Hello all! I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about falling out of love with series. I guess part of this comes from realising certain books simply don’t interest me like they used to- which is a pity- but is all part of growing up I suppose đ We have our childhood sweethearts and then drift apart… However that’s not exactly what I’m talking about here. What I want to talk about today is the books that leave a sour taste in my mouth, the ones which feel increasingly tainted and the series that really broke my heart. Let’s get to it, before I chicken out…
Anything in the Shadowhunter-Verse– this is the most obvious to me right now and the inspiration behind making this list. Sorry to the people that are still diehard fans, but the more I think about it, the more I’m bothered by the direction the series took (or in some ways, the lack of direction). The recycled characters and plots, the endless cliffhangers, the insertion of politics- it began really grinding my gears at the start of the Dark Artifices and had driven into a ditch by the end. And while I may continue to look back on my first foray into this world with fondness- ie the Infernal Devices trilogy- the more recent books are actually managing to taint my original view of the series as a fun paranormal romance. Sadly, its lost the entertainment value for me.
The Divergent Series– I’m gonna confess, I was never a massive fan of this series. That said, I consistently rated it around 4* for enjoyment alone- always stating “don’t think about it too much”. Well I guess I couldn’t take my own advice, because the more I’ve thought about it over the years, the more I think it fails as dystopic fiction. The world building is nonsensical and the messaging (super important in this genre) is all over the place. And certain decisions in the last book are. so. frustrating (and I’m probably not even thinking of the one you are- which just goes to show how many issues there are with it!!)
Twilight– unfortunately I have the awful claim to fame of being one of those peeps that liked Twilight before it was cool (I definitely ought to bury this fact somewhere- but for some reason I keep bringing it up đ ). Anyway, I think it’s fairly obvious why I stopped loving a story about sparkly vampires- not only is a concept like that bound to lose its shine over time, but that series GOT SO MUCH WORSE. I’m just sad I staked any energy in it đ
The Kingkiller Chronicles– ooh controversial opinion time. I actually LOVED book 1- however I ended up hugely disappointed with Wise Man’s Fear– in a way that made me question why I even liked the first instalment. My increasing despondency to this series hasn’t been helped by the huge wait between books. That said, this is the sole book on the list where I’ll happily read more and the only one that I think has a strong chance of redeeming itself with a killer finale.
The Chronicles of Ixia– ah this is another one it pains me to think about these days cos I *loved* the first book. Unfortunately, it didn’t keep up its unique momentum in book 2 and managed to get progressively more generic as the series dragged on. Such was my disappointment that it’s even tainted the earlier books for me and, as much as I still have a soft spot for some of the characters (*cough* Valek *cough cough*), I always feel a twinge of sadness when I think about this series.
Maximum Ride– now I didn’t want to include a lot of books from my childhood, because I know that my tastes have changed over time, I usually just read things based on what was available in libraries and mostly I look back on them with rose-tinted glasses even if they were lousy- BUT I can’t forget how much this series crashed and burned. It started out as a great concept and then flew wildly off track. Such a pity.
There you have it, these are all the series that cut me to the quick!Â
So do you have any series or books you used to love, but don’t anymore? Let me know in the comments!Â
Cool Cat Parents– you know the type: the Iâm-so-cool-Iâm-basically-your-sister ones. Not gonna lie, I find these ones irritating too. Because arghhh canât they just be a parent for one second?! But no, theyâre too busy being âscattyâ (another word for useless) and marrying some sporty guy to actually be of some use (yes, I am talking about Bella Swanâs mum)
The Iâm-doing-the-best-I-can type– and I donât mean that sarkily, I mean it in a sweet kind of way. I mean, theyâre a bit rough around the edges, often still learning the ropes and can even have a ton of problems, but at least theyâre trying to do the best they can! Like Lara Jeanâs absolutely lovable dad- who hasnât had it easy but makes things work.
Totally tyrannical– not to be confused with a tyrannosaurus rex, though they have that temperament. Nope, these are humans that have about as much virtue as a toilet brush. Take Mr and Mrs Wormwood as an example- they literally punished their daughter for reading. It doesnât get much worse.
The Villain All-Along– often slick and charming, this one can totally take us by surprise, cos they were the villain all along (chorus of sighs). I did think of an example here that was super spoilery, but decided not to go with it, so instead Iâm just gonna say Valentine from Mortal Instruments) cos we all know heâs the bad guy.
