Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Discussion Post: Where Are They Now?

You’ve just turned the last page of a series. It’s finished. Complete. Years of your life waiting for this conclusion has just spanned out in the space of approximately 300 pages. Or maybe it was that standalone where you journeyed with the characters for just one book and you know there will be no sequel.

The author considers it finished. But do you? Are you satisfied with how it ended? Did your ship become canon? Or did it sink? And do you wonder where are they now?

Do you as a reader accept the author’s conclusion? Obviously we all do because it was the author’s story but you can’t deny that those characters were nurtured and grew to have their own personalities and paths in our minds. You may have had pre-conceived notions of how you wanted the series to end or where you wanted the characters to end up.

Do you then create your own epilogue? Have you considered where your cherished characters are 5 years from now, 10?

[Beware possible spoilers as I now list examples/ships – I name the book and the ending/spoiler I have put in white text, so highlight if you want to see or have read it]

Allegiant – ending to Divergent by Veronica Roth
That Allegiant ending! Where is Four now, not just 2.5 years after the Allegiant ending, but 5 years on. What relationships have formed since then?

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Where are Eleanor and Park? How are they faring? Do they eventually meet again?

Clockwork Princess – ending to The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
Then there’s that Clockwork Princess epilogue. Where are the characters in 2014 if there was a 2014 for them?

As young-adult novels, most of these characters range from the age of 15-19.  At such a young age most of them have only experienced 1 or 2 relationships by the series end. We all know that in real-life people can go through many relationships throughout their life. The person we are with at 16 is not always the same person we are with a year later, let alone 20 years on.

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Are Taylor Markham and Jonah Griggs still together? Do they still do the territory wars for fun?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
How is Hazel Grace doing? Is she just hanging on with her drug that just sustains her as she ponders her days with Gus?

Into the Still Blue – ending to Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Do Aria and Perry have children now that they’ve reached the still blue?

Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington – published as One Past Midnight in the US
Do Sabine and Ethan share the same connection in her other life?


Many books offer open endings and leaves room for thought. Do you just let bygones be bygones, accept that it’s the end because it’s just a story, or in your mind, do you have your own version of where are they now?

10 comments:

  1. What a fun post! I am usually wondering about how my beloved characters and how they are faring a ways down the road after the book has finished. Sometimes I just dray my own conclusions and sometimes I don't really think about. It depends how big of an impact the book has had on me.

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    1. Yes I agree - the bigger impact of the book the more we want our favorite characters to have the ending they deserved!

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  2. Great post :) I do wonder about endings - particular in things that are open, like Looking for Alaska. I didn't REALLY like the ending of Harry Potter. I like things to be a bit open-ended.

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    1. Eep I still need to read Looking for Alaska. Haha I loved the ending of HP, needed the closure! But 19 years was just a bit weird.

      For me it depends how open ended and how much time and emotions I've invested into the characters.

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  3. TFioS, is that the ending you would have rewritten, or are the characters mixed up? Don't want to spoil it for this one or two people who haven't read it. But couldn't agree more, that one was probably the most frustrating, even if it was life imitating art imitating art kind of thing. I love John Green, but his endings leave alot to be desired. Great post <3

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    1. No that's how it ended? :o but yeah don't wanna spoil it for people. JG is amazing, I really need to read his other books. I know one of his other books with a... ending that may have ppl wanting otherwise lol.

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  4. Prior to this post, I feel like I never really think about it. Because of how many books I end up churning through, once an ending is written, I just accept it for what it is. There are very few books where I invest my WHOLE heart into the characters, so most of the time I'm satisfied with where their stories end off. Great discussion Jaz - really thought provoking and makes me think now!

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    1. Oh woah really? I usually get really emotionally invested in my characters - any books that get 4 or 5 stars meant that the characters touched me in some way and I'm such a HEA sort of girl I really want that for them lol.

      Hehe do tell if you start thinking of alternate endings for books you read from now on (;

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  5. YES. Sometimes at night before I drift off I think about this. My friends and I discussed that Hazel probably dies at the end of TFiOS because some theories say that before you die, a series of happy moments of your life flash in front of you. So there's that, even though it's a pretty sad, sad thought ._. I am curious about Between the Lines most. I really want a short story or something because I'm just really curious about how they turned out.

    Lovely post, girl! <33

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    1. I think Hazel probably dies too, a part of me is so sad that she's just left hanging on. Woah that happy moments flashing in front of you theory is so sad - I never thought of it like that :(

      Between the Lives was considered a happy ending in my opinion - but I'd like to know about her OTHER life too.

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