Do you prefer to wait until a full series is released, or read the individual novels as they release?

I mostly read related series i.e. a romance trilogy where each book is about a different couple, and the characters are related in some way e.g. siblings or friends or co-workers.

In these cases, I tend to read the books as they release.

The beauty of these kinds of series is that they don’t have to be read in order … although I do prefer to read in order.

Some series are related, in that each book in the series follows on from the previous book with the same characters and a linked plot. These series need to be read in order … and we need to read the whole series to get the full plot arc.

This has come back to bite me a couple of times, where a publisher has published the first two books in a related series, but not the third.

In these cases, I wish I’d waited until the full series had been published.

But that’s a bit chicken and egg, because if no one buys the first book in a series, a publisher (or author) might decide not to publish the rest of the series …

Which means I end up buying books as they interest me, even if they’re part of an incomplete series.

So what’s your view? Do you read individual books in a series as they release, or wait until the full series is out?