7 Good Books with Bad Endings

image via Dump a Day

That's exactly how I feel when I'm reading a book or a series and I'm really enjoying it then the ending ruins everything. So, I thought I'd put together a list of books that I remember enjoying until I got to the end. 

*Warning: Possible Spoilers Ahead*

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This was one of the most popular books of 2012. I jumped on the bandwagon and read it. It was a page turner with lots of unexpected twists. I really enjoyed the alternating point of view. I liked how the narrators were unreliable. I was eager to see how it would all turn out.  Then, I remember reading the ending and thinking WHAT?!? After reflecting, I realize it was a dark ending to a dark book and I see how it works. However, in the moment, I was not pleased with the way it ended. I will say, though, I am interested to see how it translates to film.

Inferno by Dan Brown

I really enjoy Dan Brown's books. I like the sweeping mystery adventures and how the main character, Robert Langdon, always figures things out at the last minute and saves the day. This book read like the rest of the Robert Langdon books until the end. Robert figures things out and rushes off to save the day, except the day doesn't get saved. He doesn't get there in time. It left me with a bad feeling. I didn't like that things were left unresolved.

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

This was one of those figure it out as you go books. In the very beginning, Amelia dies by falling from a roof. The police rule it a suicide, but this doesn't sit well with her mother. The story goes through her mother putting together the pieces of what happened to her daughter through emails, texts, Facebook posts, etc. We also get to read flashbacks from Amelia. This book was hard to put down because I wanted to figure everything out. Then, I get to the end and I finally find out what happened to Amelia and it didn't seem to fit with everything else that had happened in the book. I thought it was a bad explanation for her death. 

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks' books are definitely guilty pleasure books. Some of his books are some of my favorites. Others miss the mark. This one missed the mark in my opinion. The beginning of the book was enjoyable enough. It was a classic Nicholas Sparks' novel with two people who were high school sweethearts rekindling their romance. The bad news is that the woman in this situation was married with kids. So, she decides she can't leave her husband and put her kids through a divorce. I can live with that. I'm not always about "happily ever after" endings. I like realistic endings. But the book wasn't over yet...it ended with the cheesiest of all cheesy endings (in my opinion). It was completely predictable and made me upset.

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

This book involves a doctor falling for the mother of one of his patients. Of course, the doctor is married and the whole book plays out how bad their marriage is and makes you dislike his wife. You sympathize with the mother and I was rooting for her and the doctor to end up together. Surprisingly enough, their affair was not very physical. I liked that because it made me believe they truly cared for one another and weren't just lusting after each other. In real life, I would never condone cheating. In a book, I want to be entertained and don't worry about my morals. The ending ruined this book for me because it seemed out of character. Out of the blue, the doctor just changes his mind, breaks it off with the mother of his patient, and decides to stay with his wife. I could have dealt with that ending if it hadn't seemed like a complete 180 from where the book was headed.

Matched Series by Ally Condie

This is a trilogy and I really enjoyed the first book. It was such an interesting premise and really made me think. It takes place in a society where everything is decided for you from the food you eat, to the job you do, to the person you marry. It's done this way so that you live the optimum life and don't make bad choices. In this story, there's a glitch in the system and the main character falls in love with someone who is not her match. I should have just stopped reading after the first book. The next two were so boring! I had to MAKE myself finish them. The second book seemed kind of pointless. It was like a filler. The third book dealt with a rebellion and trying to change their society. You had so much information thrown at you and then in the end, everything works out perfectly for everyone. So convenient.  

Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

Just like Matched, this one is a trilogy where I loved the first book. This one involves a society where people are divided into factions where a different virtue is prized in each one. In the first book, we are introduced to this world and follow Tris as she goes through initiation in her chosen faction. I read this book in less than a day. Insurgent is the next book and gets us started in a rebellion against the faction system. I enjoyed this book, although not as much as Divergent. I couldn't wait for the last one to come out because Insurgent ended with a cliffhanger. Then, I read the last one and it kind of ruined the series for me. The thing that happens in the very end that bothered a lot of people didn't really bother me. Other things bothered me. Number one- it was boring. Next, we were given WAY too much information to try and make sense of. Allegiant seemed different from the other two in terms of the way it was written. We had dual narrators in that we now had Tris and Tobias' point of view. This made me dislike Tobias a lot. I didn't like or connect with their relationship. I lost interest in the characters so much so that (**SPOILER ALERT**) I didn't even care when Tris died. When a main character dies, it should have me in tears.

---------> Come back on Thursday when I share books with my favorite endings. 

What's a book you were really loving until you read the end?