The 10 Books Most Likely to Get Thrown Out of a Window

~ S.E. White

There exists a pact between readers and authors. They, the authors, write the magic words that will take us on a journey. We, the readers, pay our money for a ticket on that journey.

We start this journey with expectations. There will be a plot, for one. There will be characters that we start to feel like we know (even the bad guys.) Most importantly, there will be an ending. Some sort of closure where the loose ends are all tied up, the characters meet the fate they were working towards or justice is served. It doesn’t have to be a happy ending, but it does need to make sense.

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So what happens when that pact is broken? When the reader has invested their money, time and energy in a book and the author left them with nothing but disappointment as a return? We, readers, feel betrayed and a little bit angry. OK, a lot angry.

Here are the ten books that have broken the pact. These are the books readers agree should win the academy award for “Book we wanted to throw the hardest against the wall.”

**Warning** Some spoilers ahead.

1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

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Intellectually, I get it. Tris is showing her selfless Abnegation roots as she also demonstrates the courage she found in Dauntless. It’s the ultimate way to show the two. Emotionally? Curse you, Veronica Roth!

2. The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace

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Would you rather be cleverly obscure and artistic, or give your readers some closure? We know which one Wallace chose. (Hint, it was the wrong one.)

3. The Green Mile by Stephen King

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Prepare to have your heart skillfully stolen from your chest as you root for John Coffey. Then prepare to have it electrocuted and tossed on the floor. No one ever said life was fair, but seriously Stephen King.

4. In The Woods by Tana French

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It’s not cheating to give us some kind of hint about what happened with the original mystery the whole freaking book is based on. Just one.

5. The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West

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Artsy, pretentious and finished off with an ending that’s hokey beyond what you can stretch yourself to believe=major feelings of betrayal.

6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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Although it’s a classic that should be read at least once, readers fume about the ending to this day. (**Spoiler alert!**) Spending the entire book showing us how perfect Laurie and Jo are for each other and then having them end up apart . . . why Louisa May Alcott? Why?

7. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

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Readers had no problem with the hard, no-right-side subject material but objected strongly to the unrealistic cop-out in the ending. Sometimes happily ever after is the worst choice the author can make.

8. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

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Yeah, tomorrow is another day Scarlett O’Hara, but you done gone and burned every bridge to get to it.

9. Burned by Ellen Hopkins

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(**Spoiler Alert**) Ending a hopeless situation with more hopelessness is not always a teaching moment. Don’t teach us that life doesn’t have happy endings, Ellen Hopkins. Give us one tiny ray of hope.

10. Freedom’s Choice by Anne McCaffrey

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After all of Anne McCaffrey’s years of full-on feminism, fighting the good fight and putting strong women in her writing (and this was back in the 1960s when it was a rebellious thing to do!) to end the book with (**Spoiler Alert**) a forced pregnancy is just plain wrong. What were you thinking Mrs. McCaffrey?

What about you? Which book has left you wanting to open up the closest window and throw it out?

 

 

 

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Published by S.E. White

Currently unpublished, SE White is an author living deep in the query trenches. For now, come along to find hope, humor, tips, tricks and encouragement for your own writing road. Any and all bookworms are welcome here! When she’s published, you can expect books full of quirky characters and tropes done well. As Lili Draguer, SE White is published by eXtasy Books. She is an author and fan of erotic romance. Her favorite thing to write is a love story full of steamy sparks that lead to a happily ever after—no cheating!

87 thoughts on “The 10 Books Most Likely to Get Thrown Out of a Window”

    4. I agree! I was expecting this big fight but then nothing happened. In fact I was surprised with the movie when the “fight” happened and people started dying and I was like what is going on? But I was glad that it happened but was also glad nobody died. (~Starlight)

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    7. I tossed Twilight by the end of the first chapter. I wanted to smack every character. I hated them all. At 15, I’d have been all about it because I was a clumsy awkward martyr. As an adult… augh!

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  2. Re: Into the Woods… Thank you!! I have been reading it on and off. I don’t particularly care for it, but I’m curious to know what happened to Adam and his friends as kids. If there’s no information to be had there, I can finally drop this book! 😀

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  3. The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. I have never been more disappointed in a book. There was no character development, not even a likable character, no actual plot and nothing good happened at any point throughout. This book was depresssing and intensely lackluster.

