Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.
Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.
The topic for this week is: Top Ten Best/Worst Series Enders
There are so many series that I’ve adored how they ended but some fell short of my expectations. Here are some that I’ve enjoyed and didn’t love so much.
The Best!
The Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6) by Richelle Mead – I gave this book five stars so it should be no surprise that it’s on this week’s list as one of the series with what I consider to be the best enders. I like how things end up for Rose, Lissa and all the other VA people but things aren’t too perfect if that makes sense. Just because their story is over, there are still things open. And I think that’s one of the reasons why the spinoff series, Bloodlines works so well. Because we can still see these characters again and things don’t seem awkward with them having a life after VA.
The Reckoning (Darkest Powers #3) by Kelley Armstrong – I loved that these characters had grown since the first book of the trilogy and they delivered a climax to the series that felt appropriate. It was action packed but still felt true to the characters. And plus it’s Kelley Armstrong. She’s brilliant. I’ve loved every book of her’s that I’ve read.
Twilight (Mediator #6) by Meg Cabot – For the longest time this was my favourite YA series. Suze is strong and the kind of girl I wish I was growing up. She’s brave and intelligent but prone to get herself into trouble rather often. The last book in this series ended perfectly for me. It’s how I wanted things to happen but never imagined that they could.
The Last Battle (Narnia #7) by C.S. Lewis – Narnia is one of those series I grew up reading. And when I got to the end… It was fairly emotional for me. I haven’t read this book in years but I remember thinking it as a great way to end the series.
United We Spy (Gallagher Girls #6) by Ally Carter – I read this book last week… and whist this book is darker than those at the start of the series, it fit where the characters are now perfectly. They’ve grown up and are facing things that are more mature. This is a great ending to this series!
The Worst!
Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins – I wouldn’t be surprised if this book ends up on a lot of people’s lists this week – both as the best and worst. I liked the direction Collins was taking it however it had one MAJOR issues. Pacing. Things would take forever and then all of a sudden people would be dead? And stuff would have just happened and I’d have to flip back a few pages to see if I’d missed anything. It had promise… it just wasn’t quite right.
Breaking Dawn (Twilight #4) by Stephenie Meyer – What disappointed me most about this book was the action. It’s one where I think the movie did a great job of fixing what I had issues with. There’s such build up of this EPIC fight that’s going to happen…. but then it all fizzles out. I felt let down that after all the talk and all the preparation there was nothing. That said – the very ending I thought was perfect for Edward and Bella.
From Dead To Worse (The Southern Vampire Mysteries #8) by Charlaine Harris – Also known as the Sookie Stackhouse series or those books that True Blood is based on, I adored this series. But after the first seven or so books everything seemed to fall apart for me. The things that I loved at the start of the series were no longer in the books and I found myself growing frustrated by the main character, Sookie. It’s still a series that I enjoy the first half of but books 8-13 aren’t ones I liked very much at all.
The Best and Worst at the Same Time!
Sometimes there are books that I love and hate at the same time.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by JK Rowling – Loved and HATED how this book ended. And I think the reason why I hated it was because it was OVER! All those years I’d invested in this series and to have it over… a bit of a shock. But I loved how the characters found themselves in the end. And whilst I wasn’t a huge fan of the epilogue – it was right for them.
Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate – This book annoyed me. It was a bit too fluffy but in the end – I think it was PERFECT for the characters. This is how they are meant to be. And how they’re supposed to live. Frustrating at times for me as a reader but I can see how great it was for the characters.
That’s my top ten. Let me know what yours are! Do we have any the same, any completely different? I’d love to see what you guys think of this week’s TTT.
The Mediator is on my best endings list, too (even though she’s extending the series, haha). I just think it ended perfectly 😀
Mockingjay almost made it on my ‘disappointed with these endings’ list, but others kind of trumped it.
Love this list, Kate ^.^
She’s extending it? Chiara – you just made my day! I LOVED that series. I started reading it back when she was using the name Jenny Carroll and I’d absolutely read any more Suze/Jesse books! 😀
SHE IS! I am glad I was able to make your day, haha 😀
She was using the pen name when I read them, as well! Ah, so long ago.
