Top Ten Tuesday – September 24, 2013: Top Ten Best Sequels Ever!

TTT

It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the wonderful blog at The Broke and the Bookish! This week’s topic: Top Ten Best Sequels Ever!

It was pretty easy to choose my favorite sequels and because of that, I decided to only pick my TOP favorites and not just any old lukewarm sequels. These are THE cat’s pajamas, friends. Check out not only these amazing series debuts but also fantastic sequels!

Lunar

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) – Marissa Meyer
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) – Marissa Meyer
Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) – Marissa Meyer (review to come!)

How much do I LOVE this series. I’m pretty much obsessing over it, especially after finishing CRESS this past week. From CINDER on, this series has not disappointed me!

TheGrisha_edited-1

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) – Leigh Bardugo 
Siege and Storm (The Grisha #2) – Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha series is another one of my absolute favorites. I loved SHADOW AND BONE and SIEGE AND STORM toootally blew me away. Now I’m dying for RUIN AND RISING to come out!

HP

Harry Potter…. of course. I really enjoyed the first three books, but I really REALLY fell in love with the series at book four — The Goblet of Fire — and things continued to get better from there! I’d say Half Blood Prince is still my favorite, but the last four of the series are definitely my favorites!

IISWSW

If I Stay (If I Stay #1) – Gayle Forman (initial read)
If I Stay (re-read)
Where She Went (If I Stay #2) – Gayle Forman
Where She Went (re-read)

I really loved this series when I first read it last year, but I really enjoyed the re-read this year! If you’re not familiar with these two books, the first is from Mia’s point of view and the second is from Adam’s point of view. Personally, I absolutely adored Adam’s POV and WSW totally solidified Adam as possibly my number one book boyfriend of all time.

THG

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) – Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) – Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) – Suzanne Collins

THE HUNGER GAMES is one of those rare YA series that I read in its entirety before I started blogging. I actually re-read THE HUNGER GAMES before the movie came out and then I re-read both CATCHING FIRE and MOCKINGJAY on audio back in the spring of this year. I still loved CATCHING FIRE which was great to have a reminder. I actually liked MOCKINGJAY a lot more knowing what I was heading into versus the first time around, but CF is still the better sequel for me!

UtNS

Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) – Veronica Rossi
Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) – Veronica Rossi

I really enjoyed UtNS but honestly, THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT may have even been better than the first. I really enjoyed the story as well as how Aria’s character had grown. SO looking forward to reading INTO THE STILL BLUE!

raven

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) – Maggie Steifvater
The Dream Thieves (The Raven Boys #2) – Maggie Stiefvater

Overall, I’d say these books are right about even… Except I absolutely fell in LOVE with the dreaming aspect in THE DREAM THIEVES. Maggie Steifvater’s Raven Cycle series is incredibly engrossing and so creative. I can’t wait to read more in this series!

GoT

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) – George R.R. Martin
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) – George R.R. Martin
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3) – George R.R. Martin

I am loving reading these books for the Song of Ice and Fire Read Along and you know… Books one and two were good. But HI, ASoS! SO MUCH that blew me away in that book. Of course we all know The Red Wedding happens here, but there are so many more things that happen too!

All right! Those are my choices! I only chose eight because these are THE most amazing sequels I’ve read AND their predecessors are also pretty fantastic as well.

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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20 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday – September 24, 2013: Top Ten Best Sequels Ever!

  1. Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook

    That’s funny, what you say about the earlier HP book. I love them all, too, but I especially love book 3. That was the book that hooked me big time. And although I love the following books, and I know they needed to get darker, they always end up breaking my heart a little. Especially HP 5!

    I haven’t read Cress yet, but Scarlet certainly made my list. I love this series!

    Reply
  2. Wendy

    Ahhh Siege and Storm!! I really LOVED that one and can’t wait until ruin & rising comes out!! I agree with Storm of Swords — that one was my fave, even if I did kind of want throw it after I read it due to.. EVENTS. Haha. Yay HP! 3rd was my fave!

    Reply
  3. Amanda @ Late Nights with Good Books

    I really like how you formatted this post, Brittany! It all flows together so well. But on to the books…. I completely agree about Siege and Storm. My favorite Hunger Games sequel is Mockingjay, however. Catching Fire irritated me a bit in how similar the main plot was to the first one, although, I do think I understand Collins’ reasoning behind it. I think Mockingjay was a more daring book, and it really paid off. I contemplated adding A Storm of Swords to my list as well. I still think it’s the best of Martin’s series thus far (or perhaps tied with the first book).

