Top 5 Wednesday: Series That Got Better!

Top Ten Tuesday(1)

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Thoughts on Tomes and created by Lainey @ Ginger Reads Lainey. You can check out the group’s Goodreads page for this month’s topics!

I’m not much of a series reader I’m usually the kind of person that can start a ton of series and then not actually ever finish them. So this list was a little harder for me especially since I feel a lot of series really get worse the farther they go on for me, however, here are a few I felt got better!

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5.) Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld

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I read this series such a long time ago but when I read the first book I honestly didn’t think much of it, it was okay. However, I decided to continue on and read “Pretties” and “Specials” as well and in my opinion both of those books were a lot better than “Uglies”. I never did read “Extras” but I don’t really feel like I need to either since it isn’t from Tally’s POV.

Would I still think this if I re-read these books now? Maybe but from what I remember when I was younger I thought the books got way better as they went!


4.) Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

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Once again this was a series that I read when I was younger and thought it was amazing! Of course my opinion might change if I read them again now but I like to live in my nostalgia…..

The first couple of books in this series are kind of so, so there really isn’t anything too crazy special about them but as they go they get a lot more action, plot twists, and more interesting back stories!


3.) The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

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This might be cheating since I haven’t actually finished the series! BUT I have read the first two books and I definitely loved “The Dream Thieves” even more than I loved “The Raven Boys” so I’m just kind of assuming the series will only continue to get better as well!

You can read my full review of “The Raven Boys” here.


2.) The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

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Once again I haven’t fully completed this series but I’ve read the first two books just not the last! I was really leery with the first book since I wasn’t sure it was going to be good or not and I was actually really pleasantly surprised by it! So of course I devoured the second book which was EVEN BETTER than the first one! So I think it’s safe to say this is one of those series you should stick with after the first book.

You can read my full review of “The Winner’s Curse” here.


1.) The Inkworld Trilogy

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This is my most prime example of a series that gets WAAAAAY better as it goes, the jump in awesomeness from “Inkheart” to “Inkspell” is huge! While I did really like the first book I still wasn’t super impressed with it but since I already had the second book I pushed on anyways and I am so glad I did! “Inkspell” is ten times the fun with way more characters, magic, and world building! Then there’s “Inkdeath”……I didn’t know it could get any better than “Inkspell” but it did, there are so many plot twists and so much emotional turmoil! The ending was perfect though.

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What are some series you think got better?

Do you agree or disagree with any of these series? Have you read any of them?

Are you big on finishing series or, like me, start them more than finish them?

Let me know in the comments!

The Sassy

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Childhood Books & Series

Top Ten Tuesday(1)

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Thoughts on Tomes and created by Lainey @ Ginger Reads Lainey. You can check out the group’s Goodreads page for this month’s topics!

Of course I want to desperately throw in Harry Potter and Percy Jackson but everyone needs to think outside the box a little bit and it was harder than I thought it would be! Mostly I’m sticking with Middle Grade here so let’s get ready for some nostalgia!

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5.) Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene

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This is probably one of the #1 series I was obsessed with when I was a kid, absolutely obsessed! It pretty much all started when I was in the third grade and my mom bought me one of the Nancy Drew computer games, of course I couldn’t get enough of it and read the books soon after. I feel Nancy Drew is one of those timeless classics that kids can read no matter how old the books get…….I’m feeling nostalgic now and want to go read/play Nancy Drew…….


4.) The Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne

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Okay so I’d honestly like to know how many of you didn’t read this series as a kid? Because it was super popular and I feel like everyone did! It’s fantastic and I feel like if I even re-read them now I’d still love them. How can you go wrong with a magic time and space traveling tree house (it’s all very Doctor Who isn’t it)? I actually had a hefty collection of these before handing them over to my younger cousins and now I’m slightly regretting that……


3.) The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia #1) by C.S. Lewis

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This might be cheating a little bit since it’s one of those classic, popular books/series just like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson but since it wasn’t specifically stated in the topic for today I decided I’d use it! Who doesn’t love The Chronicles of Narnia? My mom had all of the books from when she was a kid and I’ve only read the first book (I know it’s blasphemy) and when I did I honestly had so many emotions! It usually takes a lot to make me cry while reading a book and I balled my eyes out with this one…..my parents had to make sure I was okay……


2.) Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice #1) by Joseph Delaney

Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles, #1)

I think a lot of people might consider this YA but to me with the main character and the style of writing it feels a lot more like Middle Grade. I didn’t start reading these books until I was a little older but I think I can still consider it “my childhood”….kind of…..

Anyways it’s pretty creepy and full of monsters and the world building is actually really fantastic.


1.) The Inkworld Trilogy

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I think it’s safe to say this series was one of my #1 obsessions as a child alongside Nancy Drew since it was one of the first times I was exposed to high fantasy. Man, this series was addictive and actually full of some pretty dark stuff which makes me think I’d really enjoy re-reading it now as well. There are just so many wonderful, complex characters and the world building is seriously A+!

Although I will say I really didn’t enjoy Inkheart as much as the other two so if you didn’t enjoy Inkheart I highly suggest continuing on anyways since they get so much better!

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Did you read any of these books when you were younger? Or later?

What are some of your favorite childhood books?

Let me know in the comments!

The Sassy