Certain characters and books landed a special place in my heart when I first read them years ago, even if I may not like them if I read them for the first time today. Every once and a while, whenever I see these books around, I always end up telling myself I need to reread.
But then I never end up rereading them.
So here are nine series I keep telling myself I need to reread, but never get around to.
First things first, I might as well get the very very obvious one over and done with:
Mask of Shadows & Ruin of Stars by Linsey Miller
I’m going to go ahead and explain this one like it wasn’t fairly obvious, but this series means the world to me. It shows a genderfluid character kicking ass and being themself. Sal is Sal, and doesn’t let other characters change that no matter what they say. Sal (and basically all of the other characters) will always hold a special place in my heart. Adding Ruin of Stars into the mix would just ruin me, but you can’t have one without the other.
The next two are both from the same author. The first I credit with making me addicted to reading, while the second one is a spin-off of the first that I just feel like I never gave enough time. While I’ve always liked the first, I never gave the second the time of day I wish I did, and so I wish to reread both just to rekindle my love as well as dig deeper into the complexities of the second.
Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan
One of the books I give credit for shaping my childhood, I met one of my closest friends through this series. I wear a silver oakleaf necklace day and night because of this series and the love it represents for me. While this series is probably the more heterosexual, cisnormative book I’ve ever read, it still holds a special place in my heart, and that’s hard to ignore when it’s literally shaped me.
Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan
This one is probably worse than the one I mentioned above in terms of heterosexuality and cisnormativity. Flanagan also has problems with writing fleshed out female characters and its just emphasized in this series. But having been shaped by the series above, it’s quite hard to skip a series directly related to it. I never gave this one the time of day, so the least I could do is reread it to have some basis behind my critiques.
The next two were series that would have normally been on this list, but I actually started rereading…and then never finished. For each of these, I started and finished the first book of the series, but just never went onto the rest of the series.
The Expanse by James SA Corey
I love this series, which I had found back in 8th grade and all the way up to the…5th book? But now there’s nearly 7, and I still haven’t read the 6th, and I honestly can’t remember much about most of the series. The first was my favorite, the second my least favorite, so when it came to starting the reread, I flew through the first and stalled on the second. And I’m still there, about 50 pages in, and not getting any further, despite my love for the series, as well as it’s diversity.
Shades of Magic by VE Schwab
Schwab’s writing is a hit or miss for a lot of people, and I have to say that, at least for this series, its a bullseye. I loved this trilogy when it first came out, but, in all honesty…I’ve never read A Conjuring of Light. I’m just too afraid to. I told myself I would reread first, but after rereading the first, I never reread the second, so now I just stare at ACoL, dreading what might’ve happen to my babies in that tome.
I’ve always been a huge fantasy reader, and if you couldn’t tell that by now, then obviously you don’t know me that well. The next book on this list was one of the few that started that obsession. (When I was on the GoodReads page to get the cover picture, I started rereading the summary, and my need to reread this series only grew.)
The Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch
When I say that I love questionable morals, this is the book that probably stemmed from. Locke Lamora is the definition of questionable, but he’s also loveable and hilarious. This series formed my preferences in what I like to see in my fantasy books, but I haven’t read this series in forever. I know the author struggles with depression, but if/when the next book comes out, I know I’ll have to reread all over again.
These last three are series that I fell in love with after Ranger’s Apprentice. All of these I read during my middle school years (5th-8th for me) and ever since then I’ve been telling myself that I need to reread them.
The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
I will be honest and say that I decided to pick up this series solely because it had the word ‘apprentice’ in the series title. It reminded me of Ranger’s Apprentice, and at that point I didn’t know that the series was being continued. I ended up falling for the mix of fantasy and paranormal, and just couldn’t get enough. The best part is that this series is 12 books long.
Septimus Heap by Angie Sage
Being the child I was, I picked this book up solely because of the shape of it. The copy I had picked up was shorter than the average book, shaped like a square rather than a rectangle. Of course, I chose to check it out from the library because of the summary, and I loved the fantastical elements with the vague hinting of it actually being a dystopia.
Warriors by Erin Hunter
Yes, I am adding this one to this list. I started obsessing over this series because there was a cat on it’s cover. Okay, that’s good, but then I realized that the MC’s name (or original name) was Rusty, and I had just gotten a kitten and named him Rusty without having read this book before hand. I eventually got dreadfully attached to Rusty, the character, and before you knew it, I was the proud owner of the entire series.
love this post!! I really need to reread Shades of Magic sometime. and omg, I was obsessed with Warriors at one point – I don’t think I could EVER reread it again, it’s just too much of a nostalgia fave.
Thanks!!! I think I’m just afraid of ACOL, so that’s why I never continued onto AGOS. I want to reread Warriors just to see how weird it is now!
very relatable! and honestly if you do I’ll be stalking your reviews 24/7.
Bahaha honestly I would probably review by “series” because I can read those books so fast
big mood lmaoooooo, my favorite series was the second I bet I could explain way more of the plot that I’m proud of
My favorite was actually the first lmao. And I remember the first very vividly (lmaoooo) but can’t remember much of the others. Only specific scenes (the mountain cats really get to me for some reason, lfkjasl;fkjsd)
lmaoooooooooo same tbh? I think I just liked the second one more because I liked the characters more, they’re more Morally Grey And Dimensional i guess?
Maybe?? I can’t honestly remember the characters too well in the second one. There was just so much in the whole series that it’s hard to differentiate the individual parts.
true as hell
I NEED to read Shades of magic! I haven’t read anything by Victoria yet and I need to!!
It’s so good! It’s definitely a hit or miss for lots of people, but I just couldn’t get enough!
I have tons of books that I want to reread, but I feel guilty about rereading when my TBR shelf is overflowing. I reread the Shades of Magic books last year. I loved them just as much the second time.
That’s the exact reason why I haven’t reread these yet. I have so many ARCs and other books I want to read that I feel like I’m wasting my time rereading.
Oooo Septimus Heap <3 <3 I remember reading that series in my middle school days. It was one of the series' that convinced me that fantasy was definitely the genre for me 🙂 I'm in the middle of a horrible reading slump right now so maybe that'd be the perfect reread to get me out of it.
Laura @BlueEyeBooks
They are great books for that! My favorite was the one with the blue cover, I think Syren? Let me know if you do reread, you’re making me want to reread 😀
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