I don't know what happened to the rendering of the video. I'm sorry guys. but 3:15 - 4:00 somehow got messed up in the upload. Feel free to skip that gap
Haha I thought you were making a point about how ignoring the explanation and just showing the conclusion instead of tying everything together is what the Giver series ending did and why you didn't like it xD I read wayyy too much into that
Some of the bad fanfic is even better than the Cursed Child. Fact. Even the weird ones where Snape's Ghost helps auror Harry track down a splinter group of post-death eaters... Better than Cursed Child
I didn't even finish it. I began reading the day I got (release date) and I put it down. Nope. I saw where it was going and I wasn't going along. Makes it easier to erase from my memory banks and make it so it's not Canon in any shape or form.
The cursed child is not a part of the Harry Potter series, and I will not treat it as canon because JK can't tell me what to do , she already failed me when she said that she hates Slytherin and I'm a Slytherin.
I actually like Mocking Jay. A lot of people in that series went through a lot of crap and I'm happy we got more of a messy ending to a dystopian series rather than a hey we fixed everything approach. Plus I really love the portrayal of PTSD/mental illness.
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Couldn't agree more. Though a certain death made my heart ache for days, just like what Harry Potter did to me. * sigh *
Definitely my fave! I loved the way Peeta acted (I won’t spoil) and I love love love love loved the way it ended messily like you said, it made it realistic and not perfect.
I liked Mocking Jay, but I do think the trilogy feels unbalanced. Now, whether that is because of Catching Fire or Mocking Jay is a heated debate I have yet to decide the winner on.
No fan takes The Cursed Child as cannon. It's just a case where the fans are right and the author's stamp of approval is completely and entirely rejected with cause. 😄
@@rustydaboyrobot Honestly I agree with you. I'm not saying youre wrong but I've been on the HP side of Quora and well, ppl talk about inconsistencies and still believe it and think Volemort and Bella actually created a child. Like it's so messed up. I can't deal with ppl who think it's Canon. I don't think those ppl are true fans
So Mockingjay is an anomaly for me in that I was just okay with it at first, but after going back and reading it realized that it’s actually kind of brilliant. The reason Katniss’s actions don’t matter is because they were misguided. Her main goal in the book was to kill Snow. Not because he was a tyrant that needed to be taken down; the Capitol could be defeated without his death. Her goal was revenge for destroying her home and for the atrocities that he inflicted on her and the people she’s grown to care about. And that anger, while justified, blinded her to Coin. Yes, Katniss knew Coin was looking to be the new leader and wasn’t to be completely trusted. But Katniss was so intent on killing Snow that she never stopped to see what Coin was capable of; sacrificing children for her own gain, just as Snow would. A phrase brought up in Catching Fire was “remember who the enemy is.” In that book, it’s a reminder that the one you should fight isn’t the person who is stuck in the same situation as you, but the one who is keeping both of you in it. While it doesn’t come up in Mockingjay, I feel that it would still be applicable. Because the enemy of your enemy isn’t always your friend. The enemy is whoever is willing to exploit people’s fear, grief, or anger. And sometimes that person isn’t always the one at the top; sometimes it’s the one waiting in the wings. Katniss is ready to pin her sister’s death on Snow, but then she is able to step back from her anger and realize how dangerous Coin will be if she becomes President. Killing Snow no longer has meaning, and it never really did. He was just another face in a tyrannical government that had existed long before him and was now coming to an end. But Katniss can still put an arrow through the heart of a someone who would just continue the cycle, give everyone a chance to go another way. And she does that. That’s not to say that there will never be anyone like Snow or Coin; as Plutarch points out, it’s likely that there will be peace before the whole thing begins again. Or, as he follows up with, it may not be the case and they may have put an end to the last period of horror and atrocity in the history of humanity. It’s that tenuous hope that follows Katniss as she returns to the ruins of District 12, still scarred by everything that’s happened. And it’s because of that hope that she decides to be with Peeta, wanting peace instead of more anger. It’s why she starts a family in spite of her fears. It’s why she counts the good things when the horrors she witnessed becomes too much. It’s why she plans to tell her children what happened to her and to others they’ll never know. Mockingjay is about the dangers of unchecked rage. Anger is good when you’re fighting tyrants, but too much and either you miss the obvious danger or you end up becoming a monster. It’s also about hope, even if things may not turn out well, because maybe this time it will. It’s why I believe it’s a fitting ending to the trilogy.
I completely agree. I think that people expected something different and that’s why they are disappointed with this book, but the story needed to head towards rebellion and rebellion isn’t easy. Katniss even though she hated Capitol shouldn’t be the face of the propaganda, because she was struggling with everything that has happened. They pushed her, she did a great job, but also this time she was just a pawn in a game. When she understood that Coin won’t change how the world works, that she will use rebellion as a excuse to gain power and do exactly the same things that Snow did. She was a tyrant and that’s why I loved so much when Katniss killed her. She always followed her heart and did what others couldn’t, she was a true fighter with injustice even if it cost her reputation or life. I didn’t really like the epilogue. I generally don’t like epilogues. I think that they are unnecessary, but the good thing about them is that author probably (I am looking at you JK Rowling) won’t continue the story.
Everything u said was amazing, really. I also love this book and think its a great ending! About the hope thing u said, I'm from brazil and here this book is actually called "Hope" and I love both titles ^-^
Even if the Cursed Child had been good, I would still have been annoyed with JKR for calling it canon. I mean, for years after Deathly Hallows was published, she insisted that Harry's story was finished. So how can she take what is clearly a nostalgia-fueled afterthought (that she didn't write) and be like THIS IS DEFINITELY WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CHARACTERS HOW DARE YOU IMAGINE OTHERWISE
Luckily I stopped reading the third book before the end as I didn't like where it was going. Thanks for the advice not to return and finish it in the future :)
I do too! I loved and still love the first book, despite me being able to recognize now that it wasn’t amazing lol. It was just leagues and leagues better than Insurgent and Allegiant 🤢
Agreed. I honestly don’t know what the author was thinking with the last book. For me, it felt like she just took her first novel and used it as a skeleton to finish her series. I actually liked the idea behind the Tris ending, but getting there felt wasted. I even had to warn my friend who got me into the series cause I read it before her and knew she would be disappointed (I listened to the book while I was working overnight stocking).
Unpopular opinion: I actually love Mockingjay. It's my favorite in the series. Or at least it was when I last read it in high school. I didn't see her ending up with Mr Bread to be love saving her from her PTSD. I always interpreted it as her never being free of it. To me, it's actually a horrifyingly sad ending where she never recovers the agency that she lost after becoming a part of the rebellion. Was that what the author meant with the ending? Probably not, but eh
Maia Gaia I felt the same way. I like that it's not a typical happy ending because what she went through left a mark on her that will always be there although it will get better. She couldn't forgive Gale because of Prim and Peter was there for her. I love the way the ending was portrayed in the movie. She actually says that she loves him and in the book she never does. I think that wrapped up everything in a great way. I also appreciated that in the book she says that Peter is the right man for her because he is a calm person and she is really fiery so they complement each other.
To booktubers at large: if you're making a video specifically about endings, sequels, etc viewers should just assume there are spoilers. I don't at all understand the point of even making the video just to say you can't talk about it 😔
Agreed 100%. It's almost pointless to have these videos if she can't give examples or give criticism. I'd recommend she add them, and that would increase the quality of these videos.
OK, the thing with the Hunger Games' "love triangle" is that it's not a love triangle, because Katniss says time and time again that she is not ready to love ANYONE, so there is no reason for her to "choose" someone from the "love triangle." She eventually ends up with Peeta, yes, but I always assumed that that was after YEARS of recovery, when she finally actually felt ready for a romantic relationship, and Peeta was there for her and had shown throughout all that time that he supported her no matter what. Gale had shown that he couldn't be trusted, so she had already decided that she could never be with him long before she was even open to romantic love. And as for her just being sort of moved along with the story and not actually doing anything, that is absolutely true, but we needed to see that in contrast to how she was in the earlier books, which was very action-oriented and decisive, and we needed to see how she was experiencing everything so that when we finally get to that one thing she does in Mockingjay that has a HUGE impact, that impact is felt even more. She had all this pent-up... I don't know, energy? Like decisive, active energy, since she hadn't been doing very much until then, and she had to have that to be able to do that one action she does at the end.
Oh wow you started with Harry Potter and my reaction was like “oh no Merphy don’t you do it, how dare you!” And then you referenced the epilogue and Cursed Child and I relaxed and exhaled and I’m on board. If the series ended before the epilogue it would have been perfect, because it is the most perfect and beautiful story ever told.
When you said “Harry Potter”, I thought you were talking about Deathly Hallows, and I was genuinely confused... then you mentioned the book-that-must-not-be-named...
i don't trust jk rowling on anything harry potter after she wrote the final period in the seventh book. anything she said or wrote after that i refuse to listen to
I actually do kind of love the epilogue of Harry Potter! I mean, I hate The Names but I love that we got to see Harry have a good life, even if it was just for a few pages. :)
I was looking for anyone in the comments who wrote this. I'm the kind of person who gets so invested in the stories they read that this kind of epilogue really helps me disengage from the story they dove into. I always really appreciate the closure it offers. I kinda loved the epilogue. It was good for my soul. So I was really surprised when she mentioned "we all hated the epilogue". Like, what? You did? Is this true? I've never heard of that! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who liked the epilogue.
