5 popular YA series that I’ve never read because I’m a traitor to all bookworms

Heyy bookish people. I know, I know, this isn’t a discussion post, WHERE ARE THEY SIMI, SHEESH? Well, I’m glad you asked because they… are on their way! As I said, their train is a bit hung up at the moment. BUT THEY WILL COME. However for now, I’m listing 5 popular YA series I’ve never read because, yes, I’m a disgrace to the bookworm society, and I just want to shout that out to the whole world. Be grateful peeps, because these are some pretty big confessions I’m making and it’s not gonna be easy for me so have some respect.

And yeah, maybe I am a traitor to bookworms but, in my defense, I’m more into underrated books for a handful of reasons:

• they’re cheaper – like all bookworms, I always think about price first because why spend £10 on a hyped book in Waterstones when you can get a possibly-slightly-less-hyped book for 50p in a charity shop? it’s called thinking practically.
• hyped up books always have a lot of very mixed reviews – it’s inevitable that when so many people have read the same book, they’re all going to have different opinions of it; some might spit on it, while others might praise it to the stars. what’s wrong with having opinions, Simi? you may ask. well, when 5 of my blogging friends have reviewed it, all with completely contrasting reviews, who am I going to listen to, huh? that’s like choosing between my children and no one would do that, sheesh
• underrated books most likely don’t have a film adaptation – watching films first and then reading the book (which, I confess, I do way too much) kind of ruins the way I picture everything in the book. even if I have read the book first, what if I decide to reread it? this happened with A Series of Unfortunate Events: when I reread the books, I was so angry because I couldn’t get the image of the film characters and scenes out of my head, and that bugs me a lot. if there’s no film, there’s so much space for my imagination, and the story feels like it wholly belongs to me, and I love that feeling.

Anyway, here’s my list of popular YA series that I’ve never read. Please don’t hurt me because I WILL READ THESE. At some point.

1) The Hunger Games – I’ve seen the first film? I didn’t enjoy it massively? The only reason I watched it was because of the actor who plays Peeta, and I did like the characters, juuuust not the whole concept of kids being sent to die and all that. I’ve read about worse stuff that happens to adults, but kids? It just hits you harder I guess. They’re (mostly) so squishy and innocent. Imagine being that kind of squishy lil childling then BAM you’re chosen to participate in a ‘game’ where your only goal is to kill basically everyone you see and stop everyone else killing you – ‘everyone else’ being OTHER SQUISHY CHILDREN – and if you don’t die brutally, you have to live with the fact that you killed other squishy children for the rest of your life. Like, dude. Dude. But, knowing me, it’ll probably end up in my hands one of these days.

2) The Lunar Chronicles – I have a friend who used to be obsessed with this series, and I’ve honestly always wanted to read it but never found the time. Hopefully I will soon though because these books sound amazing and I love fairytale retellings so I can’t wait. I don’t think I’ve read a sci-fi dystopian thingy before though, but that makes me even more excited. Look at me trying new genres and making history. (Also, Trinity reviewed this series a few centuries ago on my blog [which you can check out here] and she loved it so I should probably read it)

3) Divergent – unlike The Hunger Games, I’ve seen all of the Divergent films and honestly, they weren’t too bad. I think the first film was the best one, but I’ve never even touched the books. I have another friend who’s obsessed with these, soooooooo I might borrow them from her, although I already know the ending because my Lunar-Chronicles-obsessed friend spoiled it for me. Ok, ok, maybe I told her that I was never gonna read the series and that I didn’t mind if she told me… honestly though, I hate going into books blind and I tend to explode if I don’t know what happens next. Normal people just read the book to find out the end, but I can’t do that ok?? With some books yes, but there are a few too many books that even before I read them, I knew their endings. So yes, maybe it’s a good thing my friend told me the ending, or… maybe I just need to sort out my reading habits.

4) The Maze Runner – maybe this shouldn’t be on my list because I already have it on my bookshelf all shiny and new and colourful… and unread, so maybe it should be on my list as a reminder of the disgrace I am to bookworms. I haven’t even seen the films, probably because I’m pretty intent on watching them after reading the books, which I will read VERY VERY soon because I need to get into another series but I’m struggling because of the remnants of Heroes of Olympus still giving me a bit of a book hangover. After 4 months, I am still being crushed by those feels… it’s painful.

5) The Mortal Instruments – I definitely don’t want to read this just because Lily Collins is in the film… although to be honest, that is literally all I know about this series, so I obviously must know more by reading it! Which I hopefully will do soon because – you guessed it – my Divergent-obsessed friend is also obsessed with this series and – you guessed it again – I can borrow the series from her. Also, Cassandra Clare and Rick Riordan are apparently really good friends and I love Riordan, so hopefully I’ll love Clare too 🙂

So there you have it: 5 popular YA series that I’ve never read. But will read! At some point. Have you read these series?? Do you recommend? Or are you a traitor like me and have never read them? Lettuce discuss.