THIS BLOG CONTAINS SERIOUS SPOILERS!!!
One of the most controversial things an author can do is kill off one of it's main characters. Whether it's a baddie or one of our favourite hero's, killing off a character can cause quite a riot. But, I think that sometimes it's a necessary evil, it gives the book that degree of believability - no matter the genre. I mean Zombie Apocalypse comes not everyone going to live! And if they are, then why the hell are we so worried?Bellow are some of the most controversial kills in YA books that I've come across. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm going to name some dead people. If you've not read the book I suggest skipping to the next one.
The Hunger Games Trilogy - Finnick Odair
Okay, first of all I think this is probably one of the sloppiest kills I've ever read in a book, period! It didn't seem to do anything for the story line or serve any purpose what so ever. I remember reading it and thinking what the hell just happened. It almost felt like Collins killed him just because she could, because she needed something to pad out the chapter a bit. I'm all for axing off a beloved character but this one just felt irrelevant.
On the plus side I've read - although it may just be a rumour - that they plan to rectify this mistake in the movie, as Collins herself also believed it was wrong to kill of Finnick!
Noughts and Crosses - Callum
AH! I read ahead with this one - last page first - and I wish I hadn't. Yes Callum's dead was well written and paramount to the WHOLE series but it was heartbreaking and I wish he hadn't had to die. Author's quite often kill off main character's but I've never known someone to kill off THE main character at the end of the FIRST book. And in all honesty, the other three never quite lived up to the first book.
The Divergent Trilogy - Tris
I'm on the fence with this one. I would have liked to see Tris and Four get their happy ending after everything they've been through but it did feel right. If Tris had let her brother die she wouldn't have been the girl we've comes to love. She's reckless and doesn't think past the now, causing destruction pretty much everywhere she goes. So, really, I don't think I would have been happy with any other ending. Damned if you do, damned if you don't with this one I'm afraid. Although, as far as the writing goes I did like the fact even with her death it wasn't what we expected, Roth still managed to sneak a little twist in there.
The Madness Underneath - Stephen
Okay so technically not dead, well he is dead but it's a book about ghost's so it's not like we're never going to see him again. I think what hurt the most with Stephen's sudden demise what just that, I didn't see it coming. One minute I was awwing at the relationship beginning to develop between him and Rory and the next he's brain dead and they want to turn off the machines. NOOO! I'm dying - no pun intended - to find out what happens in book three and I really hope killing him off was worth it and in some way beneficial to the story line.
Harry Potter - Fred Weasley, Dumbledoor, Dobby & Snape
Where to start... we go six books without having any serious issues with JK and her choice of kills - except maybe Cedric - and then from the last chapters of The Half Blood Prince and the entirety of The Deathly Hallows we're constantly reaching for our tissues. There are so SO many people to choose from with HP but I think that Fred, Dumblerdore, Dobby and Snape where the most heartbreaking.
The Weasley's are the heart of the books and to have one of them killed -for lack of a better word -sucked. I mean couldn't it have been Percy? Who would have really cared if it was Percy? Poor George, he looses his ear and his twin in one book!
Dumblerdore was upsetting, but I don't completely object to his death. You can see why he needed to die, and it was very cleverly done in reference to the elder wand story line. I can now, after a couple of years, accept my favourite bearded wizards death... just about.
Dobby was just... well there are no words for Dobby's death. It was unnecessary and all it did was make us cry. Would it really have hurt to keep him alive?
As for Snape, I think that was the most devastating for me because it wasn't until his death that you found out he wasn't such an evil prat after all. I'll ALWAYS miss him!
SO what do you think? Are there any character kills you wish had never happened? Or do you agree with the authors decision to stick our favourites in the printed graveyard?
