Not My Thing: Popular Series I Quit

As a YA blogger I start a lot of series. There are just a lot of series out there, but some of them end up not really being for me. Sadly, this is just a small sampling of the series I quit for one reason or another. All the series in this post are complete (with the exception of The Selection), so technically I could finish them, if I felt so inclined.

Go ahead and cheer for your favorites. Tell me I'm crazy. Let me know what I'm missing out on.

One and Done:

The Shatter Me Series: I know so many people that loved this series, but I just didn't really like the first book very much. The plot felt kind of fuzzy to me, and the clipped writing style just wasn't for me. 

The Maze Runner: There were just too many things about this book that bugged me. Thomas' near-constant mentioning of his highly subjective memory-loss got old. I really don't like when suddenly, inexplicably returning memories solve mysteries.

Forest of Hands and Teeth: I was really looking forward to this book and then found it sadly disappointing. I had a hard time really connecting with the characters, including Mary, even though the novel is written in first person. I found Mary to be rather selfish and her dream of the ocean to be kind of odd in the face of all danger she faced.

Couldn't Be Bothered:

The Divergent Series: Yeah. So I read the first book in the Divergent series, and I thought it was okay but not fantastic. A year went by and Insurgent came out, so I picked it up from the library. I read a chapter or two and then just couldn't be bothered to finish. In Divergent's defense I was going through a whole "I'm over YA faze." And I really liked the movie. It made me want to know what happened next. Apparently not enough to pick up the book, however.

The Matched Series: So, I really liked Matched, despite it's mixed reviews, but Crossed completely did me in. Ky and Cassia's voices sound exactly the same. I kept having to look back to the chapter heading to see who was talking. Plus, wasteland wandering. I never picked up Reached.

The Mortal Instruments: It seemed like everyone in my little circle was really into this series. I read the first two in the series and didn't find the twists particularly surprising. I think I quit reading the series mostly because it's just so long. I mean, six books that are like 600 pages each. It was just too much for me.

On the Fence:

The Selection Series: I read all of the books in Kiera Cass's Selection Series, The Selection, The Elite, and The One, but America was starting to bug me so much by the end of the third book that I'm just on the fence when it comes to The Heir.

The Lumatere Chronicles: I really liked the first book, Finnikin of the Rock, in Melina Marchetta's fantasy series. However, it was dark, a little difficult to get into, and a pretty hefty investment. I guess I just can't decide if it's worth it to fork out the effort two more times.

If I Stay: It seems like everyone loves If I Stay, and I just thought it was okay. (I know, boo.) I liked it well enough that I thought I would maybe read the next in the series. I think I might have even started it at one point. Maybe I will pick it up again. Maybe.

Not My Thing: Wasteland Wanderings

I think it can be just as fun to hear about the types of books that people don't like as it is to hear about those that they do. The books that I consistently feel are real slogs are survival novels or, as I like call them, wasteland wanderings.

Death in the Wilderness:

Follow the River by James Alexander Thom: This is very likely the instigator of my ire toward wasteland wanderings. It's about a pre-Revolutionary Virginian who is captured by Shawnee Indians. She escapes and makes her way back to her settlement. It's a noble story and a true one, but the trek through the wilderness nearly did me in. All that walking, bad nuts, Mary's crazy German companion, starvation. Repeat.

Crossed by Ally Condie: I quite liked Matched, despite the mixed reviews, but Crossed basically removes all that I loved about the first book--The Society, its rules, its order, its sneaky opponents--and instead the reader is lost in the wilderness with Cassia and Ky. In addition there is a real lack of danger or urgency. It was so painful that I still haven't read the final book in the series.

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott: I almost didn't finish this book because of the wasteland wandering. In Fire & Flood Tella enters The Brimstone Bleed, a race across four ecosystems. The race begins in the jungle with Tella absolutely alone. No human companions. Nothing. All the wandering, and the hunger, and the dangerous insects and animals, and the rain, and the heat. I'll just stop now.


I Survived (just barely):

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: There's a lot of wandering in The Lord of the Rings, and some is good and some is not. I much prefer all the parts of the books that have to do with the humans. Frodo, Sam, and Gollum's  trek through the wasteland, on the other hand, just about does me in. I can summarize it for you in a couple of sentences: "And they were walking and walking. And the ring was getting heavier and heavier. And Frodo was getting more and more distant. And the elf cakes were tasteless. And Gollum was good. And Gollum was bad. And Gollum was good. And Gollum was bad. And then there were some orcs and a really big spider." 

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan: I'm a big fan of Rick Riordan, but I didn't like The House of Hades as much as I've liked some of his other books. My sister was saying she felt the same but that she wasn't sure why. I know why. It's because all the wasteland wandering through Tartarus is kind of a drag. 

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld: The thing about Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series is that I love the world that he's created in the cities. It's so interesting, but then he always takes his characters out of the city and my interest plummets.The wilderness is the same old wilderness no matter if it's the distant future or 1755.


Best of the Wasteland Wanderings:

Life of Pi by Yann Martel: After all you've read, you'd think that a book about a boy stranded on a raft with a tiger would be a disaster for me, but I actually really liked this book. What was a bit bewildering was the Hindu/Christian/Islam religion throughout.

Into That Forest by Louis Nowra: It's kind of strange that I've developed this ire toward wilderness wanderings because as a kid survival novels like My Side of the Mountain, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Julie of the Wolves were some of my favorite books. Into That Forest is the Tasmanian version of Julie of the Wolves for an older audience. Two 19th-century Tasmanian girls are adopted by Tasmanian tigers after a devastating flood. The girls slowly go native. They begin to lose their language and begin to fear humans and act like tigers. Their reintroduction into human society does not go well.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand: Unbroken tells the true story of Louis Zamperini: athlete, bombardier, castaway, prisoner of war. Much of Unbroken is survival, but all of it is good. After reading this book I decided that anyone who has a fear of sharks is absolutely justified.