A disappointing denouement can ruin a novel, leaving readers feeling disappointed or even angry.  Now’s your chance to vent your frustration – if you can stand the spoilers

No sense of an ending: which books have lost the plot? 

Plot twists – or lack thereof – near the end of books can be a huge irritant to readers. “ Life is too short to be spent reading bad prose,” said reader fingerlakeswanderer recently on our weekly Tips, links and suggestions blog, after forcing herself to finish reading a book, worried that she’s “become too lazy as a reader and give up on books too soon”:

I was reading Orient by Christopher Bollen, one of those big fat summer mystery books, and I had zipped through the first third of the book with no problem.  Then it began to drag.  Only my desire to know whodunnit was the reason that I slogged through about a hundred pages of going-nowhere story, and then felt rewarded when the last 200 pages went back to being a hoot to read.  And then.  The last forty pages annoyed the hell out of me.  The murderer turned out to be someone that a reader could not possibly have guessed because there was one allusion to the existence of this person.  It felt as if I had worked my way through 500 pages of prose to be told that “it had all been a dream” or “the murderer was a ghost” or some such BS ending. 

“Am I wrong to think that a mystery has to have an ending that makes sense – or at least is plausible – in order for the book as a whole to succeed?”  asked this reader.  Here are some other books that have frustrated our readers. 

A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta by Paul Theroux

I had a similar reaction to a book by Paul Theroux, A Dead Hand.  I felt completely ripped off – I can’t remember any other time in my life when I wanted to chuck a book against the wall. –  ozgongo

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver

It’s not a mystery but I felt something similar after I read Big Brother.  In that case the twist ending was plausible but it made the story commonplace and less interesting than if the twist hadn’t occurred. – ameliaposte



Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I thought that book was great fun, but the ending was so ridiculous it made me feel stupid for having liked the book so much.  I wondered where Flynn’s editor had been.  Hadn’t the editor wanted to argue with her about her ending? – fingerlakeswanderer

And from our Twitter followers:

Matt Andrews (@mattpointblank) @GuardianBooks Drood by Dan Simmons drove me mad.  Massive book (800pp) and no payoff with the lame ending. 

Wayne Gooderham (@wb_gooderham) @GuardianBooks The ending of The Music of Chance is the closest I've ever come to actually flinging a book across the room...

Nland Libraries (@NlandLibs) The Girl on the Train is probably the most recent one.  I wanted a twist!  @GuardianBooks #nospoilers

Polly (@pollyvgrice) @GuardianBooks The Rabbit Back Literature Society.  I loved the style and I was really enjoying it until the end which was a farce! 

FilmLand Empire (@FilmLandEmpire) @GuardianBooks The Martian.  Felt rushed and anti-climatic

Antony (@ajhtibbs) @GuardianBooks Life of Pi, totally lost me towards the end, it's just like he wasn't sure quite where to take it.  Horrendous epilogue imo

Twins on Tour Blog (@TwinsOnTour) @GuardianBooks D Tartt's The Secret History.  98% is utterly, utterly amazing & the climax is stunning, but dreamy epilogue feels v off key. 

Gordon Harrison (@Kildare24) @GuardianBooks Ian McEwan's 'Saturday' - created such a sense of menace - for it to all to dissolve in the improbability of the ending...

Ailsa Floyd (@AilsaCF) @GuardianBooks I love All The Light We Cannot See, but the last couple of chapters were really unnecessary. 

Nyda Mukhtar (@nydamukhtar) @GuardianBooks The Luminaries.  Seemed to fizzle out at the end. 

Do you share this frustration about bad finales?  Has an ending ruined an entire book for you?  Have your say in the comments, and we will publish a selection of your contributions in the piece.