Top Ten Tuesday: newish series I want to start

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.


This week is all about great series that started within the past 2 or so years that we haven't started yet but would love to curl up with

My top ten are in no particular order.

Kendare Blake - Antigoddess
I loved her Anna Dressed in Blood duology and I've always had a thing for Greek mythology and the deaths of gods. I'm sure Kendare gave this one her very own spin. And aren't the new covers pretty?


Josin L. McQuein - Arclight
I actually have the first one on my Kindle but haven't gotten to it yet. I wanted to take a pass on that series at first, but so many bloggers whose taste I trust loved it, so I'm going to give it a try.


Victoria Aveyard - Red Queen
I've got an ARC of that one from Edelweiss and I'm very curious about it! I'll read it closer to release. It's a bout a world where the color of your blood (and its powers) determines your social standing. Its planned to be a trilogy.


Romily Bernard - Find Me
Can't resist the smart hacker kids from the wrong side of the tracks. I just got the prequel and will hopefully get to the series soon.


Marie Rutkoski - The Winner's Curse
I want this one so badly, and now the next one is already almost out. It sounds so unique! I loved Rutkoski's writing style in The Shadow Society and I hope that will be true for this series as well.


Shannon Messenger - Let the Sky Fall
I've wanted this one for so long and thought I'd buy for sure once the paperback is out but it never happened. It sounds like something different. I haven't read about storms and air elementals much.


Amie Kaufmann & Megan Spooner - These Broken Stars
Spaceships. Abandoned planets. Survival. A romance where the characters can't stand each other at the beginning because their lives up to then have been so different. Also, the reviews have been amazing. Definitely buying this one once the paperback is out.


Kasie West - Pivot Point
Parallel worlds. A girl who can see the different outcomes of futures depending on her decisions... and pick the one she wants. Do you know how often I've wished I could do that?


Alex London - Proxy
This one is about a dystopian society and picks up on the figure of the 'whipping boy'. When the wealthy guy screws up, the less-wealthy proxy is beaten. But then stuff happens and the two sides of the spectrum have to work together...
P.S.: Me is not happy about the cover change...


Amy McCulloch - The Oathbreaker's Shadow
This one is about a world where you tie a knot for every promise you make. If you break an oath, it bursts into flames and scars you as an oathbreaker for life. You're shunned and have to live out in the desert.The protagonist has always had one knot tied around his wrist, but no one knows what promise it represents. So when he unwittingly breaks it, it's run or die.
Doesn't this just sound like such an awesome concept?! I need this one in my life!

It was actually kinda hard to come up with a ton ten for this topic. So many series I want to start reading are older than from the last two years, and there are a lot where I've already read the first book and just never got around to continuing it. Have you read any of the series I've featured? Do they sound up your alley? Also, please link me up to your own post :)

Top Ten Tuesday: 2014 releases I'm dying to read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.

This week is about which of next year's releases we're most excited about


Aaah, I love this topic! :D I always marvel at how many great books are coming out. Here's the ten that look best to me, though there are many more I could have included.
I hope the slideshow works, if you're reading this as an email you might want to open it on the actual blog.





Unhinged (Splintered #2), by A.G. Howard
I loved Splintered so much and really hoped there'd be a sequel! I need more Morpheus and I felt that Alyssa had unfinished business.

The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3), by Michelle Hodkin
It was supposed to be published this October but got pushed back to June 2014. I. Need. It. Now!!! Seriously I just want to see Mara kick ass and, well, get her retribution. Because does she ever deserve it.

Fiendish, by Brenna Yovanoff
I really like that Brenna Yovanoff writes standalones! It's a nice change from the usual YA, which seems to be all series. I love the look of this one. Creepy houses and girls... yes please!

Oblivion (Nevermore #3), by Kelly Creagh
I've seen three versions of this cover so far and I'm not happy with the coloring of any of them quite yet. No matter what though, the content will be fantastic and is very likely to rip my poor heart to pieces.

Talon, by Julie Kagawa
New series! With dragons! And an order tasked with finding and destroying them. Can't wait for it to get a cover and a more precise description.

Throne of Glass #3, by Sarah J. Maas
Again, no cover, no title. But I need this sequel!! The end of book 2 suddenly made the world of this series so much bigger, I can't wait to see where it all goes from here.

Between the Spark and the Burn (Between #2), by April Genevieve Tucholke
I'm not quite happy with the font here. I think they should have stuck with the one from the first book. Bug again, as long as I get more of that lovely prose, I'm not about to get all huffy ;)

The Winner's Curse, by Marie Rutkoski
I really enjoyed Rutkoski's The Shadow Society and I love the concept of this one! I also remember reading a very early review and it was extremely positive, so my hopes are high.

Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #3), by Laini Taylor
Duh. Who doesn't want to know how this all pans out?!

The Lovely and the Lost (The Dispossessed #2), by Page Morgan
The description is very vague as of now but I love the Gargoyle lore and glimpses of further world building, and I'm very curious to see where this  series is going.

Runners-up: Cruel Beauty (by Rosamund Hodge, I have an ARC), Tell the Wind and Fire (by Sarah Rees Brennan, apparently a modern retelling of A Tale of Two Cities), Strange and Ever After (Susan Dennard).


