: 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

@Carla500

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It depends on the cliffhanger, has to be the answer.
Book 3 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series finishes on a cliffhanger. (And until King decided to continue writing the series - with, for some fans, questionable results - this was the ending.) The characters are facing trial by riddle with Blaine the Mono, who may kill them at any time.
However this is a positive cliffhanger. To get there, the characters have fought their way through the city, overcoming a number of obstacles. They have also had a showdown with Blaine to earn the right to this contest. The book does not end on a cliffhanger in the sense of "they are immediately about to die", but in the sense of "the story continues". The major obstacles presented in the book have been resolved, and whilst the characters are not safe, their situation is at least stable.
Also consider The Empire Strikes Back. Hoth has been lost to the Empire. Han Solo has been lost to Boba Fett. Luke has been comprehensively beaten by Darth Vader, and has also discovered that what he's been told by his Jedi mentors about the father he's been trying to emulate was a lie. There has been no resolution to events in the film.
And yet the situation is stable. The evacuation of Hoth was a success, and the Rebels have regrouped. All the major characters are at least still alive and safe. Luke's hand has been replaced. Lando and Chewbacca are leaving on a mission to rescue Han. Again, the story continues.
These examples are very different to the pulp-fiction cliffhanger of "tune in next time to find out whether they survive". You can get away with a "will they survive" cliffhanger for something like a TV series where you only have a week to wait until the next installment. For a book where there may be a significant delay until publication of the next installment, this is not acceptable to readers.

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