Top Ten Tuesday: Sequels!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's Top Ten list? Best sequels ever.

I'm super bad at picking favorites, but here goes! In no particular order, top ten sequels that I love. (And I'm sure I'm going to forget some because that's how it goes when I make favorites lists, but we'll go with it.)

1. Harry Potter 2-7 by J.K. Rowling. I know this one is on a lot of people's lists, but I mean, how can it not be? These books are great and I love them and I will read the series over and over again.
2. The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan. I loved the first one, and the second one just grew my love for the series even more.
3. Where She Went by Gayle Forman. Not a technical sequel, but a beautiful follow-up to If I Stay, and I adored it.
4. Everbound by Brodi Ashton. No middle book syndrome here! And with the mythology and everything... yeah I'm super psyched for book three.
5. Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Although this is the third book in a quartet, which usually just means a lot of build-up to the finale, it's probably my favorite in the series after the original. Love.
6. Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson. Because humor and characters and sass and all of it. Love love love.
7. Prince Caspian/Voyage of the Dawn Treader/The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. Pretty much exclusively because Reepacheep and Caspian. I just really love this particular set from the Chronicles of Narnia.
8. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. There was a touch of middle-book syndrome, but I would still classify this as one of the best sequels, because I just adored the story it told.
9. A Series of Unfortunate Events 2-13 by Lemony Snicket. One of the few series where not only is the first book not my favorite, I can't ever settle on a favorite because I love ALL of them. (With like two exceptions, but let's ignore those for now.)
10. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. I adore the characters and the story and it just made me want the third book even more.

There are a lot of FANTASTIC sequels that I had to omit, and a pretty big part of that decision was middle-book syndrome. But I could probably keep listing kick-ass series for a looong time.

What are your favorite sequels?

Book Thoughts: The Demon's Covenant

Title: The Demon's Covenant
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: Demon's Lexicon #2

Okay, so, I'm not really sure where to start with this book. I can't decide whether to rant and rave about the plot, the characters, or the actual writing. I guess I can go in that order. The plot was fantastic, it just kept me reading and reading (I went to bed at 3:30 a.m. last night - this morning? - because I was reading this book). The Demon's Covenant picks up about a month after the conclusion to The Demon's Lexicon, only this one is told from Mae's perspective rather than Nick's. Jamie's a magician, and suddenly he's hanging out with Gerald - the leader of the magicians who tried to kill them just a month ago. Mae calls Nick and Alan for help, and they set out to determine what exactly Gerald wants. Then there's the fact that something is clearly wrong between Nick and Alan, and although Mae doesn't know what, it's clear that she's going to have to save them both. And the Goblin Market has a huge role to play, although no one is quite sure what. There's also the fact that she's deeply attracted to both of them. That was really my only problem with the book - I got tired of Mae's attractions toward Nick and Alan and the tall-dark-and-handsome Seb from school. Even so, it was worked in really well and the book would not have been the same without it. Everything about the plot just kept me turning the pages, wanting to find out what happened next.

And the characters. I love the characters so much. It was really cool getting inside Mae's head instead of Nick's this time - I think they're both such dynamic characters that it's awesome to get to see both of them that way. Mae's struggles with her own emotions and with her relationship with her brother are very engaging, and Nick's development as he's trying to figure out what it means to be human and whether he can ever be that is just amazing to watch(/read about). I do wish we'd seen more of Jamie, he's one of my favorites, and his role in this book is also spectacular. I am glad that we got to see more of Sin in this one, and it's really neat watching her character come to life too.

Then there's the writing. It's the perfect blend of seriousness and lightness. There were bits that had me laughing out loud (I'd quote them, but there are a lot), and the characters' dialogue is so full of sarcasm and dark humor, and it was just fantastic; then there were the parts where everything was incredibly serious, and reading it you can just feel the atmosphere that the characters are in.

So, long story short: awesome, awesome book. If you haven't read The Demon's Lexicon, go pick that one up and read it right now. If you have, and you haven't read The Demon's Covenant yet, I dunno why you're still reading this, because you should be reading this book instead.