Would this ending anger you?

This is something I've been thinking about for a very long time, and I asked some people about it. I know that if I do this wrong I will definitely make readers mad, but would this ending anger you as it is right now?
Someone hurts the MC and causes him a lot of pain, so he gets revenge on them in a rather subtle but serious way. Time goes on, and the MC ends up with a happy ending (for now). There will also be foreshadowing showing that something bad is going to happen by having someone else say he shouldn't have did what he did. This person also warned him against doing this in the first place. The bad thing he does ends up coming back to bite him, and he dies at the end, along with a completely innocent character.
So, would this make you mad as a reader?
EDIT: he does become famous after his death, which was a dream of his.

 

I think that's a question for your beta readers. There's really not enough information here to make a judgment call.

There's a lot of ways that could go wrong, and a lot of ways it could be just fine.

Try it out, then send it out for opinions.

 

It's not the idea that matters -- it's the writing.

 

Me personally? Yes, I'd probably throw the book across the room and leave a scathing review on Goodreads. I don't enjoy making an emotional investment in a main character only for them to die at the end - I just don't find it a very satisfying conclusion.

 

It would make the book seem pretty pointless, yes.

 

Okay, I forgot to put an important detail in, I guess because it would be in the epilogue and I wasn't thinking about it. Would it make it any less angering that the MC became a famous poet after his death, which was a dream of his?

 

Nope.

 

Remember a well known fellow by the name of Bill Shakespeare?
He constantly kills everybody in the end, so you are at a 50/50
as far as it being a good ending or a Debbie Downer.
Just hinges on how it all goes down in your portrayal of it.

 

If they were characters people sympathized with, it would make people mad. But (from what I can tell) people like a happy ending, or a cliffhanger, because that means there will most likely be another book. Negative emotions aren't things people want to feel after reading a book.

 

Nope +1. I read Bridge to Terabithia as a child and was scarred for life. Authors who yank the rug out from under me don't get a second chance at my money.

I think the only way I'd be okay with it was if from the beginning there was significant foreshadowing that all was not going to end well for the MC. At least that way I can either decide to stop reading, or stick with it knowing there's a good chance the MC will have a tragic end. But to have it seem like everything's going to be okay and then BOOM HE'S DEAD a few chapters later? Well, that's not going to make me a very happy reader or reviewer.

 

I personally would say no so long as there is a purpose. If you intend for the MC to die, you need to ensure that the story concludes in this fashion, and the reader will be presented this in a way where they won't feel negatively about your story after having finished it. Not much information given, but does your MC leave a positive impact on the world around him/her? That could be a good way of ending - Seeing the impact on the world.

 

I would love a sucker-punch tragedy like this

That would make the ending focus far less on the tragedy of the character's quest for revenge taking its toll on him and on the people around him.

So no, that would make me angry, not soothe.

EDIT: Unless the characters in the epilogue are thinking back on the damage that the revenge inflicted (such as the MC's dream happening without him being there to enjoy it the way that he otherwise could've)?

 

You know, honestly, I love a good cry.

It still has to be a satisfying ending, though. It has to make sense and feel appropriate.

 

Maybe this should be a two-part question:

1) Do you like sad endings?
2) Would this one make you angry?

I don't like sad endings. If I did, I suspect this one would still bother me, but I don't, so I can't be sure.

 

Just like real life. Oh my.

Yeah, depending on how it's written it could be a very good book, but it would in no way be escapist. I guess it all depends on what you're trying to say with your story and who your demographic is. I would personally probably enjoy an ending like that, but it would have to match the tone of the rest of the book and be very low on schmaltz.

 

Depends- would the death in itself (outside the fact that it's karma) serve a purpose or be meaningful?