History BittersweetEnding / Literature

** ''Literature/Bad Girls|1996}}'': While Tanya has been taken out of foster care for her previous criminal convictions, Mandy becomes more confident in herself through sessions at school, and she and Tanya remain in contact through letters, hoping they'll see each other again.

* ''Literature/TheEagleTree'': March successfully campaigns to turn the LBA Woods into a park instead of chopping them down, but the Eagle Tree is decayed from the inside and cannot be saved.
* ''Literature/EarthsChildren'': The third book, ''The Mammoth Hunters'', has a bittersweet ending. Although Ayla and Jondalar happily reconcile, both learn important lessons and are beginning their journey to Jondalar's homeland to begin a new life, they still have to part with all the friends they made with the Mamutoi. It's especially hard on Ayla, as she had come to view many of them as a family and had even been adopted by Mamut, and it's very unlikely they'll ever see any of them again. Poor little Rydag has also [[DeathOfAChild died]] and Ayla also has the unpleasant task of breaking up with Ranec, who is utterly heartbroken. The novel actually ''ends'' with him watching Ayla and Jondalar leaving, silently weeping while clutching the carving he'd made for her. Yeesh.
* ''Literature/EleanorAndPark'': Eleanor gets out of her terrible family situation thanks to Park and her uncle taking her in, but can't see Park because of the distance. But Eleanor is also able to get her mother to leave Richie and take the kids with her.
* ''Literature/ElephantAndPiggie'': "Pigs Make Me Sneeze" ends on Gerald discovering that he's not [[AbnormalAllergy allergic to pigs]] and can thus [[InterspeciesFriendship still be friends with Piggie]]. However, it turns out that the real reason he's been sneezing is because he has a cold.
* ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy'' ends with future-Eliana convincing her mother, Rielle, to permanently finish off Corien. Rielle ends up killing her best friend in the process and future-Eliana and her brother disappear since their timeline no longer came to pass. Rielle still dies in a flash of light, but she manages to leave behind a letter to her daughter that assures her that she loves her. And with humanities biggest threat gone, the world is a little safer.

* ''Literature/1408'': The room melts and distorts near the end, and is about to consume Enslin. Enslin sets himself on fire, and the room lets him leave. Enslin is saved by another hotel guest who happened to be walking by with a bucket of ice water. Enslin doesn't publish his story, the recordings are intact but useless, and he has third degree burns, scarring him for the rest of his life. He retreats to a house in Long Island where he lives out a lonely life, has health problems, and is completely traumatized by his 70-minute stay in room 1408. Still, the room seems to be at least temporarily incapacitated, and Mike still fared much better than any 1408 guest prior to him.

* ''Literature/EleanorAndPark'': Eleanor gets out of her terrible family situation thanks to Park and her uncle taking her in, but can't see Park because of the distance. But Eleanor [[spoiler: is also able to get her mother to leave Richie and take the kids with her.]]

As said on the main page, '''spoilers are unmarked'''.

* ''Literature/TheLovelyBones'' ends with everyone finally moving on from Susie's death and Harvey dead. However, he's never caught and brought to justice for the numerous murders he committed nor were Susie's remains recovered for a proper burial. But the book makes it the point such things aren't what's important, the lovely bones grow without any of that needed. A point many of today's society won't "get" in a modern example of ValuesDissonance.

* ''Literature/SecretVampire'': Poppy beat cancer by becoming a vampire, she's accepted by the Night World because she's discovered to have been a lost witch, and she and Janes finally get together. However, in the process Poppy has lost her human life, which includes never being able to see her mother and stepfather again (who believe she died), and having limited contact with her brother. The book ends with Poppy telepathically talking to her mother while she sleeps and giving her a happy dream, telling her "I'm okay now, Mom. You don't have to worry about me anymore." before driving off into the night with her soulmate, James.