    Reply
  4. Lauren @ Lose Time Reading

    EEPS! I’m totally distracted now by the fact that you read Cress 🙂 I cannot wait to read your review! I hate reading reviews now because I read the book (I am much to easily influenced I think :P) but I WILL be reading this one 🙂 Goblet of Fire is my all time favorite of the HP books but I do love them all… well Dealthy Hallows still scares me too much for a reread 😛 So many have been saying the same thing about Through the Ever Night and it’s in almost every book list I’ve seen tonight, including mine! it’s absolutely fantastic!!!! I want to read A Game of Thrones so badly but it’s such a huge commitment… I might test it out with 100 pages or so and see if I can get into it!

    I haven’t read THe Raven Boys either but I’m glad to see you love it. I’ve been looking at in the bookstores because they have it out front all the time since The Dream Thieves is new and I am always second guessing… I need to stop apparently 🙂

    Great picks Brittany!!!

    Reply
  5. Hannah @ So Obsessed With

    Well I’m sorry, but I basically could have lifted this post and just used it for my own. I haven’t read two of the series on this list (Bardugo & Martin’s) and I still haven’t gotten to The Dream Thieves yet. But all the other ones? OH HECK YES. I need Cress like now, and I’m still mad I forgot to put Catching Fire and Harry Potter on my list. Total oversight on my part!

    Reply
  6. Pam@YAEscapefromReality

    Scarlet was on my list as well. I haven’t read The Dream Thieves yet, but I’ve seen it on a few lists today so I’m even more excited to read it! And I loved Siege and Storm. I’ve been hesitant to start reading The Game of Thrones books because I love the tv show so much and I absolutely love not knowing what’s going to happen (I was completely shocked at the Red Wedding scene). But I just got the first book so I’m probably going to dive in soon. Great list!

    Reply
  7. Rebecca @ The Library Canary

    Scarlet made my list as well! You have so many great books listed here. I could have made my list go on and on forever. Through the Ever Night was amazing! I really need to read the Grisha Trilogy. It’s been on literally every Top Ten I’ve visited today. Moving that up on the TBR list. I never read HP, but I really want to because I feel like I’m missing out on life. I also need to read some Gayle Forman and the Raven Boys series. *takes deep breath* I will finish all these books before I die! And obvi the entire Hunger Games series is amazing, though I wasn’t thrilled with the ending of Mockingjay.

    Reply
  8. DeAnna @ Mommy's Reading Break

    Great list! Here are my thoughts:
    Scarlet/Cress: I read and liked Cinder, and I own Scarlet, but I still haven’t gotten around to reading it. Judging by your list, I’m going to have to rectify that situation.
    Siege and Storm: I really liked this series a lot, but I think I liked the first book a little better, so I didn’t add it.
    Harry Potter: Absolutely! But I couldn’t pick just one, or even 4 like you did!
    Where She Went: And I STILL haven’t read this one, which I commented on your review. I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I even missed the read-along!
    Catching Fire: Yes, and yes. This one made my list, too. I actually loved Mockingjay and flew through it because I wanted to know how they were going to end the series, but on its own, Catching Fire is my favorite.
    Through the Ever Night: I’ve heard that this one is better, but I still haven’t read Under the Never Sky. I’ve had a signed copy sitting on my shelf since February!
    The Dream Thieves: I’ve seen a lot of people like this series, but I don’t know much about it. I may have to look into it.
    A Storm of Swords: I’ve heard a lot about these books, but honestly, they scare me! They’re huge, and I’ve heard that they break your heart. Then again, having your heart broken sometimes makes the best books, so maybe I should check them out. The length still scares me, though!

    If you want, you can see mine here

    Reply
  9. Rachel

    I felt the same way about Through the Ever Night. I mean, I loved both books but TtEN totally raised the bar. I’m SO excited for Into the Still Blue, but at the same time I’m really sad because I wish this series would last forever!

    Reply
  10. Stormy

    Ah, yes! Harry Potter–though for me, I think I feel the same way, but starting with book 3 instead of book 4. Book 3 is my favorite! And the Lunar Chronicles, of course! I can never figure out how I feel about THG trilogy. I love it as a whole, but I think the first book is still my favorite. Or maybe Mockingjay. I think Catching Fire is my least favorite, but it’s sort of like Harry Potter–even my least favorite book I like A LOT.

    Reply
  11. Samantha

    Several of these books are on my TBR, but I’m definitely with you on Harry Potter and ASOIF! I love A Game Of Thrones, but Storm of Swords is calling to me for a reread.

    Reply

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