Series or Standalone?

Hello everyone!

This post is just going to be a bit of a laid back one :) The main question for today is do you prefer to read books in a series or do you just want everything to be wrapped up neatly in one book? This question was brought up by my best friend. She loves giving me books to read but always had a hard time because she doesn't know if the book I'm receiving is the first, third or eight book of the series. This year she asked if there were any standalone YA books I want to read and I found that hard to answer.

Nine out of ten times, I will always pick up a series to read. When I'm browsing for books to add to my list, if I find that they're standalone, I tend to just leave them out. I just prefer things not rushing into each other and for things to be spread out and for the suspense to keep growing. Since I read a lot of YA with a mix of romance, I find that standalone books have the characters instantly fall in love and I just don't like reading that. 

Now, I've run across some pretty bad series. For example, The Selection series by Kiera Cass needed to be stopped. I was okay with the first book, but as the series continued, it went completely downhill for me. That is an example of a series that I didn't want to continue but I did just to know the ending.

Then, there are series that end in such a weird spot... The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting has 4 books in total at this moment and the way the 4th book ending made it seem like there is more coming. But it has been almost 7 years since the 4th book came out with no answers whether she'll write a 5th book. Maybe! She'll pull a surprise like Tahereh Mafi in the Shatter Me series, where she continues the series 4 years later!!!! That was a pleasant surprise.

I don't think there is a standalone book that I've read that made me wish for a second or third book. There are times where I wish we can see an epilogue like 10 years later into the characters, but I'm sure that's up to our imagination.

Now, onto the long long series. I think this can be both a good or bad thing. For me, the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas is gorgeous and a perfect. I don't care that it is 8 books long. I'll happily read all 8. Kingdom of Ash is about 1000 pages. I love a good THICC book in a fantastic series. The House of Night series by P.C. Cast though, is 12 books long. TWELVE. I stopped at book 8 because it felt so repetitive. It really depends on the author but, HoN was literally the same plot in every single book, while ToG added another new and different situation to solve that eventually adds up to a bigger solution for the entire series as a whole. 

I also enjoy separate series that takes place in the same world. For example, Rick Riordan's has multiple series, but they take place all in the same world. There is a chance of character from Series A meeting a character from Series B. I just feel like I've grown up with these characters and it's always nice to see them again in a new series. 

That being said, I don't mind standalone books, but I prefer series. I think the perfect number for a series is 5 books. I think trilogies are too short for amazing books, but 8+ is too long. It has to be a right mix of content. Not too much that I grow tired of the series, but not too little where I'm unsatisfied and craving more. What about you guys? Standalone or series?