A guy in my book club last month said he skips the last chapter of every novel on purpose.

We were talking about that new thriller, the one with the lighthouse. He just dropped it casually, like it was normal. Said he likes to imagine his own ending and that the author's version is usually a letdown. I mean, idk, maybe it's just me but that feels like cheating? We spent a good twenty minutes debating it. He was totally serious. Has anyone else ever heard of someone doing this, or tried it themselves?

3 comments

3 Comments

dianal9422d agoTop Commenter

Seriously, skipping the last chapter of a thriller? That's unhinged. I tried that once with a crime book because I guessed the killer halfway through and was bored. Figured I'd just stop. Big mistake. I spent the next three days wondering if I was right, then caved and read the last ten pages. The twist was actually pretty good and I ruined it for myself by being impatient. Never again.

aaron88411d ago

But what's the point of reading a story if you refuse to see how it ends? You're just making up your own book at that point.

gracewebb22d ago

Wait, he does this with thrillers too? That's wild. I had a friend who only did it with romance novels, said the "happily ever after" chapters were always too cheesy. But skipping the last chapter of a mystery feels like baking a cake and not eating the slice with the frosting. How do you even know who did it? The whole point is the payoff. I tried it once with a book I wasn't loving, just to see, and it just left me annoyed and googling the actual ending.