Friday, November 02, 2018

Friday flail

My eyeballs are rolling around in the back of my head.
I've got nothing to say that would be of use to anyone right now.

I finished AJ Flynn's book The Woman in the Window last weekend.
I thought it was really well done because I did NOT figure out the resolution of the plot. I thought I had, and was feeling smug, but oh boy, WRONG!

Are there any books that had endings that surprised you recently?


19 comments:

Amy Johnson said...

The MG novel The Mysterious Benedict Society wasn't published especially recently, but I read it recently. The ending included a big surprise about one of the characters--one of those cases where you don't see it coming, but after the surprise, you think back to all the instances that seemed odd before but now make sense. I'm hoping I can pull off something similar with my MG WIP.

OT: Sherry Howard! Congratulations on your Kirkus review! I'm looking forward to reading your book.

Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...


Behind Her Eyes by Sara Pinborough. It's ending totally surprised me and not in a good way. You could tell that the agent, the editor and the writer stood around the book, arms akimbo and debated on whether to go ahead with THAT ending then they just decided, WTF, why not, let's do it.

OT: Are there other Reider Nano-ers this year? Want to buddy up with Lennon and myself? Let us know your handles. Lurkers, you are most welcome to join up. I'm CeciliafromtheReef in Nanosphere.

Mister Furkles said...

Well, I’m reading Foote’s Civil War and thought I had figured it out. Jeb Stuart is going to surround the Army of the Potomac and force surrender like O’Connor did to the Italians. But Foote killed old Jeb off before the end. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Margaret S. Hamilton said...

Karin Slaughter, The Good Daughter. Major plot twist at the end I didn't see coming.

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

Not a book (my reading volume hasn't been awesome lately), but I watched the Netflix mini series The Haunting of Hill House. It isn't a direct book adaptation, but rather informed by Shirley Jackson's body of work. And it was scary at times, yes, but I didn't expect it to be so emotional and actually make me cry. Totally out of left field; hardly anything makes me cry!

On a personal publishing note, I released a novella, "Run With the Hunted", which is available (ebook only right now) on Amazon and Kobo so far, and across other platforms presently and paperback eventually.

Megan V said...

Not recently. I think the closest a book has come to surprising me in recent years was Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. Great book. Highly recommend.

I am, however, admittedly feeling smug as I just got notes back from some of my CPs and almost all of them have told me that my ending surprised them, which is exactly what I'm going for.

So yeah. I'm basically a cat in the cream.

CynthiaMc said...

Gray Mountain by John Grisham. Not the ending, but something I didn't forsee.

Cecilia - I am also Nano-ing. CynthiaMc - I am consistent.

Sherry Howard said...

Thanks, guys!

I’m doing Nano—SherLHoward. Hoping to make it through the month. It seems like something always happens mid-month, but I have a great start. This is a first time pantsing it for me though.

John Davis Frain said...

Lou Berney's NOVEMBER ROAD. Wasn't the ending I expected. And yet, it's inevitable.

I remember thinking I had Woman in the Window figured out too. NOPE.

Brenda said...

As wonderful as Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine was, I was a tad let down by the ending. I thought for sure that she ...
But never mind. She didn’t.

Sam Mills said...

I just finished Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng (a very gothic fantasy about Victorian missionaries in fairyland). I predicted one plot twist, only to be surprised by another one that I didn't realize was a question. I was duped in a good way.

Karen McCoy said...

A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir. She laid the groundwork for a reveal over the course of two books, and I didn't see it coming. At all. It was brilliant, and fit into the story perfectly.

I'm also doing NaNo. karen.mccoy.

Karen McCoy said...

BrendaLynn I just started Eleanor Oliphant. Did you still find the story satisfying? I have to admit that my hopes are dashed a bit for poor Eleanor...

Brenda said...

It is the best book I’ve read this year. I envy you experiencing it for the first time.

Karen McCoy said...

Thank you, Brenda. This makes my heart happy!

John Davis Frain said...

Endings are SO FREAKING HARD.

That's all, I feel a little better already. No, I'm not editing the ending in my WIP, why do you ask? Okay, I am. Yes, I am.

Anonymous said...

I am 2/3 of the way through Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert, and I JUST figured out that it is a retelling of the story of Ruth and Naomi.

Joseph S. said...

Mister Furkles

That wasn't the end of JEB Stuart

Haunted Tank

Joseph S. said...

I ordered "November Road" this week so I'll see if it's a surprise ending to me.

As for books I've read this year, I'm not sure any had a surprise ending per se. Robert Bailey's "The Last Trial" had so many options for whodunnit I never was sure. My best guess was wrong. I fell for the well-developed red herring.

I had no idea how Hendricks and Pekkanen's "An Anonymous Girl" would end. All I knew was someone(s) was lying and would take a hard fall. I was right about that. I just didn't know who.

I recommend both The Last Trial and An Anonymous Girl.