Today on the blog is a brand new Let’s Talk Bookish. And since March has 5 Fridays in it that means that today’s pot is a freebie LTB. So I am doing the post from earlier this month. I think that you will like this post.
And if you don’t know what Let Talk Bookish is, it is where bloggers like myself come together to talk about a topic of the week whatever that may be. It was started by Rukky over at Eternity Books and has been hosted by Aria over at Book Nook Bits since April 2022.
Prompts:
Are there any series that you think could have been standalones? Or series that should have ended sooner? Do you like having long series, or do you prefer to have a story more condensed?
Are there any series that you think could have been standalones?
I am one of those people who tend to enjoy standalone series. But I know that is not always the case because some standalone are a part of a series and I feel that I need to read the books before it so that I can understand the characters and the relationships that were formed. I think a lot of continuous series follow the same characters throughout X amount of books, I do have a hard time getting past the first book just because I don’t think that the series is for me but won’t bash anyone who one of their favorite series isn’t one of mine. I do not know how much story there is left to tell when the reader reaches the end of The Extraordinaries because as a reader who didn’t read books 2 and 3, I felt satisfied with it just being a standalone and not knowing what happens to the characters at the events of the first book.
I can not speak for the series as a whole since I haven’t read the entire trilogy yet, but I think that A Good Girls Guide To Murder is a strong start to the trilogy. And if it was only a stand-alone, I would have been satisfied with the ending of the book.
Or series that just should have ended sooner?
I do think that there are some series that should have ended sooner. I do think that even though The Last Magician series was a 4 book series, I think that maybe having it as a 2 or 3 book series could have been better. Don’t get me wrong, I loved binging the series last year but I do think that it did get kind of long and some stuff didn’t need to happen. But I did enjoy it nonetheless.
Do you like having long series, or do you prefer to have a story more condensed?
I do not mind a long series. But I think that there is a difference between a 10-book series where it does something for the characters getting closer to the final resolution by the end of the book and a 10-book series where it seems like the author can’t let the characters go. And I usually don’t start reading series till they are fully done and released. I think that is because I am the type of reader who just likes to binge series and I am okay with that knowing that I am not the only one who thinks this way.
I do enjoy a good duology at the same time as well just because it seems like we don’t have to deal with the dreaded middle book syndrome. But I do think you run into the whole dull ending thing. But I think that it is something that I am one way or the other and it is okay. A series that could have easily been a duology is A Curse So Dark And Lonely. I do think that the author ran into the dreaded middle book syndrome with this series. And I do think that at the very least A Heart So Fierce And Broken should have been a novella so that way as the reader you can still see what happened to Grey after the events of book one without it being a bridge book between book 1 and book 3.
There is today’s post. Are there any series that you have read that should have been stand-alone? I would love to know what they are. Feel free to use the questions above if you want to discuss this on your blog.
Kathryn Books 