JESSE. Seriously, one of the best book boyfriends, ever.
Harry Potter is on my best list, but I totally understand what you mean. I really didn’t like the epilogue, but I tried to look past that for my list.
It deserves to be on the best list – and I completely understand why she epilogued it like she did… I just.. thought it tied everything just a little too nicely. Like now Voldemort was gone everything as perfect… doubt that.
Yes and yes to Mockingjay and Last Sacrifice!
United We Spy really was a good ending, felt like you had watched them grow up since book 1 it was a little sad really
Good call on Mockingjay, overall I loved the series but I had problems with both the second and third book.
Also I should be finishing The Vampire Academy sometime this month so I’m happy to see it has a great ending!! 🙂
Great list!
I loved the Narnia series too. The Last Battle and the Dawn Treader are my favorite books of this series. Good call on Mockingjay, Breaking Dawn, and Harry Potter. I still have to finish the Fallen series.
I love that you did the best and the worst at the same time! There are definitely some book I have such conflicted feelings about that I can’t decide which end of the spectrum they belong on!
I know, right? So many books… perfect and yet so so wrong! 😀
I loved the epilogue for HP! It made it a little bit easier to let go (read: not at all easy to let go either way I still cry every time I read the damn book).
And I loved The Last Battle too! That whole series, really, was flawless.
Flawless – perfect word to sum up the series. They may be old but they remain one of my all time favourite series.
The Last Sacrifice and The Last Battle are great choices, though it’s funny to see them paired b/c they’re so different. I still need to read the Gallagher Girls series. I’m one of the few people who didn’t mind Mockingjay or Breaking Dawn. I know, I’m crazy!
You’re not crazy! Can you imagine how boring the world would be if we all thought the same? Eek!
And maybe Last Sacrifice and The Last Battle are closer than we think… they both have the word last in them after all 😉
Yes! United We Spy was a great ending to the series! I love it! I’ve been wanting to read the Mediator series for awhile now! Good list!
I LOVED the Mediator series when I first read it. They are pretty quick reads but Suze is sassy and kickarse whilst still maintaining her typical teen life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did if you do decide to read it!
I need to finish up the Gallagher Girls series! I’ve enjoyed the books that I’ve read already, so I’m hoping that the rest of the series is just as good, if not better. I liked Breaking Dawn when I first read it, but now I look back on it and realise just how much I’m not a fan of it at all!
I really liked how the Gallagher Girls ended up – definitely recommend you read it!
I’m like that with some books. I read then and enjoy them but on reflection a little later on wonder just why I liked them….
I actually didn’t mind the endings to Twilight and The Hunger Games. I don’t remember how The Darkest Powers ended, but I want to reread those books soon; I miss them! And yes, The Mediator ended so well, and I’m so excited for a seventh book! Suze and Jesse! <3 Thanks for stopping by!
Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf
I’m excited that you’re excited too about the 7th Mediator book! 😀 I think the very ending of Breaking Dawn was good… I just got annoyed for most of it… 😛 But it fit the tone that the rest of the series set so it was more than appropriate.
I wasn’t a fan of The Last Battle — it felt too anticlimactic to me!
-Scott Reads It!
I can see why you thought that. And maybe I’m glamourizing it in my memory – it’s been over a decade since I read it. 🙂
Last Sacrifice made my list as well. Love that whole series and the last book was incredible! And I have to say, I love the Bloodlines series even more. Mockingjay made my list for best. Sad, but fit the series.
I think I love the Bloodlines series more than VA too. I adore Sydney and Adrian’s dynamic. I can’t wait for the fourth book to come out in November!
And I can see why Mockingjay would be on the best side of things. I thought conceptually it was great – it just fell apart for me in terms of execution.
Definitely agree with you about Mockingjay! And I also agree with your comment above about Bloodlines vs. VA – I really enjoyed VA, but I’m loving Bloodlines even more!
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Only just over a month till the 4th Bloodlines book! I’m getting excited! 😀