Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, mine was largely uneventful, I’ve been editing my project work ready for the deadline in a couple of weeks. I’m going to see Victoria Schwab at her Glasgow event on Friday, and I’m super excited for that, especially since my friend and I very nearly didn’t get tickets!
Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking Standalone Books That Need A Sequel, but I’ll be honest, I have barely read any standalones, and those that I have read I mostly feel worked out quite nicely so I don’t really have many standalones that I think need sequels. So instead I’m going to flip that topic on it’s head a little, and do Books That Didn’t/Don’t Need a Sequel(s) as I think that one will be a lot easier for me (I love sequels, but there are many stories that could have been self contained that get dragged out). Here we go:
- A Curse So Dark and Lonely-Brigid Kemmerer
It was announced pretty soon after the release of A Curse So Dark and Lonely that it was going to have a sequel, and I have to admit I don’t really understand why, A Curse So Dark and Lonely is a very self contained story, once it’s over, it’s told the story that needed telling, so I don’t really see the point of there being a sequel.
2. The Hazel Wood-Melissa Albert
Another book where the story is self contained and didn’t really need more books to be finished, by the time the story is over, Melissa Albert has told the story that she intended to and there’s not really very many places to go with a sequel. Still I am excited to read the Tales from The Hinterland when it comes out as to be honest that sounds better than the actual book!
3. Sea Witch-Sarah Henning
Sea Witch is a villain origin story and it accomplishes that goal, by the end of the book, the Sea Witch has been born. There’s really no reason to have a sequel, especially since there wasn’t a lot of plot in the first book to begin with.
4. P.S. I Love You-Celia Ahern
It’s just been recently announced that P.S. I Love You is going to have a sequel, called Postscript, and as much as I was surprised that I actually liked P.S. I Love You (it’s a romance, not traditionally my favourite genre), it doesn’t need a sequel, the whole point of P.S. I Love You is that Gerry helps Holly move on via letters, by the end of the book, that story is nicely wrapped up and there’s not much more left to tell.
5. One of Us Is Lying-Karen McManus
One of Us Is Lying has been announced to have a sequel coming out next year and I have to admit I don’t really understand why? One of Us Is Lying again has a pretty self contained storyline and once the killer is revealed, what is the point of having a sequel? Plus this book had all sorts of problematic stuff in it which is so I feel somewhat uneasy about the idea of a sequel.
6. Enchantee-Gita Trelease
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Enchantee and I am actually really excited to read more in this world, but does Enchantee necessarily need a sequel? No, not really, the story wraps up in an incredibly satisfying way that allows it to stand alone.
7. Uglies-Scott Westerfeld
Okay this one is not necessarily that the book didn’t need a sequel, because the way the first book finished, it definitely did, but all the sequels to the book were so disappointing that I kind of wished it had just been a standalone.
8. Alex and Eliza-Melissa De La Cruz
I mean I get that historically there’s more story to tell with Hamilton and Eliza, but honestly this book works fine as a standalone, there’s no real reason to have two more books in the trilogy.
9. The Fandom-Anna Day
Apparently The Fandom is going to have a sequel? I have to admit I don’t really understand why, I mean I found the ending unsatisfying but not in a way where I felt like there needed to be a sequel, just in a way that I didn’t think the author had wrapped up her book properly. The Fandom is once again, a pretty self contained story and I don’t really get why the author feels that a sequel is necessary.
10. Flambards Trilogy-KM Peyton
I liked the first two sequels in this series, but this series was always intended to be a trilogy and not a quartet and you can definitely tell because the fourth book undoes a lot of the development and story that the characters go through in the first three books and it felt like the characters arcs naturally ended after the third book, so there was no need to add another book years after the fact.
So there we go, Books That Didn’t/Don’t Need A Sequel. Do you agree with any of my choices? Have you read any of the sequels to these books? Are you excited for the ones that aren’t yet released? Let me know in the comments!
I will be back next week with a new TTT, Books on My Spring TBR which is always a fun one, though I dread to look back on how badly I did on my Winter TBR! Meanwhile, I should have both a review of my latest read To Kill Kingdom, and an event recap of the Victoria Schwab event on Friday, up before the end of the week, so keep an eye out for those.
bookloversblog 
I love what you did with the topic. Having read One of Us is Lying, I also don’t get the whole point of having a sequel. I agree with you about PS:I Love You. For me, that is like the sequels for Me before You by Jojo Moyes. I didn’t get them. Great list!
