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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To start a thread where we can warn each other about books with crap endings?

239 replies

SinisterBumFacedCat · 18/09/2015 12:59

Her by Harriet Lane

I feel like I've wasted time reading this book because it had a truly shit ending.

Also The Deep End by Emily Barr

Please share yours....

OP posts:
MuddhaOfSuburbia · 21/09/2015 09:46

'The Sense of an Ending' completely pissed me off, I just kept thinking there's a possibly interesting story here but instead we're stuck listening to this stupid man

THIS

MissBattleaxe · 21/09/2015 10:01

I liked the ending of The Husband's Secret but I hated the ending of The Last Anniversary, also by Liane Moriarty. Terrible. In fact I lost interest halfway through and skim read most of it. the whole story was pretty improbable and then the ending just made me shrug indifferently.

IamAgamemnon · 21/09/2015 10:11

Agree with
Under the Dome
The Goldfinch
The girl on the train

Under the Dome was really poor. I've read a lot of Stephen King novels and am starting to get a bit sensitive to ones which involve any kind of sexual attacks. I just don't see the need for it to be written so graphically.

The Goldfinch just seemed to be want to be two books imo, I loved the start how it set up the relationship between him and his mother and the details involved in that but after that it felt too messy.

The girl on the train started ok but just faded into a woman's magazine short story ending.

ArcheryAnnie · 21/09/2015 10:20

Am still angry with the way The Life Of Pi ended. Way to ruin an otherwise good book, Mr. Martell.

MuddhaOfSuburbia · 21/09/2015 10:28

the Goldfinch seemed to run out of steam directly after the Reveal (which made me gasp)

it was downhill from there and the end was Hmm

I got the sense DT had lost heart/lost her way with it, possibly because of the amount of time she spent on it?

WalkingThePlank · 21/09/2015 12:03

I came on to add the Goldfinch but others had the same idea.

There was just no story structure - it just rambled on and seemed like a compilation of at least 3 different stories. I even stopped caring about Theo in the end.

It took 7 months for me to get to the end of it - that's how much I was enjoying it.

BoskyCat · 21/09/2015 12:14

OMG One Day Angry But people love it, but it made me so cross. That poor woman. The man is a ridiculous, egocentric twat and the woman has this inexplicably shit time all her life until yes, she's gratuitously bumped off (oh then we have to feel even more sorry for the twat) Hmm

It's SO misogynist. They both have a good education, so why does she drop out and have shit jobs while he's really successful? Why does she waste any of her time on him while he gets to piss about and have another woman as well? Why kill her off? It's all about him really. I can't say how much I hate this book!

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It hasn't even got an ending. It's the same blathering pseudo-deep bilge all the way through. I was waiting for something to make sense, what a waste of my time!

katemiddletonsothermum · 21/09/2015 12:59

ouch, easy Bosky. Surely it's about a confidence issue - girl doubts her self-worth so she ends up waitressing. Bloke is full of shit so gets a job where he's paid to spout bullshit.

What I want to know is why Anne Hathaway gets progressively more northern in the film. She starts out quite posh and ends up sounding like she's just come out t' mine. Couldn't they afford a dialogue coach for the full shoot?

Topaz25 · 21/09/2015 13:26

House Rules by Jodi Picoult. The entire story is centred round a court case involving an autistic boy and although you do get to find out whodunnit, you never actually find out the verdict or sentence! And when asked about it she said "you're thinking neurotypically, not like a kid with AS!" Actually, I have Aspergers and I still wanted to know the answer!

The80sweregreat · 21/09/2015 13:45

Bosky, one day was so disappointing. I think he only got on in life for half the book because of his background. She was far more clever, at least the author made her successful for some of the time, which pleased me!
Why she bothered with him at all is a mystery. Strange book all round.

JacquesHammer · 21/09/2015 13:50

The Birthing House by Christopher Ransome. I judge him for it. I judge him a lot.

