There comes a time with book series. It’s a notably predictable time, but it’s the time that comes once you finish the final book: you set it down, you sit back, and you have to process saying goodbye. It’s been a long while since I’ve had to say goodbye to a series–mostly because I’m absolutely terrible at finishing series/keeping track of them. But also because I don’t have to say goodbye to every series I finish.
I made it a 2017 goal to tackle some of the major series that I have started and yet to finish, so far I’ve finished two–which is a big deal. The first being The Grisha Trilogy. While I was incredibly happy to wrap up the story and conclude the characters stories, I finished the last book and felt content with it. This wasn’t a true “saying goodbye” moment. Saying goodbye happens when you finish The Deathly Hallows and feel actually hollow inside.
This is where we come to the second series I’ve finished so far in 2017. That would be The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. This book series has been with me through a lot. I’ve been reading them since I was twelve (!!!!), I’ve met Marissa several times, I’ve had my books signed, I got my hair chopped off at a release party (yes that really happened), and I’ve read the books over and over gain. The final book in the quartet came out over a year ago, and trust me, I’ve had the book since it’s release day. I even reread the series in preparation for its release, but once the book was in my hands I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to do it. So I let it sit on my shelf while I self distracted for a little over a year. Then 2017 came around and I became really determined (more like overwhelmed with the need) to finish many of the series that I’ve started, and Winter was just staring at me. Of all of the series on my shelves, The Lunar Chronicles is probably my 2nd favorite (to HP of course)…it stood out.
So I did it. I packed up my bag of books to take on Spring Break with me, Winter was among them. And one afternoon on the beach, I sped through the final (exciting!) pages of Winter and…felt such relief. Finally–I had the ending I had hoped for, an ending better than expected, and an ending I hadn’t seen coming (in a lot of ways). So while yes, you can feel content with the ending of any old series, when you have to say goodbye to a series, you also have to say goodbye to its pleasure. While sure you can read the series over again, it will never have that first time magic. That beautiful, fleeting moment, that is why saying goodbye to a book series is so painful (and why I avoided finishing The Lunar Chronicles in the first place).
Now that its over, I’m keeping Stars Above in my back pocket for when I’m feeling nostalgic–but the series will never be the same. And while it was hard for a moment, I was left happy. Happy that the series meant so much, but also happy that there will be other series and other books in the future that can give me the same joy or even–*gasp*–more joy that The Lunar Chronicles did.
I’ll leave you all now to your reading, as I am off in search of my next joyful read.
xoxox