The way Snape , Mcgonagall, Harry (actually most of the characters) act in the cursed child really annoys me so out of character ! I don't mind it on the whole though when I think of it as fanfic. DEFINITELY not canon- I'm playing the death of the author card on this one !
Gotta disagree on Mockingjay, mostly because reading it after starting trauma therapy gave me a new appreciation for how deep Katniss' trauma is and for how poignant her choice to heal with Peeta is. I also straight up think Katniss is not a hero, despite people's expectations. I think she's just a kid who lost way too much way too soon, who was forced into circumstances she never wanted at every stage of her narrative, and whose only dream was to live a heads-down life of relative peace. I think people expected that because she hated the society she lived in, she'd be convinced to come on board when it was time to bring that society down, but in retrospect, it doesn't surprise me at all that she just descended even further into powerlessness.
Just finished Words of Radiance and started Oathbringer last night and I am OBSESSED! Thank you Merphy for introducing me to Mistborn and the amazing author Brandon Sanderson because Mistborn and Stormlight Archive are so incredible. I’m so excited that Stormlight is planned to be 10 books and will read each new one the moment it is released. I’m happy that the next one is only a year away but after that the 2-3 year wait will be excruciating. Although at least I can trust that Sanderson will have a regular release schedule and I won’t get stuck waiting a decade between books like with GRRM
Mockingjay was my favorite from the trilogy, I felt the ending was very realistic. But know I’m curious to reread and see if I have the same opinion. I can’t get into Cassandra clare’s books, but the hype around it makes me feel FOMO so much
Unpopular opinion: I like Mockingjay. *warning for spoilers* I will agree that it's unsatisfying as a narrative: Katniss is stuck in a spiral of depression and PTSD after surviving two near-death warlike scenarios and thus doesn't experience as much growth as the other two books/films (yes, I'm including the films,) the love triangle can feel superfluous and ultimately there's not even a moment of choice like in some other stories, and the ending overall can come off as anti-climatic; after all, Katniss doesn't confront Snow at all at the climax of the rebellion and the war itself seems to abruptly end. But...I believe this was done on purpose. You see, a lot of inspiration for Suzanne Collins' writing was from her father, who was a Vietnam War veteran. She learned everything she knew about how modern (or close enough to modern) warfare works - from the propaganda all the way to the intricacies of battle itself - from her father's stories sprinkled with her own research, and if there's one lesson that she's learned through all of that, it's this: War is not a pretty narrative. There are stories of soldiers that go above and beyond the call of duty, yes, but in war there's no definitive hero, there is no villain - at least, not in the traditional sense, there really isn't even a climax; most soldiers that survive a final battle - especially after taking physical trauma like Katniss in which they're knocked out cold for several days - never acknowledge or even realize it was indeed the final battle until the treaties are signed. Mockingjay is a war story for teens and young adults. There is no satisfaction in the narrative because there's not supposed to be one, and this is not some expectation subversion that has become prevalent in other media, such as the infamous final season of Game of Thrones or The Last Jedi, but an intentional and realistic painting of what war is like for a soldier caught in the front lines. It doesn't pander its audience by giving a forced final conflict, a cheesy scene where Katniss chooses which love interest to spend the rest of her life with, or a satisfying conclusion where everyone feels better for it, and I love it for that.
Vengeful will most likely have a sequel. Schwab jokingly (kinda) said that she will write a Villains book once every 5 years. Having read most of her books Vengeful is define you not a conclusion.
I gave up on The Mortal Instruments years ago, tried Infernal Devices, and DNF'd it. I can't stand it when the main characters are supposed to be some super cool bad ass who slays unthinkable evil and they have absolutely no idea how to handle themselves around a girl...like they do way scarier things than talk to their crush on the regular, the extent that they can't handle it is not very believable.
Dark Tower takes every single bad Steven King ending ever (Dept of redundancy Dept there) mixes it in a blender, and spews it on the page. As for Mockingjay, the worst part of it was you have a 1st POV book, where the MC of the series is put on the bus for 1/2 the book. And Divergent, just terrible. It never should have even had a sequel. Bad science. Bad fiction, bad ending.
I think you do an injustice to Mockingjay. The "love triangle" is not meant to be "resolved in a satisfying way". The Capitol come between Katniss and Gale, while the "romance" with Peeta is forced on her by the need to win allies in the games, and later the need to satisfy the whim of President Snow. Her choices are taken away from her. The books are not romances, and there is no happy ending, just satisfaction she did the right thing, and survival "It's like things are in the world", to quote Frodo. And, like Frodo, she cannot return to the life she had before, even if her actions have meant there is a better future for the people of the Districts.
If you're looking for a duology to add to this list, Seraphina and Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman. Seraphina was awesome, Shadow Scale was so amazing until it turned into a raging dumpster fire. It's like the author got tired of writing the story and didn't want to have to write a third book to do it justice so she just ended it as fast as she could. The Giver and Gathering Blue would have been great as stand alone books. They don't need to be in a series, and the last two books didn't need to happen.
When you called America's daughter a brat I felt that in my soul. I hated the extra two books Kiera Cass added, which was a shame because The Selection series was such a fun light-hearted read for me. Oh well!
Mimster2000 I felt that same way! I really liked the series! Then I started reading the last two books and I kept pushing through expecting America’s daughter to not be so annoying and I didn’t like how it ended. I don’t consider the last two books a part of the series.
Sereena Blake eikko is not even a finnsh name 🤷♀️ so i consider him as a culmination of everything wrong with the last two book from a finnish perspective.
Don't forget "To Kill a Mockingbird" and its sequel (which was written a few years ago) "To Set a Watchman." "To Set a Watchman" essentially does a 180 on Atticus Finch's character by turning him into a racist.
I could not handle Cassandra Clare when (I think in book five?) literally everyone who knows anything, is smarter, wiser, and older tells the main characters not to resurrect an Angel because there will be SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES including, ya know, death, but they do anyway and what happens? Nothing. Why did she set up all these magical rules only to break them in the name of love? Or whatever the weak reason was. You know you are done when you want one of the main characters to die just so they will get over each other.
Half the series is you just feeling Percy's childlike wonder as he navigates his world. There is NO reason a movie shouldn't be able to capture that with EFFORT!
I don't acknowledge Cursed Child at all. I wouldn't say worst, but my least favorite in His Dark Materials was The Amber Spyglass. I get it now, but at the time, I thought that was a shitty way to end the series. In non SFF, The Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas. Horrible way to end the D'Artagnan saga. One of the most depressing books I have ever read. Nothing like the movie
Katniss did make a decision about the "love triangle", though. Gale's firebombs killed her sister and she realized what sort of person he had become and couldn't be with him. She also knew Peeta would never do something like that. He's gentle person. As far as her lukewarm feelings about Peeta, it always seemed to me that Katniss had trouble loving people after the life she led. If I recall, it's not like the two got married for a number of years, and it was even longer before they started a family. 15 years, I think? I might feel as you do about it if they'd run to the altar at the end or something, but it took a long time and felt pretty natural to me.
With the Kiera Cass books I am partly agree with you. In the America trilogy, it was pretty obvious that America will be the winner of the selection, so it was good to guess the winner of her daughter's selection (and I am kinda satisfied with the end result.) BUT THE UNEXPECTED AND UNPREPARED CHANGE OF THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT FREAKED ME OUT. IT WAS SO HORRIBLE. (at least as I remember correctly.) It felt to me that it was a sudden idea of the girl, I cannot remember her name, she was a brat indeed, not a well-prepared reform from the future queen.
@@dilaisy_loone2846 I liked how it was a "and life will go on" ending. It's something that many series lack that I think makes the world's feel more real
@@starfruit2513 me neither. I do get the criticism that it might be too happy, but at the same time The Deathly Hallows is a super dark and depressing book, and not to mention what goes down during The Battle of Hogwarts, so it makes sense that they'll give it a happy ending.
A utopia is in and of itself a dystopia. What is life without risk? Without pain? Without failure, mistakes and learning? Perfection isn't real, and imo is a limitation. Progress is flawed but infinite.
If you truly want an unsatisfying ending check out Len Deighton's Charity. The final book of a trilogy of trilogies comes across as "Here's your ending, now piss off." I wanted more from The Hunger Games ending.
One series that shocked me with how poorly it ended was The Dark Tower. I didn't know much about it before reading it. Only that it was Stephen King's big fantasy series. It hooked me throughout and I had a number of different theories of what might happen at the end. Without saying too much, what happened was far worse than anything I was predicting. I honestly felt like King got writers-block at the end, but had to meet a deadline, so just threw something together. It was just very underwhelming and left me feeling a bit cheated. Kind of like the ending of the Game of Thrones TV series. Like, I devoted all my time for this? This is a big reason why I'm always apprehensive about starting a new series. Especially a big one. I haven't even started Stormlight yet because I want to wait until the first five books (the first story arc) are all out. Part of me thinks I have nothing to worry about with Stormlight, though, and that Sanderson is a sure thing. Any input would be appreciated.