Special Snowflake Main Character– this one often combines two of my least favourite tropes: the Chosen One and the âIâm a what?â tropes. Basically this character is super special, because they have a gift that no one else has, so theyâre gonna save the world. Oh and they had no idea that theyâre special- of course. In fairness, there are rare occasions when this doesnât suck- but they are few and far between, so authors need to *stop using this trope* (unless youâre writing something like Carry On, then all is forgiven). An example of this is the Essence series- because my-oh-my this character is a special snowflake indeed.
Instalove– Iâm gonna try and not let this dissolve into another rant like the last one- but câmon!! When does this ever happen in real life?!? And letâs face it, it wouldnât even be a good thing if it did- it would be super weird and creepy if your boyfriend of two days started declaring his undying love for you! Thatâs when you need to get a restraining order- *not* to start ordering wedding invitations. Iâm looking at The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and so many others!
The Love Triangle– ahh the dreaded love triangle. Twilight made it popular and for some horrendous reason it hasnât gone anywhere. Why? I have *no idea*. This bloody thing is everywhere and one of the worst offenders of this is Matched. Basically, itâs just an easy (and terribly lazy) way for authors to pad their plot with unbearable amounts of angst, as their main character frets over which wonderful person theyâre going to spend the rest of their life with. And while weâre on the subject of the main characterâŚ
The Nice-ty Main Character- you know the nice/nasty ones that kill you with kindness (you know the type). This is basically the main character who is allowed to be a total biatch, just because theyâre so âlovelyâ. And we are constantly reminded how sweet and caring they are as they mess around two guys at once, two time and generally act like a whiny cow. And all the while, itâs somehow the guyâs fault that they canât figure out their feelings. The perfect example is America in The Selection, because letâs face it sheâs a right *insert-expletive-here*, but weâre supposed to believe sheâs wonderful and completely selfless. Really? Itâs totally selfless of her to spend 3 books choosing between two guys, is it?
Douchbag Love Interests– and when we donât have the horrible female leads, we have the horrible male love interest (sometimes weâre really lucky and get both, *ahem, Twilight*). These, often controlling, usually bullying and always brooding characters somehow steal the heart of the main character (*ahem, Twilight*- I could probably call this âthe Edward Cullen Tropeâ after all). Itâs like a recipe for domestic abuse. But hey, theyâre good looking, so we shouldnât worry about any of that. *Face palm*. And while weâre still on the subject of love, this is something that really drives me crazy:
Pretentious Characters That Recite Reams of Poetry– I’ve read a few lists ions ago, but havenât seen this one about- probably cos most people like this. But honestly this just does my head in. I have never met anyone that does this in real life, but I swear, if I ever met someone that reciting whole poems was a good idea, Iâd probably want to hit them too. Basically, this makes me violent- donât do it, unless you want a banana aimed at your head. I could think of a ton of examples where this happens- Infernal Devices (although admittedly I like that anyway), The Bronze Horseman (yeuch!) and John Green makes so many pretentious references he may as well do it.
Non-Absentee Absent Parents– okay, moving on from the romance in YA, this one bugs me quite a bit. Iâm being fairly specific here, because I donât mean the dead parents trope, which I donât actually mind so much- even if it is overused. No, this one bugs me because it just makes the parents look really dumb. Basically, theyâre the parents that are about but theyâre so useless, they canât tell their children have been entertaining demons in their room. Or even worse, the parents that know something is wrong, but still let their children run off to fight monsters. And cos I’m zonked, the best example I can think of is Aunt Jenna in Vampire Diaries (I know, I know, I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead). This often combines withâŚ
Stupid Names For Evil Characters– so I donât always hate this and I can forgive it most of the time (letâs be honest, Iâm guilty of it too). I mean, I have to allow for the fact that dumb names like the âDark Lordâ or âTHE EVIL ONEâ will catch on when regular people are naming them. And this is usually okay if the villain has an alternative name (ie Voldemort). *BUT* what I cannot forgive is when the main character cannot tell that the guy with the obviously evil name is evil. And how no one else in the story picks up on it- Iâm looking at you âDarklingâ- how was that a surprise when he turned out to be evil for crying out loud?
