I recently read a book I was willing to say was the best book I’d read all year.

It had everything I enjoyed in a story: great dialogue, good characters, tension, mystery, and a plot that built. It was such a page-turner that I couldn’t put it down, racing through it in two days.

Then I got to the ending. I’m sure you’ve been there before, reading a book or watching a movie and suddenly all those little clues you were loving, the twists that were getting twistier by the page, and the buildup to the reveal just went… nowhere. Or worse, the book didn’t end properly, leaving you with more questions than answers (which was the case with my recent read).

There’s nothing more disappointing than reaching the final chapters of a book and having it finish terribly.

While opinions on what makes an ending good or…