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Friday, April 7, 2017

50/50 Friday (27): Best/Worst Conclusion to a Series


50/50 Friday is a meme hosted by Carrie @The Butterfly Reads and I and focuses on the opposite sides of books (best/worst, differing opinions, etc).  Every week will have a new topic and several advance topics will be listed in the tab labeled 50/50 Friday!

Today's Topic: Best/Worst Conclusion to a Series



Best:

Graceling Realm #3

Goodreads Blurb:
"Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitterblue, and her country, were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitterblue is the queen of Monsea, and her land is at peace.

But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisers, who have run the country on her behalf since Leck's death, believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all of those who committed terrible acts during Leck's reign; and to forget every dark event that ever happened. Monsea's past has become shrouded in mystery, and it's only when Bitterblue begins sneaking out of her castle - curious, disguised and alone - to walk the streets of her own city, that she begins to realise the truth. Her kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year long spell of a madman, and now their only chance to move forward is to revisit the past.

Whatever that past holds.

Two thieves, who have sworn only to steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, who possesses an unidentified Grace, may also hold a key to her heart . . ."


I loved this book both as a series ender, but also just as a book itself.  It wrapped up everything nicely while leaving some natural speculation about the future (because the earth continues to spin, does it not?).  If you haven't read this series yet and you're a fantasy fan, I highly recommend it!


Worst:
Divergent #3

Goodreads Blurb:
"The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered - fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningliess. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend to complexities of human nature - and of herself - while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, ALLEGIANT, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the DIVERGENT series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in DIVERGENT and INSURGENT."


Now don't get me wrong, I did like this series and this was a great book.  I just think this series suffered from middle-book syndrome and this book didn't manage to do much to recover the series from that.  While I truly loved the actual ending (it broke my heart, honestly!), as a whole, I didn't love this book as the series ender.  Speaking of which, does anyone know if the second part of the movie is coming out?  They released Part 1 of Allegiant (which I have yet to see but I've heard it's... interesting) but I haven't heard anything about the second part.



What do you think of these series enders?  Do you agree?  What books do you think made great or not-so-great series enders?  Make a post and link up down below!



Next Week's Topic: Lightest/Darkest Book (atmosphere)

8 comments:

  1. I've never even read Graceling and I really need to change that. Everyone loves that series and I feel left out lol

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    1. Gah! Yes! Go! Now! Haha it's such a great series :)

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  2. Oh I need to read the Graceling series..i love the cover so much too <3 And I kinda agree about Allegiant..The actual ending left me a mess but it was quite the perfect ending BUT the book on a whole did not impress me so much! Ok and I just checked the wiki page, apparently since Aleegiant part 1 got negative reviews and was a financial disappointment, Lionsgate has decided to release part 2 as a TV movie but in Feb they announced that Shailene Woodley had backed out of the movie :/ I wonder what will happen!

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    1. Yes! Go and read it! It's such a good series :) Wow, a TV movie? Weird... That's kind of disappointing how Part 1 fell flat so they couldn't round out the series. I was even kind of sad when that happened to PJO but I suppose if they won't make money off of it, there's not a lot of incentive. We'll have to keep an eye on it! Thanks for stopping by, Uma!

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  3. I really need to read Bitterblue. I loved Graceling and Fire. I hated Divergent and never finished the series. So...even though I haven't finished either series yet, I'd say we're in agreement.

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    1. I'm so glad you loved the first two books! If you loved them, you'll definitely like Bitterblue. Yeah, I think it was a great series in it's time, but now, not so much.

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  4. I have to agree - Allegiant really wasn't the best conclusion to a series that there could be. I wish the ending of that series had been a lot different myself as well! I think the best conclusion to a series personally, was Winter by Marissa Meyer.

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    1. For sure. It tried to save the series from middle-slump syndrome but it didn't pull it all the way out. Yes Winter was amazing!! The whole Lunar Chronicles series in general is simply fabulous :) Thanks for stopping by, Olivia!

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