Once you start a series, do you ever feel like you’re obligated to finish it, even after you know you disliked it? Almost as if you got this far, so you have to finish it?

Here are a few series that I started but never finished. Included are the reasons, and if you notice these for any series . . . maybe consider dropping it? Because there are plenty more book that deserve your time more than that mediocre pile of papers.

1. Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas

Truthfully, I completely enjoyed this first book. However, I’ve heard nothing but contradicting things about the rest of the series, about how it’s amazing or how it’s horrible. I decided not to finish the series at all, and not ruin the image I already had of the book. And, while I did enjoy it, I didn’t exactly connect with the characters, so I saw no value in continuing anyways.

2. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

A lot of my friends told me to read this series, and when I finally did, I found that it wasn’t anything special. When I read it, Winter was still coming out, so I had to wait for it. Lo and behold, when I finally got a copy for Christmas, I found that I had no desire to read a 800 page book for a series that was only mildly decent. (If anyone wants to swap for a brand-new copy of Winter, check out my post HERE!)

3. The Squire’s Tales by Gerald Morris

I read nine of these books before I recognized that I had literally no interest in these. I only read them because a friend insisted upon it, and I didn’t stop because they insisted that they were amazing. I was still looking for that “amazingness” in the second to last book, before I finally threw them down. Why read these when I didn’t care at all?

4. Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding

A lesser known Steampunk series, I loved Retribution Falls (#1) and The Black Lung Captain (#2). But upon getting to the third one, The Iron Jackal, everything changes. The MC gets ridiculously selfish, and the entire book is focused on him. I went from a five-star series to a one-star, and completely lost interest in reading the fourth and final book, The Ace of Skulls.

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So what can you learn from me?

1. Check trusted reviews before you read. If the series completely changes from what you love, what’s the point in reading through the entire thing? A shockingly large change isn’t always good.

2. Don’t spend money/time on something that you have little interest in. There’s really no point in continuing it and buying the books if you’re just going to feel like you’re wasting your time.

3. Similar to #2, don’t start something if you literally have no interest. What’s the point if you don’t care? If a friend tells you to read it, make sure you actually care before starting it.

4. If you find a drastic change you don’t like, why continue? Going from loving to hating isn’t fun, and there’s really no point if you dislike it.

Of course, my list isn’t thorough. What are some reasons you don’t continue a series?