Thursday Thoughts || Novellas

Hey, friends! Let me once again bring up the fact that Thursday Thoughts has been going on for quite sometime now and I'm really lacking in creativity. If you have any ideas for future Thursday Thoughts topics, please please send them my way! You can do so through comments on this post, the main Thursday Thoughts page, by tweeting me or even emailing me if you're feeling really crazy. Just make sure that if you are new to our little family that you check the previous topics so you won't recommend something we've already done. Thank you so, so much in advance because I know I can count on your guys for this sort of thing.

If you are new to Thursday Thoughts, let me give your our little spiel. This is an original, interactive, weekly meme. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! We would love, love, love to have you! Also, thank you to everyone's nice comments last week. You were all very understanding when my post was up mid-day on Thursday instead of at midnight. I really appreciated it. Anyway, let's just get right into the magic. Today's topic is novellas! Now, if I'm being honest I have a somewhat limited knowledge of books that aren't Young Adult. That being said, I'm willing to bet that 100% of the series I've heard of that include novellas have been YA. So, all my comments in this post will be based on my experience with YA novellas.

I'm honestly the sort of person who has a tendency to lose interest in series'. That's not to say I don't enjoy them either. There are many, many books that I've LOVED, but have yet to read the sequel and books beyond that. A perfect example would be Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children or The Archived. If you've been following me for a while you probably know that those are two of my very favorite books. However, I haven't read the sequel to either of them. Why? I really, honestly don't know. Probably because I'm lazy. I own the sequels and have every intention of reading them eventually. I just.. haven't done that yet. With that in mind, I'm sure you can see why I think novellas can get a little.. redundant? On-going? Unnecessary?

To be fair, there are a lot of novellas (that I haven't read) where I really love the premise. I love the idea that a novella can get you into the mind of a character you wouldn't get to understand on that sort of level otherwise. Take for example, Four. That book is a series of four novellas from Four's perspective. I love that concept! (Despite the fact that I haven't read them yet.) Maybe not the best example for this... but, still. I feel like authors can explore uncharted territory when it comes to novellas. It's like a little add-on piece that enhances the reader's experience.

Although, there are times when the novellas become essential reads. That's when I feel like things get a little dodgy. I believe I'm going to be correct in my next few statements, but please do tell me if I'm wrong. In the Shatter Me series (I feel like there might be a name for that that I'm blanking on?) and in the Throne of Glass series, there are novellas in which important plot events take place. The idea that you need to read a novella to get the whole story is sort of.. annoying to me? I don't know. Maybe I'm just crazy. As you probably also know, I LOVE The Lunar Chronicles series. It's my favorite series by far, however I haven't read all of the novellas! I've only read one or two of them and they come before each book. That being said, it's a-okay that I have neglected to read the novellas/found time to do so because they aren't essential to the plot. And that? I like.

In short, I feel like novellas should be a fun, little add-on to a series. Clearly, I haven't read all that many and none of the ones I have read are really worth mentioning. I do not by any means think they're necessary, nor do I particularly enjoy them. Then again, like I said, maybe I'm just crazy. I prefer for novellas or short stories in a series to be non-essential to the plot for the sake of my apparently non-existent sanity. Like I said before, I think I'm just lazy. And on that note, I think we can safely say this has been another successful Thursday Thoughts! I can't wait to hear your opinions on this topic considering I think mine will be rather unpopular. I'm also super looking forward to your suggestions for future Thursday Thoughts topics! Don't forget to come back next week where we'll be discussing "Bookish Fandoms!" I'm really excited for that one. See ya then!