Thanks! Yeah there’s just nothing there for it? I don’t know, we’ll see. I never actually read Me Before You, but I get the comparison, I think in a book where someone dies, there’s not really much left to do after that-we don’t really need to see Holly move on, because we got that in PS I Love You!
I’m confused with One of Us is Lying getting a sequel, because like you said, there is nothing that can be used for a sequel, since everything was wrapped up nicely. We’ll see I guess??
My TTT
Yeah I guess we will!
Love what you did with this week’s topic. There are tons of series that I think work better as standalones. I’m really interested in A Curse So Dark and Lonely, but I may wait to see how the sequel is received first before diving in.
Thanks! Yes, sometimes I think there’s too much emphasis on making something a series, I love them, but it doesn’t work for every narrative, some stories can (and should) be quite happily tied up in one book. Personally I wasn’t a fan, but you might like it more than I did!
I like how you twisted it to don’t or didn’t need a sequel- I was tempted by this too!
Thanks! I was going to do the original topic but I could barely think of five, let alone ten standalones that I wanted to see more of and then I thought about books that didn’t need to be extended into series and found it a lot easier!
I totally agree with you. There are a lot of books being published these days that would have been stronger as standalone works.
My Top Ten Tuesday post.
I do like series but I don’t think absolutely every book needs to be a series.
Great list! I agree, most standalone books don’t need a sequel and it’s clear when a book was a standalone and then became a series when the publisher asked for more books. I don’t have a problem with that in the sense that authors need to make money, but it is annoying when it’s done at the expense of a decent story. I was a bit wary about a One of Us is Lying sequel, too, but apparently it’s following different characters, which makes me wonder why it needs to be classed as a sequel at all?
Thanks! Yeah it really is, and I agree, I have nothing against authors wanting to make money, but I’d rather they just wrote other books than drag on a series that doesn’t need continuing. Yeah I’ve heard that, so I guess it’s more of a companion than a sequel, but I still really don’t see the point.
I’ve only read a few of these, I loved the Uglies series, but I agree about One of us is lying. It feels weird to have a sequel.
Here’s our TTT: https://jennreneeread.blogspot.com/2019/03/top-ten-tuesday-please-sequel.html
Yes, I just don’t really know what she’s going to do there. I liked the first Uglies book but the rest of the series went downhill for me.
The only one of these I’ve read is Enchantée, and I’m glad it’s getting a sequel, although I thought it wasn’t when I read it.
I think maybe one of the reasons why they don’t start out with the announced sequels is because the publishers don’t want to have to commit to one if the first book doesn’t do so well.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Enchantee is getting a sequel because I loved that book and that world, but narratively speaking the book didn’t necessarily NEED one. That’s totally fair and I do prefer that than them just stopping book series partway through, but sometimes the books they announce sequels for don’t really need one.
I like your topic switch!! I had no idea One of Us is Lying was getting a 2nd book. That’s so weird. The killer was definitely revealed and I don’t see where it would go from there because the twist is out.
Thanks! Yeah, apparently it’s going to follow different characters, so it’s not like a direct follow on, but still, I’m not really sure what else there is to do in that world.
Ooh wow, yes P.S. I Love You would be fab for a sequel.
It’s getting one, Postscript, in September I think?
I think I read somewhere that we’re getting a One of Us Is Lying sequel. I could be wrong, though!
Yes apparently we are, but I don’t really understand why since the story was pretty well wrapped up!
I think the problem with The Uglies was the writing was so bad the reading the sequels just felt like torture. Ha! Thanks for dropping by my blog.
I mean it’s been so long since I read them that I can’t remember but you might be right!
Nice topic flip!
I read only the first three books and I loved them too! I thought the Hazel Wood sequel would be more of a companion than a direct sequel. It’s possible that’s how some of them might go. Except for Sea Witch Rising of course, that one does sound like a direct sequel.
Thanks for visiting my TTT post!
