Sometimes I’ll start a series and after finishing the first book I decide it’s garbage. Here are some of those series.
Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
I read the first one, The Bear and the Nightingale, and thought it was okay. The author writes descriptions vividly but none of the characters were any good. I found the main character too stupid and headstrong to be likable and most of the other ones were forgettable.
I read the sample for the second book and intended to read the rest. But then I came back to it and had no interest in continuing. The main character seemed to be headed for the “strong, independent” arc and I have no patience for such nonsense.
The whole trilogy has a high average rating on Goodreads so I’m definitely in the minority, but I just don’t care.
One pro: the covers are pretty.
Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children trilogy/series by Ransom Riggs
I hated the first book soooooooo much. You can read my review here. And then I saw the movie and it was terrible too. There’s not much I can say that I didn’t say in my review. I was exceptionally angry when I wrote it and it might not make much sense if you haven’t read the book, but you might like it anyway.
Also, it’s getting more books added to its original trilogy. Is the author so out of ideas he has to resurrect an old one?
Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
You either love Maas, or hate Maas. In case you don’t know, she is a big author in the book community. She crops up in a wide variety of lists, has a huge following and I’m sure her books will be adapted to the screen at some point. (I think there’s a tv show coming.) You can’t not see her books everywhere.
I am one of those people who doesn’t like her. Hate is a bit strong for me because I only read one of her books, but I’ve seen the fandom from the outside and it’s not something I want to be involved with. The things I’ve heard about the story and characters and her other books has enforced my desire to not read anything else by her ever again.
I read Throne of Glass before it exploded into the mega series it is today. It was fine. Lame and cheesy and the plot twist was very easy to spot, but I had an okay time reading it. Then I got the second book and quit after the first chapter. I didn’t think you should start the second book of a long series with the main character sneaking around a house. My sister read more and she didn’t like it either.
One thing I will always remember is the shattered expectations. Celaena, the main character, is said to be a great assassin. And does she show us her great skills? No. From what I recall, she didn’t kill anyone in the first book. But she beat a bunch of men in the deadly competition because she’s so strong and cool. Rubbish!
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy by Rick Riordan
I used to love Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a fun series. His other spin-off series were decent too. But then Magnus Chase came along. Rick definitely fell into the trap of modernization. Politically correct, SJW, gender nonsense completely destroyed his credibility. While the first Magnus book had Rick’s signature humor and fun basic idea, it made me realize he is no longer an author I want to support.
Mandie series by Lois Gladys Leppard
This series is fine if you’re young and just starting to read books, like I was. It’s not deep, not memorable, not particularly funny and it’s formulaic. Or maybe I’m misremembering and it’s actually wonderful. I somehow read 16 (out of 40) books before I concluded I had grown too old to enjoy it. If you’re looking for a series for an eight-year-old to read, this might be worth a shot.
And that’s all I’ll talk about for now. There are more series I won’t finish so another list will come at some point.
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