If the first book in a series is really bad...

[Dvora]

Do you continue reading the series or don't even bother? If yes why? If no, why not?

[Bridget's Quiet Corner]

Usually, no...I think the only ones I tried with were Evernight series & Sookie Stackhouse series....Sookie Stackhouse series wasnt horrible, but to me, it wasnt that wonderful either. Most other books, I just left alone. Some series, I will love the first book, and hate the 2nd. It was like that with Angel Burn. I loved that book, but couldnt get into Angel Fire...sigh..

[DeAnna]

If it's really bad, then no. If I didn't like the first book, there's no point making myself read another book I probably won't like.

However, if it's just an okay book, I guess it depends on how it ended and how many books are currently out. If it was just okay, and the next book isn't out yet, I probably won't bother, but if it is out, then I may pick it up.

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

I'll read on if it's a good story :) But if it's "really bad" as you put it, then I probably wouldn't have thought it's a good story and will stop!

[Dvora]

FYI, I am using the word horrible because that is what someone said about a series. "The series was horrible. Taffy for the brain." As a writer, I am just seeing what a reader thinks of this issue. Thanks for all the wonderful feedback. FYI, the book in question was Twilight. ;)

[Lola]

Usually if I really didn't like the first book (like 1 or 2 stars) then I won't bother reading the second book. Maybe in some occasions when people convince me the second book is really better I may read the second book. If the first book was okay (3 stars) then I consider whether to read the second book or not. This depends on why I thought the book was only okay and indeed what I have heard about the second book. If a first book is a 4 or 5 star I will read the second book also.

[Brandy]

If the story is horrible but the concept is good or I liked the characters then I will give the second book a try. What I don't like is a series that starts out amazing and then goes south. I was highly disappointed in a series I have followed for years. The last book just recently came out and to say the least I thought it was horrible.

[Eva]

well, the only series i found horrible enough t not keep reading was Fallen, usually i try my best to give them a chance. Oh my goodness i could even finish the first one, let alone the rest.

[Mara]

It depends on how the book ends. A book can be horrible from beginning and throughout the middle, but if the end shows the promise of an improved sequel, I will give it a chance. However, if the second volume hasn't improved by the first 50 or 100 pages, I'll give up. Generally, though, if the first book is bad, I won't continue with the series unless I'm looking for laughs.

[Ashley]

It really depends. Most of the time I will give the second book a try even if I didn't love the first one. But, if I can't get into the second one then I won't keep going with the series.

[Cynthia]

For me it depends on what aspect of the book is bad. If the writing is bad but I enjoy the overall storyline, I will usually at least attempt to continue the series. If the writing is good but the storyline isn't something I can get interested in, then I most likely will not continue reading it unless if I hope it will progess. If a book has both poor writing and a slow storyline, chances are I will not read the second one.
That being said, I read the first three books in the Hush,Hush series before I gave up on that series so apparently I do continue reading series that I don't really like :P

[Lindsey]

No, perfect example

[Sherrie]

It all depends on the ending. I struggled to get through because the pacing was so slow but the ending was so intriguing I think I will give the second book in the series a chance.

[Yzabel]

No, unless someone would convince me that the next books are really better than the first one. As much as I enjoy giving authors & stories second chances, if I didn't enjoy a book to the point of giving it 1 stars, it makes no sense bothering with the next one. I'd do it for the books I rated 3+ stars. Maybe with the 2-stars ones, too, depending on why exactly I didn't like them (there are some elements I can overlook, and others I can't).

[Katelyn]

Nope, not unless it was bad up to the ending. I buy most of my books so I wouldn't want to waste money if I didn't like the first book.

[Jonel]

If it's actually bad, then no I won't go on. As long as I see some promise in the first novel I will generally go on as long as the second has already been published. If it hasn't, I tend to have forgotten about the series by the time it is published.

[Kasie]

It depends on how bad the book is. I wasn't a fan of the matched series. Its not a bad series but I did finish the series. But if it is a "2 star" book I probably would not finish.

[Erica]

I couldn't even finish the first book in the Graceling series. I have never not finished a book until that. So I will not be finishing that series!

[Hannah]

Depends really. Sometimes I'll skim ahead and see if you have anything interesting going on. If not, *toss* (okay, not a horrible toss)
Though if there is... I might consider it. But it rarely happens to me, lol (because I'm such a picky on books sometimes).

[Erica]

I can be extremely picky, but even if I don't like it, I'll finish. Well.. Except for Graceling because I thought it was a MAJOR snoozer!

[Hannah]

Erica wrote: "I can be extremely picky, but even if I don't like it, I'll finish. Well.. Except for Graceling because I thought it was a MAJOR snoozer!"

Spare me the gruesome details, lol. Its part of my 2013 TBR Challenge Pile as well o-o

[Colee]

Eva wrote: "well, the only series i found horrible enough t not keep reading was Fallen, usually i try my best to give them a chance. Oh my goodness i could even finish the first one, let alone the rest."

Same here. I really wanted to like it, but no dice.

[Erica]

@Sophie good luck sister! I fell asleep after pg 150

[Hannah]

Erica wrote: "@Sophie good luck sister! I fell asleep after pg 150"

The cover's pwetty... and the synopsis is pretty good... I hope it's not bad. Or maybe it will be. I hope it's not. Will it? *facepalm*

[Hannah]

Erica wrote: "@Sophie good luck sister! I fell asleep after pg 150"

The cover's pwetty... and the synopsis is pretty good... I hope it's not bad. Or maybe it will be. I hope it's not. Will it? *facepalm*

[Tracy]

For me it really depends on how bad the book really was. If I have read a lot of good reviews on the series I may continue but for the most part I just never get around to reading the rest of the series.

[Erica]

Well I'm just easily bored.. Maybe it gets better..

