TTT: Books So Good, I Wanted Seconds

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.

Do you prefer sequels, prequels or companion novels? What standalones (or series) do you wish had a sequel? Would you want to read any of these imaginary books if they were real?