Features | 5 Sequels I Hope To Read in 2019

Friday, 14 December 2018

Features | 5 Sequels I Hope To Read in 2019

I don't know about you guys, but I tend to either go all in with a series and read the whole thing start to finish, or read one book in a series, wait 6 months to a year, forget about it, remember it again, forget what happened in a story and try to remember before picking up book two. There's no in between.

This year past I read a decent amount of sequels but missed a few that I really wanted to read. I thought it would be worth while to make a list of some of the sequels that I'd really love to read next year, in the hopes that putting it 'down on paper' so to speak, will actually make me pick them.

Shadow of Night, by Deborah Darkness

I really enjoyed the first in this series, A Discovery of Witches. But I read that way back in 2013. Five years ago! The TV show that came out this year is actually really good and from what I can remember, they're holding true to the story pretty well. I'm amusing Season 2 will follow book 2, so I really need to read that before the show returns (though I'm not sure when that will be).

The Mime Order, by Samantha Shannon

Another one I really liked the first book of. This one was a slightly more recent read, 'recent' being 2015. I remember really enjoying this book and it's interesting futuristic feel, but with monsters and magic. I gave it a four stars on Goodreads, so I am keen to pick up the story again.

Empire of Storms, by Sarah J Maas

It's becoming my own little tradition to read a Sarah J Maas book at the beginning of every year. It's taken me years to get through to this the fifth book in the Throne of Glass series, but I'm slowly getting there. This coming May I'm off to see Maas at the Auckland Writer's Festival, so I'm hoping I can catch up before then. Or at least get this one read.

The Devil's Thief, by Lisa Maxwell

The first in this series, The Last Magician, was one of my top five favourite books that I read in 2018, so I'm hoping that it's sequel will be just as good. I have yet to buy it yet, but if Christmas and my birthday (in January) don't quite deliver it, then I'll be gifting it to myself.

Queen of Air and Darkness, by Cassandra Clare

The final installment in Clare's The Dark Artifices series, this book came out a few weeks ago and I am really looking forward to picking it up. I suspect this will be a read in the first few weeks, so I think out of this list, this is one most likely to actually happen.

What sequels do you hope to pick up in 2019? 

Photo by Maciej Ostrowski on Unsplash

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Features | Revisiting My 2018 Sequels Challenge

Wednesday, 22 August 2018

Features | Revisiting My 2018 Sequels Challenge

On the 20th July I tapped through to the last page of Sidekick Returns on my Kindle and completed my 2018 Sequels Challenge! Whilst I didn't exactly love all of the books - more on this below - overall I'm really glad I decided to take on this extra reading challenge and would definitely consider doing the same thing in future.

Always & Forever Lara Jean, Jenny Han (To All The Boys I've Loved Before #3)

While Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind. - Goodreads

This series is such a popular one within the book blogging community and whilst it's not necessarily my usual kind of read I enjoyed the first two books and was curious to find out how Lara Jean's story would wrap up. For me the last part of the book felt a little rushed however overall I thought it was a good ending to the series and I'm glad I added it into my TBR list and sequels challenge for this year. I also really enjoyed the recent Netflix adaptation of the first book To All The Boys I've Loved Before and hope to see them bring the sequels to life on screen too.
 

The Last Star, Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave #3)

We’re here, then we’re gone, and that was true before they came. That’s always been true. The Others didn’t invent death; they just perfected it. Gave death a face to put back in our face, because they knew that was the only way to crush us. It won’t end on any continent or ocean, no mountain or plain, jungle or desert. It will end where it began, where it had been from the beginning, on the battlefield of the last beating human heart. - Goodreads

The third book in the popular 5th Wave series made it's way onto my list despite my mixed feelings about the previous two books as I was hoping for an ending that would pleasantly surprise me. Sadly I wasn't crazy about the series finale and whilst I do think this was partly to do with the fact it had been so long since I'd read the previous books, I also didn't feel as invested in the story and the characters journey as I'd hoped to.


Waking Gods, Sylvain Neuvel (Themis Files #2)

As a child, Rose Franklin made an astonishing discovery: a giant metallic hand, buried deep within the earth. As an adult, she’s dedicated her brilliant scientific career to solving the mystery that began that fateful day: Why was a titanic robot of unknown origin buried in pieces around the world? Years of investigation have produced intriguing answers—and even more perplexing questions. But the truth is closer than ever before when a second robot, more massive than the first, materializes and lashes out with deadly force. - Goodreads

After really enjoying the concept and format of Sleeping Giants, the first book in the series, I was excited to find out where the story would go next. As my local library didn't have a physical copy of Waking Gods I opted for the CD audiobook version instead but unfortunately this turned out to be a mistake. Much to my disappointment I wasn't a huge fan of this particular story told in this way and I truly believe I would have enjoyed the experience more in a written format. As this is only the second instalment in the series, it's likely I'll revisit it in the future but if I do I'll be sticking to the printed version.