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    1. I recently tried to read this book, and found myself forcing myself to read it after about two chapters – I didn’t care about anyone, and nothing was happening. I gave up after I realized this; it doesn’t sound like I missed much.

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    2. The first one wasn’t that bad. It was a typical YA supernatural romance novel but it wasn’t completely awful. It was when she introduced the love triangle and started breaking her own rules that I couldn’t read them anymore.

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  5. I Don’t Know How She Does it – don’t remember the author – but I totally wanted to throw this book out of the window. High-powered corporate exec who struggles to balance her work with her family life – SPOILER ALERT – ends up a total cop-out and finds fulfilment in a work-from-home part time cottage industry. Bleah.

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    2. Sounds like a Hallmark Channel movie. You know the sort I mean … successful big-city career woman ditches it all for true love with some small-town rustic. Yeah, right….

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      1. Oh, that’s funny … I didn’t remember that I’d already made that comment back in June. Well, at least you know I really meant it!

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  6. Most anything by Faulkner, or pretty much any book by any author who utilizes the steam of consciousness technique to the extreme.

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  7. Twilight series- ugh. Friend who doesn’t read much Loved these books & wanted me to read them so we could discuss. Couldn’t do it after the 1st 4 chapters.
    50 shades of grey, several better options out there for bondage/soft porn/what-have-you (really it’s Not romance)
    And the Da Vinci code. Ending felt like a cop out and didn’t mesh with the rest of the book.

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  8. I would never have thought Little Women should be thrown out! But I would add another one in its place–Lord of the Flies!

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  11. The last book of the Southern Vampire Series. The author had one of her major characters do something so OOC to end the series, it posed a lot of people off.

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  12. The Old Man and the Sea, to this day. I had to read it in high school. Paid my own money for it, because all the copies belonging to the library were out. It is a beautifully written story, granted. You care greatly about the main character, a lonely old man. The struggle is real, you are there pulling on the fishing pole with him. Then, the result of all his toil is all but wasted by sharks on his way back to his cabin. I still want restitution for my sympathetic heartbreak and disappointment for this poor fictional old man.

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    1. I am so glad to have someone agree with me!

      But, I’ve got to say GWTW? No way. It’s an amazing love story.

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  16. I definitely stood up and applauded on quite a few of these.
    In The Woods: I legitly thought I had missed something. What happened when he was a boy? WHAT?!? I’m glad I’m not the only one.
    Little Women : Professor Baehr who?

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  17. Pingback: The 10 Books Most Likely to Get Thrown Out of a Window | cohortsite

  18. I knew My Sister’s Keeper had to be on the list…but i was confused by your summation of the ending. The book has a horrifically tragic ending, that spun you on your heels on the last couple pages. Your comment sounded like a response to the movie ending which was a hokey happily ever after that was enough to make you spit. Please clarify. Thank you. Enjoyed your article. 😀

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    1. Exactly. The movie was so disappointing, but the book ending was phenomenal, heartbreaking, and something I never saw coming. I love this book, regardless of how the end hurt me lol. It’s the book that got me into jodi.

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      1. I think I did get the book and movie mixed. Sorry! There are plenty of other books in the comments that deserve to get hurled much more.

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    2. The problem I had with the ending of that book was the twist of the healthy sister dying in a car crash and the sick sister getting the organ she needed to live. While I’m sure this kind of thing may happen in real life, the reality is usually the family mourns the loss of the terminally ill child. I liked this book up until that point because I’ve been through similar experiences and there was never any last second “fix” for the sick loved one. Granted, one sister does die in this story but the twist felt like a slap in the face…

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  20. I recently checked Tara French’s Into the Woods from the library but I don’t think I will read it now. Too bad–I love mysteries!

    I literally ripped a book apart once–it was Hannibal and the reason I ripped it apart was that I didn’t want anyone else to have to endure such an evil book!

