Monday 1 April 2013

Ending a Series

You have now reached THE END. Proceed with caution.

Dun dun DUUUUUUNNNNN.....

I never thought that I was the sort of reader to put off endings but I am, I so am. There are a few exceptions... I literally started reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the minute my mailman handed it over to me and my eyes only wandered off the pages long enough to give my mum a quick goodbye as she left on a 2-week trip to the other side of the world (daughter of the year right here, guys).

But lately... I am reluctant to finish series. Or even books that I'm really enjoying, for that matter. After I reached the last few chapters of Cinder, I shoved the book away from me and didn't return to it for a couple of weeks because I didn't want it to be over.

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I can't make myself read Endlessly. 
I can't make myself read Bitterblue.
I can't make myself read Hidden.
I can't make myself read Bloodrose.

And the book that inspired this post? Clockwork Princess.

Source

And let's not even TALK about the Book 2s that I'm putting off (looking at you, Days of Blood and Starlight)

But there is something satisfying about reaching that end in a series! (Unless it is The-Book-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named (we all have one of those, right?) that just threw me into a vortex of pain and rage.) More times than not, my favourite characters have finally gotten their HEA and I am free to imagine they stay like that forever! Plus, not only after the series is over but especially then, it is MINE. It's mine to play with and reshape; I get to create new adventures for the characters and have things go just the way I'd like.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic! :) I hope you all had a nice and relaxing long weekend (if you had one!).

18 comments:

  1. I completely know how you feel! I still haven't read Endlessly by Kiersten White or Boundless by Cynthia Hand either! I only read Clockwork Princess because I haven't finished the Mortal Instruments series and I know the characters will show up again some kind of way lol Idk, people think its weird but I just hate the "its really over feeling," so I don't read the last book in a series until I have nothing else to read.

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    1. YES! I knew I couldn't be the only one ;) I haven't even read Hallowed yet but at least I know own a copy (this is either good or bad, I'm unsure). AHHH you've read CP2!!!!! I don't know I'm still so wide-eyed every time I hear this from someone -- should be old news by now! -- but AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

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  2. I totally get you! It's like now they're gone, all those characters you admire and fell in love with. They're just....not.
    You have that one book on your shelf that once you read it you can't read it because...its over. Worst feeling ever.

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  3. Truer words have never been said. I completely know how you feel. I felt this way after finishing Vampire Academy, Hush, Hush, Fallen and so many other series that I am pretty much used to it now. That being said, I still hate finishing series that have made an impact on my life, which it pretty much all of them.

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  4. This post is so excellent. It gets fifty gold medals. Also those gifs are perfect- I recently watched Tangled for the first time (and then immediately the second) and WH-HEY- it was love. I don't think I could really hold off intentionally, or get to the last few chapters and then stop, because if I love a book enough to follow the series (other than now, unfortunately, Divergent) I just need to know what happens. Maybe I shouldn't have followed those rules with Mockingjay, though.

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  5. What a great post! I absolutely know what you mean. I'll be dying for the next (last) book and then once it's in my hand I just stare at it, because I know once I get sucked into it, I'll just power through it and then it'll all be over!

    Courtney @ Fuzzy.Coffee.Books

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  6. I featured you on my blog today.

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  7. Hi, Sonia! I'm stopping by from Beth Fred's blog. Nice to meet you. It looks like you and I have similar taste in books. :) I'm a new follower.

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  8. I'm totally a sucker for HEA endings, too. I need the good guys to win in the end and the hero to get the girl. Since I'm a Horror writer, you'd think I'd like darker things. But no. Total sap about HEA! :-)
    (I'm from Beth's blog, too)

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  9. I here ya! When I'm so into the characters and there's no more, I feel like I've got the blues. The next story after a good series has to be a short story or something I can't get totally involved with.

    Came over from Beth's page too.

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  10. Another hop over from Beth's blog. Following you now. Endings leave me with mixed feelings. I like to see the main characters happy, but then I'll miss reading more about them. I wish more authors would do like Elizabeth Chandler with her Kissed by an Angel series. Enjoying their further adventures now. Nice post.

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  11. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON CLOCKWORK PRINCESS. IT'S BEEN A MONTH AND I'M STILL NOT OVER IT. YES, I GET YOU. WAAAAAY MORE THAN I WANT TO.

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  12. OHMYGOD YES. It's so SAD when it's over I keep putting it off too. When it comes to sequels it's sheer procrastination for me. I don't really remember where it left off and I don't want to read it and endure another long wait for the next book (hello, Insurgent!). And the last part of the series, it's painful! It's sooo painful. Saying goodbye to the characters, the closure, the end of everything, the vague happily ever after or bittersweetness- it kills me. Also, few series get the endings right. So I'm always afraid the ending is going to mess up the series for me! Agh :,) But all in all, it's great to reach the last book. There's closure as I said before and that's always nice. Greeat post, Sonia :D

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  13. I completely understand where you're coming from! I read Clockwork Princess and, wow... It's such an amazing book. I don't remember the last time a book made me cry at so many difference points. And yet it's over. Yes there's still one more mortal instruments books to read. And there's going to be another trilogy. But still it isn't the same. And I don't think I'm going to love either any of the rest of the books as much as I loved Clockwork Princess.

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  14. i hear yea. its bitter sweat when a book ends. if it was possible to interact with your fav characters i would probably be a stalker guy ^^. gr8 post

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