* Creator/DanAbnett':
** In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: Literature/{{Ravenor}}'' series, the title character finally brings the BigBad Molotch and ''two other'' Big Bads to justice, effectively saving the entire Imperium of Man. However, by the time it's all over, his entire retinue has reached the emotional breaking point. Pretty much all of Ravenor's remaining followers are either arrested, leave, or disappear with only one member loyally staying by his side. The last book ends with Ravenor himself having to appear before his peers in order to answer for his actions as a rogue inquisitor. The dialogue implies that Gregor Eisenhorn has either [[MoralEventHorizon turned to Chaos]], become a [[KnightTemplar dangerous radical]] or suffered a FateWorseThanDeath.
** Abnett's ''[=40k=]'' series ''{{Literature/Eisenhorn}}'' ends with the title character having defeated the BigBad's apocalyptic plan, but with most of his companions dead in the process and the rest going their own way.
** Most books in Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' series have bittersweet endings. The Ghosts usually come out victorious over the forces of Chaos, but at the cost of horrendous casualties. In the more recent books, [[AnyoneCanDie handfuls of plot-important characters start getting killed off]].
* Creator/LloydAlexander is quite fond of these:
** ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' end with Taran essentially making the opposite of Frodo's decision in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. While his friends and companions go off to a paradise across the sea to spend eternity in happiness, Taran chooses to remain behind to attempt to restore Prydain. Sure he gets to be High King as part of the deal, but that doesn't take the sting out of never seeing your friends again. At least Princess Eilonwy decides to stay with him too. The ending gets extra bitter points as Taran tries to rebuild Prydain because he made promises to comrades, [[HeroicSacrifice often over their graves]], to finish their work for them. His speech to the other companions, explaining why he cannot go with them, drives home for everyone just how much it cost to win peace for Prydain. Taran gets Samwise's ending (without the Ringbearer tag).
** The ''Literature/{{Westmark}}'' trilogy ends with the country retaken, the people finally given a democracy, and OfficialCouple Theo and Mickle married after years and two books of waiting; but with half the supporting cast dead including all of Florian's "children" besides Theo and the companions going into semi-voluntary exile.
** ''The First Two Lives of Lukas Kasha'' ends with the main character saving the day, learning his lesson and being very violently torn from all the friends he's made over the course of the book including [[WillTheyOrWontThey the girl he may or may not have fallen in love with]], along with any influence he may have had over that world. Instead, he is sent back to his home where everyone thinks he's a worthless layabout and no one believes he was almost a king, and a good one at that. He leaves the town in order to spend his entire life searching for a way to get back into Abidon.
** ''The Rope Trick'' ends with the characters very narrowly escaping the bad guy's clutches, the main character finally accomplishing the thing she's been trying to do all novel, and entering a land of peace. The bitter part? None of them know if they're alive, dead, or nonexistent.
* Creator/IsabelAllende is another author who loves this,particulary when combined with Main/EarnYourHappyEnding
* Lots and lots of Creator/PoulAnderson's stories.
** In the ''Literature/DominicFlandry'' series; Flandry succeeds, but [[CartwrightCurse loses any woman he truly loves]], feels guilty about hurting the feelings of the others, and in one story is troubled by the contrast between a number of honest, decent rebels, who are at best going to be locked up for the rest of their lives, and the decadent Emperor. And the prequel novel had a back-cover blurb which summed up:
--->''Though through this and his succeeding adventures he will struggle gloriously and win (usually) mighty victories, Dominic Flandry is essentially a tragic figure: a man who knows too much, who knows that battle, scheme, and even betray as he will, in the end it will mean nothing. For with the relentlessness of physical law the Long Night approaches. The Terran Empire is dying...''
** The ''Literature/TimePatrol'' stories as well, because the Patrol will sacrifice anyone to preserve the time line. Manse struggles to save Keith in "Brave To Be A King" -- after a LoveTriangle resolved with Keith as the winner -- but only manages to get him back after years and years of his life, which leave him a StrangerInAFamiliarLand, and Manse still remembers the men he killed, and how one died begging for {{Forgiveness}} and citing all he did as TheAtoner, even though his efforts had written those out of history.
** In "Literature/TimeLag", Elva succeeds in aiding her planet, and her planet crushes the invading navy. She still lost her husband, she spent years as a [[SexSlave concubine]], and she is a FishOutOfTemporalWater -- only the assurance that her son survived, though he's an old man now, and she had other descendents, and others who will welcome her home, makes it even bittersweet.
* Creator/NeilGaiman:
** ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'' has a VERY bittersweet ending. Not what TheFilmOfTheBook tells you. The ending is as follows: Tristran and Yvaine can't have children, but [[HappilyMarried live together happily]], until he eventually dies of old age. Yvaine [[MayflyDecemberRomance lives on more or less perpetually]] without him, trapped on Earth away from her family.
** ''Literature/TheGraveyardBook'' ends on a bittersweet note, with Bod defeating the bad guys so that he is safely able to leave the graveyard and join the outside world. However, doing so means that he can no longer see or hear the dead which he grew up with, including his adoptive parents, and must join a world utterly unfamiliar to him. He's also rejected by his childhood friend Scarlett, the only living person who he had a connection to, who ends up afraid of him and decides that she would rather forget his existence.
** ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' isn't very happy in book version. The heroine's [[AbusiveParents parents neglect her as before]] (as opposed to the movie, here it is permanent). And the Other Mother is still alive and may get out should somebody force the door open. And of course, any possible wonders are evil, so we should just stick to our world, with all its problems.
** ''Literature/TheSleeperAndTheSpindle'': The curse is broken, the witch defeated and deceased, everyone who was enchanted has woken up and the queen decides to choose her own path in life with her friends, rather than resign herself to a role she doesn't want -- but the princess remains an old woman whose life was stolen from her, and she might never wake again.
* Creator/JohnGreen:
** In ''Literature/TheFaultInOurStars'', Gus reveals to Hazel that his cancer has returned, and he dies just over a week after Hazel and Isaac have a prefuneral for him. The book ends with Hazel reading a eulogy that Augustus made for her, talking about how getting hurt in this world is inevitable, but we do get to choose whom we allow to hurt us, and that he is happy with his choice and wishes Hazel likes her choice too. The book ends with her saying, "I do."
** In ''Literature/PaperTowns'', Margo's alive, Q understands her much better now although still not perfectly, and they even kiss but she's leaving, and although they make plans to see each other again, it's clear their lives are taking them in different directions.
* Creator/StephenKing:
** ''Literature/TheDeadZone'': Johnny fails in his mission to kill Greg Stillson, and is killed by Stillson's security detail. However, the image of Stillson using [[WouldHurtAChild a small child]] as a HumanShield to protect himself is enough to wreck his political career, ensuring that the apocalyptic war seen in Johnny's visions will never come to pass.
** The true ending of ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series: ''The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.'' That was also the first sentence; the protagonist has to go through it all again, at least once.
** ''Literature/UnderTheDome'': The heroes' plan works, and (most of) the main characters get out alive. Unfortunately, they are pretty much the only people who survive. Almost the entire population of Chester's Mill is dead. To top it all off, the box used to generate the dome is still around, and there's no guarantee that it won't be used somewhere else on Earth or in the wider Universe in the future.
** ''{{Literature/IT}}'': The BigBad has been killed, but the town of Derry was destroyed, some of the Losers were killed, and the surviving Losers are destined to go their separate ways and forget about each other again.
** ''Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon'': Flagg is defeated but still alive. Thomas is forced to WalkTheEarth in order to avoid being the victim of a VigilanteExecution, meaning that Peter has now lost his entire family. On the plus side, though, Peter has cleared his name and become King and it's implied he'll be a good one. There's also a hint that Peter and Thomas will see each other again.
** ''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree'': Jake is able to undo the damage he caused to history when he saved JFK. But...he's now stuck in the present with no way to get back the five years he spent in the past, his completion of his friend's dying wish nearly destroyed the world, and he has to live with the knowledge that his relationship with Sadie is pretty much the worst thing that could possibly happen to her.
** ''Literature/EndOfWatch'': Bill Hodges and his friends are able to defeat Brady Hartsfield, but not before he's able to enact part of his plan to cause mass suicides. Also, Hodges succumbs to his cancer in the epilogue.
** ''Literature/TheDarkHalf'': Thad Beaumont defeats his EnemyWithout, George Stark... but it's implied he can't just live happily ever after with his friends and family because some of them get alienated after seeing him together with Stark and getting a sense that they were not so different.
* ''Literature/1408'': The room melts and distorts near the end, and is about to consume Enslin. Enslin sets himself on fire, and the room lets him leave. Enslin is saved by another hotel guest who happened to be walking by with a bucket of ice water. Enslin doesn't publish his story, the recordings are intact but useless, and he has third degree burns, scarring him for the rest of his life. He retreats to a house in Long Island where he lives out a lonely life, has health problems, and is completely traumatized by his 70-minute stay in room 1408. Still, the room seems to be at least temporarily incapacitated, and Mike still fared much better than any 1408 guest prior to him.
%% ** ''Literature/TheGreenMile''
%% ** ''Literature/BagOfBones''
%% ** ''Literature/TheShining''
* Creator/JhumpaLahiri is fond of these.
** One example from her debut ''Literature/InterpreterOfMaladies'' is "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine". At the end of the story, Lilia (the protagonist) feels saddened by the fact that she'll never again see Mr. Pirzada, who is now back in Bangladesh caring for his family after the horrific war. She throws away all the candy he gave her out of love because it reminds her too much of him.
** ''Literature/TheNamesake'' also counts. By the final chapter, the protagonist Gogol has lost both his American girlfriend and his Indian wife due to his inability to entirely embrace either side of his culture. However, at the very end of the novel, he decides to read a collection of stories by Creator/NikolaiGogol, his [[TheNamesake namesake]], and in doing so, finds himself.
* Scott Lynch:
