Tuesday, March 8, 2016

When Your Favorite Series End

Today marks the release of Lady Midnight, the first book in a new Shadowhunters series, and while I'm thrilled to be returning to that world, I'm also eager to see how The Dark Artifices ties into my beloved The Infernal Devices. It's been almost three years since the latter came to an end, which kind of blows my mind. Has it really been that long? We did a little TID-themed week back when Clockwork Princess released, including a TID-inspired background, which I dug out for today and will probably leave up for the next few days. What can I say? I'm feeling a little nostalgic this week.

I'm still not over TID. For me it's one of those series that's always lingering at the back of my mind because of its epic-ness. You know those series: the ones that keep you up into the wee, wee hours of the morning reading, and you don't even mind the sleep deprivation. The ones that you think about when you're not reading them. The ones that you wish you were reading instead of being at work, school, etc. The ones that make you laugh your ass off one minute and ugly cry your eyes out the next and you love every minute of it. The ones that inspire you to write posts like this one.

As excited as I am to read highly anticipated series finales, I also always feel a sense of dread because this is it. The end. I get torn between wanting to devour the concluding book in a favorite series because I NEED to know how it all ends but at the same time, I'm not ready to say goodbye. And then there's usually a vicious book hangover once you're done reading, made even worse when you remember that there aren't any more books to wait for in that series.

In addition to The Infernal Devices, I still very, very, very much miss these series that are complete:

Without a doubt, this is the series that I was the saddest to see come to an end, at the time:

When I reached the last word of Deathly Hallows, I was nowhere near ready to let go. So I did the only thing I could: start DH over from the beginning! This is still the only book I've ever read twice in a row, but I needed a second read to even begin processing everything that happened. We'll see if Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will also require an immediate reread when it releases later this year.

And lest I forget, I know, with 1000% certainty, that I'm going to need intense therapy once I read the conclusion to this series:

Which completed series do you still find yourself missing? Do you read series finales extra slowly to savor them? How do you cope with series hangovers?

10 comments:

  1. I love this post Lee ♥ I definitely felt that way when I finished HP and still do to be honest. The moment I read the last words of DH, I literally could.not.function. which is why the ONLY relief for me was to start the series all over again. Literally the second I put DH down, I picked up PS. XD Nothing will ever surpass or even come close to that series hangover for me but other intense ones for me were the Mistborn Trilogy, The Abhorsen Trilogy, The Fever Series (-I kept rereading my favorite passages in the last book so it wouldn't end), YES Wolves of Mercy Falls and Hunger Games, but with that one I knew my feelings couldn't handle a reread...it was just a MAJOR depression LOL! Oh and Twilight did that to me too but my feelings for that series have lessened quite a bit now. I don't think it'd have the same effect but I wonder sometimes what a reread would do.

    Anyway, I already KNOW I'll have this happen to me with The Raven Cycle, Throne of Glass and Stormlight Archive though by the size of the books in the series for SA AND the number of books, luckily I won't have to deal with THAT anytime soon LMAO!

    I still need to read TID as you know and I often wonder if I'll love it too. I also still need to read Shatter Me, Unearthly, Finnikin of the Rock BUT I WILL SOON!

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    1. DH was THE WORST book hangover I've ever suffered from! I couldn't even begin to sort out my feelings; there was lots of happiness, but a ton of sadness, too, along with disbelief that I'd just read the last Harry Potter book. But now we have Cursed Child!

      I am so ready to go crying to you for post-Abhorsen therapy, lol! But first we're going to need PLENTY of Raven King therapy; I do NOT know what I'm going to do if something bad happens to any of the characters (and ESPECIALLY my dear Gansey!)!

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  2. I am also going to need intense therapy when The Raven Cycle series is over -- I am dreading/can't wait for the last book. I want to know what will happen (#SaveGansey) but I never want it to end. I also just found out that there will only be one more book in my other favorite series, The Others series by Anne Bishop and I'm already sad about it!!

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    1. I have such a love/hate relationship with series finales, lol. I love finding out what happens in the end, but I hate that there won't be any more books! I wish that The Raven Cycle could go on forever because I could read about Blue and the boys that long, but I know that their story must reach its conclusion. :(

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  3. Aw I see Finnikin! *tear* I find it so hard to read the last books in a series slowly - I always want to know what happens as quickly as possible. Re-reading them right after finishing makes total sense - Deathly Hallows was especially hard to read knowing it was the end. It's really bittersweet coming to the end of a beloved series. I had such an urge to reread HP recently, but held back to read some ARCs, but maybe I can do it later this year!

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    1. I got very misty-eyed while reading Quintana of Charyn, not just because of all of the poignant moments, but also because I wasn't ready to let go of those characters. Through three phenomenal books, they had absolutely gripped my heart; sometimes my heart still aches to return to Lumatere!

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  4. I get so nervous about my favorite series ending that I sometimes avoid the series ender altogether for WAY too long. This is NOT a good pattern because I think it actually makes reading the ender harder and harder as more time goes on. It's a sickness, really.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. I totally understand, lol. Whenever the release date for a series finale that I'm desperate to read gets really close, I get panicky because I can't stand the idea of it ending!

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  5. Ugh, it is definitely painful when your favorite series end! But I'm not someone who can put it off. I always need to read the final book immediately, even though it makes me all emotional and sad knowing is the end lol. But I do like to re-read all the previous books in preparation in order to get the full effect and really do the final book justice!

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    1. I used to love doing rereads of previous books in a series before the finale. I wish I could still do it as often as I once did, but nowadays my reading time is more limited, and I wouldn't be able to read any new books ever, lol.

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