Top Five All-Time Favorite Series

Over the past few weeks, I started a series of posts on my favorite book series. First, I started with Five Series I Will Not Finish. Then, I discussed Five Series I Need to Finish. Last week, I talked about Five Series I Want to Read. Today, I’ll conclude my series on book series with my five all-time favorite series.

When I was younger there were a lot of series that I loved to read. I devoured anything Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House, Judy Moody, Baby-sitter’s Club, and Pony Pals. Even though those series will always hold a special place in my heart, I’m going to focus more on series that I’ve read recently. On this list, there are many series that I read from seeing on different book blogs and I was surprised that actually enjoyed. Now, they are some of my favorite series of all time! Here are my choices for my five all-time favorite series:

• The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot

I remember reading books in this series as early as fourth grade. A few summers ago, I reread the whole series straight through and it brought back so many memories of why I loved this series throughout my entire school experience. I loved Meg Cabot’s fun and humorous style that I didn’t usually read in school. I related to Mia and wished that I could be the Princess of Genovia. I know that this series will always hold a special place in my heart so it deserves to be in my top five favorite series.

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I remember that I picked up The Hunger Games on a whim because I heard some positive reviews for it and my sister heard that they would be turning it into a movie. I literally flew through this book and purchased the next two books in the series the very next day. I recommended this book to all of my friends, bought tons of Hunger Games merchandise from the pin to the nail polish, and saw the midnight premiere even though I literally had to be up for twenty four hours the next day. I never read Twilight, so The Hunger Games was the first series that I really went in with the hype. It also got me to try many young adult series outside of my contemporary comfort zone. For that, I will have to consider it one of my favorite series.

• Divergent series by Veronica Roth

I’ve never had such mixed feelings towards a series. Looking back, Divergent isn’t the best series that I’ve ever read. I had problems with the world and a book has never made me more angry than Allegiant, which was actually one of my first book reviews on my blog. However, I remember picking up the first book in this series after finishing The Hunger Games series and I literally could not put it down. I actually checked out this book from the library, but I went to the store and bought it the next day. Divergent is the first series that I read as the books were being released, so I finally understood what it was like to be stuck on a cliff hanger. Even though I find some areas of the series problematic, it still remains a special series for me.

• The Winner’s trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

When I first heard of this series, I thought I wouldn’t like it because it wasn’t what I usually read. Then, I saw more and more people reviewing this series online and they talked about how much they loved it. Eventually, I saw so much on this series that I decided to read it. I’m glad that I did because The Winner’s trilogy is probably was one my favorite series of all time. Unlike most series that may lag in one of the books, I was invested in every single book in this series. Outside of the blogging world, I feel like not many people have heard of this series, so I find myself constantly recommending it to friends. Out of all the series on this list, I would say this series receives the least amount of hype, but is one of the most deserving.

• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

I remember people raved about Cinder when it first hit the market, but I never picked it up after a friend with similar book tastes told me that they weren’t a fan. After seeing so many positive reviews from the blogging community, I decided to read it and decide for myself. I’m so happy that I did because The Lunar Chronicles is one of my most-loved series. I loved the unique take that Marissa Meyer took on some of my favorite fairy tales, the world, and every single one of the characters. This is another series on my list that I feel is very underrated, so I recommend it to everyone that I know!

 

What are some of your favorite series?

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Totally Should’ve Book Tag

Thanks to Reg at She Latitude for tagging me!

Totally Should’ve Gotten a Sequel 

I think Since You’ve Been Gone is perfect the way it is, but the bonus at the end of The Unexpected Everything made me want to revisit Emily and Frank.

Totally Should’ve Gotten a Spin-Off Series

I would love to see a book from either Rowley or Rodrick’s point of view!

An Author who Should Totally Write More Books

Even though I was disappointed with Auggie and Me, I think R.J. Palacio is a great author and I’d be interested to read something else from her that takes place away from the Wonder world.

A Character who Should’ve Totally Ended up with Someone Else

I was so disappointed at the end of this book! Disney definitely got it right in the movie version.

Totally Should’ve Ended Differently 

All that buildup for a disappointing conclusion.

Totally Should’ve Had a Movie Franchise 

I’ve only read the first book in this series, but I think it would make a great movie! The whole time while I was reading, I pictured Brec Bassinger from Nickelodeon’s Bella and the Bulldogs as the main character.

Totally Should’ve Had a TV Show

I heard the movies were extremely disappointing, but after reading the first book, I can totally picture this series having a series on Netflix!

Totally Should’ve Only Had One Point of View 

You know what I’m talking about.

Totally Should’ve Had a Cover Change

When I got this book out from the school library, I refused to read it at school because the cover seemed super awkward.

 

I tag…

Clemi @ Clemi’s Bookish World

Dee @ The Bookish Khaleesi

Danielle @ Bookish in Texas

Sorry if you’ve already done this!

Taylor Swift Book Tag

Day 7 of Blogentine’s Day.

