As an English major, books are my everything. Becoming completely enthralled in a world and reading until the sun comes up is one of my biggest hobbies. But every now and then, a world and characters I have grown to love disappoint me in the end. As a writer I can sympathize. Endings are so hard. No ending will satisfy every single reader. But here are a few books that have massive dissatisfaction. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
As a book lover, I can guarantee to if you go poll a bunch of readers and ask what novel ending disappointed them the most at least half will say the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows. I love Harry Potter, I really do. It shaped my entire childhood. I even have a Deathly Hallows tattoo! But I will always admit how much the epilogue sucked. Pairing every single living character up and having kids seems like such an easy way out. And don’t even get me started on the children’s awful names. I suppose with 7 books worth of death and destruction J.K. Rowling just wanted some happiness, but who really wants that? Happy endings just seem cheesy and disatisfying.
Allegiant
Allegiant is the final book of the Divergent trilogy. Throughout the whole series, we follow Tris and see her world of factions. It was a very interesting dynamic for a series and definitely caught my attention. I read the first two books in a matter of days, then I had to wait a year for the final book. And then Allegiant came out and Tris got away from the factions all together by leaving her city. The idea of pure and damaged genes are introduced when they go to the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, and it is all mostly uninteresting. Then at the end of the book, Tris dies, sacrificing herself to save her awful brother. Allegiant fast forwards two years and shows Chicago at peace and factionless. All in all, I was devastated that this strong female character ended up needlessly sacrificing herself. The movie comes out this month and is being split into two parts. Maybe the movie will do it better?
Mockingjay
I read The Hunger Games in high school and I was obsessed. I was absolutely enthralled in this post-apocalyptic chaotic society. After I read the first two novels, I had to wait a couple months for the final book to come out. During that time, I spent a lot of time on Tumblr and was introduced to the idea that Katniss was asexual and that’s why she was kind of indifferent to both Peeta and Gale when it came to anything more than friendship. Her kissing them was just a way to make them happy and stay in her life when she didn’t know what else to do. I absolutely loved this theory because it put a spin on the classic love triangle and also put the spotlight on a sexuality that doesn’t get talked about much. However, in the end, Katniss ends up having children with Peeta and I was very, very disappointed.
As I said before, endings are hard. I understand I’m not always going to enjoy the endings the author chooses to write. The fact I was disappointed with these three novels doesn’t mean I renounce them all together. I still reread the Harry Potter series every summer! Disappointment happens but it makes us realize that these very talented people wanted to share their creation and we should appreciate them for creating these worlds for us to get lost in.