The cover of *The End of Things* was a siren call for me—destination thrillers are irresistible.

Laura Phillips, an anxious NY lawyer, goes on a dream vacation with her new boyfriend to a Bahamian resort. What starts as a thrilling escape quickly devolves into a feverish, confusing mess.

It’s an entertaining read but lacks a solid thriller punch, earning 3 stars for its intriguing but uneven narrative.

Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Laura and her boyfriend Dave are both lawyers at the same New York firm. They decide on a trip to the Bahamas on a spur of the moment. Laura befriends Diane, a lady travelling on her own. When they go on a hike Diane disappears. When Laura reports her missing she sets of a cascade of events that change her life.

This was a slow burner. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first and it almost went into my did not finish pile. However I persevered and it got good! I enjoyed the flashbacks to Laura’s past with her friend Chloe. Very much disliked the boyfriend Dave. The descriptions were vivid and I very much would like to visit the island. I would say to give this a go!

This book was okay.

I feel like it started off very strong and then went on a massive tangent of irrelevant things.

The ending of the book was strange and I feel didn’t not relate to the rest of the the book at all, it was very rushed towards to end, especially when the storyline was going in a completely different direction,

Oh Laura! She’s finally gotten a “real life”….a boyfriend & now a vacation to a tropical island. All is perfect. But once there she becomes obsessed with a lady traveling a lon. & when she goes missing all becomes messed up.
This was an interesting book. I really enjoyed the growth that Laura did throughout the book. She was always afraid to be alone & finally realizes it’s not so bad. I really loved the ending as well.

Like a moth to a flame, the cover immediately made me hit the #netgalley request button. Destination thrillers are my catnip.

“She thought she had the perfect life… until she met a stranger in paradise.” Ding ding ding… summertime jackpot.

Laura Phillips is someone who’s felt like she’s been floating on the outside of life watching meaningful relationships happen to other people. She’s ’the lurker’ on social media. ‘The Contracts Queen’ at the New York law firm where she’s an Associate. She finds beautiful things to be a bit dangerous. So how will she cope when this self confessed catastrophizing creature-of-habit takes an off-the-cuff vacay initiated by her ‘beautiful’ new boyfriend (and superior at work) to a ‘beautiful’ Bahamian resort?

She curates the perception that she’s normal and socially acceptable, and her anxiety runs wild worrying that the ‘beautiful’ man will thinks she’s weird. As the dream vacay unfolds a toxic teenage friendship Laura had with a girl called Chloe is revealed, at the same time Laura becomes similarly obsessed with a single woman called Diana at the couples resort. As Laura’s perfect mask begins to slip, her relationship, time in paradise, and even the weather begin to unravel.

This destination thriller was fast-paced, packed heavy on the destination, a little light on the thriller. It felt like around 65% was left baking in the sun turning into a hot mess of a fever dream, which brought its own rather interesting dimension but less thriller more delirium, and a lot more conch! I wish the story had either stuck to the script, hiked the thriller idea to the end, or embraced the madness and fully engaged the rather enticing character of Diana. I read this in one very entertaining sitting, but overall this moves too messy for me to recommend, and it gets 3 stars for its indecision.

I’d like to thank the publisher and #NetGalley for sending me a copy of this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I received this book as an ARC. The cover drew me in at first as I like the beach scene and thought it might be a good summer read. After reading the summary and realizing it was a thriller (my favorite genre) I waited hoping to get a copy. The book is a quick read and I really enjoyed the first 85% of the book. It was 4* until then. The climax/twist was disappointing and the ending dragged out. That said it’s still a 3* read that I enjoyed!

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.