32 Of The Worst Book Endings That Shouldn't Have Made It To Print

    Still salty over Mockingjay's ending tbh.

    Isha Bassi
    by Isha Bassi

    Junior Staff Writer, Australia

    We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the most disappointing book ending they've ever read. Here's what they said!

    🚨 Warning: Major spoilers for some books down below! 🚨

    1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

    Scholastic, Scholastic Australia

    "I waited for this book to come out, read it, and WHAT?! It didn’t even read like the other two books and felt rushed like it was written before a deadline. Don’t even get me started on the unnecessary amounts of deaths and twists in the storylines of everyone’s favourite characters. It felt like a cheap cop-out."

    – anneo42f4e5e98

    Get it from Amazon for $7.91, Barnes and Noble for $8.18, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

    Allen & Unwin, Washington Square Press

    "I didn't just feel disappointed, I felt cheated. The book had set up this incredibly unique dilemma and I found myself thinking, 'I have no idea how this is going to end.' And I guess the author just thought, 'Same, me neither,' and decided to kill the main character off so she wouldn't have to deal with it. It was so frustrating, and that is why I have trust issues."

    – Emma Albertine Henningsen, Facebook

    Get it from Amazon for $11.13, Barnes and Noble for $11.50, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    3. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

    St Martin's Press, Orion

    "It was such a good book, but the ending seemed super rushed. And there's no damn closure. None."

    – writerwhy

    Get it from Amazon for $8.68, Barnes and Noble for $11.20, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    4. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

    Katherine Tegen Books, Harper Collins

    "It wasn't disappointing because the main character, Tris, died. I felt that was almost necessary. My issue was that it ended with the hint of Christina and Tobias getting together. Super frustrating! Why couldn't she just leave him alone? Tris was supposed to be with Tobias through it all. Ugh, it makes me so mad."

    – c49009fe82

    Get it from Amazon for $9.73, Barnes and Noble for $17.34, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

    Crown Publishing Group, Broadway Books

    "Gone Girl made me hurl my Kindle to the end of my couch."

    – A7Xlady

    Get it from Amazon for $1.66, Barnes and Noble for $10.07, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

    Houghton Mifflin Company

    "The Handmaid's Tale left me feeling unsatisfied and wondering what ended up happening. It was effective, sure, but I really wanted a conclusion! What happened to Offred? Who were the people who took her away? It was such a phenomenal book otherwise, but the lack of a real conclusion ruined it for me."

    – livvya40aa9bb03

    Get it from Amazon for $9.59, Barnes and Noble for $10.05, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    7. It by Stephen King

    New English Library, Hodder

    "It was amazingly written and then the end made me regret reading the book in the first place."

    – ewalyor

    Get it from Amazon for $12.79, Barnes and Noble for $16.06, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    Bloomsbury Publishing, Arthur A. Levine Books

    "I hate the epilogue. I just felt that it was way too predictable. The pairings, the kids' names... I think JK Rowling could have done something so much better. Or just left it out. There is much better fan fiction out there to complete the series for me."

    – annieb87

    Get it from Amazon for $12.37, Barnes and Noble for $12.37, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    9. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

    Harper, HarperCollins Publishers

    "The ending was the most anticlimactic finale I've ever read! All of them did it?! Bullshit! I was so disappointed."

    – carm

    Get it from Amazon for $7.16, Barnes and Noble for $9.83, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    10. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

    Alfred A. Knopf

    "The finale of the Inheritance series made me want to throw something at my TV and then cry for a week. And not in a good way. So frustrating."

    – elyseg47f835798

    Get it from Amazon for $13.89, Barnes and Noble for $13.93, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    11. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

    Riverhead Books, Black Swan

    "So predictable and anticlimactic which was incredibly disappointing considering how well-written and interesting it was."

    – ZoeCunniffe

    Get it from Amazon for $8.96, Barnes and Noble for $10.30, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    12. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

    Little, Brown, And Company

    "A WHOLE book planning a huge war between the Cullens and the Volutri, only for it never to happen. What a waste."

    – stephaniec4b4bee1ab

    Get it from Amazon for $10.07, Barnes and Noble for $10.70, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    13. The Death Cure by James Dashner

    Delacorte Books, Chicken House Books

    "The ending to the Maze Runner series was so anticlimactic. Like Thomas went through all of these hardships, people died, and everything happened just for them to go through some freaking portal and live peacefully. Like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯."

    – Aiyanna12

    Get it from Amazon for $8.49, Barnes and Noble for $9.99, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    14. Paper Towns by John Green

    Speak, Bloomsbury

    "Honestly, I’m not exactly sure why I got to the end, The fact that the main character ditched his graduation (while his friends went!) to go find Margot, someone he barely spent time with, was ridiculous. Even my high school Justin Bieber-loving self couldn't handle that."

    – Toulaye Khadijah

    Get it from Amazon for $7.09, Barnes and Noble for $7.23, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    15. The Fate of the Tearling from The Queen of the Tearling series by Erika Johansen

    Harper, Bantam Press

    "Almost three books of build-up and character development FOR IT TO BASICALLY ALL BE A DREAM?! I wanted the grounded story of the girl they were talking about in the quotes who lead her country into an age of prosperity. Not for her to time-travel and cancel out everything that happened."

    – leonoracandyrox

    Get it from Amazon for $10.87, Barnes and Noble for $11.61, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    16. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

    Grove Press, Vintage Books

    "The whole book is about how a civil war soldier is struggling to get back to his wife and when he finally gets home, he dies. Pissed me off so much."

