A weekly meme that asks bloggers to post their opinions on specific topics.
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This week's topic: Twisty

1. Do YOU like books with complicated plots and unexpected endings?
Complicated plots are a sure way to lure me into reading anything. I really liked the few Sherlock Holmes novels I read when I was a kid, and mystery novels are still a favourite genre of mine. I like it especially much if the author throws little hints that you would NEVER notice until the big reveal and then I get so "OMGREALLYAWESOME" and want to reread the whole book just so I can go "I see! Right there!"
Maybe off topic, but I also love complicated characters who have very ambiguous motives. I don't usually like it when I can just guess how each character is going to react in every scene and would prefer lots of backstabbing, unvoiced sacrifice, etc. from the protagonists' side (rather than just complicated villains).
As for unexpected endings, it really depends on what kind of ending and how attached I am to the characters. If I loved the characters and the twist ending was "death for the sake of surprise" then I would hate it. There are also "unexpected" endings that I've pretty much figured out before the end of the book (ex. Demon's Lexicon) and thus were quite underwhelming. However, I admit I love sappy happy endings too, and sometimes I'm just in a mood for the characters to live happily ever after. Tragic unexpected endings, I guess, aren't my favourites, especially if I'm very attached to the characters.

2. What book with a surprise ending is your favorite? Or your least favorite?
I have to say Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk has that perfect balance of twisted but unassuming plot and completely unexpected ending (well, middle). The little hints the author dropped with such unassuming but repeated lines as "I know this because Tyler knows this." and his oft mentioned insomnia went by as "quirky" and "suspicious", but I never actually saw the twist coming. The fact that the twist was in the middle was a bit different, but the rest of the book is spent in the Realization stage and I got to say "I see now!" without having to reread the first half of the book again. It's not just gratuitous exposition either, the plot moves on, much like real life would if you've just found out a terrible secret. The fact that the first and second last chapters use almost the exact same wording and format, but the latter carries with it a new layer of understanding is quite ingenious. Sure there's social commentary on consumer society and male social disconnection, but this was an extremely fun book to read for the complicated plots, characters AND middle.