Book Series I’m afraid to commit to | Ft. Book series & Books on my TBR I’m avoiding reading

As I sat down this Saturday to prepare my posts for the upcoming week, I instantly realized how perfect this week’s TTT (Top Ten Tuesday) topic is – Books On My TBR I’m Avoiding Reading and Why (maybe you’re scared of it, worried it won’t live up to the hype, etc.)! 

I’ve recently started a blog series about book series (this is my favorite phrase! 😀 ) with the first one being Book series I need to finish, focusing primarily on the unfinished trilogies that I have quite a lot of. 

P.S. I still haven’t read any of the last books in the trilogies mentioned in that post. I will! I promise I will! It just takes me a while to actually get to them.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to combine book series with the TTT topic and talk about Book Series I’m afraid to commit to! 

Why am I afraid to start new series?

There are two main reasons – (1) I already start a lot of new series every year, mainly due to debut releases, ARCs and just general hype about new (and old) books, and (2) I rarely finish book series. 

The last two book series I finished and actually read from the beginning till the end without long interruptions was the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas and His Dark Material by Philip Pullman, but only because I knew that if I wouldn’t pick up the next book right after finishing the previous one, I would never have read the entire thing. 

Because I have so many unfinished book series, I always feel like I HAVE to finish at least a few of them before committing myself to another one. 

***

*I actually took all of these books down from my shelves for the purpose of writing this post and read a couple of pages of each of them. So I could touch them and maybe convince myself that the time has finally come to start reading these series.

---

1 – Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab

• 

• 

• 

Most people only know one London; but what if there were several? Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel Londons. There’s Grey London, dirty and crowded and without magic, home to the mad king George III. There’s Red London, where life and magic are revered. Then, White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. But once upon a time, there was Black London…

I bought this entire trilogy probably 3 years ago, a little bit after starting this blog. They have been sitting on my shelves for a very long time now and I’m pretty sure I will like them, but I’m still scared. 

The first book is actually only 380 pages long, which is very short for a fantasy novel. However, we all know how easy it is to read the first book, and how difficult it gets to pick up the rest of the trilogy. 

My reasons for avoiding these books:

1. I didn’t like This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab
2. The 3rd book is a brick and has double the amount of pages of the 1st book
3. I’m afraid that it won’t live up to the hype

---

2 – Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness

• 

• 

• 

Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee – whose thoughts Todd can hear, too, whether he wants to or not – stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden – a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.
But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

Over the years I’ve acquired a few of Patrick Ness books (and I love how my paperback editions by Walker Books all have similar spines so the books look gorgeous together on the shelf). My first Patrick Ness book was A Monster Calls which is one of the saddest books I read. This year I read his The Rest of Us Just Live Here, and while love how beautifully written it was, how many important subjects it brought to light, I didn’t necessarily love it. 

I also realized that Patrick Ness doesn’t focus on the plot or surroundings, his attention is always with the characters. Since the Chaos Walking is considered a Dystopian trilogy I’m not sure if I will like that character-driven style. 

My reasons for avoiding these books:

1. Not a lot of people talk about this trilogy
2. I’m afraid that I won’t like Patrick Ness writing style in dystopian settings

---

3 – The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff

• 

• 

• 

Mia Corvere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Destined to destroy empires, the child raised in shadows made a promise on the day she lost everything: to avenge herself on those that shattered her world.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, and Mia must become a weapon without equal. Before she seeks vengeance, she must seek training among the infamous assassins of the Red Church of Itreya.
Inside the Church’s halls, Mia must prove herself against the deadliest of opponents and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and daemons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Church is no ordinary school. But Mia is no ordinary student.
The Red Church is no ordinary school, but Mia is no ordinary student.
The shadows love her.
And they drink her fear.

The last book in this trilogies was released last week. It’s only normal that there has been so much talk about this series. And I do own the first two books that I purchased after reading the Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman. 

I really want to love it, especially because of the assassins, school setting and all the praises I’ve seen around the bookish net. 

My reasons for avoiding these books:

1. The font size in my paperback edition is the tiniest
2. I’m not a fan of flowery, over the top writing style (I heard that’s how Jay Kristoff writes)
3. The footnotes are not my favorite thing
4. My copy is blurbed by Starburst: ‘If you love Robin Hobb or George R.R. Martin you will adore Nevernight’. I don’t really like GRRM overly descriptive writing style and I’ve never read any of Robin Hobb books. 

---

4 – Legacy of Orisha by Tomi Adeyemi

• 

• 

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

This was very much a hype induced purchase. Everyone was talking about this book last year and felt a little bit left out for not knowing what all the hype was about. I bought it, and… I haven’t read it yet. (the story of my life)

The second book came out earlier this year and I believe the third book should be out next year. I still have some time to think about this series before committing to it 

My Reasons for avoiding these books:

1. Once again, I think I will be disappointed because of how hyped this book is
2. I’m currently reading a similar fantasy – Kingdom of Souls  by Rena Barron and I’m not enjoying it. 

---

5 – Lightbringer by Brent Weeks

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live.
When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he’s willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

The first time I heard about these series was on PeruseProject channel. She really loved and binged all the books in a couple of months. At the time, I wanted to try some more adult fantasy, so I thought this series would be perfect. 

The last book is coming out this October. I think what I will do is read the first book and if I like it, just purchase the entire series so I can binge at some point. 

My Reasons for avoiding these books:

1. They are huge!
2. I heard a lot of comments about poor women representation.

---

6 – The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

• 

• 

Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. 
The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. 
A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

I have a very floppy paperback of The Name of the Wind and if that doesn’t make you excited to read a book, I don’t know what does. 

There are currently only two books out and I don’t know how many there will be in the series, and also don’t want to wait a very long time between the installments as I feel that waiting time makes the series lose their appeal to me. 

My Reasons for avoiding these books:

1. The series is not completed yet
2. I’m afraid of big books
3. I’m also afraid of the hype

---

7 – Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

• 

• 

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

Everyone says how beautiful Laini Taylor’s writing is, how beautiful this story is. But I’m just scared that I won’t love it as much as everyone else does. And also I own this weirdly sized mass-market paperback with the tiniest font. It honestly looks like a Pocket Book. 

My Reasons for avoiding these books:

1. I’ve never read anything by Laini Taylor, so I don’t know if I’ll like her writing style
2. My copy is the tiniest book I own with 
3. Smallest font size! I already wear glasses, I feel like I’ll need a magnifying glass to read it! 

---

---

BONUS! 8 – The Goldfinch by Donna Tart

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don’t know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

This is obviously not a series, but I decided to include it here anyway because it’s the only stand-alone in my collection that I’m genuinely scared to pick up! 

Have you seen this monster? 

What books are you avoiding?
Leave your comments and TTT links down below!

***

This is Part 2 of my blog conversations about Book Series.
If you enjoyed this, here’re the links to the other posts in this series:

• Part 1: Trilogies that I haven’t finished yet!
• Part 2: Book Series I’m scared to commit to!

Connect with me on GoodReads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook