5 Stories that All Have Happy Endings
This weekend, you might be looking for something a bit more comforting in the realm of fiction. Here are five stories to check out for a happy ending.
Sometimes, it’s nice to just sink into a story that has a happy ending at the end of it all. Sure, there are challenges along the way, because no story is really complete without conflict according to that plot line you probably saw way too many times in school. (Say it with me now: exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement.) There’s a time and place for stories that end on ambiguous or even sad notes. This weekend isn’t one of them. So come along with us as we take a look at five book series or novels that end happily.
Cover to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Image via Scholastic.
5. The Hunger Games
Although The Hunger Games starts out really dark, since it’s about kids who are forced to participate in a murderous competition, it does actually end happily. The Capitol does fall, Katniss manages to end up with Peeta and have children, and things have a hopeful note. Sure, the preceding two books and the majority of the third contain some sad or even shocking moments. But at the end of the day, Katniss becomes the Mockingjay, on her own terms, and she leads a rebellion that succeeds.
Cover to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets illustrated edition by J.K. Rowling, with art by Jim Kay. Image via UK publisher Bloomsbury.
4. Harry Potter
Okay, we’ll admit that you probably won’t finish all seven Harry Potter books in one weekend. That would take some serious dedication. (Even if we do love that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets lets Harry triumph because he believes and because he’s worthy of the sword of Godric Gryffindor.) However, if you’re familiar with the series you can probably skip straight to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, which does contain the ending of the series. It doesn’t start out well — Harry, Ron and Hermione end up going on the run, and Voldemort is at the height of his powers for this second go-round of villainy — but, to quote the end of the epilogue, “All was well”.
Still from the opening of Sailor Moon Crystal. Image via Toei Animation / Viz Media.
3. Sailor Moon
Granted, this is actually a still from the second anime, Sailor Moon Crystal, but the manga series did also get a reprint recently in new volumes. Since they’re all graphic novels, too, a dedicated reader could certainly make it through all 12 in a weekend and maybe have time left over for the two volumes of short stories. But Sailor Moon — the story of Usagi Tsukino, who turns into the titular superheroine — has it all: romance, drama, and lots of sailor suits. Perhaps most importantly, though, is that Sailor Moon succeeds with the help of her fellow Sailor Scouts. Friendship matters.
Cover of Tessa Dare’s Do You Want to Start a Scandal. Image via publisher Avon.
2. Literally Any Romance Out There
Okay, so maybe the vast majority of romance novels have happy endings. This is not really a drawback so much as it is a selling point right now. There’s flirting, there’s probably a love scene or two, and they’re comforting because of it. Yours truly will go to bat for a lot of historical romances, and will personally recommend the entirety of Tessa Dare’s oeuvre, with Do You Want to Start a Scandal and When the Scot Ties the Knot as my favorites. There’s a wide world out there for love stories. Pick a couple and go somewhere else with them this weekend.
Cover to Pride & Prejudice (Borders Classic edition). Image courtesy of C. Wassenaar, personal collection.
1. Pride & Prejudice
For those who like a little social commentary to go alongside their romance novels, it’s not a bad idea to curl up with Jane Austen. Of course, Pride & Prejudice is the most well-known of her works, and it’s really hard not to like Elizabeth Bennet as a heroine. She grows up a little, puts up with a lot, and ends up with Mr. Darcy and a really fancy house in the form of Pemberley. Not bad, Miss Bennet. Not bad at all. There are also plenty of retellings out there, including Heartstone, which adds in dragons.
Or, you could just put on the BBC version and see wet Colin Firth.
We’re just saying.
Next: 12 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books We Want to Read This Year
So here’s to a weekend full of pleasant fiction that ends well. Happy reading!