I have no qualms with the rest of the book, just the ending. The book's not brilliant, mind you, but it's a decent coming-of-age story with an intriguing mystery behind it, a Will They Or Wont They that actually makes a lick of sense, and the characters get fleshed out in a way that feels natural even though it's as a result of the cards.
Now, on to the ending. I was expecting a clever twist. Of course it's painstakingly obvious to anyone reading that we're being led to think Ed's late father set the plot in motion, and if not him than the robber from the beginning, so that can't be it. The problem arises when you realize that Ed's been sent to help all those closest to him—i.e., the main supporting cast—nullifying them as options as well, and we don't know nearly enough about, say, Ed's siblings without that looking like an Ass Pull. Nor could it be some secret nebulous origination, and by the time the ending actually happens you've already realized that there is no satisfying way to end this book. The author has written himself into a corner.
And hell, paying off the all-too-obvious foreshadowing would've been a better ending than what actually happened. The ending as-is, without giving away too much, not only comes straight the hell out of nowhere and makes a very straightforward comedy/suspense book into a work of meta, but also makes it incredibly difficult to give a shit about any of the events prior because, in a nutshell, we've just been told these people don't exist. It's one thing to understand on another level as you're reading that the work in question is fiction, it's quite a different thing for the author to come out and say that even in their own universe the author has ultimate control over these non-entities. (And if that's not the case, than the man behind this whole scheme having the entire thing transcribed makes no fucking sense. Sure, the reveal that our romantic leads finally hooking up isn't in the transcript makes that interpretation null and void, but it's too late. The seed's been planted and I just can't bring myself to give two fucks anymore.)
If you read this book, stop before the final chapter and just assume the foreshadowing worked out. Sure, it's glaringly obvious, but it's better than what we got.
Literature A fine book up until the last chapter.
I have no qualms with the rest of the book, just the ending. The book's not brilliant, mind you, but it's a decent coming-of-age story with an intriguing mystery behind it, a Will They Or Wont They that actually makes a lick of sense, and the characters get fleshed out in a way that feels natural even though it's as a result of the cards.
Now, on to the ending. I was expecting a clever twist. Of course it's painstakingly obvious to anyone reading that we're being led to think Ed's late father set the plot in motion, and if not him than the robber from the beginning, so that can't be it. The problem arises when you realize that Ed's been sent to help all those closest to him—i.e., the main supporting cast—nullifying them as options as well, and we don't know nearly enough about, say, Ed's siblings without that looking like an Ass Pull. Nor could it be some secret nebulous origination, and by the time the ending actually happens you've already realized that there is no satisfying way to end this book. The author has written himself into a corner.
And hell, paying off the all-too-obvious foreshadowing would've been a better ending than what actually happened. The ending as-is, without giving away too much, not only comes straight the hell out of nowhere and makes a very straightforward comedy/suspense book into a work of meta, but also makes it incredibly difficult to give a shit about any of the events prior because, in a nutshell, we've just been told these people don't exist. It's one thing to understand on another level as you're reading that the work in question is fiction, it's quite a different thing for the author to come out and say that even in their own universe the author has ultimate control over these non-entities. (And if that's not the case, than the man behind this whole scheme having the entire thing transcribed makes no fucking sense. Sure, the reveal that our romantic leads finally hooking up isn't in the transcript makes that interpretation null and void, but it's too late. The seed's been planted and I just can't bring myself to give two fucks anymore.)
If you read this book, stop before the final chapter and just assume the foreshadowing worked out. Sure, it's glaringly obvious, but it's better than what we got.