As all book nerds can agree, book series are the best. They’re like one super long story extended over several books. The longer, the better.

As much as I myself love book series, there are several things authors do while writing them that I find quite irritating.

First of all, some authors do not understand how torturing it is for us book fans to wait a year or two between novels. Why can’t you just write them, then publish them all at once? Especially if they end on cliff-hangers. Don’t even get me started on those.

I suppose I understand the excitement of finishing a book and the pull to publish it right away, but it still is torture not knowing what happens.

Some authors start out with a really great idea for a book series, and the first couple of books are amazing. But then the author tries to draw it out, and it becomes just painful to read. The first series like this that comes to mind is Maximum Ride.

There just seems to be a pattern, especially in trilogies, that the first book is the best. Hunger Games, Divergent, Legend and  Maze Runner. The first book is exciting and keeps the reader completely engaged. The second one, the action slows down and things are less interesting. But, of course, we just have to find out what happens. So we read the third one. And cry because our favorite characters all died (thanks a lot, James Dashner) or the main character does something incredibly stupid and ruins their own chance for happiness (I’m looking at you, Marie Lu).

You can tell you just read an amazing, not to mention well-written, book series when the last book is just as good, if not better than the first one.

Everyone is so busy nowadays that it’s hard to find time to sit down and just read a book, let alone a whole book series. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to waste my time on a series that doesn’t end as well as it started.