Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

WARNING: this is a grumble topic. As in it will include discussing unfavorable opinions of some books. If you can't stand people not liking the books you like, proceed at your own risk.

I kind of started this topic on a whim because it hurts me ... (basically I just want to vent. Feel free to disagree/agree! And vent your own feelings :) )

There is this thing called 'second novel curse'. Although the main-stream definition might involve the instances of an author's second novel doing badly, I personally like to use it with regards to the fact that I have hated so many second books in a series even after absolutely loving the first one ... Some authors try so hard to make each next book in a series 'more' than the first/previous one, but for some reason too many of them take it to mean 'more angst, gore, depressive/shocking shit' and removing all things positive.

Does anyone feel the same?

Sometimes a series can recover and improve after the second book. But there were times when I read a series and then threw out all the books but the 1st one, and pretended like they didn't exist ...

Here's some of my examples:




I absolutely LOVED this book. It one of my most favorite fantasy romances ever. It has humor, it has lovable characters.
But from the second book this series turned so awfully angsty and gore-y, after forcing myself to read the remaining 2 books once, I erased them from my mind and decided to pretend they just don't exist.



This book is also plenty angsty, but at least it had some balance. I still haven't finished this series, but it seemed to be turning darker and more depressing with each next book and I don't know if I have the guts ...



The first book is a pleasant enough trope-y fantasy romance. Enough for me to want to re-read it sometimes. The second book was so depressing and angsty it's like it belongs to a different universe. I wish I never learned this was a series and not a stand-alone.



I know a lot of people don't like this series, but I actually loved the first book. I've read it multiple times already.
I somehow limped through the second one. Don't know if I have the nerves to get through the third one, it seems like nothing than a chore ...



I haven't yet read book 3 and on, but my impression after reading the second book was that all the things I liked about the 1st one seemed to disappear, while all kinds of things I despise seemed to sprout and multiply like mushrooms ...



Another one of my "went from 4-5 stars on the first book to 1-2 stars on the second" series, where I pretend than no books beyond book 1 exist.
(Honestly, I just can't live with the idea of the big bad werewolf not being able to tell/smell that his wife didn't cheat on him and the idiocy of all the ensuing unnecessary angst...)

Great topic.

I've heard of second book syndrome quite a lot from other people but personally, I have found the opposite far more often. And by that, I mean that the further into a series I get, the more and more I enjoy the books.

As for this series, I loved it too and book 2 was actually my favourite by far. Which is an unpopular opinion (no change there). I actually found the first third to half of book 1 a struggle to get through. BUT, I also am one that liked all of the side characters and the world/plot a lot more than I did the MCs and their romance!

A few series that I found I wasn't totally invested in until a few books in include
I wasn't sold until book 4
took till book 3
took till book 3 (but then lost me again after the actions of book 5)


These were fantastic from start to finish
my favourite, all 5 stars incl the free short stories. Although book 1 is my absolute fav of the bunch.
another fav. All 5 stars also.
each book in this trilogy was also 5 stars which was a total surprise as I wasn't expecting it at all.
all 4 stars although I would give the series overall 5 stars for the sum of all it's parts
each of the full length books were 4 stars.
my most recent addition to the list - each one is a 4.5 star read for me and it was the writing rather than the characters and plot that stopped it being 5 stars.
I loved books 1 & 2 but book 3 ramped it up and was a 5 star for me.

And this doesn't include all of my non SFF series!

To be honest, I find that happens to me more with movies.

I remember Warprize, it's on my list of favorites with the 1st book definitely being the best, I liked the 2nd but the 3rd just wasn't as good as the other 2.

There are a couple books that followed that downhill trend though, at least in my opinion. Sometimes, it just feels like an author just isn't as inspired or motivated after their first novel in a series.

First book was great, then I read the 2nd and wondered how the same author who wrote both. I barely finished the series but it had me wishing so hard that the author had just made it a standalone.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I feel like the stories and characters weren't as good after the first couple of books of the series. I have been meaning to go back and start them again though so that opinion could change.

There are times though when a series will get better as it goes on. Like...

It was a serious struggle to finish the 1st book but the 2nd book surprised me, I enjoyed it so much and the 3rd book was the absolute best.

I do like SJM and her ToG series is one of my favorites and while the first two books were good, books 3 and 5 will always have a special place on my bookshelf.

There a couple authors though that are on the top of my list since they have consistently good books in their series.


These two are my top favorites that's she's written.

I haven't read the latest releases in the series yet but so far, I've liked the stories and characters in every book.

This was such a great series from start to finish.

I wish the author had continued the series, the last book was definitely my fav.