Taylor Swift is the queen of love and break-up songs, so I thought the Taylor Swift book tag would be the perfect addition to Blogentine’s Day! Here are my answers to the Taylor Swift Book tag:

• We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Pick a book (or book series) that you were pretty sure you were in love with, but then wanted to break up with

I remember reading Divergent in one day and being so excited for the release of Insurgent. By the time Allegiant came out, I pre-ordered the book, but became too preoccupied to read it. When the trailer for the movie came out and knowing there was a major spoiler, I decided to read the book before I heard the spoiler. I read Allegiant in one day and very few books have made me so mad. Check out my review here.

• Red: Pick a book with a red cover

Even though Allegiant has a red cover, I first thought of Catching Fire when reading over this tag. I love Catching Fire because my favorite Hunger Games character, Finnick, was introduced in this book.

• The Best Day: Pick a book that makes you feel nostalgic

Whenever I think of myself reading as I child, I for some reason think of this book.

• Love Story: Pick a book with forbidden love

The Fifth Wave does have a love triangle, but one of the love interests definitely fits the forbidden category. The Fifth Wave isn’t my favorite book with forbidden love, but with the recent movie buzz, it is the first one that came to my mind.

• Innocent: Pick a book that someone ruined the ending for

 

No book, not even Allegiant which I read a long time after it came out, was spoiled for me. Usually, I’m the one who accidentally spoils a book or movie for someone else.

• Everything has Changed: Pick a character from a book that goes through extensive character development

Princess Mia goes from an awkward high school student to a leader of a country. Over the entire Princess Diaries, you get to see Mia become more confident and take control of her life.

• You Belong with Me: Pick your most anticipated book release

I’m still anticipating this release! I love all of her books and I’m sure this one will be no exception.

• Forever and Always: Pick your favorite book couple

I can’t choose one! I love Annabel Greene and Owen Armstrong from Just Listen because I feel like they compliment each other very well and bring out the best in each other. Lola and Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next door are also one of my favorites because I love how they accept each other’s quirks and always support each other.

• Come Back, Be Here: Pick the book you would least like to lend out, for fear of missing it too much.

I actually lost this book for a little while and I was so sad because I kept wanting to reread it. I actually bought a new copy (and found my old one). I’d still be scared to lend it out in case I would lose my other copy again!

What Taylor Swift song describes your favorite book?

#TeenTuesday: Allegiant Review

Even though I pre-ordered a copy of this book, it’s taken me a long time to get around to reading it. My sister learned about the major spoiler in the book and even though I had my guesses, I still didn’t know how it ended until I actually read it. I rated this book four stars (get it?) on Goodreads because the book kept me hooked enough to read it through one sitting, but I’m not sure if I actually liked the book or if I just wanted to find out if my guesses were correct.

One aspect that I enjoyed in this book was learning more about minor characters and their motivations. In the previous books, I felt like a lot of minor characters were thrown at me and I wasn’t sure how to sort them in my head. Even though I haven’t read Insurgent in a long time, after reading several pages, I was able to understand the characters.

I also loved how Tris and Four fought. I think their arguments revealed who they were as people and I enjoyed that their arguments centered around what was important. It made them and their relationship seem very authentic.

There were also quite a few things that I didn’t like. One problem that I had with book was the villain character, David. I didn’t feel like you got to know him enough throughout the book and until the major plot point, you didn’t really have a reason to hate him except for his relationship to characters from the previous books. I wish there was more development of his character and didn’t really care for how his story line ended.

I also really didn’t care for the explanation of their world and I didn’t feel like they were as obsessed with it as all of the characters kept telling me. Maybe I was expecting more, but the whole idea of experiments and resetting didn’t wow me and there seemed to be too many plot holes to make the whole idea believable.

Another problem that I had with book, as well as several other books in this genre, are the unnecessary deaths. I know that it is war and no one is safe, but in these types of novels, it seems an overwhelming amount of characters are killed meaninglessly just to make the reader shocked. In this book specifically, I think it happens to much and sometimes doesn’t reflect how the character typically would respond in the situation.

My reaction after reading this book? I was angry. Very angry. And I still don’t understand why it ended the way it did, so I keep going back and forth on whether I liked it or not.  To me, the series never ends on a happy note. On one hand, I like this because it’s different than other books in the genre. On the other hand, I don’t like endings that make me the think everything leading up to the end was pointless, which this book did.  

Even though I’m not entirely sure on my feelings of this book, I give it four out of five stars for keeping me interested and making me think.

Inside Out Book Tag

Here are my answers to the Inside Out Book Tag and I tag anyone who is reading this!

• A book that brings you joy

Lola and Cricket are one of my favorite couples and whenever I’m looking for a book to make me happy, I reread this one!

• A book that makes you angry

I’m still mad about this.

• A book that makes you sad

These books make me equally sad. The Giving Tree makes me sad because it shows how we use and destroy those who love us unconditionally and don’t realize how much they mean to us until there’s no time left. I almost cry every time I read this book. Even though I don’t almost cry every time I read The Lorax, it makes me sad to see how our selfishness can destroy something beautiful.

• A book that disgusts you

I actually love this book, but reading about the horrors of war and how they affect innocent people disgusts me. It is difficult to stomach that humans could actually treat other people like garbage.

• A book that brings you fear

I’ve never actually read this book, but I just watched the movie on Lifetime, and it freaked me out that someone could come up with a story like this. This was also the only book cover I could find that didn’t creep me out.