I love how one thing leads to another. Chatting with my brother, I mentioned that I just finished a book that I liked – the writing was smart and the voice of the main character just spoke to me – but the ending? Hated it. I don’t want to be a complete spoiler so I’ll just say it was too real. Like, if I had known in advance that this twisty suspense novel was really just a sad human story, I probably wouldn’t have read it. (If you want to know the title just ask and I’ll post in comments.)
My brother replied that he recently had a similar experience. In his case it was a thriller and in the end the old woman was simply losing her mind. We were both kind of frustrated – after all that, this is how it ends? Feeling sad (and a little mad) is not what I’m going for when reading something thrilling or suspenseful!
Then I read an article called “How to Write Perfect Twist Endings” which described nine different endings and offered classic examples of each. When the author listed Shutter Island as her example of this type of ending, that’s when I knew for sure. I had the same reaction when I read it years ago! This genre is not for me.
Here’s the thing, though. I’ll never know if a book employs this type of twist until after I’ve finished reading it!
Anyone else feel this way? Is there a particular genre that sets you up and knocks you down every time?!
p.s. here’s that article for anyone interested 🙂 https://crimereads.com/how-to-write-perfect-twist-endings/
bookthrasher 