POPULAR YA SERIES I HAVEN'T READ YET!

I'm a bit of a sheep when it comes to picking up books. I almost always buy the ones that everyone is talking about. However, I actually don't seem to have read a lot of the popular YA books out there. To be fair, some I own but haven't gotten around to yet, but some I just really don't have an excuse for; especially when you consider the fact that some of them sound like books I'll adore! I think my subconscious mind has heard these books so much it just assumed I'd read them - can I use that as an excuse? No... ok..

I originally planned to do a post on popular books in general but it was shamefully long so I've decided we'll start out with the series! First up:

THE RAVEN CYCLE
I own the first book in this series and it is definitely high up on my list to read soon, but I am so so so bad at starting a series and never finishing them. I don't tend to marathon them one after the other but I'm so bad at judging when I've read enough books in between to pick up the next so I more often than not end up forgetting about the first book and, as someone who struggles to reread (thought I am trying to do that more - starting with Harry Potter, obviously), never get to the second book. My original excuse was that I was waiting for the final book to be released but a year later The Raven Boys is still on my TBR...


​A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES
This was a series I had zero interest in reading for the longest time but in recent weeks I have been so drawn to fantasy and magical realism novels. I knew this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling but I must confess I have never seen the film (yep, the original disney animation... nope, not even the new live action). In fact, one of my earliest memories is of sitting in my gran's lap crying in fear at a Pantomime. I was already scared but as soon as he came out on stage again and started chucking sweets into the audience I had a full on meltdown and my poor gran had to embarrassingly leave the show half way through. I never got any sweets either - I like to think that's probably why I was crying but even at 20 years old the thought of that beast costume send shivers down my spine... Maybe it's a good thing I've never been to Disneyland (it's not. Someone take me. Please. I need to meet Flynn!) 
Sorry, I digress. Once I finally read the synopsis for this book I realised it actually sounded so much better than I thought. So it is on my 'to buy' list, but I may wait until it's at my library before deciding to put in on my shelves - who knows, perhaps I'm still scared of the beast, even in book form... Ok, I'll stop sharing my childhood traumas.

THRONE OF GLASS
Another Sarah J Maas. This is another series that I own the first book of, but not by choice. When I was a bookseller, one of my colleagues was forever trying to make me buy this book and read it but I never gave in so in the end my birthday gift was a book that I was adamant I'd never read and never enjoy, and whilst the first part is still holding true, I'm swayed on the latter part. I'm still not 100% sure if it will be my thing, but I am now definitely more keen to give it a try. I think there's still two or three books in the series to come out so I intend to wait a little because if I end up loving it I don't want to be stuck waiting a year or two to get the latest book!

TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE
This duology/now trilogy is one I always had my eye on but just never bought but upon leaving my bookseller job I finally picked it up! I'm waiting for summer to read this one but also waiting until I wrap up a few more series before embarking on the next one!


POISON STUDY
This series almost didn't make this list. I picked this up in a charity shop recently and have been dying to read it since. I'm currently 30 pages away from finishing up a trilogy I love (hence why I put it down so close to the end, I'm not ready!) which means I can start a new series! I'm not sure if I'll pick it up straight away but I can guarantee you that this will be the first book checked off this list. I'm so excited!!!

SIX OF CROWS
This is a series I always just ignored. In fact, I still don't know what it's about. I have since put them on my 'to buy' pile, along with Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy (I know nothing about that either...), as I decided that since I'm now in a fantasy kick those are staple YA fantasy and I need them.. Plus, those covers are stunning!

SHATTER ME
I KNOW!! I'd heard so much about this trilogy (series now, I suppose!) and it was always in the back of my mind to pick up when I started watching Whittynovels on booktube. If you know Whitney, you know she can't go 5 minutes without mentioning this series! I bought this book about a year ago now I believe but with the upcoming release of 3 more Shatter Me books I think it's time I read them and join in the hype for the new releases!

THE LUNAR CHRONICLES
I wasn't much of a retellings fan when this series was at its peak but lately I'm really excited by this (although apart from Wicked I don't think I've read any?) I am however still a tad hesitant. I like the premise but I'm not sure if I will actually enjoy the books so it will more than likely be charity shop buys or library borrows.

THE WRATH AND THE DAWN
This duology was the talk of book blogging last year. Every man, woman, child, their cat, dog and pet goldfish had read this... except me. Again, the fantasy elements didn't grab my attention so I never got on the bandwagon but, whilst I'm in no mind to run to a bookstore and pick it up brand new, I am keeping my eyes peeled in second hand stores and the like incase it's there!

Finally, we get to the big one:

SHADOWHUNTERS
Yes... I know... How?!!! OK so this one is a bit of a lie. I've read the first three books in TMI series and the first of TID. However, I read Clockwork Angel almost 1 year ago (May 26, according to Goodreads) and my brain is all fuzzy about what happened so I've decided to reread the series from the start, once I purchase the rest of TID and also The Bane Chronicles etc. I was going to read in publication order but I read once (though can no longer find) something Cassandra Clare wrote stating to read the first three Mortal Instruments as their own trilogy as planned, then TID, then the last three MI so that's what I intend to do! I'm hoping to have all the books purchased soon so I can just binge read them all at once, which is surprising that I want to do that as I normally need a good chunk of time between books so they don't merge together, but I think a series as big as the Shadowhunters Chronicles that has so many series mixed together is going to mix itself up anyway. I also just really want to be immersed in something for a while and what better way to dedicate a few weeks solid to reading 10+ books all set in the same world?

And there we have it! There are definitely more that I haven't read yet and even more standalones! I'm still trying to catch up with my reading challenge so hopefully some of these series will capture me and help me get back on schedule instead of 13 books behind!!

-Emma