Sidekick Returns, Auralee Wallace (Sidekick In The City #2)

Fresh off thwarting the crime of the century, Bremy St. James is back and more determined than ever to fight by the side of the city's top superhero, Dark Ryder. There's just one problem: Dark Ryder's disappeared.To make matters worse, Bremy's evil billionaire father, Atticus, is taking her lack of family loyalty very personally, and Bremy's last tie to her old life, her reason behind her choices–her sister–is distancing herself as well. - Goodreads

Following my five-star review of Sidekick back in 2014 I wasn't surprised to find that I had a lot of fun revisiting the world of Bremy St James. Similarly to the first book I enjoyed the unique cast of supporting characters and the second instalment definitely took some unexpected twists and turns that made for an interesting read. I'm only sorry that it took me so long to get around to read it!

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Features | Sequels On My 2018 TBR

Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Features | Sequels On My 2018 TBR

With the new year brings new reading goals! In the past I've set myself various goals from making time for re-reads and specific genres to joining in with a readathon and of course the Popsugar challenges, but today’s list was inspired by something a little different.

Whilst I never really imagined there would be a follow up to Wade and co’s adventure, it was recently announced that a Ready Player One sequel is in the works. Although there's no release date yet, this got me thinking about the other sequels currently sitting unread on my TBR and I concluded it was about time I finally made an effort to cross a few off the list! Looking through my Goodreads shelves there were four particular titles that stood out to me so I've decided to tackle them as part of my reading goals for the year ahead.

Waking Gods, Sylvain Neuvel (Themis Files #2) 

First up I have chosen science fiction title Waking Gods, the second book in the Themis Files series. I read the first book, Sleeping Giants, last year and really enjoyed both the concept and the unique way the story was told through interviews, journal entries, news articles, reports and logs. The third book titled Only Human is due for release in May too, so I’m hoping to catch up on both before the year is out!

The Last Star, Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave #3)

This one makes it onto the list despite the fact that so far this hasn't been one of my favourite YA series. Whilst I did enjoy both The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea overall, I seem to have unpopular opinions about the trilogy; preferring the second book to the first and quite enjoying the cinematic adaptation of the first book (which has a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes). Still curious to see how the series would end I added the third book to my TBR back in 2016 so I think it's about time for me to hit the library and find out!

Always & Forever Lara Jean, Jenny Han (To All The Boys I've Loved Before #3) 

Another trilogy I'm hoping to finish this year is Jenny Han's YA Contemporary To All The Boys I've Loved Before which follows teenager Lara Jean. This book was actually on my 'vow to read' list for 2017 and I had reserved a copy from the library, but unfortunately I was quite a long way down the list so I'm still waiting! Whilst this series isn't exactly the genre I've been reaching for lately, I enjoyed the first two books back in 2016 and am keen to find out how the story will end.

Sidekick Returns, Auralee Wallace (Sidekick In The City #2)

Back in 2014 I read the Netgalley description for a debut novel about a female superhero and decided to take a chance on it. I ended up loving the book (catch my review here) but unfortunately when the sequel was due for release I wasn’t able to commit to reviewing any ARCs and somehow never quite managed to catch up. Last year I picked up a Kindle copy of Sidekick Returns and I’m looking forward to finally revisiting the world and characters introduced in Sidekick - although it’s been such a long time I may need to reread the first book beforehand!

Photo by Anete Lūsiņa on Unsplash

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Group Collaboration | Books We Wish Had Sequels/Prequels!

Saturday, 20 August 2016

Group Collaboration | Books We Wish Had Sequels/Prequels!

We love delving further into unique fictional worlds and the background stories of our favourite characters, so this month we decided to ask our team which books they would love to read a sequel or prequel to! Here's what they came up with.... don't forget to leave us a comment and let us know which book/s you would pick!











Thank you to this month's contributors: Ria, Cat, Anastasia

Next month we'll be discussing the books we think should be read in schools. If you'd like to get involved just email bloggersbookshelf@gmail.com or drop us a tweet @blog_bookshelf!

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