Spoiler warning for Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy Book 3) by Richelle Mead ahead. *Not a series I stopped reading.*
I read mostly YA series, and I've been noticing one trend popping up lately. Somewhere in the end of the 1st or 2nd book, the intrepid heroine gets together with her true love. Then, in the next book, she spends many many chapters swooning over him, stating how perfect they are for each other and how they're going to be together forever. All this does for me is throw up a red flag that says, "Warning: These two characters will no longer be together by the end of this book."
Boring. I don't want to know the end by page ten.
Let me give you an example of a plot reversal involving the intrepid heroine and her true love that I felt worked. In Shadow Kiss, Rose and Dimitri finally get together in act 3. But, because of the age difference and the fact that he's her teacher, they both know it's going to be anything but smooth sailing. Still, you have hope for them. Until a couple of chapters later when Dimitri turns evil.
This was a reversal I didn't see coming, and it provided Rose's motivation throughout the 4th book and part of the 5th one. Plus, bonus, I didn't have to sit through chapter upon endless chapter of Rose driveling on about how happy she was. I like it when my heroines aren't allowed to breathe until the very end of the last book. If they're happy for too long, it just gives me time to imagine all the nasty things that are going to happen to them. Things I want to happen to them.
What about you? What makes you stop reading a series?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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4 comments:
Great blog. :)
What makes me stop reading a series is too much regurgitation.I personally hate when book 8 tells you everything that happened in the previous 7, as if you didn't know, and so on. Charlaine Harris does this in the Sookie series, fun books, fun stories, but by book three when i figured out 3/4 of it was a all a re-run, I yawned and skipped to the end. Or maybe thats just me. :) CDNWMN
I hear exactly what your saying. It's the predictability of the story line. I can't stand knowing 3 or 4 chapters into a book or a series exactly where it's headed. I wan't to read something different. Something that jumps out at me and leaves me undecided as to the conclusion. I don't want to see the end coming but I want to be surprised by every twist and turn. Good blog Krystey! :)
This isn't exactly the same thing, but my daughter just quit reading The Immortals Series by Alison Noel because in Book 3, all Ever does is whine about losing her true love. The Monste said, "If I have to read 'my soul-mate' one more time, I'm going to puke." Despite assurances from friends that book had a good ending and book 4 is better, she refuses to pick it back up. And she flew through the first two. Sad really.
You and Danielle nailed it! I'm still reading The Immortal Series, but those two better have sex at the end. And the ending better not fizzle like some final books.
Now that definitely won't be a problem for FINAL SACRIFICE. :D
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