The epilogue would've been totally fine if Harry hadn't given his kids pants-on-head retarded names. "Albus Severus" is a chore to say. You know what could've been a perfect name? Oliver. Because then his name would be "Ollie Potter" and that sounds great and looks great on a cover and his friends can call him "Otter" for short or something. I dunno. Just spitballing
I'm pretty sure VE Schwab said somewhere that there will be a third vicious book, but that it will probably take like another 5 years or more to come out
To be fair about Hunger Games, even though the whole PTSD plot was without a proper resolution I think it's not a bad thing. Mental trauma can not always be "resolved". People have to live with it and move on, even if it haunts them forever. And the fact that her love interest helped a bit is also not unrealistic. They went through a lot of crap together, and a romantic relationship *can* help someone not fall into an endless hole. Not that it heals her like so 👏👏, but it just helped her go along. From a storytelling standpoint, yes the no real resolution part is a negative, but from a PTSD representation standpoint I think it would be slightly offensive to pretend that this can be solved, and I like that in a popular saga it's represented as something that doesn't go away.
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie should be on this list...ending just felt like the author just spitting in readers face screaming 'these are MY characters to ruin and f-you for liking fantasy anyway.'
I liked the ending to the Hunger Games. Struck me as very realistic and in keeping with Katniss as a character throughout the books. 🤷♂️ The end to the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead, OTOH. Kind of obscure at this point, but very popular at one time. Mead trashed her characters, trashed her world-building and ended things in a way that made no sense.
I think Harry Potter started its downward spiral at Half-Blood Prince. Sure, the death scene at the end was amazing, but getting there felt like a slog for the first time. Phoenix showed us a Harry dealing with full-blown rage issues and that top-brass wizards had secretly been studying Lovecraftian nightmares. Where does the series go from here? How about a bunch of shitty teen romance and harmless memory diving? The worst part is that it sets up SUCH a better finale with the two ministers. It looked like there was some tension brewing between the wizarding and muggle worlds, foreshadowing Harry's return to confront the world that rejected him, thus entering the final phase of his Campbellian monomyth.
Eragon should've been a trilogy. Paolini should've wrapped up the series in Brisingr, because Inheritance was such a complete disappointment I just skimmed through it even though I was in love with the series. People rag on Eragon but I will still forever cherish it because it was the series that introduced and made me fall in love with fantasy.
Purple Monkey Inheritence ending sucked so bad. I actually enjoyed the first 3 and the last book up to a point. I liked (at the time) how Galbatorix was defeated, but I hated that Islanzadí died. Absolutely made no sense! And then to turn around and have Arya become queen even though she turned into a dragon rider herself. It’s like, did we learn nothing from Galbatorix ruling as a dragonrider? You’re gonna make the same mistake?! 🤦🏻♀️ Ugh! And then (from a girlish POV) there was no epic romance between Eragon and Arya. I was so disappointed with that. I’m actually kinda glad in hindsight they didn’t get together. I’ve completely given up on the series because Paolini is taking too long to write the next one; I no longer care. But, if you like Sci-Fi fantasy with dragons, you might want to check out the Dragonriders of Pern series. It’s pretty good.
Evleyn Nightingale You can. It’s always better for you to decide if you liked the series and/or series ending. It could be worth it if you really want to know how it ends. I’d have to reread to know where I stand now, but at the time I enjoyed 1-3 and just hate 4.
Sooooo true. As well as the Prequels/side book/sequel thing-a-majigger. What the heck? No one wants to hear about an ULGAR getting angry at a dragon. No one wants to hear about Eragon in his age. UGGGHHH
Anybody love Twilight but hate the ending? Because this is the one place I think the movie actually ended better than the book. Like seriously, promoting “we can just talk it out FOREVER” versus “hey, we set up all this tension for a fight so let’s do this!". Even if it ended like the movie vision sequence, I still think I would have found closure. But it didn’t and as much as I love the story, reading that last book has me questioning whether I want to reread it at all.
I'm really glad I found your channel. I mostly am here for the Potter and Wheel of Time stuff, but the enthusiasm you have for books, and the conversational way you approach videos is very engaging. I like it.
I’d not call Mockingjay a terrible finale but it’s an underwhelming one. My biggest issue with it is how simultaneously rushed and slow it felt. The book tries to do way too much in just 400 pages and it doesn’t work and so many pages are wasted on such little details we don’t care. I want to see riots, other districts fighting back but we’re always following Katniss’s point of view and she spends 90% of the book doing nothing.
For me, Cassandra Clares books got me into reading. To me they were interesting and exciting. I loved them not for the romance, but for the adventures that the characters went on. I hated books I couldn’t stay interested in and weren’t necessarily exciting (which is why I can’t read romances like ‘to all the boys..’). I even recommended them to my friend and she liked them, and we had fun talking about who we shipped and how we like the book. Honestly, she’s the one who got me into writing stories (I’m not even close to professional, trust me they’re bad) and it’s fun to express myself and my views into writing.
Victoria Schwab implied somewhere in social media that the Villains series was not approved to have a 3rd book, but it seems that was her original plan. With all the media attention she's getting because of the Dark Vault's inspired tv series and the Shades od Magic's movie, we could hope for a third book, maybe.
Is that recently that she's said that? Because she said on twitter that she ended up combining books two and three to make the last book stronger and that this was the end. But maybe she's changed it again?
Seems as though you were limiting this discussion to the Fantasy Genre, but any discussion along these lines should mention the obvious number 1 literary disappointment of all time ... Jean Auels brutal final entry into her "Earth's Children Series". I mean it was kind of expected given that the series went steadily downhill from book 1, but my god what a steaming pile that final book was. This series was never going to make anyone's list for great literature, but for an entertaining and totally captivating read it was hard to beat for the first 4 or even 5 books. What a shame.
I totally agree about Mockingjay and Clockwork Princess. For Clockwork Princess being the longest of the Infernal Devices trilogy, very little actually happens and it focuses on the love triangle far too much. I hate love triangles at the best of times. I loved personally Vengeful. I will say that I hated the ending to the Caraval trilogy by Stephanie Garner. I hated Finale. It had a double love triangle and again, very little actually happened in it.
I'm of the popular opinion that Clockwork Princess was the best of the three and the heartstrings were yanked. Im not a complete crazy addict of this book and the romance as others, who are so darn hardcore it's borderline toxic (Wessa forever). But I loved the development of the characters personally. They were great, dynamic and overall fun to follow.
I don't know what Cassandra Clare was doing when she wrote the infernal devices, of all her books (and I've read all) I really don't like that series. I agree with the romance comment and the only books by her I would really recommend are the eldest curses and the last hours. both series are still not finished yet but they're definitely much better than the others. the plot is good, the romance makes sense and the writing is pretty good. (plus the characters are awesome and diverse)
The book series that had the worst ending for me was the Renegades series. Books one and two were so good! I liked how they showed that the good guys were also messed up and that it wasn't pure good vs pure evil. Then the book ended with the good guys winning which was actually disappointing because by this point I felt that they needed to rebuild a broken society instead of just returning to more or less the status quo. AND THAT EPILOGUE!! WHO ENDS A SERIES LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!
The absolute worst series ending for me was the chronicles of Nick series.... the first few books were so good and then it went downhill to probably one of the worst books I've ever read at the end. So many plot holes. It was just awful.
It pains every time you shit on the Infernal Devices series, but I also respect that 😅. I know Cassandra Clare has a lot of flaws in her writing and is very romantic-oriented. But asuming those things, I just enjoy the drama and I think the world she built is very cool (mixing demons, fearies, vampires, magic and other things in a interesting way). I don’t think I would reread them, but I had a fun time!
I agree with Mockingjay, but I guess the bleak ending works because it's a sci-fi? So true about the Clockwork Princess ending. People don't mention anything bad about this series because it's CC's best one, but tbh, you're so right that she can't write good romance. The romance in these books was so boring and I feel nothing for the Herondale guy. He's okay as a single character but with Tessa he becomes so boring. And I'd add The Raven King to this list even though I don't want it to be true.
Harry Potter really didnt need The Cursed Child to its name. It should just be burned in a hole somewhere. *SPOILER ALERT FOR ALLEGIANT* I think Tris' death scene would have been an interesting move but to me it just didnt seem believable because she had just survived DEATH SERUM. And then got killed by gunshot even yhough she had survived gunshot wounds like twice before. The whole story is just flawed.
I just finished Rainbow Rowls(?) Fangirl and the ending was slow, long and then abrupt, like I flipped the page and the acknowledgements were there. I feel like I'm missing something, I guess I didn't catch the rise and falling action curve? Idk I feel like it's a bad ending because it just ended.
Mockingjay looks way worse than it actually was because the first two books were top notch. She had two books with the actually games structure and unfortunately there wasn’t a realistic way to continue that structure and the book suffered for it. A correct way to diverge from your structure in the last book is HP Deathly Hallows where they aren’t in school (the structure of the previous 6) and it was still one of my favorite in the series.
The Cursed Child's terrible time travel nonsense is so so bad. The idea of Harry having a son who resents having to live up to his dad's legend is perfectly reasonable and if they had focused more on that aspect and ditched the failed fanservice, then the play might have been worth a damn.
I don't care what JK rowling says. I refuse to accept the Cursed Child as cannon. They butchered my poor Ron Weasley, and then rehashed the whole Harry is angry at Dumbledore thing. Like, that was resolved in DH. We don't need it again.
