Breaking Down the Trilogy: Book Three, or The Book With All the Feels

Like trilogies, we’re on the third and (hopefully) best part of this series. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been discussing trilogies, taking a look at each book as a stage of the series.

You can see what I said about Book One and Book Two by clicking on each title. 🙂

Today’s focus is:

Part Three: Book Three, the Book with All the Feels

Book Three is the most straightforward for me: I want closure and drama. I want to feel like the story has built to an awesome climax, and then I want to feel like the story is over.

Characters should have developed from the beginning of the story, and the plot should show off their new strengths and values. Even newer characters in the story should feel familiar and beloved by this point.

Conflicts that have been simmering should boil over—and in some way be resolved. Bonus points if any of those conflicts seemed separate but turn out to be connected in some appropriately mind-blowing way.

I want lots of romantic fireworks, if it is that kind of series. If there is a love triangle, one person should clearly “win” and it would be great if we got some cute scenes between them and the MC. A cute epilogue that hints at an adorable future for the two love interests is to die for.

And of course, I want LOTS OF FEELS. I expect a little bit of heartbreak, a lot of fangirling, and possibly some tears (happy and sad).

Though I want lots of drama, I don’t want the drama to be senseless. It should be a continuation and a culmination of what the other books have been laying the groundwork for.

For me, at least, I would rather have a moderately dramatic ending that nicely ties together plot lines from the series and leads to an overall resolution than a massive, heart-racing, tear-inducing ending that prioritizes drama over ending the book on an appropriate note.

Sometimes, with the really dramatic climaxes that Book Threes feature, there is so much going on that I lose track of the story. This sucks. Part of it is my fault (I like to read quickly, and I sometimes miss details like where each character is) but part of it is the fault of the story. Drama is good, but understanding the drama is also important. I care a lot more when I know what’s going on.

Also, though I expect the characters to develop a lot during the final book, I want those changes to make sense, and to still happen at a realistic pace. When characters sudden shuck off their previous persona and step into their role as the Hero of the Story in the last book, it often feels fake.

Slower paced, explicable changes that are clearly rooted in the series are what I enjoy. Of course, I want the protagonist to have conquered her demons and developed into a heroic person by the end of the trilogy, but I want to understand how it happened, which for me, means gradual changes.

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What do you think?

Do you love the drama, or wish that authors would tone it down?

Which book in a trilogy is your favorite to read usually?