As a reader, do you gravitate more toward reading series, or standalones?

Ever since I got back into reading a little over a decade ago, I’ve read my fair share of both and have some thoughts. This week, I’m listing the Pros and Cons of reading series versus reading standalones, and will then decide which storytelling format I gravitate toward more.

Pros of Reading Series

Pro 1: We Get to Spend More Time with the Characters

Obviously, the best thing about reading series is that we get to spend more time with the characters and watch them grow over the course of multiple books. This allows us to become more connected with the characters, which is why so many series have devoted fandoms as compared to standalone books.

Pro 2: Series Look SO GOOD On Shelves Together

Series covers are often designed to compliment one another, so when they’re side-by-side on a bookshelf… *chef’s kiss*. Gorgeous.

Pro 3: The Fandoms Are Normally Larger Than Those for Standalone Books

Going back to the first Pro, it’s much easier to find fan art, memes, Reddit fan conspiracy threads, etc. for series than it is for standalones, again, because series offer more material for readers to reflect on. Though standalone books are often made into movies or TV shows as well, book series seem to be adapted into those formats more often because, again, they offer more content to work with.

Cons of Reading Series

Con 1: The Burden of Not Finishing a Series\Not Liking the Remainder of the Series

My biggest pet peeve about series are: 1) Hating the first book and feeling guilty about not continuing the series, 2) Loving the first book and then hating subsequent books, and 3) Reading a book that is marketed as being the first in a series only for the author to not publish subsequent books.

All three of these are burdens that make me wary of picking up series, and I feel like tons of other readers can relate. With point 1, I don’t want to hate-read the remainder of the series just to finish it, even if I have questions that I need answered. For point 2, which happens to me the most out of the three, not liking the subsequent books taints my opinion of the first book, even if I gave it 5 stars. And for point 3… as an author, I understand that series are difficult to write, but marketing a book as being part of a series and then not following through on the series disappoints readers, especially if no official announcement is made to notify readers that the book will remain a standalone.

Con 2: Series Take Up SO MUCH Shelf Space

I haven’t personally read many long series (which, to me, is anything longer than a trilogy), other than on my Kindle because I’m terrified of getting so invested in a long series, buying all the books, and then having no space on my bookshelf to display the hundred copies in the series. XD I’m totally calling out Nancy Drew books here, because at one point I thought about collecting them since I read them as a kid, and then realized there are over a hundred titles in the series! For a personal library, I want to house all the books I dearly love, and dedicating so much shelf space to a large series like that just isn’t feasible.

Con 3: Either Forgetting What Happened in Previous Books or Getting Spoiled on the Ones You Haven’t Read

I have a love/hate relationship with reading series for these two reasons. Most often due to waiting too long to read the next book(s) after I’ve read the first one. When I pick the next book up, I’m totally lost and can’t remember who the side characters are or even some of the major things that happened. Of course, this issue can be resolved by reading all the books in a series back-to-back… but that can be time consuming and not all of the books may be available yet.

And when it comes to spoilers… don’t ever try to look up fan art for book one of a series, or reviews for latter books in the series, before you’ve read all of the books. Just don’t. All the spoilers to ever exist will pop up and ruin your reading experience. Trust me. XD

Pros of Reading Standalones

Pro 1: We Normally Get Immediate Closure

The best thing about standalone books is that we normally get immediate closure for the story, and characters’ journey at the end of the book. The only reason I say “normally” here is that, sometimes, we’ll come across a standalone that has an ambiguous ending for the reader to figure out on their own. If you like those types of endings, maybe that’s still a Pro for you. XD

Pro 2: Better for Mood Reading

I’ve also found that standalone books are better for mood-reading. For example, I’m not much of a fantasy reader, but on the rare occasion I want to pick up a fantasy book, it may be a better idea for me to try a standalone book rather than start a new series. That way, if I end up not liking it, there’s no guilt to finish the series. Or, on the flip side, if I pick up a standalone and love it, there’s no immediate pressure to go out and buy the next book (because there isn’t one! XD) like I normally feel when I start a series. Instead, I can just go on mood reading and pick up another standalone to satisfy whichever genre craving comes next. 😛

Pro 3: Not as Risky of a Purchase

In the Cons list for Series, I mentioned that sometimes reading/buying series can be risky, because we may not like certain parts of the series. For this reason, it can be argued that reading standalones is less risky in this area, because if you don’t like this one book, it’s okay, because you’re done with the story anyway. With a series, if you’re like me and have purchased two or more of the books before you’ve read the first one, that makes the purchase a bigger risk if you end up not liking the series.

Cons of Reading Standalones

Con 1: What if You Want More? Or if There Was NO Closure?

Going back to the first Pro for Standalones… sometimes standalones give us ambiguous endings or no closure at all. What then? We’re either ranting about it or turning to fanfiction for answers, because the standalone gave us none. In this case, series are a safer bet to get closure. Unless the series ends in an ambiguous way too, and then… just why? O.o

Con 2: The Next Book by the Same Author May Be Completely Different

My biggest beef with reading standalones is the conundrum of how different standalone books can be by the same author. For example, there have been some books that wound up in my all-time favorites list, while I didn’t like books by the same author at all. For the most part, I’ve rated books in a series consistently, unless something was way off about one of the books. So, if you’re looking for more books where the author shines in a certain area, you may not get that fulfillment through another standalone by them, unless it’s in a very similar niche genre.

Con 3: Sometimes, There Are No Fandoms

Lastly, fandoms don’t seem to be as prevalent for standalone books as they are for series. I remember back when I first got back into reading and went looking for fan art or memes about certain standalone books on Pinterest only to find nothing was available. Sure, this sometimes happens with lesser-known series as well, but I feel it’s more of an occurrence with standalone books.

So, Which Do I Prefer: Series, or Standalones?

In the past, I was more Team Standalone, mostly due to the reasons I mentioned in Con 1 under Series and Pro 2 under Standalones above. Now that I read mostly on my Kindle, and often find eBooks in series on sale (read: less of a risk), I’ve been reading more series and have worked on preventing Con 3 under Series from ruining my reading experience by reading books in a series closer together or back-to-back. So, to answer the question of which format I prefer more… right now, I’m honestly enjoying both, equally. And I’m glad this change has finally happened. 🙂

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

I hope you enjoyed this borderline convoluted pros and cons list for series and standalones. Now it’s your turn to get in on the debate! Explain your preference in the comments below. I can’t wait to read your thoughts. 🙂

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