: Re: Should I end my book on a major cliffhanger? I am writing a YA fantasy series, and I'm wondering if the first book should end in a major cliffhanger. Right as the book ends, the main characters

@Kristi637

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You can - but there's some important factors to consider here. This level of cliffhanger goes far behind a simple sequel hook where you've left some unresolved plot threads for the following book to pick up and run with, or even "part of a series" - instead you're literally finishing the book before the end of the story. As it stands without the next book it's incomplete.
So if you want to take this approach what you need to do is write the next book as well. Then look at the two as a whole - do they constitute a single story in two parts or is the cliffhanger resolved (relatively) quickly before moving on to the story of book 2?
If it's the former then you've got yourself a genuine duology, and if you were looking to publish this by a publisher you would be able to provide them with both parts. This can allay concerns that the second part isn't going to deliver - and they might even prefer to have the option of combining the two.
If it's the latter then I'd consider moving the resolution of the cliffhanger into the first part - the pattern of having a cliffhanger and resolving it quickly is a fine (if somewhat cheap) trick to keep the audience engaged in some formats (weekly TV shows, soap operas, comic books - that sort of thing) but in a book series? It's poor form in my opinion and readers are very likely to be annoyed by it.

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