[Kasie]

I am usually very picky but every once in awhile one gets through that I do not like.

[Erica]

Same

[Hannah]

I think that happens to all of us. Or in my case... it hardly happens. Until I crash into The Caster Chronicles. o-o

[Hannah]

❄ Sophia wrote: "I think that happens to all of us. Or in my case... it hardly happens. Until I crash into The Caster Chronicles. o-o"

Oh blah. Internet connection... *facepalm*

[Erica]

Ha ha oh wi-fi..

[Hannah]

I know right... wifi loves annoying me. :p *gives it virtual devil horns o-o*

[Scott]

If I think a book is really bad I probably won't even finish it, much less any others in the series.

Ummm...hmmm...I don't really have any exceptions to this because I don't think there have ever been any for me in reading. Can I make a movie reference? I disliked the first Star Trek movie but enjoyed movies 2-9 :)

Yeah, yeah...that's probably not the same thing. But still!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Lol that counts I'd say!

[Karen’s Library]

I usually don't even start books that I'd find really bad or I'd give a 1 or 2 star rating anymore. That's what my GR friends are for! I.e., if Heidi or David really like something, it automatically goes on my TBR list! So if I hate a book, I won't finish the first one or start the next book. If I rate the first book a 3, it's questionable if I'll continue the series. A 4 or 5 is an automatic read of the series!

My time is too precious to read bad books or books that aren't my genre. ;-P

[Jonel]

definitely agree with you there Scott. things do tend to get better over the course of a series. :)

[Jonel]

definitely agree with you there Scott. things do tend to get better over the course of a series. :)

[Scott]

They do, but you have to be willing to stay the course. I've found myself on more than one occasion trying to "give a chance" to a book I'm not enjoying, and it ended up redeeming itself. At the very least, there has to be enough there to be willing to give the rest a try. I don't mind a slow start to a story, so long as I'm giving some inkling that it's going to take off soon.

There's also the problem of starting something new at all. If you just finished the last book of a long series that you've loved, it can be hard to "give a chance" to a new book and not be critical, even if the result is that you're being unfair.

[Harold]

In all my experiences with books, I've almost never seen a sequel that is much better than the first book. The only, and I repeat: ONLY exception to this rule that I've seen is Insurgent. Speaking from the point of view of someone who wasn't terribly pleased with Divergent, Insurgent was to me a great book that was of astronomically better quality than the first book.

But, no, I usually don't read the sequels to bad books.

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Harold wrote: "In all my experiences with books, I've almost never seen a sequel that is much better than the first book. The only, and I repeat: ONLY exception to this rule that I've seen is Insurgent. Speaking ..."

Yeah, it is pretty rare although I've had a few lately. I thought Days of Blood and Starlight was miles better than the first and I thought the Chaos Walking series got better with each book :) But in both those series I really liked the first book so of course I was always going to read the sequels, so I guess it's a little different :)

[Jonel]

Generally, I'd have to agree with that. Yet, I just finished a book that I wasn't at all enthused with but am dying to read the sequel. The first book was definitely a lot of background but had hints to what was coming and I feel that it will be much more intriguing. That said, I haven't read the sequel yet, so I'm not sure how this is going to go for me. It's definitely on my to read list though.

I find that you see more of a change in the books throughout the series if it's a first book/series for an author, especially if they don't employ a good, professional editor. Sometimes it takes an author a bit to get used to writing for a broad audience. They need to warm up to it, then you see a spiked increase in quality with the 2nd and 3rd books.

[Denise]

Depends on it... If everyone is speaking about how good the serie is I'm giving it a shot...

[Jazzabella ~*~ Catherine~*~]

It depends. If I read the first book and I don't like it I usually won't continue on. It would take quite a few people or someones opinion that I really trusted (eg. LOTS of books in common) to convince me to try the next book. I'm pretty particular about picking up a book in the first place though so if I don't think I will like it, I just don't read it!

[[deleted user]]

I can tell by a few pages if I am going to like the book or not. So, it depends if I read the book or read a few pages of it and stop.

[Bee]

It depends. If it was okay I may give the next book a shot to see if it's better then the first. But if I really didn't like it, I don't bother reading the next because that would just be a waste of time. :P

[Joanna Marie]

I'd still try and read the sequel even if I found the first in the series not that exciting. If the second is better then I'm glad I tried! :)

[Carol]

If the first book isn't that great, then I won't read the second one, unless, as others have mentioned, I was intrigued by the characters or it had a good ending. If the first book is really bad, then I probably wouldn't continue with the series.

[Victoria]

I'm one of those who likes to finish things. No matter how rubbish it was, I've never given up on a book (even if it got an awful review from me afterwards). I've never had the oppertunity to put it to the test, thankfully, since I've been lucky enough not to be disappointed with many books (it comes with liking such a variety of genres, I think) but I'm pretty sure that would extend to a series in my case.

[Donna]

I don't finish books that don't continue to hold my interest and/or have got really really bad editing (unless the story is really really good, but come on, how hard is it to just reread your darn manuscript and correct the obvious errors?), or if a book has a character do something that is just so far off the believability charts that I cannot swallow it, even with a stiff drink.
My time is my life ticking away. Tick, tick, tick. Yes, I am older but I have pretty much always had the feeling that I have a finite amount of time and so much to cram into it.

With the rise of the Kindle and the internet there are so may many more books to read besides the ones sitting on the shelves of the local library or book seller. So believe me, I want to read the best ones. I know they are there, those books I can't get enough of, those books I am sad to see end, those books with a second and third and fourth in the same story, to continue that book I did not want to end. I want to read THOSE books, not the ones I can't wait for them to end. I decide when the book ends: It ends when I stop believing. It ends when I cannot bear(bare?) to continue.
My time is my life.