Standalone or Series?

[Isadora]

This folder hasn't been active in a while, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading through past debates! So I'm starting a new one :)
I just finished reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik and loved how cleanly it ended. Though I love YA duologies and trilogies, I noticed that my top, most loved books tend to be standalone (books that don't have any sequels).
Which would you prefer—standalone books or books that come in series? And why?

[Esther]

I like series because if I like the book then I never want to stop reading and if there is a trilogy or duology then there is so much you can read. That is just my opinions though.

[levanaxc]

I'm actually the complete opposite! My favourite genre is fantasy, so the majority of my favourite books are in series. I think that with series, there is so much more development of the world, the plot, the characters, everything. I love being able to go on a long journey that doesn't just end after one book because I'll get to continue with the story in the next few books, be able to stay in the world longer and experience and know more about it. I love contemporaries too, don't get me wrong, but if I had to choose, I would definitely go with books in series. :D

[Jessica]

I tend to read more series, like FangirlLevana said there's a lot more development and you get to be in that world much longer, which is my favorite.

[idiffer]

I prefer standalones, duologies or trilogies. Anything more tends to be poorly written (maybe because authors are prolonging the series for money and not out of devotion to some grand story arc, and this shows in the writing). Even in reviews for trilogies I see comments about "first novel being a huge setup" or "second-novel syndrome". One book is enough to include all the relevant themes and ideas, so what ends up being prolongated is only the plot, in which case it better be a damn good plot if you want me to stick around for 10 books. Spoiler: in most cases it's not, and I can see it from the blurb. Battles with aliens or wars, betrayals, court politics with magic as a background don't sound interesting anymore. I also have serious doubts about authors delivering plot twists consistently for many books in a series. Plus, I get bored of the same characters and setting after a while.

[Bailey]

I will always prefer series because I love getting so close to the characters and having a longer, more detailed, and fleshed out series. There are some stories that are meant to be standalones though