22 Jul 2015

My Love-Hate Releationship with Series & Why It's Time for a Breakup

I have a love-hate relationship with series. When done right, they can be fantastic. Only thing though, I’ve rarely had luck with them. Vampire Academy is my favourite series, but I binge-read that back in 2012 and have since yet to find one that delivers with each instalment. But more that that, I think the problem is me. Yes, it really is one those, it’s-not-you-it’s-me situations.

Over the past few years, I can’t tell you the number of series I’ve started out loving and then just bombed out with. Some of this had to do with the books not being as good as the first and/or failing to live up to my expectations, but mostly, I think it was the dreaded wait in-between. And when I think about it, it’s not that hard to see why this is a problem for me. I mean, you’re being told this incredible story, where you’re completely invested, hook, line and sinker, and then the story ends, most likely leaving you on a cliffhanger. Fast forward a year or more with a new instalment out, lots more books read since, and a foggy memory on what exactly went down and how it all ended. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Sometimes I’m just left wondering...would I still love this series had I held off until the rest of the books had released? So, that’s why I’ve come to the decision to take a break from series, at the least the uncompleted ones. I like books; I like series; but I do not like waiting. What can I say, I’m a little bit impatient. So until then, I’ll be sticking to standalones and completed series. The upside? Hopefully less disappoint and a binge-fest of bookish goodness to be had in the future.

So tell me: what do think of series? What do love about them and what do you hate? Do you hate the wait in-between and find it affects your enjoyment, like me?

7 comments:

  1. I totally understand! There's so many series out there that I've started but haven't finished due to them not being completed or them not being easily available for me to read. I like reading a series where I have all the books to read so I can be fully invested in the series and not be disrupted.

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  2. I'm the same. By the time the second or third book has come out, I've forgotten why I loved the first so much. The excitement I felt after finishing the first has disappeared and I generally never end up reading the sequels, even if I loved the first :( I'm holding off on series for the time being and then I'll binge read once all are released :P

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  3. Great discussion! This is a really hard one for me... because it totally just depends. There are some books where I feel like they'd work better as standalones, but at the same time, some of my favourite books are, well, part of a series. One of the major cons of the series is--like you mentioned--obviously that by the time we get to the second, third, fourth, etc., we've forgotten what's happened in the previous novel. (Just FYI, I totally recommend recaptains.co.uk for recaps--SO useful for plot.) Ultimately, I think I'll always prefer series--especially because my favourite genre is fantasy, and fantasies often tend to be series--but in saying that, I wish there were more standalones out there!

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  4. OH, and I noticed on the side you're Aussie?! Hello, fellow Aussie. :)

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  5. I've had to start being pickier with the series I read as well. There are just too many of them, and not every author knows how to sustain a series really well. There were days I was obsessed with finishing anything I started reading, but I realized it's better for me to move on to something I like than to stick with a series I think is just okay. I also like when multiple books of the series are already out. I hate forgetting what happened in a series whose first book I read five years ago.

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  6. I tooootally understand this! there are a lot of series I won't start until at least book two, but because I don't know if there will be a love triangle or not. :/ But I think binging a series is sometimes so much better than having to wait years.

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  7. I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE THE WAIT BETWEEN SERIES. It frustrates me half to death, mostly because I have a horrific memory!! I DO. It's so bad that I got a sequel in the mail the other day and literally sat there and blinked at it and had noooo idea how the previous books ended. *collapses in a heap sobbing* I also don't really have time (or interest) to reread, so it's a problem. :( I'm never going to "break up" with series, though, because I'm way too addicted and invested in so much BUT THEY GIVE ME SO MUCH STRIFE.

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