Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Top Ten Best Sequels

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Best Sequels.

I'm not 100% sure what counts as a sequel. Is that only book 2? Or any book after book 1 in a series? In order to narrow down my list, I'm only going with book 2 out of a series.

The second book in a series usually takes a hit, especially in trilogies. Book 1 is the build up and either ends in conflict such as a cliffhanger, or the conflict begins in book 2. Book 2 is usually the down period where we struggle through to get to the resolution in book 3. That's just how it is. Keeping that in mind, it was actually harder than I expected to create my list.

While there are tons of series that I love the series as a whole, when I looked at book 2 only, I had to pause. What's funny is that in my list below, a lot of these books are actually companion novels or novels that switch to a different MC and thus don't carry on the story immediately following book 1. I'm counting them anyway. I also excluded books retelling the first book (i.e. Walking Disaster, Losing Hope, etc).

    1) Rose Under Fire (Code Name Verity, # 2) by Elizabeth Wein (companion)
    2) Fragments (Partials, # 2) by Dan Wells (lenghty but worth it in the end) (review coming soon)
    3) The Dead-Tossed Waves (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, # 2) by Carrie Ryan (swaps MC and years after the events of book 1)
    4) Jet (Marked Men, # 2) by Jay Crownover (companion) (review coming soon)
    5) Point of Retreat (Slammed, # 2) by Colleen Hoover (so emotional)
    6) Fire (Graceling Realm, # 2) by Kristin Cashore (companion)
    7) Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, # 2) by Cassandra Clare (major events take place)
    8) Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, # 2) by Marissa Meyer (half companion, half continuation, enjoyed better than book 1)
    9) Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, # 2) by Maggie Stiefvater (love Maggie S.)
    10) New Moon (Twilight, # 2) by Stephenie Meyer (while I can't say I hated this book ever, I've changed my feelings on it and think it was a great sequel to Twilight)
    11) Frostbite (Vampire Academy, # 2) by Richelle Mead (such a pivotal book in the series)

What are your top favorite sequels? Let me know!

10 comments:

  1. Scarlet definitely made my list too. I LOVED it! Great picks!

    Here's My TTT

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  2. Thanks so much Nikki! Going to check out your list!

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  3. Great list, I like the fact that you narrowed the topic down to just book 2 in a series. Fire, New Moon, and Frostbite are all great books. I'm with you on Twilight, I enjoyed it when I first read it but now... I'm actually reading Rose Under Fire at the moment, not too sure what I think of it. I haven't heard of a couple like Point of Retreat so I will have to check them out. Thanks for sharing your top eleven.

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  4. Lots of great choices here. I've only read a few of these series most of them are on my tbr list though so I'm looking forward to them :)

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT

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  5. I loved Clockwork Prince and I can't wait to start Scarlet! Frostbite was so sad towards the end :( and New Moon was actually my favorite in Twilight series. I really loved it back then, it was just what I needed and I cried so much. Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

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  6. Anyone who has read my comments in the past knows that I enjoy an occasional dystopian, but I don't do zombies well :) However for some reason, I was engrossed in the Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy last year and recommended it to my oldest daughter who also loved it. I loved all 3, she thought the third one was weak. Thanks for sharing that.

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  7. Thanks Becki! Oh I hope you love Rose Under Fire. It's definitely different. And Point of Retreat is the 2nd in the Slammed series by Colleen Hoover. I gave all three books basically 5 Stars--which is super rare for me! Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. That's how it always goes for me too when I visit other pages. Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. Clockwork Prince was definitely my favorite of that series. Scarlet was really good too! Definitely Frostbite had a sad ending, but so necessary for the progression of the series! And I love to find a New Moon fan! I can't remember, but I think I cried too. Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. I loved book 1, book 2 was even better IMO. But then I agree with your daughter. I didn't love book 3. The Dark and Hollow Places just felt a little lacking to me. I think I just didn't really connect with Annah. Thanks for stopping by!

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