Top Ten Tuesday: Best/Worst Series Enders
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic. I’m a huge fan of lists, so this meme is right up my alley!
This week’s topic is Top Ten Best/Worst Series Enders. Now, like I said two weeks ago on my Top Ten Tuesday for Best Sequels, it’s kind of ridiculous how many series I’ve started but haven’t finished. Or haven’t even read beyond the first book! So not only do I have some best enders and worst enders listed here, but I also added in a “Meh” category, for those that I feel kind of both ways about. I kind of had to add that category since I’ve finished so few series! Anyway, here are my top 10–er, 9–AND BEWARE FOR POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Best Series Enders
Of course. My absolute favorite Harry Potter book is The Prisoner of Azkaban, but Deathly Hallows is probably my 2nd favorite. And my favorite chapter of the series–my favorite chapter of all time, probably–is chapter 33 of Deathly Hallows: The Prince’s Tale. And I know some people don’t like the epilogue in this book, but I liked it, even though I don’t often like my books to be so neatly tied up in a kind of Happily Ever After way.
I know there are lots of people who don’t like this book, and there are lots of people who don’t even consider Extras to be a part of the Uglies series, but Uglies and Extras are my two favorite books of the series, and although I do think Specials has a great ending and could have been the end of the series, I love what Scott Westerfeld did with Extras.
Worst Series Enders
I actually loved the Maze Runner series, and I really enjoyed The Death Cure, but it was my least favorite book of the series because of the very end. It just seemed like a cop-out to me. It was the easy ending, the ending that ties everything up nicely into a little bow, and that didn’t seem realistic to me.
This book had such an anti-climactic climax. The fight scene in Eclipse was so much better, and I think the movie production team and writers must have realized this, and that’s why they changed the ending to the movie. Because seriously, guys, I really liked the movie ending. That was freaking cool. But Breaking Dawn‘s ending was really anti-climactic and, frankly, a lot of the book was just kind of weird. But it’s not my least favorite book of the series, though; that honor goes to New Moon.
Meh Series Enders
(Or ones I feel kind of both ways about)
I think that the ending of Mostly Harmless had a nice little twist that brought the whole Hitchhiker’s Guide series together, but overall I wasn’t really a huge fan of this book. It was okay, but it seemed to lack a lot of the humor that was abundant in most of the other books. I still enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as I did the rest of the series, especially the first two books.
Some people HATE this ending. I mean, seriously HATE it. And for me, it wasn’t great. It wasn’t horrible, but I kind of felt like Katniss settled and she became such a different character that by the end she really wasn’t Katniss. I mean, I get why she would be that way, but it was just kind of a lackluster ending for me, even though I enjoyed pretty much all of the rest of the book.
To be honest, I didn’t really remember too much about this book while making this list, so I had to look it up. And I agree with a lot of the reviews I saw on Goodreads: The Iron Queen had a fantastic ending and it should have stayed that way. I remember enjoying certain parts of The Iron Knight, but feeling kind of “meh” overall while reading.
The Amber Spyglass was interesting, and I enjoyed most of it, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed book 2 in the series, The Subtle Knife. And I took forever reading it, and was really confused as to all of what happened. So it definitely fits within this “meh” category.
Okay, Beth Revis, you could have had a BAD-ASS ending. You could have really wowed readers. I for one, would have loved the ending of Shades of Earth if you had left out that last chapter, and I know a few of my friends feel the same way. However, when it comes down to it, I didn’t hate the last chapter either, so I don’t HATE the ending as it is. But I feel like it could have been SO MUCH BETTER.
Which books do you think were the best and worst series enders? Let me know, or leave a link to your TTT in the comments, and I’ll stop by your blog!
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Sabrina A. Fish
October 8, 2013 at 1:04 pmOh, there are some good ones here! I haven't heard of a few and will have to check them out. My fave series ender will always be The Well of Ascension, Book 3 of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. It wasn't your perfect happy every after, but it was still a good ending. I definitely didn't expect it.
Mockingjay was one of my least favorites. It took me forever to shake that ending.
And I really liked the end of Breaking Dawn. It was definitely my favorite book of the series.
Brittany S.
October 8, 2013 at 1:39 pmI actually liked Breaking Dawn haha. I feel like people are like, "WHAAAA". I liked seeing how Bella turned into a vampire. Nuff said.
But The Death Cure… I was so so so mad at it! I agree — wrapped up way too neatly and totally felt like a cop out. Sigh.
kelley jensen
October 8, 2013 at 3:11 pmNice list today. I feel the same about Breaking Dawn. Kelley at the road goes ever ever on
Jen Em
October 8, 2013 at 6:41 pmI still need to finish the Shades of Earth. I haven't heard the greatest things about it so I'm a little reluctant to read it.
fakesteph
October 9, 2013 at 2:08 amI think I'm one of the few people who really appreciated Breaking Dawn. :)
Kimberly @ On the Wings of Books
October 9, 2013 at 11:43 pmI can't believe I forgot to put Breaking Dawn on my list! It's not very often I say this but the movie improved upon the ending (like adding an actual climax) of the book.
I'm with you on Shades of Earth. I didn't hate it like some, but I didn't love it either. It had the potential to be so awesome…
Bittner
November 3, 2013 at 10:53 pmI totally agree with you on the series that I've read. HP kicks all kinds of ass! Breaking Dawn was a major let down. And Mocking Jay….could have been worse but could have been so much better.