Harry Potter was the first fantasy book I ever read, but it didn't get me hooked. The series that did is still mostly unheard of. "Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure through Time and Space." I devoured all 10 books in about 3 weeks. Have read dozens of books since then, but have yet to read an ending that disappointed me more. Not so much hate as i have had with others (Looking at you Mockingjay) just absolute sad disappoint that still hurts to this day. Thankfully the next series I picked was Percy Jackson because I heard about the movie coming out. It healed the wounds....right up until I saw the movie adaption. Why does the thing I love most hurt me so much??? *weeps for my subverted expectations*
I HATE the hunger games ending. I loved the books so much but then Katniss KNOWING HOW HORRIBLE THE HUNGER GAMES IS decides to actively put more children in the games
I've been through too many series where people have told me: 'Just get to- ...' and I still hated it. I no longer feel compelled to finish a book, a series, a *sentence*- whatever. I have better things to do with my time than to torture myself - possibly doing damage - by continuing a horrible experience.
I hate when books are said to be finished and then few years later continuation of the book that was said to be over. J.K Rowling should have ended the book with a sentence that will tell us its not over. Like" but what harry Potter did not know is that his son would be experiencing adventures of his own at hogwarts. Or something else. You don't pop a book out of the blue like that . Nonsense
I know this is an old video, but I have a pet peeves about a series that deserves the worst ending award, so here goes: My nomination is Dragon Lance, War of Souls Trilogy. After years of hit or miss Dragonlance books, the original duet of Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman returned for an epic new trilogy. The development of the authors shows in the quality of the writing and the uniqueness and depth of the characters. They created an awesome antagonist, great characters, great conflict, a great climactic situation... It was so intense that as I saw the dwindling thickness of the pages left I was left wondering how on Krynn were the heroes to get out of the mess they were in. As I raced closer and closer to the ending, I began to worry... Then the end came. To say it was a Deux ex Machina is almost a spoiler to readers of the original and the Twins trilogies. What a disappointing, unsatisfying ending. I was soooo disappointed by it that it ruined I what could have been the authors' best work so far. Remember those cartoons where a character appears running at various points during the story saying he's late or something to that effect, only to reach the end just in time to hoist a sign that reads "the end"? Well... That happens here. That is my nomination and my vote. Too bad I didn't reach this channel way back when, so I could rant more eloquently. My rage and recollection of the story are not as fresh anymore. Great Channel, by the way. My favorite segments are the dear authors.
That's the thing about the hunger games tho. No, she didn't have much development and she didn't chose a boy, but that's sort of the point I guess. Because she also never wanted to be the mockingjay. Or compete in the hunger games. Or save the world. She didn't even want a boy. It just all happened to her somehow and it's such a nice way of using the 'chosen one' trope in a different way. Because until the very end she does not accept that she is the chosen one.
Actually, there is going to be a sequel to Vengeful. It just won't come out for a long while. But the Villains series is meant to at least be a trilogy.
originally that's true, but she said on twitter that she converged book two and three into one book and ended it with book two. That's why she did a rewrite before it was publsihed
I agree 100% with your opinion on the selection. I read the books for America, not for her daughter, which, by the way, is so fricking annoying and I just didn’t like it at all.
The last two books of Divergent may be the worst two books I have ever head. I got the point where I didn’t care about any of the characters. It’s so bad that the ending made me so happy.
The problem with the Harry Potter ending is that Voldemort was a kid-friendly Hitler and once he was vanquished once and for all, there were apparently no more dangerous problems in the wizarding world. In the real world there have been many more dictators, a few genocides, etc. So, is the HP ending realistic or simply boring? Meanwhile, because of the author's writing style of quick action and short descriptions, there are many directions and characters that could have been developed into sequels. For instance, Snape became the deepest character in the books but he got killed. There is actually "fan-fiction" online explaining how Snape wasn't really dead, etc. Some of these are well written but they focus on personalities and emotions while there should be a lot more to the story. In the case of Snape there was always the possibility of a hoarcrux or two lying around. The big problem with this angle for J.K. Rowling is if such a book became popular, what about a film? Actor Alan Rickman has died and no one could follow him in the role, hoarcruxes or not.
Harry’s epilogue was ok but crazy short. Same for Katniss. I just needed more detail. If I have read three plus books I need at least a half chapter of someone rubbing my head and telling me it was all ok/or not in the end.
Yes! I read The Giver and Gathering Blue when I was a little girl, but I found Messenger and Son this year and was sorely disappointed. The whole series feels ironically like an unfinished tapestry. The threads are wound together loosely and without purpose and unravel easily.
I hated the ending of the Stonewylde series so much I ripped out the pages and wrote my own. I felt it was a huge betrayal to the characters and it really ruined what was otherwise one of my favourite series of books ever.
I was personally quite happy with how Deathly Hallows ended but I will never in my life accept Cursed Child as canon. I don't care what JKR says, it's stupid and I'm allowed to live in my own world where HP franchise ended with Deathly Hallows. I don't even accept the Fantastic Beasts movies as part of the HP world.
Great video! I haven't read most of these, but I definitely agree with you about Harry Potter. I do disagree on Mockingjay though. While it wasn't my favourite in the series, I liked it more than Catching Fire and it showed that revolutions aren't won by a sole hero saving the day but by masses of people doing the dirty work. I just appreciated it so much. And since I never really care about the romance anyway, I didn't mind how the love triangle ended. But I get why many people didn't like it.
*takes deep breath* * claps hands together dramatically* Animal Farm It is the only book I have read in my near-14 years of existence that I loathed with a passion. I decided to try bc my dad said I’d enjoy the political allegory I didn’t (well it wasn’t bad but it didn’t make me feel anything) And then, Orwell has the *audacity* to leave whether Napoleon actually sabotaged the farm or if Snowball did it just to tarnish Napoleon’s reputation up do high in the air I don’t want it to come down as well as to end the story with a some metaphor comparing Snowball and his cronies to actual humans, saying that they were one in the same Maybe I just expected a happy ending, or at *least* some form of an ending concluding that Snowball was now one with the humans and Napoleon was dead or gone for good or... *something*
I don't know what happened to the rendering of the video. I'm sorry guys. but 3:15 - 4:00 somehow got messed up in the upload. Feel free to skip that gap
Merphy Napier I thought my internet had been cut off 😂
No i won't skip that gap, don't tell me what to do.
Glad I read this comment beforehand because it just made it super funny and allowed me to write a million comments without pausing.
Haha I thought you were making a point about how ignoring the explanation and just showing the conclusion instead of tying everything together is what the Giver series ending did and why you didn't like it xD I read wayyy too much into that
To be honest, it worked perfectly with the video, so... great job rendering thingy.
hearing "don't expect to be satisfied" after like 30 seconds of a black screen was hilarious
I thought my laptop had broken, or my internet had gone out.
The line that leads into it - "and you expect it all to come together" - is great too
@@thelasthandbook6704 same here!
Lol, I had an image in my head of Merphy going on a spoiler filled rant that was cut out and then that line came through to wrap it up, haha
Someone like this comment rn FIX MY MISTAKE OF 666
HP ended in book seven. Everything else is bad fanfic
What about the short prequel with James & Sirius?
@@ThePreciseClimber *insert "Did I stutter?" meme*
I mean I don't think Fantastic beasts is THAT bad, I acctually quite like it
@@harricartney Fantastic Beasts was written before the series finished, it counts as worthwhile
Some of the bad fanfic is even better than the Cursed Child. Fact.
Even the weird ones where Snape's Ghost helps auror Harry track down a splinter group of post-death eaters... Better than Cursed Child
I refuse to acknowledge the Cursed Child exists and is canon
preach!
Same.
The fact that current-day Rowling treats it as canon establishes beyond debate that it isn't canon.
The cursed what?
I didn't even finish it. I began reading the day I got (release date) and I put it down. Nope. I saw where it was going and I wasn't going along. Makes it easier to erase from my memory banks and make it so it's not Canon in any shape or form.
The cursed child is not a part of the Harry Potter series, and I will not treat it as canon because JK can't tell me what to do , she already failed me when she said that she hates Slytherin and I'm a Slytherin.
JK rowling is horrible. She doesn't care anymore now that she has her money.
she said that??
Don't forget when she said that not all Slytherins are racists but that all racists are Slytherins.
Books belong to the readers, not the writers.
Dvb holland Actually she gives a lot of that money to charity.. so horrible? Nah. I think she just has a hard time “letting go” if that makes sense.
I actually like Mocking Jay. A lot of people in that series went through a lot of crap and I'm happy we got more of a messy ending to a dystopian series rather than a hey we fixed everything approach. Plus I really love the portrayal of PTSD/mental illness.
Couldn't agree more. Though a certain death made my heart ache for days, just like what Harry Potter did to me. * sigh *
me too!
One of my faves from my adolescence from beginning to end
Definitely my fave! I loved the way Peeta acted (I won’t spoil) and I love love love love loved the way it ended messily like you said, it made it realistic and not perfect.
I liked Mocking Jay, but I do think the trilogy feels unbalanced. Now, whether that is because of Catching Fire or Mocking Jay is a heated debate I have yet to decide the winner on.
No fan takes The Cursed Child as cannon. It's just a case where the fans are right and the author's stamp of approval is completely and entirely rejected with cause. 😄
Actually ... There are some people who take it as Canon and it drives me completely bonkers honestly
@@MBGrace1 No book fan would take it as canon; too many inconsistencies in character and story. It's a fair fan fic at best.
