The 5 Stages of Dealing with the End of a Favorite Book Series

Listening to: Linkin Park & Jay-Z – Collision Course

Mood: ALL OF THEM (see stages of dealing with the end of a book series below)

The Witch With No Name—the last book in Kim Harrison’s fabulous Hollows series—was released at the beginning of September. Normally I devour her books in a few days’ time, but for this last one I didn’t. I couldn’t. The copy (signed, of course) arrived in my mailbox on release day and it took me two weeks just to pick it up to begin reading. Not because I didn’t WANT to read it, but because reading it meant I was going to have to say goodbye to a favorite book series of mine. I started slowly, rare for me, at a pace of about a chapter a day. I mean, this is epically slow reading for me, but I wanted the story to last. I wanted to enjoy all I could of Rachel, Al, Trent, Ivy, and Jenks before it was over. Thirteen books in a series means I’ve invested just as many years of my life in the characters. They’re totally like friends, but in my head. I can’t even imagine how it felt for Kim to say goodbye to her characters. Surely bittersweet.

I finished the final chapter yesterday. The book was fantastic, as I always expect of anything Kim Harrison writes, and it ended the way it should have. But still, once I closed the book a deep sense of melancholy weighed me down. That was it. The end. No more Rachel caring so much about her friends that she risked her life for them over and over. No more Trent and the long road from hate to love all of us readers (as well as Rachel) traveled on. Redemptions a bitch, eh Trent? No more Jenks cursing Tink and pixing people who irritated him. No more Ivy and her unyielding desire to be a good person and not become a soulless monster. No more Al being his charming demon self, even when he’s pissed. No more Ellasbeth…oh wait, that’s a good thing. Won’t miss her.

All the characters have grown on me over the years, Kim being a masterful storyteller who makes you love the world and characters she’s created so much it’s as if you know them. So how do I deal with the loss of a favorite series? Well, I write a blog (complete with gifs!) about the five stages of getting over the end of a series, of course:

1. Denial – Nope, this isn’t the end. There’s no way. This is all a big joke. I refuse to believe this is the end! *shakes fist at the sky*

2. Anger – Screw this! I’m not ready for it to be over, dammit! I WANT MORE!!! *seething* GIVE. ME. MORE.

3. Bargaining-Ah yes, good old bargaining. As in “Please, please, please Ms. Harrison, I would sell you my left kidney to get another book set in the Hollows.” No takers on that one? Damn.

4. Depression – This can’t be the end, it can’t! Why is life so cruel!! *shakes fist at the sky yet again*

5. Acceptance – I’ll miss Rachel and the gang, but I feel good about how things ended. Happy, even. Honestly, this is truly how I felt as I read the last page. I smiled, I sighed, and I closed the book.

I hear Kim’s working on another series and the first book comes out in 2015 (she just reported this via her blog this week!). It will surely be as amazing as the Hollows. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I would read Kim’s grocery list if she published it.