Pam (YA Escapes
Reality) and I have talked about this a lot. Cliffhangers. They suck. We
are tired of them. When you're reading a great book and it's building and
building and building and you reach the climax and you're holding your breath
on the edge of your seat waiting to see how it's all going to resolve itself.
And then it doesn't. It just drops off and it's over and now you have to wait
an entire year crying and wondering what the heck is going to happen.
NOOOOOOOOO!!!
I mean, I guess I get it. Authors need to sell books so they can keep writing more books. And cliffhangers sell more books. I can't just sit there, knowing the characters I have fallen in love with are on the edge of a cliff and NOT come back to see what happens, am I right?
What if the Lion King ended right here?
Children would be scarred for life. Constantly wondering if Mufasa lived or died. So why oh why do book lovers everywhere have to go through this torture? For me personally, I will still read a sequel even if there isn't a huge cliffhanger if I liked the book enough.
Take The Burning Sky for instance. I loved that book. It was so good. And it didn't have a huge cliffhanger. Am I still going to read the next book in the series? Absofreakinglutely. I wouldn't miss it. But at least for the next year, I know where Iolanthe and Titus are. I know what's happening. I know if they're dead or alive.
So authors, enough with the cliffhangers. I'm tired of them. I just want the peace of mind knowing that my beloved characters are okay.
How do you guys feel about cliffhangers? Do you hate them? Love them? Love to hate them? What are some of the worst cliffhangers you've ever read?
I personally hate cliffhangers. I think I listed it as one of my Top Ten Book Turn-Offs for that TTT prompt a while back. It really isn't all that satisfying to read and be left with a huge cliffhanger. Like you, I'll probably still read the sequel. However, I'd be a bit hesitant before reading other books by the same author.
ReplyDeleteYes, especially when I feel like the book isn't wrapped up at all. I always feel like each book in a series should be able to somewhat stand alone, you know what I mean? And I feel cheated if we get no answers at the end and it's just this huge cliffhanger. At least resolve some of the issues!
DeleteI do wonder if maybe authors think we won't read the next book if it wraps up a lot of the issues. What really gets me is that there are now so many books that really are just one big story chopped up into three. Granted, it would be one long book, but a series to me has the MCs having different adventures and resolving most of the issues, although usually there is one big issue that is not resolved. Like the Harry Potter books. You have Voldemort always there, but other than him, there are usually other plot lines that are resolved in each book. And The Burning Sky is the perfect example of how to do it right. The first book of the Morganville Vampires series (actually most of them do this) was a ridiculous cliffhanger. It ended in the middle of the scene, with the knife coming down. Then The End. I was like, what???? And then Hover, the second book in The Taking series, ends with someone getting shot. What???? That is taking cliffhanger to the ridiculous. Opal in the Lux series was a killer cliffhanger, but at least the next book is out now so if you read that one, it's not too bad. There are definitely levels of cliffhangers. Lauren at Love is Not A Triangle rates each book as far as love triangle and cliffhanger. I love that. But yes, definitely sick of them!! ~Pam
ReplyDeleteI know. Some of these cliffhangers make me want to scream. They are so ridiculous. I read a book called SYLO not too long ago that was ridiculous. Like, we didn't even find anything out. Zero information. Gah! It drives me insane!! Why do you have to end a book like that? If your write a great book with an interesting plot and characters, people will come back for more!
DeleteI have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers! On one hand, I get HOOOOOKED and it makes me really excited for the second book, but if I don't have book two right away, I get frustrated and sometimes even forget what the cliffhanger WAS haha. I more appreciate cliffhangers at the end of chapters than at the end of a book, I think :)
ReplyDeleteYes! Great point. Cliffhangers at the end of chapters are perfect and the reason I stay up waaay too late reading most nights. They definitely hook me for the next book, but I would be hooked without most of them too.
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