For those of you who enjoy book series, what makes you continue or stop following a series? As I’ve mentioned before I tend to read a lot of mysteries and most of them are series. What draws me back is usually the characters and how they are developed over time.
What I don’t like is when a series starts to feel like it’s the same thing. New crime to solve but nothing exciting happening with the characters. One series that I finally gave up on after book 10 or so was the Stephanie Plum series because I felt like every book I was reading was the same one. By book 10 I didn’t care about the mysteries or how many cars the main character had blown up, I wanted something different and I just wasn’t getting that.
There are some series that I don’t go back to very often but are still on my radar but there is one series which I’ve been following for a long while now and I’m getting frustrated with because again, there is nothing happening with the main characters. What am I talking about?
Murder On Sisters’ Row by Victoria Thompson is the thirteenth book in the Gaslight Mystery series. These books are set in nineteenth-century New York and feature a midwife and a Detective Sergeant. Sarah and Frank come from very different worlds, she’s actually from a very wealthy family, but somehow they end up working together quite often to solve crimes.
These mysteries are a bit more on the cozy side and I love the historical setting but goodness is anything ever going to happen between these two characters? When I started reading the series there seemed to be a lot of chemistry between them and although I’m not a big romance reader it was nice to see that between these two. It seemed genuine. As the series has progressed it seems like they are further apart than ever. I guess I’ve just never been a big fan of those “will they or won’t they” plotlines.
Will I read the next one? I don’t know. Right now I’d probably say no but maybe next year when a new book comes out I’ll once again be willing to give it another try.
Anyway, what about you, when do you call it quits with a series?
I tend to go back and forth. Some series I just get bored of and never feel compelled to read on in, but others I say I won’t read again and something draws me back… It doesn’t really help that it takes me forever to finish series period…
I totally understand how you feel, Iliana. I think that’s one reason why I tend to read less series books as compared to standalones. And sometimes, I’ve to wait for a year or a little longer for the next instalment to release, and when that book arrives finally, my focus is on somewhere else, LOL. That said, I still read series though I tend to be picky. Maybe I’m just biased, but I don’t think I’d give up on Mo Hayder’s Jack Caffery series, though. 😛
I do give up certain series on occasion. Various reasons. Sometimes I just never get invested enough to continue and there are so many more out there to investigate and possibly put on my “must read” list. I have stopped reading Patricia Cornwell, for example, when she took her characters down a path that I simply could not believe and I didn’t even like them any more. Sometimes a series just gets tired and then becomes tiresome. I think that it’s possible for authors to push a series until it’s just so thin with plots and way beyond time to be retired. Good question, Iliana! Oh, and I’ve also given myself the push to “not read in order”. LOL
I call it quits on a series when it ceases to be interesting, when I find that I have stopped wondering what will happen next, and I discover I really don’t care about the characters anymore. I hope that a series stops before it gets to this point but so often they don’t and then I wind up feeling sad and nostaligic.
When a series becomes too formulaic or predictable I have to abandon it.
I follow a lot of series, but I’m not sure I have ever consciously decided to give up on them. Sometimes it’s just a matter of there being a better choice, if that makes sense–so many to choose from. I read one of the Stephanie Plum books and have one on hand, but I can sort of see where that one might be a little limited? That ‘samey’ feeling does get old and maybe that’s why I vary so much. I’ve been meaning to try Victoria Thompson by the way–at least to give her a try.
It is usually the characters that draw me back to a series. Sometimes I seek out a series for a while, then get tired of it, and go back to it later. Sometimes I just go back because I find one on the new book shelf at the library. I haven’t tried the Victoria Thompson series, but it sounds like fun.
I have to really love the first book to continue on in a series. If I feel a connection to the characters and want to read more about with, it is a sure thing that I will continue with a series.
I know what you mean, when certain plot elements get to feel like they are being dragged on, I get bored. The longest series I read are the Harry Potter books.