I don’t usually do a series when it comes to fiction, but sometimes the good ones catch my eye:

The Hunger Games Series: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, & Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins
I talked way way way too much about this already on my Tiktok, so please visit all my videos there for the thousands of thoughts that I have running on this series that completely took over my brain! Tiktok: @thelibragina

The Wicked Years: Wicked, Son Of A Witch, A Lion Among Men, & Out Of Oz by Gregory Maguire
I also talked about this extensively on Tiktok, comparing the books to the movies and going through the plot of each book. So check out all my Wicked Tikoks at this link: Tiktok: @thelibragina

The Oz Collection: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, The Marvelous Land Of Oz, Ozma Of Oz, Dorothy And The Wizard In Oz, The Road To Oz, The Emerald City Of Oz, The Patchwork Girl Of Oz, TikTok Of Oz, The Scarecrow Of Oz, Rinkitink In Oz, The Lost Princess Of Oz, The Tin Woodman Of Oz, The Magic Of Oz, & Glinda Of Oz by L. Frank Baum
I loved going through this series, even though these are definitely children’s books. Can’t wait to read these with nieces and nephews someday. Also talked about these on my Tiktok: Tiktok: @thelibragina

The “You” Series: You, Hidden Bodies, You Love Me, & For You And Only You by Caroline Kepnes
The first book and the first season are done so well, probably one of the best book to TV/movie adaptations that I have ever seen. It’s such a creepy and unique take on thrillers and horror, and it was so impressive to see how the first book and first season were done. The second book really took a turn for me because it lost the “You” format that made the first book so creepy and special. The plot also gets a little wonky, and I have to admit that the writers for season two of the Netflix show did a much better job with the sequel. In season three, they again sorta pick the bones of the book and twist to fit the show, and I again like the show choices a lot better. Season four and book four were both let downs for me, and I felt that neither stayed super true to the character of Joe that the audience knows so well by this point. Season five does not have a book tied to it because the series ends at four, so I’m interested to see how Netflix chose to end Joe Goldberg’s story.

The Housemaid Series: The Housemaid, The Housemaid’s Secret, The Housemaid Is Watching, & The Housemaid’s Wedding by Freida McFadden
I went into this series knowing nothing except that everyone on Tiktok loved it, and I had so much fun reading this book. It was weird and went in several directions that I was not expecting, and definitely worth the hype if you like thrillers. All the books involve a locked room and tons of secrets, but I don’t want to say too much else to not give anything away, but this was a wild ride that I do recommend going on. The first two books in the series were absolutely amazing, but the third one I didn’t enjoy quiet as much as the first two. And I don’t really think the wedding short story was needed. But the first two books are ones that I highly HIGHLY recommend.

Shadow Children Series: Among The Hidden, Among The Imposters, Among The Betrayed , Among The Barons, Among The Brave, Among The Enemy, & Among The Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix
I loved this series so much as a teenager, and it absolutely held up when I read it over again as an adult. The series is dystopian, in a world where families are only allowed to have two children. However, we follow a family who has a third child hidden away. This series is probably what radicalized me into social justice, and I regret nothing. Absolutely amazing string of short novels, loved it then and now.

The Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries: Arsenic And Adobo, Homicide And Halo-Halo, Blackmail And Bibingka, Murder And Mamon, Guilt And Ginataan, & Death And Dinuguan by Mia P Manansala
This series is surprisingly cute for murder mysteries! I believe the author describes them as “cozy mysteries” and that’s exactly what these feel like. While there’s definitely good plot created for each “whodunnit”, these books are more heavily about Filipino culture, cuisine, and family life. The first and fourth book were my favorites, because it focused more on the main characters, where as the others pulled in some new characters which didn’t engage me quite as much as the other two I mentioned. Still, this was a really cute series and I had fun making my way through it.

The Earthseed Series: Parable Of The Sower & Parable Of The Talents by Octavia E. Butler
Most of the dystopian stories that I’ve read have been YA, but this one was not and wow was it dark. It’s weird to read this in 2024, which is where the first book starts off, even though it was published in the 1990’s. The world as we know it has shifted due to climate change and there is destruction and chaos ruining the world that the main character is trying to survive in. There’s a lot going on, including hyper-empathy super powers, creation of new religions, rising dictators, and so much more. It felt heavy to read, but also very important considering the current state of the world.

Sworn Solder Series: What Moves The Dead, What Feasts At Night, & What Stalks The Deep by T. Kingfisher
I really love Edgar Allen Poe, which is what brought me to the first book in this series and I absolutely LOVED it. I loved the language used around the imagery of the “haunted” house, and it’s a great adaptation of The Fall Of The House Of Usher. The second two books in the series didn’t intrigue me as much, although some of the concepts in the second book were cool once they actually took off. But, I kinda checked out for book three – which is a shame, considering how great the first book was.

The Uglies Series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials & Extras by Scott Westerfeld
I read this series originally as a teenager, and reread it recently as an adult in preparation of the Netflix movie adaptation. It’s an interesting concept for a dystopian society, where everyone is considered “ugly” until they undergo surgery at 16 that turns them “pretty”, but also alters their brains and the way they think. I definitely see why I liked the books when I was younger, although some of it is a bit cheesy. There’s also sorta a problematic storyline with “the Cutters” that I hope doesn’t make it into future films. The Netflix movie was not bad, although I’m not the biggest fan of Joey King, but it was obviously done on a Netflix budget. I think they did a good rendition, but it would have been cool to see the effects done on a major motion picture type of budget. Even still, it stayed pretty true to the first book, which I really appreciated. Last thought – the fourth book is more of a companion book to the series rather than a continuation, and it didn’t hit quite the same. I sorta wish it had been developed into it’s own thing instead, but the first three books really are a great YA series.

Triptych: Permafrost, Boulder & Mammoth by Eva Baltasar
I heard such great things about Boulder, so I was excited to see that it was a part of a very aesthetically pleasing series. Boulder was definitely the best of the three, but I wasn’t a huge fan of any of them. Each one followed a different lesbian navigating complexities of life in varies places, like working on cruise ships, on a farm, or as an au pair. The writing is very unique, but the stories were only okay.

Thanks for reading! (Last Updated: Nov 2025)