Series I Won’t Be Finishing

Hello, Happy New Year! What I’ve decided to do this year is continue going through my owned books and my goodreads shelves and figure out what I want to read and what I don’t. I’ve been adding books to my goodreads ‘to read’ shelf for nearly 5 years now and it’s currently sitting at over 1000 books. Obviously, I won’t be able to read them all before I die of oldyness. (Hopefully I die of oldyness. You never know I suppose). So I’m periodically scanning and purging books – today I’m going to talk about series I’ve started and am not going to finish either from dislike or disinterest. For all the series mentioned, I’ll be removing the remaining books from my goodreads shelf (and if I own a physical copy, I’ll donate them or turn them in at HPB or somethin’)

So here we go. :”D

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Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I read the first one of these either in late 2014 or early 2015. At the time I had rated it 3 stars – it was decent, I liked it. I didn’t stick out to me as anything special though. And what really sealed the deal on this one honestly was today I was at an overstock bookstore and found Hollow City in hardback for $2… and had no desire to buy it. There you go, I suppose. So this one can be marked up as ‘can’t be bothered’.

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

This is one of those ‘post Hunger Games’ books I read when I was chewing at the bit for dystopian novels. I read the first one, found it decent, and then was majorly spoiled for the last two books before I could find copies and read them for myself. I’ve been spoiled so badly that I feel like I know everything that’s going to happen already… and therefore have zero desire to actually read them. My copy of Divergent has since been exchanged at Half Price Books. Hopefully someone who doesn’t know the entirety of the series already will enjoy it.

Matched by Ally Condie

This is one of those series I picked up out of hype. There will be a few on this list – needless to say that’s why my resolution for 2016 was to avoid doing that anymore so less books will end up on lists like this one. This book was just okay. I’m not a fan of love triangles especially when they’re the major plot point of the story. Next.

 

Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

This is a book I picked up based off a recommendation from a friend – she told me it’s just like Supernatural, a TV show that I adore. Well. It kind of was. It was lacking a lot of character development and honestly plot. It was based around a beautiful and attractive teenage girl that tropily thought of herself as plain. Honestly didn’t dig it and after two books, I’m tapping out.

 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I’m afraid this book has ruined me for any of her other books. I really disliked this book. It was essentially Twilight with werewolves instead of vampires. The characters were flat, the plot was choppy… it just wasn’t good. I’ve heard that The Raven Cycle is supposed to be a really amazing series but like I said, this series has made me weary. If you’ve read The Raven Cycle and this series and can vouch for the newer one, please do tell me.

Graceling by Kristen Cashore

When I first read this, I rather enjoyed it. I liked the main character and the plot. When I picked up Fire however, I noticed that the same overall series of events kinda happened. Main character has neato powers, main character meets dude who butts head with her at first but then they get along… blah blah. I actually ended up putting the second book down before finishing it because I felt like I was reading the same book over again. Haven’t touched the third one. But like I said, I liked the first one. I just… want to read different books instead of the same thing again.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Another ‘hype’ book. Honestly I liked the first one – I gave it four stars I think. But the idea of continuing it for four or five more books didn’t sound too appealing to me. So I decided to put it off… and then I forgot what happened in the first book. When I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to reread book 1 so I could read book 2, I decided to just drop the series. I’ve already given it away in its box set to a friend – hopefully she’ll like it and finish the whole thing.

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

This is actually the first book I ever reviewed on this blog. At the time, I really enjoyed it. I ended up giving it a 4 star rating. And I gave it a decently positive review as well. Though by the time the second book came out, I feel like my feelings towards it had soured. I can’t put my finger on why – I’m thinking it’s to do with the premise. I’m not sure. All I can say though is that when I found book 2 for cheap, I didn’t bother getting it. So maybe I’m missing out, who knows. But buh, no interest.

Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi

I’m thinking that I’m just too old for this series. It seems rather plain to me. That said, I also don’t understand the fascination with middle grade literature on booktube and sometimes in book blogs. Like, I don’t. Nothing about a middle grade book appeals to me. I have no desire to read about a 10 year old having an adventure for 10 year olds.

I had picked this up – you guessed it – due to hype. I got what… I think 5 volumes in and was still horribly indifferent to its plot and characters. So I’m dropping it. If you’re a huge fan of middle grade literature, please please tell me why you enjoy it so much. I’m not trying to say it’s all bad – I’m not. I’m honestly just curious and I would love the opinion of someone who sees what I don’t. I mean sure, I can see why kids enjoy it. But as a 26 year old, stories about kids doing kid things just do nothing for me – so like I said, if you enjoy it, please tell me what about it sparks interest for you that I’m obviously not getting. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Legend by Marie Lu

This series I enjoyed up until I didn’t. I got through the second book and then something happened towards the end of that book that screamed ‘Here the main plot is done but I’m gonna drop a plot device so I can write a third book’. And I didn’t like it. It made me interest in book 3 drop to zero. Buh, it’s a shame. I liked it up until then.

 

Addicted by Krista and Becca Ritchie

This is a wildly popular series that I feel like I just didn’t cling to. My main problem with this series is the characterization. Both of the main characters are their addictions and nothing else. Like, they’re walking talking mental illnesses. Neither one of them seem human to me. I feel like they were written to serve a single purpose and other than that purpose – personifying their respective addictions – I know nothing about their personalities. Like, I feel nothing towards them. I feel like I don’t know who they are as characters aside from a single facet. So yeah, not continuing this one. It didn’t jive with me. If you like it, more power to you.

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And that’s it! It’s always fun putting controversial opinions on the internet. Happy reading! :”D