Hello lovelies! How are you? Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Artsy Girl. The topic this week is: Standalone Books That Need a Sequel. I tried to follow the rules, but it didn’t go very well and half of these books aren’t even standalones. So welcome to the hottest mess of a post you’ll read all day. I hope you’ll have fun.
“I JUST WANT SOME DECENT NEW ADULT”
Even though I’m in my 20s I still love reading YA, for a lot of reasons. It’s usually more diverse, it makes me feel nostalgic, it’s really good, it deals with themes that I find compelling like coming of age, identity, family and friendships. I don’t think I’ll ever stop reading YA, but it would be cool to read books that deal with similar themes and have main character who are my age once in a while as well. New adult should be more than sexy romances.
1. I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
I’ll Give You the Sun is one of the most well written and compelling YA contemporaries I’ve read and I’d love to read a sequel about Jude and Noah in their early 20s. I think it would be so interesting to see where they’re at as artist, in their relationship with each other and of course, in their love lives.
2. Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed (Spoiler alert)
This book ends with Maya deciding to move to New York and follow her dream to become a film-maker. A lot of YA contemporaries end in a similar way and I love that, I love closing a book and feeling like it’s the start of something. But wouldn’t it be cool to actually see that happen? To actually see Maya go off and chase her dream? To see the hard work and disappointments and triumphs?
3. A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
This one really ain’t that deep, I’d just be here for this second chance romance is all.
4. Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
Suzette and Lionel are another brother and sister du I’d love to catch up with again in their 20s as well, it would be really interesting to see where they’re at. And since Suzette is bisexual, I feel like this could’ve been a really fun, summery NA f/f romance set in LA.
“I’M A SIDE CHARACTER HOE”
I don’t know why I’m like this, but my favorite character in any book, show or movie – is almost always a side character. Harry Potter? Luna and Lupin. ACOTAR? Azriel and Cass. Throne of Glass? Manon and Lysandra. It’s not ideal, because side characters obviously get a lot less page/screen time. So of course, I wish they’d all get their own books so they could truly shine.
5. To All the Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han
Don’t get me wrong, I love Lara Jean. I think she’s wonderful and I love that she’s a type of female protagonist we don’t see very often, so may readers relate to her. But I just really, really, really want Kitty to get her own book. She’s so fun and sassy and I’ d love to see what kind of trouble she’d get into.
6. Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Y’all know how much I love witches and the witches in this series are my favorites. So I honestly don’t care if it’s a prequel, sequel or companion novel, I just desperately want a book about Serafina Pekkala and all the other wonderful witches from this series.
7. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Imagine an I’ll Give You the Sun style book, with a split narrative, about Sam and Patrick. I wish I hadn’t thought of this. Now I’ll never stop wanting it.
“CAN I HAVE A PREQUEL, PLEASE?”
Sometimes you finish a book or a series and the ending leaves you completely satisfied, every loose end is tied up, and every character arc feels completed. The author’s wrapped it all up so perfectly that a sequel is completely unnecessary, but you’re still not ready to leave the story behind. And that’s why God invented prequels.
8. Harry Potter by J.K Rowling
Literally the only Harry Potter spin off I have ever wanted and will ever want is a Marauders prequel. I just want to read about all their fun adventures ad wild pranks. I just want to see my babies Remus and Sirius as teenagers.
9. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
So my reasoning for this is basically the same as for Hayrry Potter. I really, really want a prequel about Maura, Calla and Persephone – cause I’m pretty sure their adventures were as magical and wild as Blue and the Raven Boys and I’m so here for all girl adventure crews.
10. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
I just finished reading The Winter of the Witch and I’m not ready to leave this world behind. I want more. I’d love to see more of Vasya’s adventures – but it would also be really fascinating to see more of the other magical women in her family, from her mother, to her great-grandmother. I bet they all have stories to tell.
Great list! I must admit I don’t read much NA, at least not books that are marketed as NA, because they all seem to be steamy romance, but I agree I’d love to see more characters in their early 20s in fiction that isn’t a campus romance. I’ve been enjoying the older characters I’ve been seeing in fantasy lately. 🙂
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Thank you! I don’t read a lot of NA either, but if they published more NA that’s similar to YA in writing style and themes – I definitley would 😊 That sounds awesome, do you have any recommendations for fantasy with older characters?
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Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett is a great one! I loved the heroine in that novel, and the second book is out later this year. 🙂
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That sounds wonderful, I’ll add it to my TBR! Thanks for the recommendation 😊
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A Marauders prequel would be awesome.
My Top Ten Tuesday post.
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I’m glad you agree! 😊
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Oooh yes! I agree about Kitty having her own book and be a main character! She’s SO cool and annoying at the same time but she’s also a very potential character 😍
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I’m so glad you agree! Kitty is such a fun characters, so I’m sure a book about her would be too! 😊
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Ohhh I love this post! 💕 I really like that you choose different categories and I’m so with you on wanting more NA books, sequels would be the perfect way to do that! I’m also the one to always root for the side characters 😄
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Thank you so much, Caro! I’m so glad you agree 😊 YES! I’m always on the side characters team 💕
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OMG now that you’ve mentioned it, I most definitely need a book on Serafina Pekkala in my life. I’m such a sucker for witches! As I’m thinking about it, I’d also love a novel on Manon Blackbeak and the Thirteen!
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Witches are my favorites ❤️ Omg yes, Manon and her Thirteen definitley deserve their own book. That would be wonderful. Honestly, we need books about all the witchy side characters!
