not really my thing! I just felt it was much too repetitive for a book this short and it had potential to go somewhere interesting but for me it just fell flat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this arc !!
* All opinions are my own !! **

If you are going to set a story in paradise and have such a beautiful cover, the prose should be just as lush. If you are going to advertise this as a mystery, make it more mysterious (and have it start earlier in the story). Perhaps it is because the writer mostly works in television, but it felt like this may have served better as TV where you can fast forward through boring parts and just see the landscape, since she did not describe it.

Alas, I will not be getting back the time I spent reading this book. Let's call this a 2.49 stars, so that's why it rounded down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

My biggest problem with this was that I think I may have liked it better if it wasn’t marketed so much as a thriller. I didn’t start liking Laura until about 60% into the book. The obsession with her high school friend at over 30 years old feels unrealistic. The hinting at corruption and a possible exposé was where I WISH the story was going. However, I understand why the author ended it the way she did. Spelling out the symbolism and the theme for the reader so clearly at the end actually left me frustrated instead of satisfied. All that resolution and self discovery, and Laura didn’t realize how badly she just needed therapy?

I’m confused on what this book wants to be? The friendship subplot did not seamlessly gel into the main story here and I constantly was questioning why a 30 year old as randomly thinking about a friend from high school on a trip with her boyfriend. The resolution here was really unsatisfying and I’m not sure what was meant to be taken away from this.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel started off strong but quickly just lost my attention as the reader because nothing was happening. We got to 50% of the novel and THEN the woman goes missing. There was no suspense or thriller and frankly Laura annoyed me as a character and her willingness to allow her manager, work and boyfriend to treat her like garbage. I think this novel was too short to do the set up the author was hoping for to make this thriller a success.

This was a book with a lot of plot to end in a dumb resolution. It felt....Disney.

A woman who is insecure about relationships takes a vacation to the Bahamas with her new boyfriend. She meets a single woman on the beach, trauma dumps on her, and leaves to go to the restroom. Upon her return, the woman has disappeared and our MC spirals and obsesses for a majority of the book.

Then ...everything just gets wrapped up in a nice bow.

I wanted more. I wanted an island conspiracy. I wanted kidnapping, murder, etc. This was just about a lonely woman who wanted to connect with someone.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was about a couple on a trip, and the woman becomes obsessed with a lone woman that is also at the resort they’re at. The book has a lot of twists and turns with a lot of creepiness mixed in. It was a fast paced to read, and I don’t wanna give anything away, but it was a great twisty book.

A fast paced edge of your seat thriller that kind of falls flat. Set in a beautiful island resort. Laura is intrigued by a stranger that is vacationing alone. Things spiral from there. The twist at the end did shock me.

Thank you, Blackstone Publishing for the copy of The Ends Of Things by Sandra Chwialkowska. I loved how this book started, and the writing style was easy to read. Laura couldn’t let go of the past and I got tired of her wallowing in it. Dave was a man baby, and I really disliked him. The biggest disappointment was the premise could have been a great thriller instead of a bland “Women’s Fiction” book that tried to awkwardly make a point about how it’s okay for women to be single. All the elements were there; a tropical island, Diana's job, Dave’s client, the location, the men on the trail, but instead we get a “finding herself” story that never came together. It’s a shame because I loved the book at first, I just wish its promise had carried through to the end. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

3..5 stars ! The cover is stunning ! Made me want to read it right away. Overall, I did enjoy this book but the middle part of the book was a little slower than I would have preferred and I felt myself losing interest. The beginning started out really good and had me intrigued about the lone woman at the resort. I did enjoy the ending.

Thank you Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

Blowing out a big breath and a sigh. This book was so frustrating because the main character Laura was so damn insecure and in her early 30’s but acted like she was still in high school. I get it… the point was her insecurity led her to have a superficial relationship and it led her to become quickly attracted to a woman she just met. She dwelled so much on this childhood friendship that fell apart. I think the author was trying to make a statement about woman coming into their own space and being who they wanted to be instead of what society is expecting but it got lost in this weird story of this woman going “missing” and then Treating her like she didn’t care about her at all once she is discovered. Dave is hardly explained why he reacts the way he does. Loose ends to the story. Meanders a little. Anyway. It’s not a bad read but Laura was a character that needed some self-esteem.

A good quick easy read. Gripping from the start but got confusing towards the end. Definitely a 2.5/3 star book

Thank you NetGalley

While this book kept my attention and I needed to know what would happen next, I feel like I know less than I did before I started it?
The ending was confusing and honestly made the whole book make no sense..

