Books That Didn’t Thrill Me, With Sequels That Did

One of my biggest flaws as a reader is picking up books and putting them down. The year I decided to change my habits, I forced myself to finish every book I started, even if I found it difficult. I used to think life was too short for books I didn’t have to read, but what I didn’t realise at the time was that I was missing something great by not giving books a second chance. To be fair, not all of them turned out to be winners. There were some I got to the end of and thought ‘that was disappointing’, but mostly I found I was grateful to have gone back and finished them. I owed the author another go for putting a piece of themselves on the paper, and those authors repaid me.

There are three book series that come to mind, specifically, as ones I came very close to not reading at all. Funnily enough, they all remain in my list of all-time favourites.

My favourite example is Cinder by Marissa Meyer. When I first picked it up, I adored the concept. I’ve always had a soft spot for fairy-tale retellings and this was the first I’d come across with a futuristic twist. I was excited to read it but, like most books when I first buy them, it sat on my bedside table for months. Months I spent staring longingly at it – admiring the cover and letting my excitement build over the possibilities.

When I finally started the book, I ended up putting it down after a chapter or two, and never picking it back up again. I wish I had a good reason why, but I don’t. Sometimes I would get so excited over a concept that I’d be writing my own version in my head before it began, and when the book was inevitably different, I’d find myself almost disappointed.

I don’t remember if this is exactly what happened when I read Cinder, I’m just grasping for reasons why I ever gave up on this book.

It had only just been published when it found its way into my possession and it wasn’t until years later that I picked it back up again, determined to finish it. During this time, I caught sight of similar covers appearing on the shelves. I passed Scarlet, Cress and, eventually, Winter. The titles and covers intrigued me. All the time I spent not reading this book, I wondered if they were all different stories in a kind of fairy-tale collection, and although I understood where the names Scarlet and Winter came from, I was at a loss of what Cress meant.

The series sparked my interest over and over again, and it was always in the back of my mind; I should probably try that book again. I needed to find out how this story had been told, and how these other characters came into play. Thankfully, I did.

Cinder was a wonderful read. In the case of fairy-tale retellings, it’s often easy to predict the ending. We’ve read the original, we know how it ends, but the intrigue is how the author applies their own spin. Cinder surprised me in a number of ways, most of which I won’t mention for the sake of spoilers, but by the time I was done, I was ready for Scarlet.

Scarlet had me in the first few sentences, the character grabbing me and holding so tight, I had no choice but to just go with it, and I drank up the rest accordingly. In all my wonderings about this book, passing each cover on the shelf as it came out, I never realised they were all connected. If you haven’t read The Lunar Chronicles, then brace for a very thin spoiler. Each book introduces a new character, but it still follows the story of the original. The namesake character almost took over each time as the main character, but it was like our beloved original collected this squad along the way. It was a kind of multiple POV I had never read before, and it was lovely.

If I hadn’t gone back and read Cinder, I would never have uncovered a favourite series I hold very close to me.

When I talk about this next one, I fear I might challenge some common opinions. From what I’ve gathered from the massive fanbase, I feel alone in this (although I doubt I truly am). I have to mention Throne of Glass and no, I did not love the first book.

This series showed up on my Instagram again and again and again. (Where I get most of my recommendations from). Seemingly, it had everything I liked about a book – with all that mysterious fantasy and murder. It was on my list but my list was long.

Sarah J Maas was heading to Supanova Brisbane and since she lives in America, I didn’t want to miss a chance at meeting her when it was very likely I’d love her books. I decided to read it, although by the time I got around to it, Maas had been and gone!

There were many enjoyable parts in Throne of Glass, but also parts that didn’t thrill me so much that I had to keep reading. I do, however, remember getting to the end and thinking ‘wow, this goes on forever’ but it had me every step of the way. I’d never previously read a book that put so much into the ending, but it changed my writing style forever.

I was, however, not so hooked that I jumped to the next one right away. I allowed some time to pass before I picked up Crown of Midnight and, to be entirely honest, it could have just as easily sat there for months and months.

When I finally got to reading it, however, the next books then fell like dominoes. I just kept going one after the other, until I had to wait for Empire of Storms. A tough, tough wait. By book two, I had fallen in love with Celaena, and by book three, I’d fallen in love with everything else. My favourite was Queen of Shadows, although Heir of Fire really woke me up when we were introduced to Manon. I knew I had met one of my favourite series of all time, and a handful of my all-time favourite characters.

I first picked up Sally Green’s Half Bad because boy, that cover is banging. I couldn’t believe the beauty of it. I found it extraordinary. When I read it, however, I struggled with Green’s writing style. It was very different from mine and very different to what I had previously read (another example of my wanting to be comfortable and stick with what I know but, again, later identifying it as what I loved most about the book).

Admittedly, it was one of those books I forced myself to finish and to be entirely fair, I didn’t really intend to read the others. It was a bit of a struggle for me to get through. I enjoyed the premise, and oddness of the book and characters, but I think it was lacking the kind of structure and flow I was used to. I just couldn’t sit comfortably with it. I love the weird and unusual, and I loved the edginess to it, but it just didn’t take me.

It wasn’t until I received the YA Chronicles Pride subscription box that I thought about it again. Along with the many other wonderful goodies I got that month, I also received a poster of recommendations of LGBT+ novels. I saw Half Bad on this list. The YA Chronicles had led me down the right path before, so I decided to give the rest of the series another go. The parts that didn’t sit right with me in the first book didn’t change, but maybe I had, because I grew to love the uniqueness of this book and this story. I adored this strange, angry character I had once had indifferent feelings for. I loved, most of all, that in so many ways, this book challenged what I thought of people. The main character made so many decisions I would have never made because, of course, we put ourselves in the same situations and try to picture ourselves making those same choices. It was hard for me to connect to Nathan, and although I still didn’t like some of his decisions, I understood them and that made him beautiful to me.

I cannot emphasise enough how much I loved this series, and how much it changed me, as a writer, as a person. It was fresh and raw in a way I didn’t know books were allowed to be. Allowed to be! Imagine thinking that way about books? Putting such a strict imaginary boundary around them? It was a very very wrong perception I had, that I didn’t realise I had until somebody challenged it. Thank god for the writers that break down these walls. Sadly, I needed a push to break out of the box I didn’t know sat around me. Wonderfully, I got that push.

Someone said something very vague to me in the midst of this series and although it wasn’t a spoiler, it was still enough that I knew what was coming. I hate knowing or guessing what’s coming. If you do too, look away, because my vague spoiler is that this book broke me. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learnt to let go of this ‘I want a happy ending story’ kind of mentality because the more I read, the more I come to understand the point of the not-so-happy ones. The final in the series destroyed me but in a vey lovely, tragic way.

I do still believe that you shouldn’t waste time on books you don’t love. I think, for me, I didn’t realise what I loved until it was shown to me. I’m glad I finished those series, and I’m glad I went back to that book I put down. There are some series I’ve pushed through and still didn’t love, and some where it would take a lot of motivation to go back to, but if I’ve learnt anything from these books, it’s that it’s worth reading any amount of boring or terrible ones to find those that’ll stay with me forever.

Books are always an investment of time, but I’ve never looked back (even with series I’ve hated) and thought I wish I had my time back. Not as a writer, anyway.

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