@@rustydaboyrobot Honestly I agree with you. I'm not saying youre wrong but I've been on the HP side of Quora and well, ppl talk about inconsistencies and still believe it and think Volemort and Bella actually created a child. Like it's so messed up. I can't deal with ppl who think it's Canon. I don't think those ppl are true fans
@@MBGrace1 Right. I think it's OK to be a fan of the play. But only as a diversion to the actual HP world.
@@rustydaboyrobot exactly but no as canon, because its not. In my opinion
So Mockingjay is an anomaly for me in that I was just okay with it at first, but after going back and reading it realized that it’s actually kind of brilliant.
The reason Katniss’s actions don’t matter is because they were misguided. Her main goal in the book was to kill Snow. Not because he was a tyrant that needed to be taken down; the Capitol could be defeated without his death. Her goal was revenge for destroying her home and for the atrocities that he inflicted on her and the people she’s grown to care about. And that anger, while justified, blinded her to Coin.
Yes, Katniss knew Coin was looking to be the new leader and wasn’t to be completely trusted. But Katniss was so intent on killing Snow that she never stopped to see what Coin was capable of; sacrificing children for her own gain, just as Snow would.
A phrase brought up in Catching Fire was “remember who the enemy is.” In that book, it’s a reminder that the one you should fight isn’t the person who is stuck in the same situation as you, but the one who is keeping both of you in it. While it doesn’t come up in Mockingjay, I feel that it would still be applicable. Because the enemy of your enemy isn’t always your friend. The enemy is whoever is willing to exploit people’s fear, grief, or anger. And sometimes that person isn’t always the one at the top; sometimes it’s the one waiting in the wings.
Katniss is ready to pin her sister’s death on Snow, but then she is able to step back from her anger and realize how dangerous Coin will be if she becomes President. Killing Snow no longer has meaning, and it never really did. He was just another face in a tyrannical government that had existed long before him and was now coming to an end. But Katniss can still put an arrow through the heart of a someone who would just continue the cycle, give everyone a chance to go another way. And she does that.
That’s not to say that there will never be anyone like Snow or Coin; as Plutarch points out, it’s likely that there will be peace before the whole thing begins again. Or, as he follows up with, it may not be the case and they may have put an end to the last period of horror and atrocity in the history of humanity.
It’s that tenuous hope that follows Katniss as she returns to the ruins of District 12, still scarred by everything that’s happened. And it’s because of that hope that she decides to be with Peeta, wanting peace instead of more anger. It’s why she starts a family in spite of her fears. It’s why she counts the good things when the horrors she witnessed becomes too much. It’s why she plans to tell her children what happened to her and to others they’ll never know.
Mockingjay is about the dangers of unchecked rage. Anger is good when you’re fighting tyrants, but too much and either you miss the obvious danger or you end up becoming a monster. It’s also about hope, even if things may not turn out well, because maybe this time it will. It’s why I believe it’s a fitting ending to the trilogy.
LegalAssassin underrated comment ☝️
I completely agree. I think that people expected something different and that’s why they are disappointed with this book, but the story needed to head towards rebellion and rebellion isn’t easy. Katniss even though she hated Capitol shouldn’t be the face of the propaganda, because she was struggling with everything that has happened. They pushed her, she did a great job, but also this time she was just a pawn in a game. When she understood that Coin won’t change how the world works, that she will use rebellion as a excuse to gain power and do exactly the same things that Snow did. She was a tyrant and that’s why I loved so much when Katniss killed her. She always followed her heart and did what others couldn’t, she was a true fighter with injustice even if it cost her reputation or life. I didn’t really like the epilogue. I generally don’t like epilogues. I think that they are unnecessary, but the good thing about them is that author probably (I am looking at you JK Rowling) won’t continue the story.
Everything u said was amazing, really. I also love this book and think its a great ending! About the hope thing u said, I'm from brazil and here this book is actually called "Hope" and I love both titles ^-^
Brilliantly worded! I definitely agree.
I love this!
And i will point out that after all, Snow and Katniss really are alike.
Even if the Cursed Child had been good, I would still have been annoyed with JKR for calling it canon. I mean, for years after Deathly Hallows was published, she insisted that Harry's story was finished. So how can she take what is clearly a nostalgia-fueled afterthought (that she didn't write) and be like THIS IS DEFINITELY WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CHARACTERS HOW DARE YOU IMAGINE OTHERWISE
Divergent’s ending was horrible. I loved the first book. The second was ok. The third was okay until the end. I consider Divergent a stand-alone.
Luckily I stopped reading the third book before the end as I didn't like where it was going. Thanks for the advice not to return and finish it in the future :)
Ugh book 2 was so boring for me (I literally can’t remember anything that happened in it) and I just couldn’t finish book 3. They were so bad 😂
I do too! I loved and still love the first book, despite me being able to recognize now that it wasn’t amazing lol. It was just leagues and leagues better than Insurgent and Allegiant 🤢
Agreed.
I honestly don’t know what the author was thinking with the last book. For me, it felt like she just took her first novel and used it as a skeleton to finish her series. I actually liked the idea behind the Tris ending, but getting there felt wasted.
I even had to warn my friend who got me into the series cause I read it before her and knew she would be disappointed (I listened to the book while I was working overnight stocking).
Agreeeeeeeddddd with u nn500 I agreeee with you
Unpopular opinion: I actually love Mockingjay. It's my favorite in the series. Or at least it was when I last read it in high school. I didn't see her ending up with Mr Bread to be love saving her from her PTSD. I always interpreted it as her never being free of it. To me, it's actually a horrifyingly sad ending where she never recovers the agency that she lost after becoming a part of the rebellion. Was that what the author meant with the ending? Probably not, but eh
Sameee! It’s mostly a very realistic ending imo
Maia Gaia I felt the same way. I like that it's not a typical happy ending because what she went through left a mark on her that will always be there although it will get better. She couldn't forgive Gale because of Prim and Peter was there for her. I love the way the ending was portrayed in the movie. She actually says that she loves him and in the book she never does. I think that wrapped up everything in a great way. I also appreciated that in the book she says that Peter is the right man for her because he is a calm person and she is really fiery so they complement each other.
Agree - I thought the book was very brave and different
Mr bread 😂😂😂
I agree 100%
To booktubers at large: if you're making a video specifically about endings, sequels, etc viewers should just assume there are spoilers. I don't at all understand the point of even making the video just to say you can't talk about it 😔
JillyMae89 totally agree.
Should make a spoiler-full version of this video. Otherwise it’s kinda just a rating without a justification lmao
Amen
Agreed 100%. It's almost pointless to have these videos if she can't give examples or give criticism. I'd recommend she add them, and that would increase the quality of these videos.
I agree that spoilers would be a nice addition to the video, because sometimes the spoilers are the *reason* why we go read the book.
And also I love how the HP fandom considers the AVPM series more canon than Cursed Child
DID SOMEONE SAY DRAAACO MALLLLLFOY??
I mean no ‘J.K. Rowling’ could write like Gilderoy Lockhart.
Jane Crest
Ah yes, Gilderoy, King of the Mice!
Yes I take it as canon that Hermione can't draw. It is an obviously true fact. 😂
Sorry, but what does AVPM stand for? Where can I find it?
I was so confused I thought my phone was glitching so I shut it down then it turned it on again! 😂
Lauren Webster me too 🤣
Lauren Webster me too!!
Same
Same 😂
OK, the thing with the Hunger Games' "love triangle" is that it's not a love triangle, because Katniss says time and time again that she is not ready to love ANYONE, so there is no reason for her to "choose" someone from the "love triangle." She eventually ends up with Peeta, yes, but I always assumed that that was after YEARS of recovery, when she finally actually felt ready for a romantic relationship, and Peeta was there for her and had shown throughout all that time that he supported her no matter what. Gale had shown that he couldn't be trusted, so she had already decided that she could never be with him long before she was even open to romantic love.
And as for her just being sort of moved along with the story and not actually doing anything, that is absolutely true, but we needed to see that in contrast to how she was in the earlier books, which was very action-oriented and decisive, and we needed to see how she was experiencing everything so that when we finally get to that one thing she does in Mockingjay that has a HUGE impact, that impact is felt even more. She had all this pent-up... I don't know, energy? Like decisive, active energy, since she hadn't been doing very much until then, and she had to have that to be able to do that one action she does at the end.
Spoilers
We all know that the real reason that the mockingjay was badly received, is because how much they glossed over Finnicks death.
For once, she wasn't a pawn in tgeir games.
You are totally right.❤
I hope you do a "Best of" series. I'd love to see what series you thought had the best endings.
Oh wow you started with Harry Potter and my reaction was like “oh no Merphy don’t you do it, how dare you!” And then you referenced the epilogue and Cursed Child and I relaxed and exhaled and I’m on board. If the series ended before the epilogue it would have been perfect, because it is the most perfect and beautiful story ever told.
Unpopular opinion I guess, but I honestly love the epilogue.
Albus Severus Potter need i say more?
Tolkien Said „hold my Beer“ 100 years ago;)
When you said “Harry Potter”, I thought you were talking about Deathly Hallows, and I was genuinely confused... then you mentioned the book-that-must-not-be-named...
