Book Series I Won’t Finish
Book series I won’t finish
I should probably start this post by saying that I don’t typically read series very often; I’m much more a one-book kind of guy. Because of this, I’m probably even less inclined to carry on with a series that can’t hold my interest. After all, persevering to finish one book that isn’t doing much for you is one thing, but forcing yourself through a further two or more books when there are so many other exciting and tempting things sitting on your TBR just seems futile. That said, here are a few series I have fully accepted I likely won’t be finishing.
Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
I actually somewhat enjoyed this when I read it and initially had every intention of carrying on with the series, but months have come and gone, and I still haven’t even gotten round to buying the second book, despite walking past it on bookshop displays several times. I think that kind of speaks for itself. The more I reflect on it, the less interested I am, truth be told. It wasn’t as creepy as I had hoped, and I thought the gimmick of behind inspired by (and literally based around) real life, old photographs felt forced at times.
Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
I read this ages ago, and again, it was perfectly fine at the time but simply did very little for me, and so I haven’t even bothered to check if/when the follow up was released, nor, frankly, do I feel any need to do so now. It had a pretty cover and was getting a lot of buzz when it launched, so I hopped on the bandwagon, but I’m happy to hop back off again and let it keep on rollin’ with those who enjoyed it more than me.
The Chronicles of Alice by Christina Henry
This, on paper, could and should have been something I loved. It’s a dark and twisted retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but in my opinion, it went about the process of a retelling all wrong. Rather than using references to add depth or show themes in a new light, it felt like the author was shoehorning in as many as she could, like ticking boxes on a list. Despite being billed as an adult book, it read very much like YA in terms of the writing and character development, was ‘dark’ only in the simple sense of blood-blood-and-more-blood, and I thought the ending was a major let-down, which sadly left me with no momentum to pick up book 2.
—
There we have it. It’s not lost on me that two of these series are YA, and that one of my criticisms of the other is that it read like YA. Over the last few years, I’ve found myself picking up YA books far less often and feeling largely let down by them more often than not when I do give one a go (there are definitely gems out there though), and that is probably another reason why these no longer appeal to me much.
I suppose I should probably put a little disclaimer here to say that it’s totally cool if you enjoyed these books – each to their own. Also, don’t let my opinion alone put you off if you haven’t read them yet and want to; I’d be happy to hear you went on to enjoy them more than I did!
—
What book series have you decided to ditch?
