Unwanted endings in books can leave you feeling cheated and cross.
I can just about cope with weak endings in other book genres, however if I am given a romance novel with an unwanted ending I will struggle….emotionally….for days after it’s finished.
When I read a romance novel I want:
- Chemistry between the two characters.
- A bit of romantic conflict.
- A happy ever after ending.
- Epilogue explaining how the couple are doing a year down the line.
In my view the following are unwanted endings:
- The loved up characters decide to take things slowly and….see how things go. I read a book a few weeks ago by a well-known romance author, where her main character wrote the reader (me) a letter at the end to let them know things might develop in the future between her and her love interest, but for the time being they were going see how things go. This was not satisfactory. You can’t bring a romance reader’s emotions to the boil after 400 pages and then leave them with this weak ending!
- One of the characters dies in the final chapter. As a romance reader I want to finish the book and then spend weeks daydreaming about what the love birds are up to now that they have found love. I can’t do this if one of them is no longer alive.
- One of the characters decides to leave the other in the final chapter as….it was never going to work between them. This sort of ending deals a bitter blow to the romance reader who has spent day and night imagining the love birds getting married.
- The characters don’t get to kiss or….get to have a heated game of travel scrabble upstairs (wink wink nudge nudge). I don’t want graphic details about how the game of travel scrabble was won. Just a page or two on the main highlights and some thought-provoking analogies will sort me out. *Sigh*
Life after reading a romance novel with an unwanted ending can be tough.
Here’s how to survive this emotional time:
- Accept that you are going to be feeling frustrated and disgruntled for a few days. You’ve been let down and you have a lot of built up reader tension inside of you which needs to come out.
- Read book reviews to see whether other readers are going through the same turmoil. I always feel better about bad endings if I know other readers are suffering too.
- Write a book review. Before you start to type (and weep) out your book review remember that the author must have done a good job with building up the romance if you are feeling this let down. Ok, so the ending did not live up to expectations but you do have to give the author some credit.
- Rewrite the ending yourself! I have done this on several occasions and its been really therapeutic. I got to write the ending I wanted and I got to cover the heated game of travel scrabble. *Sigh*
- Talk about your feelings to a loved one or close friend. I chose to confide in my creative friends when a well-known romance author let me down. It helped me to get some stuff off my chest and talk about how I would have liked it to end.
- Email the author. I have considered doing this. At the London Book Fair 2017, which I attended last week, all the author speakers claimed they loved hearing from readers. I am sure they’d love a ‘Not Happy With The Ending Of Your Romance Novel’ email from ‘Sleepless In [enter name of your city]’.
- Accept that this part of your life is now over. Its time to put it behind you and move on. This is a tough one.
- Eat chocolate! Works for a wide range of emotional and literary issues.
How do you feel about the endings of romance novels?
Could you cope with an unwanted ending?
Have a great day folks
Photo: Stocksnaps
I’ll definitely go with the eat chocolate!
It can be so disappointing to read an ending like that… I totally sympathise!
Oh Ritu, I get so involved it’s like i am there desperately wanting to….play travel scrabble and then….nothing..
The books that I love, they swallow you in, then leave you with a void in your life until you pick the next book up! But when the ending is inadequate it makes you want to scream!
Fabulous comment Ritu!
Thanks Lucy! Happy Wednesday!
I’m still traumatised by a book where the hero dies in the last chapter. To be honest, there were signs earlier in the book that it wasn’t going to be a traditional romance and I should have stopped reading then. It’s not even that I thought the heroine deserved a happy ending, but the hero did. Now that I’m thinking about it again, it was a book which gave me very little satisfaction.
That’s heart breaking April. Thx for reading 🙋🏼
I think Cold Mountain was like that. Everyone I know raved about the book, but I was really disappointed and upset (maybe a little angry at the author, too). I need happy endings in stories (even just a little hope).
Glad I am not the only one who cannot cope with unhappy endings. So frustrating.great entry!
Hey thx – happy Sunday 🙋🏼
I totally agree!!! Great post. 😀
Hey thx Kimberly – hope the weather over there is better?
Getting better…almost feeling like Spring. Thanks!
I’m in the eat chocolate camp as well. Plus a really good glass of merlot. I mean don’t these authors know we live vicariously through our romance novels!
Yes…oh yes we do! 🙂 Thank you for reading my post! Happy Sunday
Just so you know Lucy …. I’m rewriting my ending asap!
Always think of the romance reader Eric!
Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
I like the idea of rewriting the ending! I have a couple of books I’d like to try that with.
It’s an amazing thing to do because you walk away with what you wanted 🙋🏼
Chocolate! Bring on the Chocolate!
Yes Amen 🙋🏼
The best idea you had was to rewrite the ending. I think I might start doing that with other books with disappointing endings. My books, including the 1960’s love story, always have happy endings. I almost wrote to an author once but chickened out. That is their baby and that is how they wanted it to end ( unless the publisher rushed them)
You should try it! Let me know if you do 🙋🏼
I read a book once where the characters supposedly weren’t right for eachother and both got together with someone else. I’ve thought about re-writing the ending, but still haven’t thought of a good way of going about that!
I love your blog! Keep up the good work. I especially like the posts pertaining writing, like writing romance and characters and stuff like that. Hope that made sense! Have a great day!
Hey thx for reading my blog post! Happy Monday!
Thank you!
I just saw a typo in my previous comment, and its driving me crazy!
I would write an ending to suit and prit stick the newly formed text over the offending weak lazy original ones. And never again would my eyes be offended or my heart irked with substandard drivel. *sniffs, rubs hands together briskly* “sorted”
Reblogged this on Nothing Gilded, Nothing Gained-Family Saga Fiction at Middlemay Farm and commented:
SIGH
Thank you & happy Sunday 😎
I like “Eat chocolate!” best.