** ''The Lies of Locke Lamora'': Locke successfully takes revenge on the Grey King, but he is left with only one of his friends still alive, and he has to leave Camorr forever. Locke himself sums it up: "So this is what winning feels like....it can go fuck itself."
** The sequel ''Red Seas Under Red Skies'': Sure, Locke and Jean have brought down the Archon and gotten away from Tal Verrar, and the pirates aren't going to be hunted down and killed, but in the meantime Jean's girlfriend is dead, they failed in the robbery they came for in the first place--and, oh yeah, Locke is dying slowly from poison.
* George R. R. Martin:
** "Bittersweet" is probably the most optimistic you'll ever get from. At the end of ''Literature/TheHedgeKnight'', Dunk has survived his trial by combat and gained a squire, at the cost of the life of the beloved Prince Baelor, who looked set to be a great King, along with the deaths of two of the other Knights who fought for Dunk.
%% ** He's managed to stay just optimistic enough to make every book in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' have a Bittersweet Ending. Even ''A Feast For Crows'', which holds some sort of record for being the darkest book in an already rather dark series.
%%** His short stories, like "The Ice Dragon", which was reprinted as a children's book.
* Christopher Moore, a writer who (ostensibly) sticks to the humor genre, has a few bittersweet endings to his novels.
** ''Bite Me'', the continuation of ''Bloodsucking Fiends'' and ''You Suck,'' ends with the vampire hordes destroyed, Abby and Tommy saved from their eventual deaths as third-generation vampires, and the three vampire lords dead... but Tommy can't handle being a vampire, and Jody doesn't want to return to being human, and so Jody leaves him, presumably forever.
** ''[[Literature/LambTheGospelAccordingToBiff Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal]]'' ends with [[ForegoneConclusion Joshua dead]], despite Biff's best efforts to save him. Biff hunts down and murders Judas, then falls into despair and takes his own life. Happily, though, he and Maggie are resurrected to live happily ever after (except that, of course, Maggie will always love Joshua more.
* ''Literature/TalesOfThePack'': The Pack manages to defeat the evil Morloc werewolves with their allies, but lose one of their own in doing so.
* Creator/JRRTolkien's:
** ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
*** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
*** The good guys win. Aragorn takes his rightful place as king and marries Arwen. Sauron is defeated permanently, and the Ring destroyed... but this also destroys the power of the Three Rings that has sustained Lothlórien and Rivendell, and the Elves leave. Frodo, unable to bear the weight of all he lost to save the world, leaves with them, as does Gandalf, and magic begins to go out of the world. The bittersweetness is distilled through Sam's perspective--he becomes a husband and father, yet loses his dear master just as his homeland is beginning to be made right.
*** Even the happy ending for Arwen and Aragorn is somewhat tainted, since now Arwen is mortal but still can't quite understand what death is and that it's not horrible. Imagine living thousands of years and suddenly being faced by a single century. So when Aragorn is dying and tells her that they'll meet again she's freaking out, and spends the rest of her life moping in an abandoned Elf forest.
*** ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': Morgoth is defeated and permanently banished from the world until the end of time. The two Silmarils remaining in his crown are stolen and then lost forever. The continent of Beleriand, where the heroes of old had their kingdoms and fought so long and hard against Morgoth, is shattered, most of it sinks into the sea, and many of the Elves sail to the West.
*** ''Literature/BerenAndLuthien'': The good news is that Lúthien becomes mortal, allowing her to follow Beren when he dies (Men and Elves have ''very'' different fates after death). The bad news is that Lúthien becomes mortal, and thereby passes out of the world and is lost to her people.
*** ''Literature/TheFallOfNumenor'': Sauron succeeds in destroying the greatest Mannish civilization. However, the wicked Númenoreans will never oppress the Middle-Earth again, and the decent Dúnedain will found new realms which will keep protecting the West from Sauron, whose base power was greatly dimished when Númenor fell.
*** In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', Bilbo returns home rich, but ostracized as a weirdo by his fellow hobbits. Nevertheless, "he remained very happy to the end of his days, and those were extraordinarily long." And let's not forget that, while stronger than they were at the beginning, the Dwarves' nation has still be irreparably and terminally damaged and Thorin, along with his nephews Fili and Kili, has died. Still, relatively cheerful.
*** WordOfGod has it that Middle-earth is prehistoric Europe, with the fall of Sauron happening about six thousand years ago; in other words, before the arrival of the Indo-Europeans in real life. So, at some point an unknown number of years after the story ends, barbarians out of the east come and wipe out all traces of everything, except for a few crumbling structures (mistakenly called "cyclopean" by Greeks) [[DirectLineToTheAuthor and a few ancient books that Professor Tolkien found and translated]].
** ''Literature/SmithOfWoottonMajor'' ends with Smith giving up the star and the travels to Faery.
* This is about the best you can hope for with anything by Creator/HarryTurtledove. If it's not a straight-out DownerEnding, it typically goes like this: There's an overall victory for the good guys, but the world is irreperably changed, a lot of good people died or have their lives ruined, and a lot of bad guys are no worse off. Most of what Turtledove writes is alternative history fiction, which is generally presented in such a way as to be as "[[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism realistic]]" as possible -- and life itself rarely produces anything other than Bittersweet Endings.