BoskyCat · 21/09/2015 13:59

Fair enough if it had been about the patriarchy having that effect, and she had somehow grown as a character and learned to see that and realised she needed to walk away from this jerk who's been dragging her down her whole life. But no. She comes back to him despite everything, and then bam she dies. For no reason. I don't think David Nicholls has something profoundly feminist to say. If it was the same plot by Margaret Atwood, then yes possibly, but it would say it more clearly.

amarmai · 21/09/2015 15:31

my solution is after reading enuf to decide if i want to continue, i then go to the end and read a few pages ,then if still interested ,I go back to the beginning.

Bulbasaur · 22/09/2015 05:40

I wasn't happy with the ending of Hunger Games. Just seemed sorta slapped on after all the build up. Not the epilogue, but the final moments leading to that.

lorelei9 · 22/09/2015 08:06

is the end of Hunger Games the same as film? Sounds as if it may not be?

Topaz25 · 22/09/2015 10:06

I've just finished reading Wonder by R J Palacio and although I liked the book overall I found the ending unrealistic. I understand the author's intentions but up until then the story was relatable and realistic and I feel it lost that at the end.

nessie1945 · 22/09/2015 13:10

Definitely The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. I wrote an angry review on Amazon and wanted to write to her personally. I felt she had stolen a large chunk of my life. It was all tosh and I stupidly kept reading, thinking that it must be me. No! It was her.

IsabellaofFrance · 22/09/2015 13:38

Glad someone else agrees with me about the Hunger Games, although I meant the last book, loved the other two.

The whole last book just seems like it was written in a rush. Tyhe ending itself isn't too bad, its what happens after the ending that just made me think 'wtf'.

thegiddylimit · 22/09/2015 14:50

If it was the same plot by Margaret Atwood, then yes possibly, but it would say it more clearly.

'The Edible Woman' maybe?

stopfaffing · 22/09/2015 16:54

The Girl on the Train - boring all the way through, not well written.

Grey Mountain - I got a sense that the end of the book was the beginning of the next book(a sequel) iyswim. I liked it.

The Miniaturist - so, so disappointed at the end of this book. It just fizzled out.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - I liked this book, even though the mood was somewhat bleak at times. The ending was unusual but fitted with the oppressive atmosphere. I've read it five times Grin I love Denmark

theluckiest · 22/09/2015 17:41

Whatever you do, avoid 'The Farm' by Tom Rob Smith. I was so cross. What a sack of crap. 'Child 44' was disturbing but pretty good as a thriller goes. 'The Farm' starts off very promisingly, gets really exciting, has a major plot reveal then it's as if Smith just got distracted, went for a wee or something and really couldn't be arsed. V disappointing.

Also found myself having lost the will to live at the end of 'The Road.' Bloody hell, I know it can't end well but it's so grim. After finishing that I spent a few hours shuffling round the house thinking 'what's the point?'

Bulbasaur · 22/09/2015 18:11

s the end of Hunger Games the same as film? Sounds as if it may not be?

Haven't seen the last movie yet, but in the book it was clear she was just a pawn under Coin as she was Snow. In the books she really had no control over her destiny and it was clear she was just a broken kid being dragged through it all. The movies she's more of a "fearless leader" trope that rises up to beat the odds.

I don't see how they can do the ending with the same impact in the movies.

Bulbasaur · 22/09/2015 18:14

The whole last book just seems like it was written in a rush. Tyhe ending itself isn't too bad, its what happens after the ending that just made me think 'wtf'.

Yeah, it was sort of a well... they defeated the capitol... now what?

Oh, we'll have Katniss do something with no repercussions and things will just go the way she wanted them to even though everyone already voted otherwise as a group.

IsabellaofFrance · 22/09/2015 18:19

My problem isn't even that.

spoilers

Foe three and a bit books, its been Katniss choosing between Gale and Peta, all the moodiness, the build-up, the tension.

Then in a sentence its all over. Gale has decided to stay in the Capitol and its all explained away.

lalalonglegs · 22/09/2015 18:29

Ha ha, I came on specifically to point the finger at Her by Harriet Lane (I did really enjoy Alys Always though, in case she's reading Grin).