Recently, after reading 3 books in a 9 book series, I really didn’t feel that I wanted to continue with the series … but did I really want to break up with it? It seemed so final, but my interest had waned to the point where it might be the end. It got me to thinking though … how do people break up with a book series.
How Do You Break Up With a Book Series
1. Messy
This is when the book you’re reading in the series is so bad you vow to never …. ever … read anything more books in this series – and maybe even shun the author forever. It’s even worse when it’s an author or book series that you really loved. Has this ever happened to you?
This happened to me with the fantasy series, Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. I actually read all 15 books in the series, and then another book came out that was set generations later, The Law of Nines. It was completely different from the rest of the series – and I was not happy about this. I’m not reading any more in this series.
2. Lose Interest
Sometimes, it’s not a big dust-up, but just a loss of interest in proceeding with the series. That’s what happened to me with the Simon Serailler series by Susan Hill. I read the first 3 books … but just don’t have much interest in continuing although I enjoyed it. Have you give up on a series for this reason?
3. Tinged with Regret
Ahhh … this one is why breakups can be so hard. You’re on the fence – you might want to break up, but you’re not quite sure … so what do you do? Do you give it one more shot by reading another book in the series? Because, who knows … it might work out after all. Or do you go on a long hiatus and come back to it later?
4. It’s Just Too Much
This is when the series just gets to have too many books and you feel like you can’t … or don’t want to keep up. Have you ever felt that way? This happened to me with the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. I read 4 of the 13 books before deciding I just couldn’t … or didn’t want to … commit to that long series.
The longest book series I’ve kept up with other than the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind that I mentioned above with its 15 books – is probably the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo that has 11 books with a 12th coming out in summer 2019. I’m still keeping up with it though and I don’t see us breaking up anytime soon.
5. I Forgot About You
There are a few series I’ve started – read the first book and loved it – but for some reason, just forgot to continue on. I’m looking at you Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. I read the first book way back in 2013 and loved it – but … just haven’t followed up with any of the other 6 books in the series!
So those are 5 types of book series break-ups – and I’ve done them all! Can you think of any more? Which is the last book series you’ve had to break up with?
// Comments //
Lena Mistry
I didn’t read the 4th twilight book – got bored! But loved the first three.
I loved the darren shan vampire series books and read all of them. But I didn’t manage to finish his Demonata books as I got caught up in school work and then forgot about it!
I’m generally not much into reading series 🙁
-Lena
x
http://www.lenasnotebook.co.uk
Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf
My most memorable “it’s too much” break up was The House of Night series. I just kept thinking, “Put it out of its misery, please.” I’ve been avoiding a lot of book series for the last couple of years because it’s too hard to keep up if I read the books as they come out.
Tanya Patrice
@Carriw I used to be more diligent about avoiding series until they we’re finished … I think I might need to go back to that
Jo
Great post! I have to say, while I was reading, I was looking for the break up that would fit me and Cassandra Clare’s books. I read the first two books in the Mortal Instruments series, and while I enjoyed them, I wasn’t wowed by them. And she keeps writing more and more in the same world, and I just can’t be bothered. So somewhere between Lost Interest and It’s Just Too Much.
However, saying, that, I did stick with Robin Hobb’s books set in the Realm of the Elderlings. But I think that’s because there weren’t so many already out when I first came to then, and once I caught up, there was a bit of a wait between book releases, so it just didn’t feel like too much. Plus most of the series are trilogies with one quartet, so each individual series wrapped up after a few books, rather than going on and ooon. And now they’re completely finished and I don’t know what to do! This is one world I would love more from!
Aj @ Read All The Things!
Haha, cool post. My breakups are always messy. I love the first few books, but then the series goes downhill, and I’m like, “Yeah, I don’t think I can do this anymore.”
Tanya Patrice
@Aj Lol – I’ve only had a few messy breakups 🙂
Anne@Headfullofbooks
I used to tell people that I couldn’t commit to a long series because I was a librarian and needed to read a variety of books to make recommendations but the truth was, I usually just lost interest or thought the writing wasn’t that strong, so why waste my time?
Once, I wrote a blog post directed at publishers and told them that books for teens need to be short enough to fit into teen years (say four or five books maximum.) My thinking was that teens might fall in love with a series but as they age, they often lose interest or outgrow a series. I was referring to the House of night series which went on and on and on. In the beginning kids couldn’t wait for the sequel, later they could care less about it.
My daughter refuses to start a series until it is complete because, if she gets hooked, she wants to race through the books, not wait for a sequel to be written and by the time it is published, she’s forgotten key details of the first.
I’ve not finished A LOT of YA series and haven’t started many/any adult series. I’d say my real excuse is usually that I just don’t care enough to keep reading.
Tanya Patrice
@Anne .like your daughter and much prefer to read series that are already finished.
Lena Mistry
omg such a good reason!!
Jaymi at OrangeCountyReaders
Great topic. How about when a series becomes so repetitive and predictable? What kind of break up is that?!
Tanya Patrice
@Jaymi Ooh I like that one … Not sure what to call it. Do you have an example of when this happened to you?
Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf
Long series make me feel overwhelmed, and I never seem to finish them. I’m really not much good past a trilogy, it seems. Which is weird because when I was a kid, I devoured ALL of the Sweet Valley books, and Nancy Drew, and Babysitter’s Club, etc.
Tanya Patrice
@Monika – Yes! Sometimes it also gets tedious to keep track of all the books coming out.