    – marthaj9

    Get it from Amazon for $7.67, Barnes and Noble for $11.97, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    17. Truly Madly Guilty by Lianne Moriarty

    Flatiron Books, Penguin Books

    "I love Moriarty’s other books, but this one is anticlimactic. There is a build-up of suspense throughout the first three quarters of the book, only for us to find out that the big reveal is just... meh."

    – krisentiatedja

    Get it from Amazon for $13.59, Barnes and Noble for $13.65, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    18. The Dark Tower by Stephen King

    Hodder & Stoughton, Scribner

    "The last book of The Dark Tower series was a pile of shit! An epic build up over seven books and the ending was equivalent to a story ending with the line, 'but it was only just a dream.'”

    – Stephen Andrew, Facebook

    Get it from Amazon for $6.85, Barnes and Noble for $6.85, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    19. The End from A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket

    HarperCollins Publishers, Egmont Books

    "Such an inconclusive way to end the series after everything the Baudelaire orphans had been through. I can’t believe they left that many questions unanswered. YOU HEARD ME, DAMN SUGAR BOWL."

    – germancanadian

    Get it from Amazon for $7.70, Barnes and Noble for $9.29, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    20. Requiem from the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver

    HarperCollins

    "My theory is that the Oliver wasn't quite sure on how to tie everything together (you know, what an ending should do). So basically, she just decided to not have an ending at all. In my opinion, it was just lazy writing. "

    – ihavenothrone

    Get it from Amazon for $7.48, Barnes and Noble for $9.99, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    21. The Giver by Lois Lowry

    Ember, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

    "The ending just felt incomplete and almost felt like it needed a second book or at least a few more chapters."

    – 666Phangirl

    Get it from Amazon for $7.19, Barnes and Noble for $8.99, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    22. Hannibal from the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris

    Arrow

    "Clarice Starling was a well thought-out, complicated, strong female character only to have that go to hell in a handbasket at the end. The end of the book is so bad that they made the opposite happen in the movie. I'm so mad. I'm SO MAD."

    – rjshadow

    Get it from Amazon for $7.19, Barnes and Noble for $7.99, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    23. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

    Allen & Unwin, Gramedia Pustaka Utama

    "I guessed the twist in like the second chapter and was just overall disappointed in this ending."

    – ninac442e669c9

    Get it from Amazon for $8.84, Barnes and Noble for $12.08, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    24. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

    Bantam, Back Bay Books

    "I read the entire book waiting for the climax, only to have reached the end with NOTHING. Drove me insane. Such a waste of time!"

    – emilyprestridgem

    Get it from Amazon for $6.19, Barnes and Noble for $8.99, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    25. The Fault in our Stars by John Green

    Penguin Books

    "Don’t get me wrong, the ending was good... but I just wanted more. Like, you take me on this rollercoaster of emotion once he’s re-diagnosed, then after that it’s just kind of predictable."

    – erinmarcellais

    Get it from Amazon for $7.27, Barnes and Noble for $8.18, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    26. Dead Ever After from The Sookie Stackhouse Novels series by Charlaine Harris

    Ace, Gollancz

    "I was so, so angry when the series ended with a Sookie/Sam relationship. I get that it's the only way to have kept Sookie human, but it was stupid."

    – Jessica Shouppe, Facebook

    Get it from Amazon for $6.39, Barnes and Noble for $7.79, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    27. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

    Atria Books

    "Thinking back on this book makes me want to drink myself into a stupor until I can forget about it again."

    – andip4

    Get it from Amazon for $10.30, Barnes and Noble for $11.67, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    28. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

    St Martin's Press, Orion

    "This was a huge let down. The entire story is about a woman struggling to save her marriage with her husband while balancing her career. It literally ends with her telling her husband, “I’ll try harder” and he says, “Me too." THAT’S IT. The whole book builds up to that pathetic, disappointing moment."

    – JessBruso

    Get it from Amazon for $12.79, Barnes and Noble for $12.85, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    29. In the Woods by Tana French

    Viking, Hodder & Stoughton

    "I loved this book... until I got to the ending. What the actual hell?! How can you write 400+ pages that all hinge entirely on one conflict and then never resolve it?! I want those five hours of my life back."

    – Sonnet Fitzgerald, Facebook

    Get it from Amazon for $14.29, Barnes and Noble for $14.29, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    30. One Day by David Nicholls

    Hodder & Stoughton, Vintage Books

    "After spending so long on the will they/won't they, they have one of the main characters killed shortly after they finally get their shit together. Such a cop-out."

    – bryonyisabellas

    Get it from Amazon for $10.15, Barnes and Noble for $10.93, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    31. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany

    Little, Brown, Anthony Wallace / AFP / Getty Images

    "I simply cannot express my negative emotions about this book in one little paragraph. It has no place being associated with the Harry Potter series."

    – sophiarias

    Get it from Amazon for $9.41, Barnes and Noble for $17.99, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    32. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

    Zola Books, MacAdam/Cage

    "It was written so brilliantly, but the ending was horrible! The manner of death was a cop-out. If a character that we were so invested in has to die, do it properly, not the way it was done."

    – Ona Botha, Facebook

    Get it from Amazon for $13.20, Barnes and Noble for $13.20, or a local bookseller through IndieBound here.

    Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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