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“New adult should be more than sexy romances” = this so much. I have no interest in college romances but I’d love to see books about characters who are in their twenties that deal with themes similar to YA. The more I grow up, the more relating to a main character’s ARC in a YA contemporary feels like being told “you should have already figured this ages ago, look at this 16-year-old” and that’s… not a great feeling?
And I never thought about this before but a Maura, Calla and Persephone novel would be amazing! I’m not sure I’ll read the TRC spin-off but I’d totally read this.
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I love the idea of prequels for Harry Potter and the Raven Boys. That would be such a fun read.
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I’m so glad you agree! I think they’d be really fun reads too 😊
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Little & Lion sounds like such a good read. I can’t believe I haven’t gotten around to that one yet. Kitty is the best and I would be over the moon if we ever got a series starring her. Great list!
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Little & Lion is wonderful, it’s one of my favorite contemporaries! A series starring Kitty would be the dream 😊 Thank you so much!
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Nobody asked for Fantastic Beasts I would much rather see the Maraders (<3) than Newt lol
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So much yes, these are true facts.
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Kitty is hands down the best character in that series! I have a secret hope that we get a Kitty series and she gets together with John Ambrose. Lara Jean would be SO MAD but Kitty literally would not care.
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Yes! Kitty is the best! Wow, this is the most amazing idea ever. I really hope we get a Kitty series 😊
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I would faint if I’ll Give You the Sun had a sequel. I adore that book and miss those characters.
I love the idea of Kitty having her own books. I could definitely see that happening in the future!
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So would I! It’s one of my all time favorites, I think about the characters all the time 😊 I’m glad you agree, a Kitty series would be so much fun!
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“I Just Want Some Decent New Adult” honestly, big same. Also a spinoff of TATBILB about Kitty sounds fantastic, I wish it was a thing! 😛
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Right? I don’t understand why it’s STILL so hard to find good NA. And I’m glad you agree – a Kitty spin off would be amazing 😊
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I’ve only read Harry Potter and the first Raven Boys. I need to re-read The Raven Boys though.
Ash @ JennRenee Read
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I re-read The Raven Boys last year and it was even more fun the second time 😊
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I agree about YA. I wish NA would be more like YA, just older and dealing with like 20’s/ 30’s stuff? Or college too especially? And Love, Hate & Other Filters- exactly! I always want to know what happens next! Like in Fangirl, for example- what happens NEXT lol
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I’m so glad you agree! I wish there were NA novels more like YA too, I think there’s so much potential in the genre and it’s just not evolving for some reason. YES, that’s exactly how I feel! I just want to see the whole journey!
Ps: If you haven’t read Emergency Contact, that’s a great YA novel set at college 😊
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Oh I love this “hot mess” of wants! I’m totally on board for so many of these. I still haven’t read all of Raven Boys yet but I already would be so on board for that. It hurts me that we haven’t had any Potter spin-offs really yet. Like come on!
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Thank you so much! I’m glad you agree! I think both of those prequels would be such fun reads. I can’t believe we still don’t have a Marauders book either.
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Harry Potter prequel, YES PLEASE!!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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YES! I’m glad you agree!
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I really enjoyed A Very Large Expanse of Sea, and I’m sure if she wrote a sequel I’d read it, but I felt like I was happy with what we were given and I’m not particularly desperate for more.
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BUT YES MARAUDERS PREQUEL ALL THE WAY PLEASE, I LOVE JAMES AND SIRIUS AND LILY SO MUCH UGH
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I agree, I was very satisfied with the conclusion! But I’d still love to catch up with the characters later on and see where they’re at in life.
AND YES WHEN ARE WE GETTING THE MARAUDERS PREQUEL WE DESERVE?
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I love the idea of a story about the witches from His Dark Materials! Philip Pullman, take notes.
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They’re such fascinating characters, I’d love to learn more about their society. I wish he was!
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Ooh it WOULD be really cool to have a prequel for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I’d also love to know more about Sam :0 also YES to prequels for The Raven Boys and The Bear and the Nightingale!!
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That would be wonderful, yes to all the prequels! Sam and Patrick are both such fascinating characters, I really want a chance to get to know them better 😊
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I’d love a Marauders prequel series!! They’re my favourite characters and I’d love to see more of them than just the small snippets we see in the Potter books ⚡️
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YES! That would be so wonderful. The Marauders are my favorites too and I just want to read about their adventures ❤️
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It would!!! I know there would be some amazing stories!!
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I agree with you so much about NA! Every single story seems to be sex-related – where’s the goofy romances and road trips? Also I’ll Give You the Sun is one of my all time favourite books, so nice to see it appreciated!🤗
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I’m so glad you agree! Yes, where’s the new adult road trip rom-coms? That would be wonderful! I’ll Give You the Sun’s one of my favorites too 😊
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I am right there with you on mostly reading YA. When I was in college, I primarily read adult books, and as soon as I graduated, I just started devouring every YA in sight and now I can’t seem to stop! (Not that I ever want to, honestly.)
Also, the idea of Jude & Noah in their 20s from I’ll Give You the Sun??? OH MY GOD YES WHERE IS THIS WE NEED IT
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I did the same thing! YA wasn’t really a thing here in Norway when I was teen, but when I got back into reading after uni I found the online book community and fell in love with the genre. I don’t want to stop either and why should we?
Right??? I really need a book about artists in their 20’s trying to figure their lives out, cause relatable!
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Oh gosh I’d love kitty to get her own book!! And a book on Serafina Pekkala would be unbelievable! I would love a Mauraders prequel. And I agree about bear and the nightingale and raven boys 🙂 Such a wonderful list!
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Thank you so much! I wish all of these books were real, cause I really want to read them!
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