Had to choose between skipping the last 50 pages or reading them for book club

Last month our club was debating "The Midnight Library" and I hit a wall around page 250. The main character was about to make her final choice but I could already guess the ending from three chapters back. I stopped reading right there and went to the meeting with my opinion formed from just the setup. Three other people admitted they skimmed the end too and we had a better debate than the group that actually finished it. We spent the whole hour arguing about whether the journey even matters if you can predict the landing. Has anyone else skipped an ending and felt like you got more out of the discussion?

2 comments

2 Comments

paige87021d ago

Three other people admitted they skimmed the end" - honestly, you guys were just being efficient with your time, not lazy!

piper17521d ago

Ngl, I've totally done that with a few books and it honestly felt like a secret hack. One time I showed up to a book club having read maybe sixty percent of the book and just bullshitted my way through the whole discussion based on guesses. Everyone thought I was super deep because I started talking about how the ending felt inevitable from the start, and honestly it was just because I stopped paying attention after the middle. It's like you get so much more time to come up with a hot take when you don't have to slog through the rest to confirm it. Plus, I figure if you can call the ending from a mile away, the author already did half the work for you.