Sequels are the bane of my existence. I love them and I hate them. If I could read standalones for the rest of my life, I would. Sadly, series, trilogies, duologies, all those -ies are awesome and I can’t resist reading them. However, they seriously screw with me.
My biggest issue with series is the waiting. I have a feeling that’s a lot of people’s issues. So many series books end with huge cliffhangers and then there is at least a year’s wait for the next book. Now I know there are a billion other books to read during the waiting period but that’s not my problem. My problem is that once the wait is over I’ve lost my eagerness to find out what happens next. Sure I still want to read the book but I’m not going to rush out to get it the day it comes out. I’m perfectly fine waiting and then I just kind of put it off and put it off and I never get around to actually reading it. There are some series (Divergent, Ashes, Covenant) that are the exception to this rule but I find this happening more and more often these days.
My next issue is that when I finally do get around to reading the sequel, I’m seriously disappointed with it. A lot of the times I find myself completely in love with the first book and then I read the second book and wonder what the heck happened. At that point I wonder if I should even bother continuing with the series. And usually if I do continue it takes me even longer to pick up the next book and by that point I’ve forgotten what happened!
What about you guys? Do you have problems with series? Do you ever find yourself losing interest in the time it takes for the next book to come out? Please tell me I’m not alone!
You definitely are not alone! I feel the same way and it bothers me when I lose interest in a series I love simply because I have had to wait so long for the next book. Sometimes I forget about the sequel coming out all together! Another pet peeve of mine with sequels is when I finish a good book and have no clue it’s part of a series until I find it on Goodreads or somewhere similar.
The waiting is the biggest issue. I think authors are slowly starting to realize that a series with 3 or more books runs the risk of seriously losing steam without having a huge fanbase to back it up.
Horrible problem with series. I just don’t like them at all. I’m ok if it’s the same world kinda of thing, but generally just one book is good for me. The wait is really my problem. Like you, I loose interest in finding out what happens next. That’s why I like Hennifer Armentrout who has hers every couple of months.
Haley@www.passingthepages.blogspot.com
I’ve had this problem a lot this year! First book is good and second is just whatever, making me unlikely to even pick up the third. There are just too many good standalones to check out!
I think the only problem I have with series is the actual wait. However, sometimes the publisher releases a series of three books one a month and that’s always cool. Then again…sometimes after reading three or four I’m kind of over the series.
Even so, there are some series – quite a few, actually – that I’ve enjoyed for over 6 books. Even though I do get a bit tired of reading some of the ‘reintroduction’ phrases, where the narrator explains a bit about what happened recently – that I could do without, though I understand it’s for possible new readers, or even to help out when we’ve forgotten a bit about the recent books.
So – when the writer is well worth waiting for, I love a series, hell- I even enjoy the cliff hanger endings. I love that kind of thing. And when I get tired of the writing….it means I’m over that style and on to another series.
When I read a standalone novel, many times I wish there were more coming, especially when the book was so fun to read.
If waiting is your main issue with series than maybe you should read ones that are already released the last installment.
Or, maybe you should step out of your comfort zone. Try read novels for adult, not just YA. They offer more complexities in their plot and many of them are standalone.
I love series, because you really get to know the characters. You can experience a wonderful world-building and make ‘book friends.’ With a stand-alone, I don’t have so much bonding and most of the time I miss that feeling.
You are so right about waiting. Something I also hate is the fact that I forget certain things. So when I finally pick up the sequel, I don’t know what they are talking about. And to re-read the first book only to understand the second.. I can lose my interest in that way.
It kinda helps that i love lots of series, and when I’m done with one book, I read another one..an endless cycle really. And I feel you Katie! 2nd books of serieses (is that even a word! Anyway) often disappoint me. Usually I’m always always stuck on the first books. Except for some wxceptionally written books. Even if I love or like the first of the books, there will always be those that stands out. 🙂
First of all, just wanted to say how much I love your discussion posts! and YOU ARE SO RIGHT! For me, i tend to completely forget what happens in the first book, and then like you said, the eagerness just fades away! I find myself not as excited as when I first finished the first book of the series! and GAH, i HATE it when the sequel is awful! Just really pisses me off, and just ruins my love for the book! Great post!!
– Farah @ MajiBookshelf
I have the same problem you do. Only I really enjoy series. I dislike all the waiting that I have to do but when it get’s close to release day it gives me an excuse to re-read the prior book(s) to refresh my memory. I do agree that some of the second books in the series are dud’s but it usually doesn’t stop me from continuing the series (to date I’ve only given up on 1 series so far).
When it comes to stand alone books, I have a hard time with these. I just feel like the book is rushed sometimes (which holds true for the few stand alones that I’ve read this year).
Great discussion post!
I counted the number of series I have given up on without reading all the available sequels, and stopped when I hit 40. Most of them were series I was super excited about after the first book, but by the time the next one was out I had been distracted by so many other books that I didn’t care enough to continue..:)
Ack! I was going to write about this too!
