(Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish. Want to make your own list? Clicking the image will take you to this week’s post. Happy listing!)
Nothing beats a good “WTF?!” moment in literature. This week we’re paying tribute to the book endings that left our jaws on the floor.
1. The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Emmuska Orczy) – Chauvelin never saw it coming.
2. Dragonfly in Amber (Diana Gabaldon) – Yay, there could be a happy ending after all!
3. The Host (Stephanie Meyer) – Not the biggest twist of all time, but certainly an interesting one. Two, actually, if you count how Wanderer is able to stay.
4. Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier) – I saw the 1940 film before I read the book, and the twist was definitely shocking — every time.
5. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) – Not my favorite book by any stretch of the imagination, but the twist was pretty ridiculous.
6. Odd Thomas (Dean Koontz) – A sad twist, but a twist nonetheless.
What were some book endings that left you gaping?
Rebecca for sure! It made my list, too. I’d be interested to know more about the Scarlet Pimpernel. I’ve certainly heard about the book, but I know nothing about it.
Rebecca was the first story I saw (since I didn’t read it before seeing the film) where there was a big twist like that. A lot of the stuff I’d been reading up until that point (sometime in middle school, maybe?) wasn’t the kind of stories that had twists — thrillers tend to have them, but that’s not my favorite genre.
It’s been cool seeing everyone’s lists this week. There’s a lot where I see a book that’s on my TBR list and am like, “Noooooo, that one has a cliffhanger/twist?! Must know what happens now!”
Whoa, got distracted before I could talk about The Scarlet Pimpernel. French Revolution, disguises, chases, escapes, close calls, swordfighting, and so forth. Fabulous stuff! There are several books in the series, but I’ve only read two, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Eldorado. The 1982 mini-series (starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour) was a combination of those two books. If you get a chance, you should at least watch the movie. It’s got something for everyone. Let me know how you like it!
Of course, Ender’s Game! I can’t believe I forgot that one – it totally would have knocked someone off my top 10. Rebecca is also very worthy of this week’s topic!
I didn’t see Ender’s Game on anyone’s list, but Rebecca seemed to be a favorite this week. And for good reason, as you say. 🙂
I’m seriously starting to wonder about Ender’s Game. I keep forgetting Odd Thomas had a twist at the end. I’m still all hung up about the fourth being the last!
I didn’t love Ender’s Game as much as the person who loaned it to me was hoping I would, but it was an okay book. Give it a shot. There were only four in the Odd Thomas series? Weird, I thought there were more.