Novellas: An Added Bonus or Unneeded Addition?

I have really mixed feelings when it comes to novellas. A part of me is like, “YES! More words from this awesome author, and this awesome series!” but another part of me is like, “Ugh, now I have to read this before I can just get the next book. And it costs $2.99.” I don’t read a lot of short stories, so novellas can be tedious for me to pick up. But my biggest pet peeve is when they are needed in order to understand the next full book *cough* Cassandra Clare’s many series *cough*. I touched on that a little bit in that ranty post a while ago. On the other hand, if I’m completely invested in a series and I adore the author will all my heart, I consider reading the novellas. For example, I’ve purchase Sarah J. Maas’ The Assassin’s Blade, a bind-up of prequel novellas to the Throne of Glass series, for those that aren’t farmiliar.

Since I have both positive and negative feelings, I’m going to argue for both sides here. This should be fun!

Novellas ROCK! Totally an Added Bonus!

As I mentioned above, there are some series that I’m so invested in, I will purchase and read the novellas. If the author does it right*, reading the novellas will be a wonderful experience that will ultimately enhance my reading and love of said author and series. *When I say right, I mean in my opinion. And that opinion is writing short stories that fit well with the main storyline, and aren’t a total waste to read. They aren’t necessary to continue reading the following books. My personal favorites are novellas that provide insight to time periods that aren’t covered in the main books (ex. prequel, epilogue, and “x” number of years in the future–where are they now novellas). I also quite like alternate perspective novellas, where we see the same thing that happened in the original book, but from a different character’s perspective.

All of those kinds of novellas feel like extras, which is what I want a novella to be. If they weren’t meant to be extras, why not publish them together in a full book?

Eh, I Don’t Like Novellas. They’re Kind of a Waste.

Before I started blogging, was just getting into reading YA like it was my job, and was more focused on reading certain series completely through before starting another, novellas were great. They extended the amount of time I got to love my current series obsession! How could I not love them? But when I started blogging, I became not only a more frequent reader, but a reader who has trouble binge-reading series. Now I read lots of first books in series, and with review copies, and release dates, I don’t always finish series. The time between when I read a first book and a sequel is often a year. I don’t remember the storylines as well as I’d like to. And here’s the kicker: I get impatient. I don’t want to wait to read the final book in the series until after I read a novella. I just want the story. And even for series that don’t require a novella to be read prior to another book, I often feel the premise for the novella is unneeded. Unless you’re a mega fan, of course. If there were Harry Potter novellas, you bet I’d be on those yesterday. But there are so many series that I read and have read, I don’t care about them all as much as I do, let’s say again, the Throne of Glass series. I don’t want extra storyline all the time. Sometimes the just the main plotline is enough.

So, how do you feel about novellas? Do you enjoy them, or think they’re not worth it. What series do you read ALL the novellas for? Let me know!