Right Now help: Can anyone recommend a good book without a happy ending? - Help.com

WritetheHeroine
offline Verified (4 years, 2 months) Visit WritetheHeroine's shoutbox
An Unknown Location

Can anyone recommend a good book without a happy ending?

I’m really not in the mood for a happily-ever-after story like a majority of the books I have now. Right now I’m in the mood for something tragic like The Silence of the Lambs or The Lovely Bones where things don’t work out in the end.
The other day I was at Barnes & Noble and I realized that I don’t really like any of their “young adult” books. I mean there’s actually a section titled ‘Paranormal Romance’. I don’t get it… Oh well. I know that people in real life can have lovely lives (such as my grandparents, happy 60th!) but I just want something where the outcome is realistic where things don’t work out. I’m feeling a bit cynical today.

This open post was written 2 years, 4 months ago | V/U/S: 1,157, 11, 5 | Edit Post | Leave a reply | Report Post


Reciprocity (1) Many thank yous! The poster has helped others since their own post was made.

Since writing this post WritetheHeroine has helped in 1 other user's post within the last 4 days. WritetheHeroine is a verified member, has been around for 4 years, 2 months and has 98 posts and 1,240 replies to their name.

Post Tags (12)

Happily ever after, Paranormal romance, Happy ending, Young adult, Ever After, paranormal, Real Life, Right Now, Right Now, Real Life, books, Tragedy (How Tags Affect Reciprocity)

Replies (11)

Where were you?

Click and drag to move the map around. FAQ: How we place people on this map »
You can also watch events on Help.com as they happen
Mouse over the map for 2 seconds to see an expanded, interactive view

mindhealer offline Verified User (3 years) Long Term User Shouts: 47 #
An Undisclosed Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (2 minutes after post)

Nonfiction, like science textbooks, is more realistic than idealistic, and sometiems might not have happy endings.

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Socialness
Gusty offline Verified User (3 years, 10 months) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (6 minutes after post)

I dont know about books, but I thought that movie, 30 days of night, had a terribly depressing ending.

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Seems so much humanity there, yet so little…
James S offline Verified User (2 years, 4 months) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (7 minutes after post)

Hmmm I want to say Neil Gaimen, but his are more odd and not at all like a normal story flows. Neverwhere ended sort of not back to the start, I guess it could be happy depending.

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Looking for legal direction:
lilangel639 offline Verified User (3 years, 5 months) Long Term User Shouts: 6 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (8 minutes after post)

try vampire academy…. if you read the entire series never mind cause the 6th book is when things finally work out but the first 5 don’t.

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Book Publishing?
emmylou2u offline Verified User (3 years, 2 months) Long Term User Shouts: 36 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (9 minutes after post)

Grimms Bros fairy tales. They are all horrific and quite different to the endings portrayed in the modern versions!

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: I spent Christmas with a group of friends this year for the first time ever, and I enjoyed it so much more than my Christmases with family!
kiki333♕ offline Verified User (2 years, 8 months) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (15 minutes after post)

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

The ending just tugged at every single string in my heart and left that area in my chest absolutely aching. But such a goooood read.

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: I thought my help.com family and friends could use a pick-me-up so here goes!
WritetheHeroine offline Verified User (4 years, 2 months) Long Term User Shouts: 3 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (16 minutes after post)

I looked up some of these books/authors and the movie (even though I can’t watch it) and they sound pretty interesting minus the Vampire Academy ones no offense. Even though it ended up as a tag I can’t stand the ‘Paranormal Romance’ anymore. Thanks anyways though :) I recently got a bookstore gift card so I can actually buy one.

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Can you guys help me with some college stuff?
WritetheHeroine offline Verified User (4 years, 2 months) Long Term User Shouts: 3 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (28 minutes after post)

emmylou2u wrote:
Grimms Bros fairy tales. They are all horrific and quite different to the endings portrayed in the modern versions!

We have an old book of these and I love them, but I’ve already read them so many times. Maybe I should just reread them. Thanks for reminding me of them

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Can you guys help me with some college stuff?
James S offline Verified User (2 years, 4 months) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (33 minutes after post)

oh oh….Snow White Blood Red…there are four books in the series total. Anthologies of fairy tales darkened back to their original luster, when the tales didnt end happily ever after and were tru lessons.

Black Thorn, White Rose
Snow White, Blood Red
Black Swan, White Raven
Black Heart, Ivory Bones

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Looking for legal direction:
emmylou2u offline Verified User (3 years, 2 months) Long Term User Shouts: 36 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (48 minutes after post)

jadecat wrote:

emmylou2u wrote:
Grimms Bros fairy tales. They are all horrific and quite different to the endings portrayed in the modern versions!

We have an old book of these and I love them, but I’ve already read them so many times. Maybe I should just reread them. Thanks for reminding me of them

You are very welcome! I have now reminded myself to re-read them as I have a copy also. Amazingly talented they were!

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: I spent Christmas with a group of friends this year for the first time ever, and I enjoyed it so much more than my Christmases with family!
WritetheHeroine offline Verified User (4 years, 2 months) Long Term User Shouts: 3 #
An Unknown Location | 2 years, 4 months ago (56 minutes after post)

emmylou2u wrote:

jadecat wrote:
emmylou2u wrote:
Grimms Bros fairy tales. They are all horrific and quite different to the endings portrayed in the modern versions!

We have an old book of these and I love them, but I’ve already read them so many times. Maybe I should just reread them. Thanks for reminding me of them

You are very welcome! I have now reminded myself to re-read them as I have a copy also. Amazingly talented they were!

It’s funny to think about how happy the stories have been made to be. I think for the book to buy I’ll get a new copy of grimms’ fairy tales. We have ours in one of those old Companion Library book where it’s two books in one. The other book with it is Anderson’s fairy tales.

Quote this reply Report this reply to moderators
Help me with: Can you guys help me with some college stuff?

Invite Others to Help

A logged in and verified Help.com member has the ability to setup a Friends List and invite others to help with posts.