"Let me tell you all the things you did wrong" whilst glaring at the book literally made me laugh out loud.
i don't trust jk rowling on anything harry potter after she wrote the final period in the seventh book. anything she said or wrote after that i refuse to listen to
I actually do kind of love the epilogue of Harry Potter! I mean, I hate The Names but I love that we got to see Harry have a good life, even if it was just for a few pages. :)
💯 agreed.
Anne's Bookish Corner, definitely.
Same
I was looking for anyone in the comments who wrote this. I'm the kind of person who gets so invested in the stories they read that this kind of epilogue really helps me disengage from the story they dove into. I always really appreciate the closure it offers. I kinda loved the epilogue. It was good for my soul. So I was really surprised when she mentioned "we all hated the epilogue". Like, what? You did? Is this true? I've never heard of that!
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who liked the epilogue.
The way Snape , Mcgonagall, Harry (actually most of the characters) act in the cursed child really annoys me so out of character ! I don't mind it on the whole though when I think of it as fanfic. DEFINITELY not canon- I'm playing the death of the author card on this one !
Gotta disagree on Mockingjay, mostly because reading it after starting trauma therapy gave me a new appreciation for how deep Katniss' trauma is and for how poignant her choice to heal with Peeta is. I also straight up think Katniss is not a hero, despite people's expectations. I think she's just a kid who lost way too much way too soon, who was forced into circumstances she never wanted at every stage of her narrative, and whose only dream was to live a heads-down life of relative peace. I think people expected that because she hated the society she lived in, she'd be convinced to come on board when it was time to bring that society down, but in retrospect, it doesn't surprise me at all that she just descended even further into powerlessness.
Just finished Words of Radiance and started Oathbringer last night and I am OBSESSED!
Thank you Merphy for introducing me to Mistborn and the amazing author Brandon Sanderson because Mistborn and Stormlight Archive are so incredible. I’m so excited that Stormlight is planned to be 10 books and will read each new one the moment it is released. I’m happy that the next one is only a year away but after that the 2-3 year wait will be excruciating. Although at least I can trust that Sanderson will have a regular release schedule and I won’t get stuck waiting a decade between books like with GRRM
Mockingjay was my favorite from the trilogy, I felt the ending was very realistic. But know I’m curious to reread and see if I have the same opinion.
I can’t get into Cassandra clare’s books, but the hype around it makes me feel FOMO so much
3:14 - 4:00 Leave it in, it builds mystery!
My tablet is dying slowly, so I totally thought this was a hardware problem 😂
Unpopular opinion: I like Mockingjay. *warning for spoilers*
I will agree that it's unsatisfying as a narrative: Katniss is stuck in a spiral of depression and PTSD after surviving two near-death warlike scenarios and thus doesn't experience as much growth as the other two books/films (yes, I'm including the films,) the love triangle can feel superfluous and ultimately there's not even a moment of choice like in some other stories, and the ending overall can come off as anti-climatic; after all, Katniss doesn't confront Snow at all at the climax of the rebellion and the war itself seems to abruptly end.
But...I believe this was done on purpose.
You see, a lot of inspiration for Suzanne Collins' writing was from her father, who was a Vietnam War veteran. She learned everything she knew about how modern (or close enough to modern) warfare works - from the propaganda all the way to the intricacies of battle itself - from her father's stories sprinkled with her own research, and if there's one lesson that she's learned through all of that, it's this: War is not a pretty narrative. There are stories of soldiers that go above and beyond the call of duty, yes, but in war there's no definitive hero, there is no villain - at least, not in the traditional sense, there really isn't even a climax; most soldiers that survive a final battle - especially after taking physical trauma like Katniss in which they're knocked out cold for several days - never acknowledge or even realize it was indeed the final battle until the treaties are signed.
Mockingjay is a war story for teens and young adults. There is no satisfaction in the narrative because there's not supposed to be one, and this is not some expectation subversion that has become prevalent in other media, such as the infamous final season of Game of Thrones or The Last Jedi, but an intentional and realistic painting of what war is like for a soldier caught in the front lines. It doesn't pander its audience by giving a forced final conflict, a cheesy scene where Katniss chooses which love interest to spend the rest of her life with, or a satisfying conclusion where everyone feels better for it, and I love it for that.
Agree :).
War does not determine who is right, only who and what is left.
"Because J. K. Rowling is bent and determined to ruin her own series" hits a lot differently post-2020...
It just keeps getting more relevant
@@mafiablokes True
Vengeful will most likely have a sequel. Schwab jokingly (kinda) said that she will write a Villains book once every 5 years. Having read most of her books Vengeful is define you not a conclusion.
When you see a Merphy video title with the word ‘WORST’ in all caps you know there’s about to be some spicy takes.
SPILL THAT TEA MERPH!!!
HP epilogue? I quite liked. "All was well". It is just so satisfying to hear after all poor Harry went through. But we can agree to disagree. :)
I gave up on The Mortal Instruments years ago, tried Infernal Devices, and DNF'd it. I can't stand it when the main characters are supposed to be some super cool bad ass who slays unthinkable evil and they have absolutely no idea how to handle themselves around a girl...like they do way scarier things than talk to their crush on the regular, the extent that they can't handle it is not very believable.
Dark Tower takes every single bad Steven King ending ever (Dept of redundancy Dept there) mixes it in a blender, and spews it on the page. As for Mockingjay, the worst part of it was you have a 1st POV book, where the MC of the series is put on the bus for 1/2 the book. And Divergent, just terrible. It never should have even had a sequel. Bad science. Bad fiction, bad ending.
I think you do an injustice to Mockingjay. The "love triangle" is not meant to be "resolved in a satisfying way". The Capitol come between Katniss and Gale, while the "romance" with Peeta is forced on her by the need to win allies in the games, and later the need to satisfy the whim of President Snow. Her choices are taken away from her.
The books are not romances, and there is no happy ending, just satisfaction she did the right thing, and survival "It's like things are in the world", to quote Frodo. And, like Frodo, she cannot return to the life she had before, even if her actions have meant there is a better future for the people of the Districts.
If you're looking for a duology to add to this list, Seraphina and Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman. Seraphina was awesome, Shadow Scale was so amazing until it turned into a raging dumpster fire. It's like the author got tired of writing the story and didn't want to have to write a third book to do it justice so she just ended it as fast as she could.
The Giver and Gathering Blue would have been great as stand alone books. They don't need to be in a series, and the last two books didn't need to happen.
When you called America's daughter a brat I felt that in my soul. I hated the extra two books Kiera Cass added, which was a shame because The Selection series was such a fun light-hearted read for me. Oh well!
SAME. I liked The Selection series but felt conflicted after book 3 and then started reading the 4th and was like nope, no thank you.
Mimster2000 I felt that same way! I really liked the series! Then I started reading the last two books and I kept pushing through expecting America’s daughter to not be so annoying and I didn’t like how it ended. I don’t consider the last two books a part of the series.
That girl was a brat but like Eikko? Yes I love that dude. Continue along thy merry way
Sereena Blake eikko is not even a finnsh name 🤷♀️ so i consider him as a culmination of everything wrong with the last two book from a finnish perspective.
Don't forget "To Kill a Mockingbird" and its sequel (which was written a few years ago) "To Set a Watchman." "To Set a Watchman" essentially does a 180 on Atticus Finch's character by turning him into a racist.
I could not handle Cassandra Clare when (I think in book five?) literally everyone who knows anything, is smarter, wiser, and older tells the main characters not to resurrect an Angel because there will be SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES including, ya know, death, but they do anyway and what happens? Nothing. Why did she set up all these magical rules only to break them in the name of love? Or whatever the weak reason was. You know you are done when you want one of the main characters to die just so they will get over each other.
Half the series is you just feeling Percy's childlike wonder as he navigates his world. There is NO reason a movie shouldn't be able to capture that with EFFORT!
I hate it when I start a new series only to find out it is actually based on a previous series that I didn't read and didn't want to read.
I don't acknowledge Cursed Child at all. I wouldn't say worst, but my least favorite in His Dark Materials was The Amber Spyglass. I get it now, but at the time, I thought that was a shitty way to end the series. In non SFF, The Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas. Horrible way to end the D'Artagnan saga. One of the most depressing books I have ever read. Nothing like the movie
Katniss did make a decision about the "love triangle", though. Gale's firebombs killed her sister and she realized what sort of person he had become and couldn't be with him. She also knew Peeta would never do something like that. He's gentle person.
As far as her lukewarm feelings about Peeta, it always seemed to me that Katniss had trouble loving people after the life she led. If I recall, it's not like the two got married for a number of years, and it was even longer before they started a family. 15 years, I think? I might feel as you do about it if they'd run to the altar at the end or something, but it took a long time and felt pretty natural to me.
The Cursed Child is not real, so it can't be a bad series ending.
With the Kiera Cass books I am partly agree with you. In the America trilogy, it was pretty obvious that America will be the winner of the selection, so it was good to guess the winner of her daughter's selection (and I am kinda satisfied with the end result.) BUT THE UNEXPECTED AND UNPREPARED CHANGE OF THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT FREAKED ME OUT. IT WAS SO HORRIBLE. (at least as I remember correctly.) It felt to me that it was a sudden idea of the girl, I cannot remember her name, she was a brat indeed, not a well-prepared reform from the future queen.
I personally loved the Epilogue of Deathly Hallows.
It was a perfect way to rap it all up. It gets me every time I read it.
Same! I don't understand why so many people hate it.
