Welcome to the second week of Discussion Thursday with me and my little blogger gal, Sofia @ Lovin The Language of Literacy
Today I'm discussing Standalones Vs. Series
I don't know about the rest of the bookish community, but here's how I pick a book: based on if it's a stand-alone or a series. Then I subcategorize it into a finished series or an ongoing work.
I prefer stand-alone novels over series.
Reasons for this:
1) I am extremely forgetful and will most likely not remember what happened in the last book. Sometimes I just won't care to remember.
2) The wait is extremely frustrating. While I know that writing is not an easy thing, sometimes I'm just like this while waiting for the next book to come out:
3) Sometimes, the sequel doesn't live up to the first book. I've had this happen to me many times, and it's extremely disappointing. It's always a risk, starting a new series, and it's something I try to avoid.
4) CHANGE. In general, I am a person who cannot deal with change. Bookishly talking, I REALLY CANNOT deal with change. I'm actually currently reading a sequel where the main character has turned from nice guy, to asshole.
Awesome authors I would like to mention in this discussion post:
1) Liz Norris- Author of Unbreakable and Unraveling
Liz has one of THE BEST sequels in YA history. It lived up to my every expectation and is one of my favorite duos of all time.
2) Lisi Harrison- Author of The Clique series
I have so much love for this series. It's full of snark, humor and sarcasm, and at 14 books in total, one that I like to re-read when I get in a book-binge mood. And if I recall correctly, these books came out fairly quickly too.
3) Other amazing authors who either come out with sequels really quickly, or who write awesome stand-alone novels. You guys rock.
xoxo,
Fiction_TheNewReality
I prefer standalones over series too. Whenever I read a series, the first book in the series, most of the time is my favorite in the series. As much as I love the sequel to the book, it never really lives up to the greatness of the first book. Just what I think (: Definitely agree with you! I wish there were more standalone fantasy/dystopian books, instead of just contemporary novels. Though I understand that it takes lots of world building, plot etc..
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you there and say I much prefer series. I absolutely despice how standalone books end abruptly. Imagine the Harry Potter books crammed into one?! Also, the characters aren't as well developed in stand alones, you don't connect with the characters as much. I also am quite a curious person and would like to know what happens next in the characters lives. Yes, sometimes sequels can be a disappointment but I would rather that than there NOT be a sequel. Gah no even the thought of stand alones make me cringe. Don't get me wrong, some writers make it work, writers like Jacqueline Wilson and Meg Cabot do it perfectly but for a writer to write a one-off, it'd be like learning a new language.
ReplyDelete-Annie