WHY AREN’T THERE MORE STANDALONE BOOKS? + RECOMMENDATIONS

~ Ellyn

Hey guys! Today I’m coming at you with some standalone recommendations because I feel like we need to give them some love! I so often see readers (myself included) focusing on series and while I love big book series, I do really appreciate it when I only have one book to read to complete the story!

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STANDALONE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

THE MARTIAN, LOST BOY, QUEENS OF GEEK

books books books booThe Martian   Lost Boy   Queens of Geek

THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, FAITHFUL, THE NOWHERE GIRLS

books books books booThe Female of the Species   Faithful   The Nowhere Girls

WHY AREN’T THERE MORE STANDALONES?

SERIES PROS
  • Room for in-depth world building
  • Room for more extensive character development
  • Room for character relationships (friendships or otherwise) to develop
  • Room for development in story and plot – an overarching plot throughout multiple books
  • Generally room for a longer “journey” – think The Lord of The Rings or Skulduggery Pleasant
STANDALONE PROS
  • No need for extra novels: a self-contained story
  • Get to know the characters & world quickly
  • No need to wait for the next book to be released.
  • Shorter time period (for reading and story)

Personally, I love both types, but I really prefer standalone novels. I don’t read as many of them because there are definitely less on the market within the YA age bracket, which is what I read the most of. I generally prefer standalones just because I can read them on the bus to Uni and not have to worry about reading a next book and forgetting details if I straight up forget I was reading a novel or just don’t have time to get to it.

That being said, I also own a lot of series on my shelves, and have pretty much grown up reading series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Skulduggery Pleasant and The Lunar Chronicles. I love series so so much but, in terms of practicality whenever I don’t have much time or brain power (aka. whenever school is sucking my soul) I definitely prefer standalones because they take less energy and I have to remember less about them (depending on their size and complexity of the world, of course.) I’ve recommended some in this post already, but here are some more of my recent favourites:

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO, WILD BEAUTY, THE LONELIEST GIRL IN THE UNIVERSE, THE PERFECT MOTHER

no book boo booksThe Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo   Wild Beauty   The Loneliest Girl in the Universe   The Perfect Mother

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, PEOPLE LIKE US, ONE TRUE LOVES, SOURDOUGH

no book boo  booksThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society    People Like Us    One True Loves   Sourdough

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WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE STANDALONE READS?

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Published by Ellyn

Hi I'm Ellyn! I review and talk about books. I’m also a huge movie nerd and general lover of baking and all things Keanu Reeves!

20 thoughts on “WHY AREN’T THERE MORE STANDALONE BOOKS? + RECOMMENDATIONS”

  2. Yes! I’m always here for standalone book love. There’s nothing more frustrating to me than really enjoying a book and then finding out there’s going to be a sequel, especially if I feel that things were pretty wrapped up in the first book? There are quite a few times when this has happened to me and it definitely feels like the story is just being dragged out for the sake of it rather than as something which is the best choice for the plot?

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    1. Yes, they need much more appreciation! Exactly, I have a similar feeling whenever I find out a duology is being turned into a trilogy! If I feel like a first book was pretty well wrapped up in the first book I usually just pretend it was a standalone anyway lol.
      I completely agree, there are so many series that could’ve been turned into duologies or standalones and I much prefer having less books to read in the same world!

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  3. You want my fav? OK I will give you some in YA: The Serpent King and Goodbye days both by Jeff Zentner; All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven; One of Us is Lying by Karent McManus; Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma; The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Sadie by Courtney Summers; A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole, I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios… if you want more let me know lol

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  4. Love the recommendations! I only read the Martian, but it was pretty cool. I own a few from your list, and love to have the option to just pick up one, knowing once i read it, i will know the full story and there will be no waiting or dragging story line.
    Series can get overwhelming.

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  8. i adore standalones!! and they are so tragically uncommon :/ but these are great recs!! The Martian especially is sooo impressive for what it does in a single book 😍

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    1. I know, I was going through my shelves and my Goodreads because I couldn’t really think of many off the bat! I agree, The Martian goes through every emotion on the scale and has a great plot and mc and does everything in such a short amount of pages!

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  9. i SERIOUSLY love this post bc im a huge fan of standalones (love me series as well but standalones are so great when you dont want to commit) and these recs look amazing!!

    definitely want to delve into all of taylor jenkins reid’s books asap

    great post!

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