Maxificent same Harry Potter fans suck. Though curse child did suck
Maxificent it was the clichiest epilogue ever. For a serie so good, it didn’t end realistically in my opinions
@@dilaisy_loone2846 I liked how it was a "and life will go on" ending. It's something that many series lack that I think makes the world's feel more real
@@starfruit2513 me neither. I do get the criticism that it might be too happy, but at the same time The Deathly Hallows is a super dark and depressing book, and not to mention what goes down during The Battle of Hogwarts, so it makes sense that they'll give it a happy ending.
A utopia is in and of itself a dystopia. What is life without risk? Without pain? Without failure, mistakes and learning? Perfection isn't real, and imo is a limitation. Progress is flawed but infinite.
If you truly want an unsatisfying ending check out Len Deighton's Charity. The final book of a trilogy of trilogies comes across as "Here's your ending, now piss off." I wanted more from The Hunger Games ending.
One series that shocked me with how poorly it ended was The Dark Tower. I didn't know much about it before reading it. Only that it was Stephen King's big fantasy series. It hooked me throughout and I had a number of different theories of what might happen at the end. Without saying too much, what happened was far worse than anything I was predicting. I honestly felt like King got writers-block at the end, but had to meet a deadline, so just threw something together.
It was just very underwhelming and left me feeling a bit cheated. Kind of like the ending of the Game of Thrones TV series. Like, I devoted all my time for this?
This is a big reason why I'm always apprehensive about starting a new series. Especially a big one. I haven't even started Stormlight yet because I want to wait until the first five books (the first story arc) are all out. Part of me thinks I have nothing to worry about with Stormlight, though, and that Sanderson is a sure thing. Any input would be appreciated.
The epilogue would've been totally fine if Harry hadn't given his kids pants-on-head retarded names. "Albus Severus" is a chore to say. You know what could've been a perfect name? Oliver. Because then his name would be "Ollie Potter" and that sounds great and looks great on a cover and his friends can call him "Otter" for short or something. I dunno. Just spitballing
I'm pretty sure VE Schwab said somewhere that there will be a third vicious book, but that it will probably take like another 5 years or more to come out
I cannot wait for your rant on The Cursed Child. It’ll be a highlight I’m sure.
To be fair about Hunger Games, even though the whole PTSD plot was without a proper resolution I think it's not a bad thing. Mental trauma can not always be "resolved". People have to live with it and move on, even if it haunts them forever. And the fact that her love interest helped a bit is also not unrealistic. They went through a lot of crap together, and a romantic relationship *can* help someone not fall into an endless hole. Not that it heals her like so 👏👏, but it just helped her go along.
From a storytelling standpoint, yes the no real resolution part is a negative, but from a PTSD representation standpoint I think it would be slightly offensive to pretend that this can be solved, and I like that in a popular saga it's represented as something that doesn't go away.
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie should be on this list...ending just felt like the author just spitting in readers face screaming 'these are MY characters to ruin and f-you for liking fantasy anyway.'
I liked the ending to the Hunger Games. Struck me as very realistic and in keeping with Katniss as a character throughout the books. 🤷♂️
The end to the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead, OTOH. Kind of obscure at this point, but very popular at one time. Mead trashed her characters, trashed her world-building and ended things in a way that made no sense.
I hate The Ruby Circle so much
Me too, I liked the ending. Katniss' emptiness really hits me.
I think Harry Potter started its downward spiral at Half-Blood Prince. Sure, the death scene at the end was amazing, but getting there felt like a slog for the first time.
Phoenix showed us a Harry dealing with full-blown rage issues and that top-brass wizards had secretly been studying Lovecraftian nightmares. Where does the series go from here? How about a bunch of shitty teen romance and harmless memory diving?
The worst part is that it sets up SUCH a better finale with the two ministers. It looked like there was some tension brewing between the wizarding and muggle worlds, foreshadowing Harry's return to confront the world that rejected him, thus entering the final phase of his Campbellian monomyth.
Eragon should've been a trilogy. Paolini should've wrapped up the series in Brisingr, because Inheritance was such a complete disappointment I just skimmed through it even though I was in love with the series.
People rag on Eragon but I will still forever cherish it because it was the series that introduced and made me fall in love with fantasy.
Purple Monkey Inheritence ending sucked so bad. I actually enjoyed the first 3 and the last book up to a point. I liked (at the time) how Galbatorix was defeated, but I hated that Islanzadí died. Absolutely made no sense! And then to turn around and have Arya become queen even though she turned into a dragon rider herself. It’s like, did we learn nothing from Galbatorix ruling as a dragonrider? You’re gonna make the same mistake?! 🤦🏻♀️ Ugh!
And then (from a girlish POV) there was no epic romance between Eragon and Arya. I was so disappointed with that. I’m actually kinda glad in hindsight they didn’t get together. I’ve completely given up on the series because Paolini is taking too long to write the next one; I no longer care.
But, if you like Sci-Fi fantasy with dragons, you might want to check out the Dragonriders of Pern series. It’s pretty good.
I read the first one a long time ago should I go back and finish the series I'm curious is it worth it
Evleyn Nightingale You can. It’s always better for you to decide if you liked the series and/or series ending. It could be worth it if you really want to know how it ends. I’d have to reread to know where I stand now, but at the time I enjoyed 1-3 and just hate 4.
@@ajmatt574 Eragon's one-sided crush on Arya was annoying and a bit creepy. He gave off massive "I'm such a nice guy" vibes throughout the story.
Sooooo true. As well as the Prequels/side book/sequel thing-a-majigger. What the heck? No one wants to hear about an ULGAR getting angry at a dragon. No one wants to hear about Eragon in his age. UGGGHHH
Anybody love Twilight but hate the ending? Because this is the one place I think the movie actually ended better than the book.
Like seriously, promoting “we can just talk it out FOREVER” versus “hey, we set up all this tension for a fight so let’s do this!". Even if it ended like the movie vision sequence, I still think I would have found closure. But it didn’t and as much as I love the story, reading that last book has me questioning whether I want to reread it at all.
I'm really glad I found your channel. I mostly am here for the Potter and Wheel of Time stuff, but the enthusiasm you have for books, and the conversational way you approach videos is very engaging. I like it.
I’d not call Mockingjay a terrible finale but it’s an underwhelming one. My biggest issue with it is how simultaneously rushed and slow it felt. The book tries to do way too much in just 400 pages and it doesn’t work and so many pages are wasted on such little details we don’t care. I want to see riots, other districts fighting back but we’re always following Katniss’s point of view and she spends 90% of the book doing nothing.
For me, Cassandra Clares books got me into reading. To me they were interesting and exciting. I loved them not for the romance, but for the adventures that the characters went on. I hated books I couldn’t stay interested in and weren’t necessarily exciting (which is why I can’t read romances like ‘to all the boys..’). I even recommended them to my friend and she liked them, and we had fun talking about who we shipped and how we like the book. Honestly, she’s the one who got me into writing stories (I’m not even close to professional, trust me they’re bad) and it’s fun to express myself and my views into writing.
Victoria Schwab implied somewhere in social media that the Villains series was not approved to have a 3rd book, but it seems that was her original plan. With all the media attention she's getting because of the Dark Vault's inspired tv series and the Shades od Magic's movie, we could hope for a third book, maybe.
Is that recently that she's said that? Because she said on twitter that she ended up combining books two and three to make the last book stronger and that this was the end. But maybe she's changed it again?
Seems as though you were limiting this discussion to the Fantasy Genre, but any discussion along these lines should mention the obvious number 1 literary disappointment of all time ... Jean Auels brutal final entry into her "Earth's Children Series". I mean it was kind of expected given that the series went steadily downhill from book 1, but my god what a steaming pile that final book was. This series was never going to make anyone's list for great literature, but for an entertaining and totally captivating read it was hard to beat for the first 4 or even 5 books. What a shame.
You spilled ALL THE TEA on the selection series and I am here for it!🙌
Lizzy H. I’m not even at that part yet but when I saw your comment I was like YESSSSSS
I was shocked reading through the Cursed Child at how bad it was. It is genuinely the worst thing I may have ever read.
I totally agree about Mockingjay and Clockwork Princess. For Clockwork Princess being the longest of the Infernal Devices trilogy, very little actually happens and it focuses on the love triangle far too much. I hate love triangles at the best of times.
I loved personally Vengeful. I will say that I hated the ending to the Caraval trilogy by Stephanie Garner. I hated Finale. It had a double love triangle and again, very little actually happened in it.
The blackout in the video was Merphy saying uncensored words by trying to comprehend her anger towards these shitty books that ruined franchises.
I'm of the popular opinion that Clockwork Princess was the best of the three and the heartstrings were yanked. Im not a complete crazy addict of this book and the romance as others, who are so darn hardcore it's borderline toxic (Wessa forever). But I loved the development of the characters personally. They were great, dynamic and overall fun to follow.
Cursed Child is basically a parody on bad Next Generation fanfiction. Parody means to make fun of/ not to be taken seriously.
