FP Staff List: SKYE PAPERS and our other favorite books with twist endings!
In celebration of Jamika Ajalon’s SKYE PAPERS, we said goodbye to “spoiler alerts” and hello to major teasers! The ending of Ajalon’s book will have you reeling (in the best way) so we gathered other beloved books that left us shook. From Nella Larsen’s PASSING to Sarah Water’s FINGERSMITH, we recommend this full suite of tales with twists for when you finish SKYE PAPERS and want more.
Skye Papers
by Jamika Ajalon (Feminist Press)
Skye Papers is an imaginative, episodic group portrait of a transatlantic art scene spearheaded by people of color—and of the fraught, dystopian reality of increasing state surveillance.
—The FP team
Passing
by Nella Larsen (Penguin Classics)
The jaw-dropping finale to this classic book throws you into slow motion as a reader. Those last few pages will have you on the edge of your seat and then screaming WHAT?!
—Lauren
Fates and Furies
by Lauren Groff (Riverhead)
Ok this isn't a twist ending per se, but this book is NOT what you think it is. I don’t want to say more! 10/10 recommend.
—Lucia
By Night in Chile
by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews (New Directions)
I don't know if anyone else considers this a surprise ending, but I was gutted by the book's realizations.
—Jisu
Stories of Your Life and Others
by Ted Chiang (Originally published by Small Beer Press, now Vintage)
So maybe you've seen the movie Arrival, but have you read the source inspiration? While its big realization is more a slow build than a quick twist, this novella—with its inventive structure and concept of time—begs to be reread as soon as you finish it. And I'd suggest keeping some tissues handy.
—Drew
The Seas
by Samantha Hunt (Tin House Books)
A weird, slippery little book that keeps you guessing about what is real.
—Rachel
Fingersmith
by Sarah Waters (Riverhead)
Keeps you guessing till the very last word. Twist-ending canon.
—Nick
King of Joy
by Richard Chiem (Soft Skull Press)
A story of grief told in reverse. This ending has the feel of realizing that the terrible event in your nightmare actually already happened—a hazy, dull ache that's at once gentle, devastating and absurd.
—Isla