Iâm cheating a little with this one because honestly this series went downhill after the first one, so I donât know if it really counts as suffering from middle book syndrome. Honestly, I was not a fan of how Magic Study turned out. The first one was so exciting and different- but this one was just a generic fantasy filler (before the ultimately boring, crackpot conclusion that ruined the whole series for me). I could never understand how a series that started out so well became so awful. Having read a lot (6 or 7) of other books by Maria Snyder now, I have little hope that her books will ever recapture the same magic as Poison Study.
Gosh there are soo many terrible middle books in YA dystopian books- I feel like itâs almost guaranteed in the genre (possibly because dystopian books arenât really designed for sequels). Iâm using Crossed (Matched 2) as an example because I completely lost interest in this series after book 1 and it because it is filled with non-existent conflict (despite, ironically, being in the middle of a war zone), but I easily could have referred to the Resistance (Declaration 2), Burning Kingdoms (Internment 2), Independent Study (The Testing 2), Prodigy (Legend 2), or The Elite (The Selection). Many of these are prime examples of a dystopian sequel that goes nowhere. In a lot of these books *nothing happens*. Side note: even though Catching Fire is a regurgitation of the first Hunger Games, I still think it is not in this category because it is eventful (if a bit repetitive) and the plot does progress as a result of the things that happen in this book.
No one is saying Twilight is great- but my goodness it wouldnât have been nearly as bad if it had just stopped after book 1- I mean why didnât Edward just let her become a vampire then and then weâd have all been spared all the creepy paedophile stuff. Though it is the third in the series, this one was ultimately the pits- because (forgive me for being repetitive) *nothing happens*. This book pretty much was just there for Meyer to foist the ridiculously pointless love triangle on us- the whole âplotâ revolves around Jacob being confused with the concept of what a third wheel and that Bella is not interested (despite the fact she constantly tells him and even punches him in the face! Jeez- can that guy not take a hint?) This has to be one of the best examples of a book that was just a dumb filler and never needed to happen.
The worst culprit here is Vampire Academy– because the idea of a vampire/guardian partnership is a good one, but it was executed so badly that it was a complete pain in the neck! Obviously, I could have picked the dumb sparkly vampires for this too, because⌠what?!? Why was that ever a thing? But this was on my mind after having just done a 
How many times have I screamed at a hero/heroine to run the other way when their psycho love interest tells them theyâre a vampire. This seems to almost exclusively happen in vampire books and I am done being sanguine about it. And of course, vampire stories, nearly always have the dreaded love triangle. Again, the worst culprit for this isnât even Twilight– itâs The Vampire Diaries. I mean the world could be ending and the most important question is always which brother will she choose? And after 6 seasons, itâs exhausting! And speaking of the world endingâŚ
I could easily resurrect my choice of the Vampire Diaries for this one, because I hated how silly things got as the series progressed. By series 4 or 5, I forget which one, the characters stopped being the selfless, self-sacrificing heroes we all knew and loved, and started hunting for a cure for vampirism- never mind the fact that it could very well bring the end of the world! I mean what was that? But never could there be anything dumber than whatever the hell they were fighting for in Twilight– letâs face it, the whole Volturi thing never made much sense. I could never get my head round it. I mean, this is going back to the lore again, but itâs not like theyâre all that scary. And itâs not like they actually do anything, because, like all terrible vampire storiesâŚ
Because letâs face it, no one ever dies in a dumb vampire book. Itâs so anti-climactic. Twilight couldnât even entertain the idea of having a fight scene before the inevitably foregone conclusion of the happy ending- I mean, itâs not like anyone was expecting anything other than Bella and Edward riding off into the sunset on Jacobâs back- but couldnât they have killed off Esme? Or even Alice? I guess it could be worse- they could have all died and come back to life a million times like they did in Vampire Diaries. Oh no wait, that basically happens in the last film. My bad.
This is very similar to the characters running into the arms of people who freely admit to murdering in cold blood (to each his own I guess). But itâs not just the fact that they fall in love with vampires- theyâre just obsessed with death for some reason. One of the dumbest examples of this is in A Discovery of Witches where she literally runs off with, and risks her life for, a guy she has literally just met. Itâs bloody ridiculous how casual they are about death, but then I guess that makes sense. Itâs not like they have anything to fear.
the orang-utan librarian 