Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend, like many other people I watched Hamilton on Disney+ this weekend and of course I loved it, and I’m sure many rewatches will follow. It definitely reminded me how much I miss seeing live theatre and I hope to be able to get back to see the West End version again when theatres reopen!
Anyway, it’s Tuesday, so I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic was meant to be Authors I’ve Read The Most Books By but I did that topic a few years ago, and to be honest, though the numbers might have changed, the authors haven’t really, so I decided to do a different topic this week. Instead, I’m going to do Best/Most Disappointing Series Enders (I wanted to do just the best but it turns out I do not have ten of those!):
Best Series Enders
- A Conjuring of Light-VE Schwab
I had the biggest book hangover after finishing this book, it took months for me to read another book that lived up to this one. It was such a brilliant finale, brought all of the threads of the series together and wrapped it up in such a satisfying way. I’m so excited for Threads of Power (the sequel series) when it comes out!
2. Undivided-Neal Shusterman
Dystopian finales have a tendency to be a bit repetitive, you get the big violent uprising against the government, the rebels win, yay everything’s on it’s way to being good! So I appreciated that Undivided took a more understated approach in that sense, whilst still being action packed, a lot of fun and tying up all the characters stories really well.
3. Firestarter-Tara Sim
Again, I had a massive book hangover after reading this book because it was just so good! Incredibly high stakes, emotional, brilliantly written and again everything wrapped up for the characters in a really satisfying way.
4. The Last Olympian-Rick Riordan
Everything comes together so well in this last book, with the fulfilment of the prophecy, the battle against Kronos and the other Titans and the Percy/Annabeth arc has a really satisfying conclusion!
5. The Raven King-Maggie Stiefvater
Okay, so looking back, technically The Raven King is probably not the best written book, it does kind of wander all over the place and there’s a lot that doesn’t make sense. But weirdly I still loved it as a series finale, because it’s one of those books where I got so into it that I lost all sense of time and place when I was reading and that doesn’t happen to me all the time!
Most Disappointing Series Enders
6. Allegiant-Veronica Roth
Weirdly, the reason I hated this last book in the Divergent trilogy is not for the reason that everyone would think (if you’ve read the book then you know). That part was actually the only bit about it that I really liked? Mostly, it’s overly long, quite dull and I didn’t like the change to dual perspective.
7. Ruin and Rising-Leigh Bardugo
The original Grisha trilogy was quite uneven for me, I was kind of meh about the first book, loved the second one and then the third one was also kind of meh. The pacing was all over the place, and the final battle was kind of anti-climactic. I also didn’t find the conclusion all that satisfying.
8. Finale-Stephanie Garber
I loved Caraval and Legendary, so not loving Finale was a big disappointment to me. It lacked structure and focus, the book was lengthier than it needed to be and I didn’t love all the focus on the romantic drama.
9. Hero At The Fall-Alwyn Hamilton
Again, this one was such a massive disappointment because I really enjoyed the first book in the Rebel of The Sands trilogy and I liked the second one well enough but this final book was overly long, slow paced and the final battle was incredibly anti-climactic.
10. Capturing The Devil-Keri Maniscalco
The mystery in this one got lost beneath all of the romantic drama between Audrey Rose and Thomas, so it wasn’t as satisfying a conclusion as it could have been because I spent so much time frustrated at them!
So there we go, those are my favourite/most disappointing series enders! Have you read any of these? What did you think? What’s your favourite series ender? Most disappointing one? Let me know in the comments!
I’ll be back next week with another Top Ten Tuesday, this time we’re talking Books That Make Me Smile, which should be a fun one.
bookloversblog 
Rick Riordan has been a really popular choice this week.
My TTT .
He definitely seems to have been!
Oh no, I just read Caraval and loved it, but I have a terrible track record with series, they all end terribly for me!
Oh no! Well fingers crossed it works out better for you than it did for me (and if it makes you feel better, Legendary. the second book, is awesome).
I love your unique list this week!!! Isn’t it funny how we find our favorites and it tends to not change that much over the years?
Thank you! Ha ha yeah it is 🙂
This is a good topic! I’ve had to skip over a few so as not to spoil some endings but I am very excited to see some of my favourite titles in the “best” list!!! 😀
Thanks! Ah no, sorry, I did try to keep things as vague as possible so it wouldn’t be too spoilery, but it’s hard when talking about endings.
I completely agree with Allegiant, Ruin & Rising, and Hero at the Fall. I wasn’t wowed by SJTR or Caraval so I haven’t read on in those series.
That’s fair enough. It’s a shame Allegiant, Ruin and Rising and Hero At The Fall didn’t work for you either.
Great list! Ruin and Rising ended up being the best book in that trilogy for me, but I understand why so many fans didn’t like it.
Thanks! I mean there were aspects of it that I liked, but overall it was unsatisfying.
Great twist! I loved The Raven King ending, too. I thought it was nicely wrapped up, but with enough loose ends for Call Down the Hawk. 🙂
Thank you! Yes, it definitely left enough open to explore for Call Down The Hawk without being frustrating.
Oh I like this topic!
My post!