Thanks! No apparently it’s a direct sequel, although there is going to also be a companion called Tales of the Hinterland, with the stories from the book featured in the first book, which I’m more excited for. Yes it definitely is and I don’t feel like it needs one. No problem 🙂
Haven’t heard of many of these, but like you I’m surprised that One of Us is Lying is getting a sequel. I don’t think that there was anything that could be done based on how the first book finished. Nice twist on the theme.
Thanks! I mean it hasn’t been announced what the book is about yet, but I just don’t really see how there is any more story there.
I love that you flipped it too! I have to admit I was surprised when they announced a sequel to One Of Us Is Lying, I feel it would be weird to switch genre and it not be some sort of mystery/thriller but at the same time if someone else dies that doesn’t feel very realistic… I guess I’ll withhold judgement until I know a little more about the plot…
Thanks! Yeah no one really knows what it’s gonna be, other than I think it follows Bronwyn’s sister, but I’m just not really sure how much story there is to tell, like you said, having another death would be unrealistic.
I don’t know if I could survive anymore PS I Love you. That book broke my heart over and over again. It really stressed me out, but you know I will read the sequel.
I liked it well enough but I don’t think I really need to read a sequel of it? I was happy enough with the way PS I Love You ended.
Great twist! I really want the sequels to Curse and Sea Witch but I have no idea why One of Us is Lying would need another one – I didn’t like the first one that much though lol Great picks.
Thanks! I wasn’t a big fan of either Curse or Sea Witch so I probably won’t read their sequels. Me either, and I wasn’t a massive fan of OOUIL either.
I love your spin on this week’s topic! There definitely are a lot of books that don’t need sequels as much as others. I think sometimes fantasy standalones work pretty well even though people seem to think they need sequels. Whereas there’s a lot of contemporary books I’d love to have sequels, but don’t.
Thanks! Yes there are. I think fantasy does more naturally lend itself to sequels because of the sheer amount of worldbuilding, but because of that fantasy books that are standalones are more likely to be turned into series that not. And vice versa I think because there are less contemporary series, they are less likely to get sequels just because it’s not as common.
I have seen A Curse So Dark and Lonely on several similarly-themed lists and wow I cannot tell you how glad I am to have skipped it hahah. I agree completely about Uglies (the sequels, I swear got progressively worse! Though did you read Impostors? because it was AWESOME- I almost didn’t read it because I liked Uglies, hated ALL the sequels- I gave Extras ONE STAR and I never do that- but Impostors was fabulous!) And One of Us is Lying like… didn’t they already solve the mystery? And honestly I agree about Enchantee, too. I liked it but… it was over, right?
I was so excited to read it because it sounded so different but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as advertised. Yes, they really did! I didn’t actually, that’s good to know it’s good. They did, so there’s nothing more to tell there. Yes, it was a pretty closed story, I mean I’m excited that there’s a sequel because I loved that world, but I’m not entirely sure what the point of there being one is.
I’m completely with you. I feel like too many books have sequels that aren’t really needed. I’m not much of a sequel person anyway. Let books alone once you have published them, authors.
Yes they do-I mean I usually love sequels but only when the book warrants them and these definitely did not.
I have A Curse So Dark And Lonely and Enchantée on my TBR! ☺️ And I remember reading P.S. I Love You years ago and then watching the movie.. I’m so excited it’s getting a sequel! ☺️
I hope you enjoy them! I actually watched the film first and then read the book so I don’t know how that influenced my perception of it. I’m not sure if I’ll read the sequel, since romance is not really my thing, but I’m glad you’re excited!
Ya, I’ve been thinking about that too. It was so long ago that some of the awe for the first book has faded for me. I think I’ll be giving the sequel a pass. Especially since I read another book by the author and did not like it at all. 🤷
Oh really which one?
The Year I Met You….I just didn’t get the point of that one. Just a big ‘Whyyyyyyy’ throughout and after I finished reading it. Didn’t connect to the characters or story or just any of it. 🙈
I definitely won’t be trying that one then!
I still have to read The Hazel Wood but I’m curious to see what I will think of it regarding it having a sequel. Though I guess going in and knowing it has a sequel does change a lot instead of having read a book you thought was a standalone.
Yes it probably does. For me I just felt like the story was pretty well wrapped up, there’s not much more to tell.
Great post and great picks in books I have some of these book on my tbr pile. Thank you so much for stopping by my TTT post last week.
Thanks! No problem 🙂