Vague Endings

Hello everyone! I hope you had a lovely Fourth of July weekend.

And I decided to kick off this week with a blog post about books that have vague endings.

There are two ways to do this: satisfying or infuriating.

*AVAST HASHTAG YOLO SPOILERS*

The two books I'm going to compare for the sake of a visual are Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys and The Corner of Bitter and Sweet. The first being by Kate Brian and the latter being by Robin Palmer.

Brian's book is about a girl who moves into a house that is occupied by 7 boys because it was either that or move to Korea with her military parents. And there is drama, romance, and MOAR DRAMA. (Like the fact that one brother cheats with the other brother's girlfriend and that girlfriend tries to blame Megan when it wasn't Megan's fault.)

Palmer's book is about a girl named Annabelle who's mom, Janie, is an alcoholic TV star who decides to clean up her act and take better care of her daughter while Annabelle has been taking care of her most of the time. Also coupled with cute romantic moments between Janie and Billy then Annabelle and Matt.

You see, in Palmer's book the ending doesn't say anything finite. But there's this hopefulness to it. Two couples are brought together, there's a new precedence for how Annabelle and Janie are supposed to act together and it just gives you a nice "Aw there's nothing really set in stone but I feel satisfied with that ending thank you very much awesome author."

BUT THEN THERE'S BRIAN'S BOOK

WHO GAVE HER THE RIGHT?

Ask my boss on twitter (@boulderbooks), I actually did this

I should probably explain my all caps rage. So in this book Megan has a slight crush on Evan but it's really more of an infatuation but then Megan starts to develop actual feelings for Finn and of course she does, Finn is amazing, but then things happen and then Megan leaves then she comes back and she has a moment with Finn and a slight one with Evan but BRIAN DOESN'T SAY WHO MEGAN ENDS UP WITH AND IT GIVES ME ISSUES.

Maybe some people are okay with not knowing but I am not. How. Dare. You. Brian.

So, personally, I prefer it if there's more of a happy-ending feel, because I didn't read your book to not get a happy ending. But I don't want an actual happy ending where every single string is tied and everything is all perky. I want realistic, but happy. So there could be a few loose ends, but at least have the couple together or the villain defeated or a hopeful outlook for that something to get fixed eventually. (Unless there's a sequel, then cover it in the sequel.)

But if the author just doesn't say something that seems vital to the denouement then I'm left feeling empty inside because HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT GOES ON IN YOUR BRAIN.

That's just my opinion. Leave yours in the comments!

Sincerely,

Owyn the Intern