Thank you 🙂
Oh, I like this topic! I really liked Finale though. haha.. I think it’s because it was so different and that’s what a lot of people didn’t like! Oh no, I have Ruin and Rising on my TBR this month. I struggled with the first two and I’m trying to force myself to finish the series.
Thanks! I mean that’s fair enough, plenty of people did and I did like some aspects of it, just as a final book, I found it kind of disappointing. Agh, sorry. You shouldn’t force yourself to finish it if you’re not feeling it.
Great list! I totally agree on Ruin and Rising, it was a weird ending for a trilogy and not another time went into it I don’t think? Idk I just remember being disappointed with it.
Thank you! Yeah, it was weirdly short compared to the second book? I don’t know I just thought the epilogue ended it in a really weird place.
Allegiant (chapter 50 and beyond) was so disappointing to me that I got into fanfiction. I went to bed at about 4 AM completely upset (even though I do realize why she did what she did–I just didn’t like it). I liked the rest of the book though.
I would not be surprised if a lot of people got into fanfic because of Allegiant. See, weirdly I actually liked the end and hated the rest of the book!
I agree so much with your list. I loved the ending of The Last Olympian, it was a fantastic way to end such a great series. I was also highly disappointed with the endings of Allegiant, Ruin & Rising, and Finale. Just didn’t leave me satisfied at all!
Here’s my list: https://alexiophiles.home.blog/2020/07/07/top-ten-tuesday-authors-ive-read-the-most-books-by/
Yes, talk about going out on a high! I know and it was such a shame because I really liked earlier books in all those series.
I genuinely can’t remember how Hero at the Fall ended so I think possibly it wasn’t the best. Although I do remember them riding a ship on sand so that was bit was great. A Conjuring of Light had such a good ending. That series was amazing all round really. Ngl I really haven’t been able to get into The Raven King, having stopped and started it a few times. Every now and then I’ll get this urge to find out what happens next and then it is dampened by the amount of pointless plot arcs I have to wade through that really make no sense. I was a tad disappointed by Finale and felt it lost structure, but at the same time I can see why they didn’t want to do another caraval. I think that whatever book came after Legendary was going to struggle with pacing and structure. I’m sad to hear Grisha ends badly! I was struggling to get back to that series after finishing Shadow and Bone and now you’ve made it sound even more unappealing! Also The Last Olympian is probably my favourite series ending ever. The prophecy and Luke and the crazy battle against the Titans was just amazing, I was totally hooked as a kid.
There were good parts, I was just overall disappointed. I can’t remember the actual ending now either to be honest, I just remember I was disappointed. Yes, that series was just amazing, genuinely not a single disappointing book (and in a trilogy there usually is one). I do get you with The Raven King, technically, it’s a bit of a mess, I just remember that I was completely hooked when I read it, so there must have been something good about it! I definitely get why she didn’t go for doing another Caraval and she definitely had a tough job after Legendary but I just found it kind of lacking. I didn’t mean to! It’s not her best work, Six of Crows is much better, however I would say that trilogy is worth it for Nikolai, who appears in the second book. Yes, it was definitely an incredibly gripping final book to read as a 14 year old!
I’ve read NONE of these series! I suppose I should start with the Top 5 endings. 😉
I tend to like the second book in a trilogy the best, and in longer series there’s usually one towards the beginning middle and ending middle that I love.
Ha ha probably! I have to admit the last books in series are usually not my favourites, as I discovered when doing this post, I tend to like the beginning of series and books in the middle as opposed to the end!
Good topic! I’ve read the first part from A Darker Shade of Magic and Timekeeper. I’d like to continue the trilogy at some point, so it’s nice to know that you like the last books in the trilogies! 😊
Thanks! Those trilogies are both solid all the way through, you have some great books ahead of you 🙂
Oh, I definitely need to check out Firestarter! I haven’t heard of that one before!
The first book in that series is Timekeeper, it’s an amazing trilogy, would highly recommend!
I loved The Last Olympian! It was a fantastic ending to that series. (Riordan is a favourite of mine.)
As for Allegiant… The less said about that the better! Complete disaster. 🙂
Yes it was! Riordan is a favourite of mine too. Ugh yes, I know, the exact way not to end a trilogy.
I really enjoyed the ending to The Last Olympian too!
Love your list idea
Thank you! Yes, one of the most satisfying series ends 🙂
I´ve read The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater too. The rest of your list is new to me *smile*
Hope you’ve found some great new series to dive into 🙂
YES! I agree. I loved A Conjuring of Light and Undivided. I hated Allegiant.
🙂
I still have to read Rick Riordan’s books. And yes, Allegiant and Ruin and Rising were so disappointing.
Ah they’re so good! Yes, so disappointing. I was expecting so much more from both those series.
I agree about A Conjuring of Light. I cried when I finished that series and for me, it really was about as close to perfection as it gets for a series ender.
Yes, it was such a well done series ender! Looking forward to getting back into that world when Threads of Power comes out 🙂
A conjuring of light was seriously the best book in that trilogy for me 😀
I don’t know if I could choose between ADSOM and ACOL, I really loved them both (no shade to AGOS either, that is also a great book).
Sorry for the late comment ! I just started bloghopping again 🙂
Great list
Enid blyton came at the top of my list
No worries! Thank you 🙂