I don't know what Cassandra Clare was doing when she wrote the infernal devices, of all her books (and I've read all) I really don't like that series. I agree with the romance comment and the only books by her I would really recommend are the eldest curses and the last hours. both series are still not finished yet but they're definitely much better than the others. the plot is good, the romance makes sense and the writing is pretty good. (plus the characters are awesome and diverse)
I saw mocking jay in the thumbnail and i’m reading catching fire right now and now i’m ✨ *panicking* ✨
The book series that had the worst ending for me was the Renegades series. Books one and two were so good! I liked how they showed that the good guys were also messed up and that it wasn't pure good vs pure evil. Then the book ended with the good guys winning which was actually disappointing because by this point I felt that they needed to rebuild a broken society instead of just returning to more or less the status quo. AND THAT EPILOGUE!! WHO ENDS A SERIES LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!
The absolute worst series ending for me was the chronicles of Nick series.... the first few books were so good and then it went downhill to probably one of the worst books I've ever read at the end. So many plot holes. It was just awful.
It pains every time you shit on the Infernal Devices series, but I also respect that 😅. I know Cassandra Clare has a lot of flaws in her writing and is very romantic-oriented. But asuming those things, I just enjoy the drama and I think the world she built is very cool (mixing demons, fearies, vampires, magic and other things in a interesting way).
I don’t think I would reread them, but I had a fun time!
I agree with Mockingjay, but I guess the bleak ending works because it's a sci-fi? So true about the Clockwork Princess ending. People don't mention anything bad about this series because it's CC's best one, but tbh, you're so right that she can't write good romance. The romance in these books was so boring and I feel nothing for the Herondale guy. He's okay as a single character but with Tessa he becomes so boring. And I'd add The Raven King to this list even though I don't want it to be true.
I actually totally disagree with you on almost all of these, but it's interesting to hear why you disliked their endings!
Harry Potter really didnt need The Cursed Child to its name. It should just be burned in a hole somewhere.
*SPOILER ALERT FOR ALLEGIANT*
I think Tris' death scene would have been an interesting move but to me it just didnt seem believable because she had just survived DEATH SERUM. And then got killed by gunshot even yhough she had survived gunshot wounds like twice before. The whole story is just flawed.
I just finished Rainbow Rowls(?) Fangirl and the ending was slow, long and then abrupt, like I flipped the page and the acknowledgements were there. I feel like I'm missing something, I guess I didn't catch the rise and falling action curve? Idk I feel like it's a bad ending because it just ended.
The "Tunnels" series was pretty good until it pulled out a Bolt on us. In the last fucking book. *ALIENS*
Mockingjay looks way worse than it actually was because the first two books were top notch. She had two books with the actually games structure and unfortunately there wasn’t a realistic way to continue that structure and the book suffered for it. A correct way to diverge from your structure in the last book is HP Deathly Hallows where they aren’t in school (the structure of the previous 6) and it was still one of my favorite in the series.
I believe VE Schwab has said she does now plan to write a third for the villains series.
The Cursed Child's terrible time travel nonsense is so so bad. The idea of Harry having a son who resents having to live up to his dad's legend is perfectly reasonable and if they had focused more on that aspect and ditched the failed fanservice, then the play might have been worth a damn.
I don't care what JK rowling says. I refuse to accept the Cursed Child as cannon. They butchered my poor Ron Weasley, and then rehashed the whole Harry is angry at Dumbledore thing. Like, that was resolved in DH. We don't need it again.
Harry Potter was the first fantasy book I ever read, but it didn't get me hooked. The series that did is still mostly unheard of. "Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure through Time and Space." I devoured all 10 books in about 3 weeks. Have read dozens of books since then, but have yet to read an ending that disappointed me more. Not so much hate as i have had with others (Looking at you Mockingjay) just absolute sad disappoint that still hurts to this day. Thankfully the next series I picked was Percy Jackson because I heard about the movie coming out. It healed the wounds....right up until I saw the movie adaption. Why does the thing I love most hurt me so much??? *weeps for my subverted expectations*
I HATE the hunger games ending. I loved the books so much but then Katniss KNOWING HOW HORRIBLE THE HUNGER GAMES IS decides to actively put more children in the games
I've been through too many series where people have told me: 'Just get to- ...' and I still hated it. I no longer feel compelled to finish a book, a series, a *sentence*- whatever. I have better things to do with my time than to torture myself - possibly doing damage - by continuing a horrible experience.
I hate when books are said to be finished and then few years later continuation of the book that was said to be over.
J.K Rowling should have ended the book with a sentence that will tell us its not over. Like" but what harry Potter did not know is that his son would be experiencing adventures of his own at hogwarts. Or something else. You don't pop a book out of the blue like that . Nonsense
I know this is an old video, but I have a pet peeves about a series that deserves the worst ending award, so here goes:
My nomination is Dragon Lance, War of Souls Trilogy. After years of hit or miss Dragonlance books, the original duet of Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman returned for an epic new trilogy. The development of the authors shows in the quality of the writing and the uniqueness and depth of the characters. They created an awesome antagonist, great characters, great conflict, a great climactic situation... It was so intense that as I saw the dwindling thickness of the pages left I was left wondering how on Krynn were the heroes to get out of the mess they were in.
As I raced closer and closer to the ending, I began to worry...
Then the end came. To say it was a Deux ex Machina is almost a spoiler to readers of the original and the Twins trilogies.
What a disappointing, unsatisfying ending. I was soooo disappointed by it that it ruined I what could have been the authors' best work so far.
Remember those cartoons where a character appears running at various points during the story saying he's late or something to that effect, only to reach the end just in time to hoist a sign that reads "the end"?
Well... That happens here.
That is my nomination and my vote.
Too bad I didn't reach this channel way back when, so I could rant more eloquently. My rage and recollection of the story are not as fresh anymore.
Great Channel, by the way. My favorite segments are the dear authors.
That's the thing about the hunger games tho. No, she didn't have much development and she didn't chose a boy, but that's sort of the point I guess. Because she also never wanted to be the mockingjay. Or compete in the hunger games. Or save the world. She didn't even want a boy. It just all happened to her somehow and it's such a nice way of using the 'chosen one' trope in a different way. Because until the very end she does not accept that she is the chosen one.
I love how the whole hp fandom refuses to acknowledge the cursed child as canon
Actually, there is going to be a sequel to Vengeful. It just won't come out for a long while. But the Villains series is meant to at least be a trilogy.
originally that's true, but she said on twitter that she converged book two and three into one book and ended it with book two. That's why she did a rewrite before it was publsihed
I agree 100% with your opinion on the selection. I read the books for America, not for her daughter, which, by the way, is so fricking annoying and I just didn’t like it at all.
The last two books of Divergent may be the worst two books I have ever head. I got the point where I didn’t care about any of the characters. It’s so bad that the ending made me so happy.
The problem with the Harry Potter ending is that Voldemort was a kid-friendly Hitler and once he was vanquished once and for all, there were apparently no more dangerous problems in the wizarding world. In the real world there have been many more dictators, a few genocides, etc. So, is the HP ending realistic or simply boring?
Meanwhile, because of the author's writing style of quick action and short descriptions, there are many directions and characters that could have been developed into sequels. For instance, Snape became the deepest character in the books but he got killed. There is actually "fan-fiction" online explaining how Snape wasn't really dead, etc. Some of these are well written but they focus on personalities and emotions while there should be a lot more to the story. In the case of Snape there was always the possibility of a hoarcrux or two lying around. The big problem with this angle for J.K. Rowling is if such a book became popular, what about a film? Actor Alan Rickman has died and no one could follow him in the role, hoarcruxes or not.
Harry’s epilogue was ok but crazy short. Same for Katniss. I just needed more detail. If I have read three plus books I need at least a half chapter of someone rubbing my head and telling me it was all ok/or not in the end.
Yes! I read The Giver and Gathering Blue when I was a little girl, but I found Messenger and Son this year and was sorely disappointed. The whole series feels ironically like an unfinished tapestry. The threads are wound together loosely and without purpose and unravel easily.
I hated the ending of the Stonewylde series so much I ripped out the pages and wrote my own. I felt it was a huge betrayal to the characters and it really ruined what was otherwise one of my favourite series of books ever.
I was personally quite happy with how Deathly Hallows ended but I will never in my life accept Cursed Child as canon. I don't care what JKR says, it's stupid and I'm allowed to live in my own world where HP franchise ended with Deathly Hallows. I don't even accept the Fantastic Beasts movies as part of the HP world.
Great video! I haven't read most of these, but I definitely agree with you about Harry Potter. I do disagree on Mockingjay though. While it wasn't my favourite in the series, I liked it more than Catching Fire and it showed that revolutions aren't won by a sole hero saving the day but by masses of people doing the dirty work. I just appreciated it so much. And since I never really care about the romance anyway, I didn't mind how the love triangle ended. But I get why many people didn't like it.
*takes deep breath* * claps hands together dramatically* Animal Farm
It is the only book I have read in my near-14 years of existence that I loathed with a passion. I decided to try bc my dad said I’d enjoy the political allegory
I didn’t (well it wasn’t bad but it didn’t make me feel anything)
And then, Orwell has the *audacity* to leave whether Napoleon actually sabotaged the farm or if Snowball did it just to tarnish Napoleon’s reputation up do high in the air I don’t want it to come down as well as to end the story with a some metaphor comparing Snowball and his cronies to actual humans, saying that they were one in the same
Maybe I just expected a happy ending, or at *least* some form of an ending concluding that Snowball was now one with the humans and Napoleon was dead or gone for good or... *something*
The way you built up that Giver series to sound amazing only to tear it down was really a roller coaster