Cliff Hangers

 

     As much as we hate when we are reading and are left with unanswered questions, what's a good book without cliff hangers? Yes we like to know what happens next, but when you think about it, cliff hangers are what keep you reading a book. I personally love when every chapter leaves me on edge. Of course then I never want to stop reading and thus the cliff hanger serves its purpose. I don't particularly like when entire books end in cliff hangers though, then you have to wait until the next book in the series comes out. But hey, you buy the next book don't you! For the authors that's a mission accomplished.

 

    The book I am currently reading (13 Wishes) does a good job in ending some of the chapters in suspense. For example, in chapter seven, Tanya first learns about the woman who was the original owner of her grandmother's mansion. It was said that her husband turned her into a mental hospital after she was accused of being a witch. The text says, "'Tanya, Elizabeth Elvesden never came out of the asylum. She died in there when she was only twenty-three'" (Harrison 108). Reading this gave me the chills. I had to keep reading on to figure out what other mysteries the house held. Later on in the story Tanya comes across a picture of the girl who went missing in Hangman's woods fifty years ago. Fabian tells her that she was her grandmother's best friend. After closely looking at the photo, the two realize that its the same girl they saw when they got lost in the woods earlier that week. Chapter nine ends like this, "They stared at the photograph. There was no doubt in Tanya's mind that the girl standing with her grandmother was the same girl they had seen in the woods... Fabian looked troubled. 'There's... there's something I have to tell you'" (Harrison 132). I wanted to know what he was going to tell her so to the next chapter I went.

 

    Books aren't the only things that use cliff hangers to their advantage. Movies use them to get you to want to see the sequel and TV shows use them so you watch the next season. For example one of my favorite series Touch ended with the biggest cliff hanger, The series was about a boy named Jake who knows how the future will plan out based off of numbers. He gave clues to his dad to make sure the future happened correctly. There is also a girl who has the same gift, Amelia. However, the company Astrocorps kidnaps her and fakes her death so they can use her to improve their business and gain money. Throughout the first series we get clues that Amelia is still alive and Jake and his dad learn that the same company wants to come after Jake. At the end of the last episode, Jake and his dad run into a woman after they go into hiding from Astrocorps. It just so happens that the woman is Amelia's mother! I mean what?!? I can assure you that I watched the next season.