* ''Literature/{{Under Suspicion|Series}}'': A few of the novels have bittersweet endings.
** ''Literature/AllDressedInWhite'': Amanda Pierce does turn out to have been murdered, but at least her loved ones finally have answers and a body to bury. Her murderer is also apprehended before he can kill Meghan, with both she and her unborn baby surviving. She and Jeff reconcile with each other and with the Pierces, who as a gesture of goodwill give Jeff their blessing to claim Amanda's trust fund, saying she would want him to have it. The latest ''Under Suspicion'' episode is the show's biggest success yet, though Laurie is saddened that it will be the last time she'll be working with Alex for a long while; she also suspects it's because he finds it too painful to be close to her when she can't fully return his feelings.
** ''Literature/TheSleepingBeautyKiller'': Laurie manages to stop Angela from killing Charlotte to cover up that she killed Hunter and Angela is arrested for her crimes, finally exonerating Casey. Although Casey is overjoyed that she's been proven innocent and can start a new chapter of her life, it's still awful that her own cousin framed her; her mother, Hunter's father and many other people also feel terrible for wrongfully condemning Casey and it'll take a while for Casey to get back to a normal life. Charlotte also discovered her best friend was not only a killer, but nearly died at her hands too. Alex and Laurie's relationship may also be done for, with Alex calling Laurie out for continuously pushing him out and saying he can't be around her anymore until she makes a decision, although Alex secretly hopes this will bring them closer.
** ''Literature/YouDontOwnMe'': Kendra is proven innocent of killing Martin and with Joe Brenner arrested, she is no longer going to be blackmailed, finally allowing her to move on. It's implied Robert and Cynthia will develop a better relationship with Kendra, although they will still have to deal with their 'perfect' son being exposed as a fraud and an adulterer. Daniel has to deal with finding out his beloved wife is a cold-blooded killer whom he unknowingly covered for; it's all but stated their marriage is over and it's possible his political career will be ruined in the fall-out. Laurie survives her stalker's attempt to kill her unscathed, although the situation is still a bit tragic given that Willie Hayes was a desperate man driven to evil by bitterness, with Alex pointing out that his son will now have to visit him behind bars and he only made things worse for himself. At least Laurie and Alex find the perfect apartment for them to live in with Timmy once they're married.
* ''Literature/AnUnkindnessOfGhosts'' has one that borders on a full DownerEnding. Aster makes it alive to Earth, where plant and animal life has fully returned, but the only people she brings with her are two dead bodies, so she has no chance of rebuilding humanity. Back on ''Matilda'', a SlaveRevolt kills hundreds, and we never find out if the rebellion actually improved anything for the lowerdeckers or not.
* Creator/KurtVonnegut wrote many of these:
** ''Literature/PlayerPiano'': Dr. Proteus participates in the initially successful revolution with the Ghost Shirts, but in the end, they realize that they have little hope of changing the society further.
** ''Literature/TheSirensOfTitan'': Rumfoord dies (or rather, disappears in space) without making amends with Salo, and Malachi Constant dies. Salo does, however, create illusions that make Malachi's final moments happy.
** ''Literature/MotherNight'': Campbell's status as a double agent is confirmed, therefore clearing his charges for crimes against humanity... but he chooses to hang himself for "crimes against himself".
%%ZCE * Nearly all of Black Flame's ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' and ''Film/JasonX'' books end bittersweet (or downright bad).
* Every member of the Raven dies in Ravensoul, the last book in ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheRaven''. Many, many innocents also die, although some escape to a new world. The continent on which most of the story takes place is almost completely obliterated. The spirits of the Raven members are assigned to defend the portal through which the rest of the population escapes, though, so at least they are all together in death.
* At the end of ''{{Literature/Wander}}'', Wander, Dagger and Pan reach Sanctuary but Temple, Buddy and Heather are dead, along with the rest of Dagger's group. The sole exception is Romeo, who's nowhere to be found, so a depressed Dagger leaves Sanctuary to try and find him.
* {{Subverted}} in ''Literature/YumiAndTheNightmarePainter''. The story was ''supposed'' to end with Yumi performing a HeroicSacrifice, destroying the Father-machine, banishing the nightmares, and freeing the trapped souls at the cost of her own life. Except that Painter didn't realize that that was how the story was supposed to end, and he proceeded to ''paint Yumi back to life'' and settle down running a noodle shop with her. Hoid jokingly complains that he ruined a perfectly fine sad ending.

* ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}'' might ''seem'' to have a HappyEnding. The three main couples obviously will all have long happy marriages. And as for the three villains, one is dead and the other two get some deserved come-upance. That sounds all fair and good, right? Except for that this doesn't happen until after Beatrice has suffered five years of abuse from her EvilUncle, who managed to bully her into a short but painful marriage to [[DirtyOldMan a much older]] [[MaritalRapeLicense rapist]]. And we also have the subplot about how Beatrice's sadistic cousin Edvard got a fourteen-year-old girl pregnant, and he wouldn't do anything to help her out. She decided to have an abortion, a decision that lead to her death. Yeah, she only was a really minor character with hardly any screen time and no spoken lines in the whole story. But still, yikes! So in the end, too much have happened for a truly happy ending to be possible...

* ''Literature/APoisonDarkAndDrowning'': London has fallen to [[EldritchAbomination the Ancients]], Rook has been turned into the new Korozoth, the sorcerers of England have been reduced to a few hundred, and [[TheProtagonist Henrietta]] has been made into an Unclean. However, she and George Blackwood have gathered all the remaining sorcerers of England and brought them to his estate in Sorrow-Fell, where they plan to make their final assault against the Ancients.

* Nearly all of Black Flame's ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' and ''Film/JasonX'' books end bittersweet (or downright bad).

* ''Literature/StarCraftTheDarkTemplarSaga'': The Dominion stops pursuing Jake and Rosemary, who have become an OfficialCouple, but only because Prince Valerian's retainer Devon Starke [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself to Emperor Mengsk's torturers to save their lives]]. The EldritchAbomination Ulrezaj is defeated by [[SealedEvilInADuel Zamara sealing herself into a khaydarin crystal with him]], rendering her knowledge of protoss history largely lost for good.
* ''Literature/TheLittleCoffeeShopOfKabul'': Isabel was killed in a suicide bombing, and Sunny has to return to America. However, Ashmet has finally accepted the non-traditional relationship his mother has with Rashif, and is letting them marry. He also marries Yazmina, accepting that she was pregnant with a dead man's baby. Yazmina's little sister was saved from a potential life as a SexSlave. Finally, Ashmet, Yazmina, Halajan, and Rashif continue to run the coffee shop after Sunny is gone.

* ''Literature/TalesOfThePack'': The Pack manages to defeat the evil Morloc werewolves with their allies, but lose one of their own in doing so.