Responses
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Wow this was exactly what I was thinking but you explained it so well. I was so disappointed at the ending too. Well in general I don't find many stories with a really satisfying ending. But one of my favorite endings belongs to Moritat. It just blew my mind. If you haven't read it I highly recommend
The ending felt like a Deus Ex Machina.
It's like the author built up all the tension, and suspense, and horror while leading us to expect something big or a plot twist or even just a revelation... then just went "oh yeah, those hands were real! people were killed! the end~".
Nothing ended up being explained, not so much as even a hint. An open-ended ending could be what she was going for, like "I wonder what is in their future?" but instead it's just straight up confusing.
I assume the author probably didn't even have an explanation, so she just pulled out a "and everyone was murdered!" and called it a day. It's like when authors say "and it was all a dream!" after writing an epic adventure or something. It takes all my emotional investment and steps on it because it's telling me that my investment had been pointless.
Sadge. I really had expected something mind-twisting the way things were going, hoping for something unexpected, but my expectations were dashed with the typical.