Standalone vs. Book Series

Happy Sunday my lovely booksta bloggers…..

Ok so I didn’t know whether to do meme today or just do a normal blog post and yes you guessed it I picked a normal blog post.

So todays blog post is all about whether you prefer a Book Series or a Standalone….. I want to here your pros and cons on both and I’ll also give you mine and a few recommendations.. well ok those books that I LOVED.

Standalone

OK so I am all in favour of a standalone. Sometimes I just feel that when a book is well written its doesn’t need more books to add to it. I have read some excellent Standalone’s where I have had closure and most of the time an ending that I was happy with.

So would you like some recommendations of Standalones I’ve loved? Well I’m going to give them to you anyway as its my blog…

Up to this Pointe by Jennifer Longo

I was recommended this book by one of my very good friends Ania over at Anarchy_in_the_library and when Ania recommends a book you know its going to be a good one. So for me this had it all in, I gave it a five star rating it was that good. The story was well thought out and executed and it didn’t need another book to know if the main character went on to do more with her life. The ending made you BELIEVE that she would.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Another book that was recommended to me by fellow Bookstagrammers… I admit I left this book for over a year before I read. I heard such good things that I didn’t want to be disappointed if I didn’t like it as much as others and boy did I enjoy it. Rowell created something that made me smile, cringe, laugh and cry all within the 459 pages.

Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

I recognise that I have promoted two YA Contemporary books so here is a standalone fantasy read. I follow Nadine on Instagram and when I found out that she had written a fantasy standalone about Guy Fawkes I had to read it… I mean come on I’m from the U.K. so needed to see how Nadine wrote it. It has intrigue, fantasy elements, magic, romance, historical elements and also some diversity. Again it was all packed within a few hundred pages. It didn’t need another book the ending was perfect for the book.

Book Series

OK I could list 100s of book series that are amazing and that I have fangirled over and I don’t think they need much explanation but I’ll give a couple of words for each!

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Ok where do I start with this one…… I read this when it was first released and grew up with it like Harry, Ron and Hermione. J.K Rowling creates a world where it could have gone on further than the seven books but it ended on a good note. The wizarding world was amazing in each of the seven books. If you haven’t read it go buy or borrow it now.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Ok this is only a duology BUT it packs so much into two books it is definitely two books that you will fall in love with and wish there were more books in the Grisha world but *gasp* there is.. if you love this world then you will love the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh. There is so much more that can be done with the world and thank you Leigh Bardugo and her publishers for King of Scars that is coming out in January 2019.

Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kauffman

This is the best sci-fi/fantasy series that I have read. We have a psycho AI trying to kill everyone but also trying to save people.. he doesn’t make the best choices. We have 6 young adults who are racing against time and space to save the world and escape those trying to kill them. Add in some romance, violence and a lot of sarcasm and you have three books that are 5 star reads. This couldn’t have been done in just the one book it needed all three and hopefully a spin off series as there is so much more that can be explored.

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I don’t know what you think but I kind of said both are as good as each other!!! So there are pros and cons for both. On the one hand sometimes you just want MORE from a standalone you want to have more backstory and more after story (don’t think this is a word) but you just ache for more.

Series — sometimes with a series you just feel that enough is enough. DO not create anymore books when the other 6 would have sufficed or *gasp* cut out some of the book filler you’ve added in and just put the pertinent information in!

SO at the end of this what do you prefer? Book Series? Standalone or if you are like me WHEN I’m in the mood I like both.

Happy Reading

Bookslovereaders

xx