The End of the Untamed Series

Writing the ending for Destroyed, the final book in my Untamed series, was such a daunting task. There was so much I needed to wrap up and I wanted it to be a powerful conclusion so it ends with a bang, but also an ending that felt appropriate for the story and not just powerful for the sake of being so.

It was soooo difficult to write this, and for a long time when I was working on the book, I was alternating between two different endings for Seven and Corin’s story. The first one was the safer option, it felt more comfortable, and the second was a lot more “daring” and powerful, but I knew it had the possibility of annoying some readers.

In the end, I wrote both endings and it took me such a long time to decide which to go with. My lovely beta-readers, critique partners, my editor, and I talked it over several times, and many of them read both versions. Some liked the safer ending, some didn’t. But the reactions to the daring ending were a lot stronger—whether they were positive or negative. They really had opinions on this, and my early readers either LOVED it or HATED the daring ending. The safer ending seemed mediocre in comparison and not particularly special. But the more daring one would likely garner a few more negative reviews, I was warned.

Ultimately, my heart told me to go with the more daring one, even though I knew some readers would hate it. (And there have been readers who’ve hated it and have let me know this!) But I’ve realised now that that’s okay. If I had gone with the “safer” ending, the book wouldn’t have felt true to me or to the story I was writing. And as a writer, you can’t please everyone.

Seven’s story across the four books is one of darkness and challenges as she battles against a world that’s unpredictable and full of peril. To me, it feels like I made the right decision in going for the more risky ending. It fits the tone of the series better.

This morning I saw this review of Destroyed:

And the ending had this reader waking up in the middle of the night, thinking about it! That’s the kind of impact I wanted my writing to have, and honestly reviews like this really make me so happy. I feel like I made the right decision.

I now know that I ended Seven’s story in the correct place, both for me as the author and for the characters in the story. It is such a relief and I’m so glad I went with my heart. Writing Destroyed was always going to be bitter-sweet, with it being the last book in Seven’s story–but I can say that this isn’t the last you’ll see from the Untamed world. I’m writing a second standalone book about new and old characters.