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  23. Requiem fora seem should be on here it’s a complete and her sucker punch to the heart. You more these characters can fit their actions and become better people but then you learn addiction is the two in this novel because it wins every time and you are like DAFUQ I’ve spent two days reading this depressing book and you can even give me at Teeny tiny ready of m*********ing hope you b******d screw you Hubert Selby Jr. You utter utter arse. Rant over!

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  25. The only two books on this list that I’ve read (multiple times) are GONE WITH THE WIND & LITTLE WOMEN. I can see that Laurie is better off with Amy, while Professor Bhaer suits Jo. I was sad that Rhett left Scarlett.

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  26. So all writers must follow the laws of feminism at all times, and even tragedies must be wrapped into a disgustingly happy muck of an ending.

    Gotcha.

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    1. Oh no. In fact I normally check reviews and if they all say HEA (happily ever after) I am more likely to not get the book.

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  27. Anathem by Neal Stephenson – completely awful. I didn’t get past the first chapter. SF where he just gave weird new names to extant objects to make it sound futuristic.

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  28. I’d have to go with Titus Alone, not just it’s own ending but as an ending to the Gormenghast trilogy. I’ve read the trilogy twice and the first book Titus Groan, took a bit of perseverance but is well worth the effort, for the wonderful characters alone-Mr Flay anyone? Also as the build up to the amazing Gormenghast. But I felt totally underwhelmed by the third book, lack of character and direction. So disappointing after its predecessors.

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  29. Oh, as much as the movie is my fave of all time, I ACTUALLY did mistreat “Jaws.” It had too many side stories going on that didn’t matter (thank you Spielberg for streamlining into a basic story I love more than anything). And the ending–oh, heavens, THE ENDING! I ended up reviewing it myself: https://thechattyintrovert.com/2016/12/23/jaws-by-p-benchley/

    Oh, and “On the Road” (reviewed that one, too). I got about halfway through it and just couldn’t get what the hell was so great about it. Couldn’t finish no matter how hard I tried.

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  30. Feersum Endjinn by Iain Banks. I made it through the first page by reading it aloud. The whole book is written phonetically. Aarrgh! !

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  31. If someone already mentioned this and I missed it, I apologize. LIFE OF PI. Huge build up, terrible book. IMHO.

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  32. The Goldfinch. I thought I would never finish it. The story seemed to wander aimlessly and by the end, I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters.

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  33. I admit to frustration at the end of In The Woods, I like closure. I think Tana French is an amazing author, regardless. Her books aren’t actually a traditional series, they carry over one character and build a new story around said character.

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  34. Cold Mountain. He goes through all that to get home to his true love just to get shot when their eyes meet? I yelled out loud I read the end.

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  35. Pingback: Books Rock My World – S.E. White Author

    1. I still haven’t read it, but everyone was ALL ABOUT that book for a while. You might be fighting the trend, or else no one wanted to admit they didn’t like the ending 🙂

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  37. A Man in Full and I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. Why would a 70ish old man be able to write convincingly about college life? Long, boring, uh, nope.

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  38. I do have a few disagreements with this list, but I must say it perfectly echoes my feelings with regard to Little Women. I read that book as a preteen and all I saw was a beautiful love story between Jo and Laurie. I was beyond angry when they didn’t end up together. I understand that it was semi-autobiographical and people don’t always marry their childhood sweethearts, but still.

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  40. I would say the Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. You get like 400 pages in… Just for Isabel to stay with her husband like I get it, it makes sense. But to put so much into it for that ending made me unhappy.

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  42. 50 Shades of OMG, did an editor ever look at this manuscript! I tried to finish it because people told me it was with it but after the third time it grew wings my husband refused to give it back to me.

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    2. I tried. I tried to read the first one but the writing was SO BAD! I couldn’t get past that. A middle aged British woman trying to write a 20 something modern American woman. Nope. She didn’t pull it off from the first sentence. It didn’t help that I saw an interview with the author where she was giggling about acting out the sex scenes with her husband. Euwww… it wasn’t a good visual at all.

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  43. I have read many books that were not good for various reasons, but the only book I have ever read that ended up getting hurled violently at a wall was Atlas Shrugged. I didn’t read it until I was in my 30’s, and already had a firm view of humanity and decency, both of which I thought the author sorely lacked.

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