Top 10 finished series | Binge away!

Who else loves a good series binge??? One of my favorite things to do is to jump immediately from one book to the next in a series. No waiting, no forgetting who characters are or what happened to them. Just reading. So here are some of my favorite series that you can just BINGE.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys; The Dream Thieves; Blue Lily, Lily Blue; The Raven King

Why I loved it: Great characters, magic, treasure/scavenger hunt, deliciously evil antagonists

Wolf by Wolf duology by Ryan Graudin

Wolf by Wolf; Blood for Blood

Why I loved it: Motorcycle race!, alternate history, STRONG female lead

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Cinder; Scarlet; Cress; Winter

Why I loved it: Strong women in typically “male occupations”, swoony romances, sassy robots, fairytale retellings

Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan

Crazy Rich Asians; China Rich Girlfriend; Rich People Problems

Why I loved it: SO MUCH DRAMA, some really likable characters, the food descriptions, depictions of extremely extravagant lifestyles

Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone; Days of Blood & Starlight; Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Why I loved it: Fascinating magic concept, fantastic world building, star-crossed lovers, beautiful writing, EVIL VILLAIN

Inkworld trilogy Cornelia Funke

Inkheart; Inkspell; Inkdeath

Why I loved it: Super readable, great characters, watching Maggie grow up

Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows; Crooked Kingdom

Why I loved it: Heists!, complicated relationships, great friendships, worldbuilding

Finishing School series by Gail Carriger

Etiquette & Espionage; Curtsies & Conspiracies; Waistcoats & Weaponry; Manners & Mutiny

Why I loved it: Great group of girlfriends, secret floating spy school, Sooties and Picklemen

The Madman’s Daughter trilogy by Megan Shepherd

The Madman’s Daughter; Her Dark Curiosity; A Cold Legacy

Why I loved it: Science-minded female protag, gothic classic retellings

Monsters of Verity duology by Victoria Schwab

This Savage Song; Our Dark Duet

Why I loved it: Monsters, broody violin player, tough-as-nails female protag, not-so-happy ending

What are some of your favorite finished series? Let me know which ones I should binge in the comments!

Perfect Series Ending to a Great Series | Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger

In the final book of Gail Carriger’s Finishing School series, Sophronia, Dimity, and Agatha gear up for one final adventure before officially finishing. There will be impossible romances, invading Picklemen, and the most wonderful dinner party that, unfortunately, may or may not end in an explosion.

I love this series so much. I’m a fan of Carriger’s in general, but of the three series’ set in this universe, this one is by far my favorite. Sophronia is just such a likable main character! She’s smart and manipulative, but also kind and loyal. She develops wonderfully as a character over the four books and grows up to be someone who I desperately want to be friends with. Carriger has also done a good job developing secondary characters like Dimity, Pillover, and Agatha. My problem with some of Carriger’s other characters is that they seem a little…exaggerated. Luckily, Sophronia just seems like a really normal girl given the circumstances.

This book probably had more action than the first three (or it at least felt like it) and that’s not a bad thing. I really liked getting into Sophronia’s head and seeing all of the skills that she’d been learning at school come into play. It’s kind of hard to explain without spoiling anything, but it was really enjoyable to watch Sophronia strategize. The plot included a couple of twists involving certain characters that I did NOT see coming and they were pleasant surprises. In the end, there wasn’t much else that I was looking for from the plot. There were a few things that were left unresolved, but I feel almost certain that those things will (or have been) addressed in the other series’. I thought this series wrapped up really nicely and (of course) there were a few cameos of characters from Carriger’s other series The Parasol Protectorate.

Overall, this was a very fun book and series altogether. While some of Carriger’s other series’ stray into more “adult” territory, this series is firmly YA and I would recommend it to any pre-teen/teenage girl (or boy for that matter–plenty of action). Sophronia may go down as one of my favorite protagonists of all time.

Overall Rating: 5 (rounded up from 4.5)
Language: None
Violence: Heavy
Smoking/Drinking: Mild
Sexual Content: Mild

Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Wishlist

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic and this week’s topic is: Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year

My husband knows that getting me books for Christmas is ALWAYS a good idea. Here’s a list of books that were on my Christmas wishlist:

1-4) The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
5) Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd
6) A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd
7) Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
8) Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
9) Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
10) Manners and Mutiny by Gail Carriger