This book was not what I expected. Our protagonist spends a lot of her time in her own head and is deeply insecure about everything and does seem to project onto other people a lot. While I love a book that cares about female friendship, this book seemed to do so almost also at the expense of women— in order to see that female friendship is important, the reader has to spend 80% of the book hearing the protagonist disparage single women and talk about how much better you get treated in life when you are in a couple. I felt like I was far more likely to walk out of this book insecure than with the lesson the protagonist finally learned in the end of being independent. Also, I just really hated the ending with Diana. It felt too much. Overall, I just didn’t feel like there were any characters for me to root for because they were all kind of bad people, but we were only supposed to think a few were bad people. But, I didn’t find the protagonist to be a better person than those she was comparing herself to! So, it was hard to care when I just did not like her. Not my cup of tea.

3.5 stars. This was a good, quick ready. I was very engaged in the first half but it died out for me in the second half. And I feel like the ending was a bit of a let-down. That being said, I enjoyed the setting and the pace of this book.

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

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was about a couple on a trip, and the woman becomes obsessed with a lone woman that is also at the resort they’re at. The book has a lot of twists and turns with a lot of creepiness mixed in. It was a fast paced to read, and I don’t wanna give anything away, but it was a great twisty book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

The ends of things by Sandra Chwialkowska is a first-class read and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fast, easy read with easy-to-like characters, a charmingly unobtrusive setting and a twisty plot and excellent writing.

I really enjoyed Laura as the main character (perhaps there's a little of Laura in most of us) and found myself cheering her on from the beginning. Her desire to explore the world, but not having the courage to go alone felt relatable, so when she jumps at the chance to go on a romantic trip with her new-ish boyfriend (colleague - which must mean trouble, doesn't Laura know the oldest rule?) Dave, I was rooting for Laura. And sure enough, Dave turns out to be a creep. I wasn’t at all keen on him, especially as the story progressed, and honestly, I was pretty disappointed he got away with all his shady behavior without any real consequences. There was definitely a moment where I thought he might’ve even been responsible for Diana’s disappearance. Diana was a single guest at the couples resort that Dave and Laura had come to for a few days of vacation.

Diana and Laura go hiking while Dave does work with the hotel owner/manager. Diana goes missing, there are creepy characters who make excellent suspects, the police are involved, Laura loses her job for contacting the police and initiating bad PR for the hotel which is a client of her and Dave's law firm... Things aren't looking good when Dave flies home without Laura, Luara is 'requested' by the police to stay on the island and seems to have made herself a suspect in Diana's disappearance. Let's leave the plot there in case I reveal too much.

Speaking of Diana, she remains a total enigma to me, but strangely, I’m okay with that. The mystery surrounding her really added to the story’s tension. Even though I was left with questions, her presence (and eventual absence) kept me hooked. Laura’s obsession with uncovering what happened to Diana felt so real and intense, and I loved how the seemingly perfect vacation turned into a nightmare where nothing was as it seemed.

Laura, workaholic with no life, finally meets a guy (same office) who whisks her away for a few romantic days to an exotic island. It sounds like an amorous tale at the outset but then she meets a single woman at this couples resort and becomes obsessed with her; envious of her freedom and the aura she seems to exude. Why is she here alone? She is convinced the woman has a sad backstory and tries to befriend her.
    That's when the book turned more into a self reflection for Laura. She feels she has missed out on so many things in life because of her drive to succeed. Her best friend from high school's betrayal, which she hasn't resolved, follows her everywhere: she misses her and the tight friendship they once had.
    So this mysterious woman has Laura sharing her deepest feelings, much like a therapist in one simple conversation then disappears and Laura is convinced she has met with a terrible fate and obsessed with finding her. 
    Is Laura consumed with her disappearance because she needs this woman, who's astute observations she's made about her life are so accurate, or is she just being a concerned citizen about a missing person.
    There are other issues: boyfriend, work, police  woven throughout to give the story its mystery label but it seemed like Laura finally found out what she wanted to do with her life and it came at a high price

Laura finally feels normal—because she’s in a couple. She’s dazzled when, on a short vacation with her boyfriend of six weeks, she finds a woman all by herself at a couple’s resort. I guess at a couple’s resort being alone might stand out, but it’s clear that Laura would never eat alone back home, either. I genuinely can’t imagine anyone giving a hoot about a person eating alone—people are generally much too wrapped up in themselves to even notice strangers.

Laura is fascinated by the woman who is OK by herself and doesn’t seem to care about what others think. She makes a sort of friendship with the woman, who then disappears, and things get awkward. The main gist I got from this is: don’t trust boyfriends, new friends, or anyone.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASE JANUARY 14, 2024.