I find myself seriously having a problem with sequels, specifically in dystopian trilogies (Matched/Crossed, Delirium/Pandemonium, Wither/Fever) because somehow the second book always takes us AWAY from everything that just happened. Okay, I understand that you just escaped the society, now onto real life, etc, but they also took away too many things at once – the setting, the love interest, and the story line changes as well. It’s too many things to change at once. It’s especially hard to deal with because those were all Book 1s that I LOVED and then I get so bummed with Book 2.
Couldn’t agree more that it’s the waiting that kills me. Really love it when I discover a series with several books already out, so I can read them back to back immediately! And can’t stand it when a series just keeps going, with no end in sight and nothing major happens. I’ve left several series because the characters are in a rut and the author doesn’t seem to want to lose their cash cow. 🙁
*cough*Sookie*cough* 😉
AMEN!
Most cliffhangers have me on pins and needles for a week, then over the course of the next year I read 200 more books and about 150 more cliffhangers. It’s not possible to keep them all straight.
Or, conversely, if I don’t get to book one before book two comes out, I don’t have time to catch up.
The waiting can be a drag, and sometimes I have forgotten the finer points of what happened in the previous book.
My biggest series peeve is when a book ends prematurely and doesn’t wrap things up to my satisfaction, assuming that I will go on and read the next book. IMHO, a book should always stand on its own merits, and not rely upon you buying those that went before or after.
I feel that way a lot. Sometimes I wait until at least a few books in a series are out, if I have heard a lot of great things about it– that way that excitement for book # 2 is there. Alas, I don’t always wait, because sometimes the want to read a book is so bad. But I do know that I greatly dislike waiting over a year to have my questions answered 🙂
Oh, series books. It’s a love/hate relationship. I agree with you on the waiting, it can be annoying. Sometimes, I don’t get into a series until there are already a couple books released, so I’m not as anxious. But there are a few of them lately that I am freaking out about, lol.
It’s a toss up about whether the sequel is good or not. I’d say it’s a 50/50 chance for me. It depends on the genre and the author. Some books just shouldn’t have sequels, or if they do, it should only be one, and not a trilogy or longer. Sometimes it just goes on too long and the story loses it’s awesomeness in the meantime.
I do love standalones though… 🙂
AMEN. My problem is that it takes me FOREVER to pick up the sequels, so I have a book shelf full of book ones and none of the following titles.
I dunno, sometimes I just forget about a series.
Amber Elise @ Du Livre
Nope, you’re definitely not alone here, Katie! The huge reason I’m not a fan of series is because it takes 12+ months to get my hands on the sequel. By then, I’m either no longer interested in the series, or I’ve forgotten a lot of the finer details of the first book.
And yeah, readers like to joke about “Second Book Syndrome” but it’s totally a real problem—especially in trilogies, I think.
I lose interest all the time, actually. I’ll be pumped for, like, a week after I finish the first book, but then it just fades. As you said, there are exceptions–Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books, Richelle Mead’s books, and some others. And you’re right–sequels are often disppointing. I find them to be very hit or miss. They’re either fantastic or they’re…you know, not. It’s kind of sad. But then, I do like when there’s more than one book because then I get more of the characters I loved so much in the first book, you know? So I guess it depends on what is being made into more books, exactly.
♥Jessica(:
sequels can make or break whether or not I read on with the series *coughFevercough* Yes I do find many of move the story along a little bit but not that much. I am tired of trilogies.
Yes I have a love hate relationship with them too. You are not alone 🙂
I completely agree with you! I prefer standalones, but I can never resist the urge to pick up a new series. I don’t have the same problem with forgetting what happens, but I lose interest if it’s too long of a wait.
I’ve these problems too! I can do the waiting, but disappointment is killing me.
My other issue is that I’ve started so many series in this year, and most of them were just mediocre. So I’m not going to continue them, but it really bothers me that I won’t get to know how they’re going to play out. I don’t want to suffer through 2+ books just for that, but I’m still curious.
Yes, I usually dislike series, sequels, trilogies, etc. Usually it’s only because they are just never as good as the first one. When I do love a series or trilogy, etc. it’s like some of the power has gone out of my excitement waiting for the next one.
I’ve reached the stage now that I wait for a series to be compete before I begin reading it. BY then I will know absolutely if I want to read it or not.
I counted a few years ago and I was juggling over 49 series. There is just no way you can keep track of that many cliffhangers, triangles and plots. I cut most of them out.
I find I just don’t care what happens anymore. Even for the series that I enjoy, that “I can’t wait a whole year!!” feeling is gone. I’m cool – I’ll get to it when i get to it lol
Lots of authors are releasing novellas from secondary characters’ POV or prequel novellas to bridge the wait, and I think that works very well, to keep in touch with the world and characters.
There are sequels being released faster, but only as ebooks which I don’t like. So if it’s a question of getting the sequels fast but only as ebook, I’d rather wait and get a physical copy.
Lovely post 🙂