Book Series I Won’t Be Finishing

*Disclaimer: As with all articles that mention a potential dislike of something or some product or some whatever that might mean something to someone somewhere, there needs to be a disclaimer that this isn’t an attack on you or the books that you like. Rather, for me, these book series didn’t work out and I won’t be continuing on. And this might be helpful for other readers out there who share similar reading tastes to my own and are curious if they should read on in a series … mmmmkay? 

So now that THAT is out of the way, I am sharing eight popular series that I will not be finishing. Use this article as you will. Let’s spill some tea.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Let’s get the big one out of the way first because it will likely be the most upsetting – but after loving the OG trilogy of A Court of Thorns and Roses, I absolutely loathed A Court of Silver Flames. For me ACOSF lost the magic that I enjoyed from the first stories, instead focusing on hyper aggressively sexual content … and yes I know most are rolling their eyes now thinking I’m just a prude. Nope. I’m not. I actually enjoy steamy romances, I just really like there to be a story that surrounds it. But hey, more sex sells and this series will continue to dominate for it and won’t notice my measly unfollow. But if you’re looking for straight erotica, which this basically is, you can find some great work in way less pages … just saying. 

Serpent & Dove

I actually like this one, but that’s it. I liked it and I liked where it ended and didn’t feel the burning need to continue on. Especially when I heard so many mixed reviews for book two and three. Sometimes it is best to just leave things as an enjoyable first reading experience and not end up hating the entire series because you continued on. Such as …

A Curse So Dark and Lonely

I stinking adored this first instalment by Brigid Kemmerer! Book two, however, just didn’t deliver for me. In A Heart So Broken and Lonely I felt the new characters were just reiteration of characters I loved from book one, while old characters became abhorrent. And while we follow Grey – a character I loved from book one – his inner turmoil became incredibly repetitive and exhaustive. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many reviewers who felt similar to me and did continue on in the series, that book three doesn’t deliver either. 

Bone Crier’s Moon

I struggled to connect with this story from page one and never found my footing with it. Switching from reading to listening to it as an audiobook, I could never get a rhythm. I found the love story to be awkward and forced, and the battle scenes to be over extended, tiresome, and mostly just page filler. 

The Last Namsara

Oh how I enjoyed book one, which was one of my very first YA reads when I started to enjoy the genre back in 2017 — and maybe I should reread it someday to see if it still holds true  — however, book two, The Caged Queen, was absolutely awful. A repetitive, thin plot that hinged on the entire “conflict” being able to be solved by asking a simple question (one of my most hated story writing tropes). 

Girls of Paper and Fire

Although I’m happy this story hit the mark for some, I took great issue with the handling of the central theme of sexual assault. It was an odd concept to me to write an entire fantasy around girls who will be raped, with the climatic moment of the book being when the main character is raped … I just didn’t understand that. As much as I appreciate this being a survivor story, I struggled with this one. 

The Bones of Ruin

A recent read for me, but one that I very much disliked. This story tried to cover too much with too many plot points and ultimately failing in the execution of any of them. Further, an annoying love arc, which has our main character being adored by any and all she meets (seriously 3 males vying for her love), and a story that lacked any stakes with a character who couldn’t die, really sealed this one as being one of my least favourite books of 2021. 

Children of Blood and Bone

I loved this one. Really, it was a great novel. But the lacklustre reviews for book two, the amount of work it was to finish this large tome, and some shady details surrounding the story after publication left me with no desire to continue on. Never say never, though. But likely never. 

The Bone Shard Daughter

Maybe it was a matter of wrong expectations but I anticipated this story to be about, you know, The Bone Shard Daughter. Instead it is a multi perspective story split among 4 voices and I just wasn’t able to connect to the stories or characters in the way I was hoping to. For a fantasy it is actually quite short, those 4 story arcs didn’t have enough room to breathe. It is a fast paced, approachable, YA-leaning fantasy but when I reached the cliffhanger ending I wasn’t left with the urgency to know what happens next. 

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