A librarian in Des Moines told me the last chapter of a mystery is 'just the receipt,' and I think about it a lot

Abby Lopez · 2026-10-18T23:10:03.441465+00:00

I was in the downtown library in Des Moines last month and a librarian saw me flipping to the back of a book before checking it out. She laughed and told me endings are "just the receipt" and the good part already happened. That line stuck with me because I read a book last year that ended with the main guy waking up and the whole plot was a dream, and I wanted to throw it across the room. Her point was that a weak ending doesn't erase a good book, but honestly I still felt cheated. What is the worst ending you guys have stuck with a book through just to see how it wrapped up?

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A librarian in Des Moines told me the last chapter of a mystery is 'just the receipt,' and I think about it a lot | Bizarre Book Endings - Librear