Okay, that's it! Do we have any picks in common? I'm very curious to see what people came up with and add some more to my TBR of upcoming books :)

Discussion: do you believe in Second Book Syndrome?

Hey guys :)
Today I want to talk about a topic I didn't really come across or think about before I got involved in the book blogging community. It's often referred to as Second Book Syndrome and the way I understand it, it basically means the inability of the second book in a series (especially a trilogy) to measure up to the first one, or to the reader expectations that had built up for its release. I think if we're talking about longer series, there is sometimes also the impression that the second book is/was the weakest one? (I'm not sure whether this is a common opinion though.)

Now why do I want to talk about this?
Well... quite often I don't see this problem. To be honest, I often like the second book in a trilogy the best! Or even if I don't like it better than the other ones, I at least don't think it's bad. There are exceptions to this of course (see below) but in general I don't understand this whole idea of Second Book Syndrome and why people seem to end up hating the second book. I'd even go so far as to say that most of the time, the problem isn't the book but the reader and their expectations, and well... you yourself are responsible for your expectations. Not the book. Not the author.
I mean, I get that it kind of sucks if you had made your mind up that a book was going to be a certain way and then it turns out completely different, but instead of getting angry I think it's better to take a step back, change gears, and get on board with the book you actually have in front of you instead of mourning the book you had made up in your mind. This is speculation on my part though, and maybe people who experience Second Book Syndrome often have different reasons for disliking book 2?

That being said, I think it's time for some examples of second books that were different from what I thought they'd be but turned out to be really awesome:



I was a bit reluctant when I realized that Demon's Covenant was written from the POV of a different character than book 1 (book 3 is from yet another), and one that I had mixed feelings about. But I turned out to love being inside her head, seeing her struggles, and I admired her strength. This is my fave of the series mostly for that reason.
When the reactions for CP started trickling in, I knew I was in for heartache. But nothing could prepare me for the perfection (and the pain) of this book. I'm not usually a fan of love triangles but here it's just perfectly balanced. All three of them love each other, it's not just two guys panting after the same girl and there's no petty jealousy and power games.
Enshadowed was different from Nevermore in that there was a lot less Varen around... which made me sad, but also allowed Isobel to develop much more as a person of herself, not in relation to some guy, as had been the case before with her ex. Generally with this series I never know what to expect, and I love it!
Now I suppose a lot of you wonder 'why Torment?' To be honest, I don't really know how to feel about this series. On the one hand, it's insta-love and YA stereotypes at their worst. On the other hand, it's like a metadiscourse or reflection on insta-love, especially in book 2. Luce mistrusts Daniel, is angry at being out of the loop, and wants to discover things of her own. His 'love of my life and my past life omg he's so amazing' image gets some serious scratches. Because she's the one dying over and over while he just goes on for another 17 years and gets his next chance, where he'll screw up again. I've yet to read book 4, and maybe then I'll have a clearer idea about the series as a whole.

There are a gazillion other amazing second books I could have mentioned here, but many of them didn't take me by surprise as much. I expected The Eternity Cure, Days of Blood and Starlight, Red Glove, and Crown of Midnight to be awesome, and they were. Oh, and I know many had a problem with Insurgent but I think it was a very realistic continuation of what happened in Divergent. I might not have liked everything that happened but it was a logical consequence.

Unfortunately, also for me there are second books that just didn't work out:



I really enjoyed Hush Hush when I read it two years ago (I got it at a signing on a trip to Ireland) but Crescendo was a big disappointment. My biggest issue was with Nora. Her behavior was stupid and irrational, and her decisions made no sense. I know she's young, but she's supposed to be smart. The magic just didn't happen this time. The book was just full of bad vibes and it really tried my nerves. Silence was somewhat better. I haven't read Finale yet.
I loved the writing in Wither. The mood and world were incredibly strong to me. While Fever was still good, the characters spent a lot of time in a place I kind of hated and that part dragged for me. On the other hand, there were developments that just had to happen and we got a bigger picture of the book's world and how it works.
My Soul to Save is not on here because it is bad, but I do think it's the weakest book in the series. The plot just never really pulled me in and I sometimes had problems with Kaylee's reactions. Book 3-7 though? Perfection.
Sweet Peril is a book I was really really looking forward to, especially with it kind of hanging in the air whether Harper would buy it at all. I wanted to love it. I only liked it. Sweet Evil had a way of completely pulling me into the story; it was really intense. Sweet Peril felt like a kind of stagnation. Anna developed some, but the plot was crawling. They're not really much further than they were at the end of book 1. I got to know the characters better and there were scenes and interactions I really loved, but on the whole I'd just expected more, also in terms of and expansion of the world building. I hope book 3 will give me that punch I kind of missed here, though I still enjoyed the this one.

Now why did I compile this second list? Because I don't think that's Second Book Syndrome. It's a mixture me having my expectations not met, them having been way too hyped up, or me having gotten more picky about books. It could have been my mood. It could have been a lot of things. I just think it's a pity if readers, from the get-go, have it in their heads that the second book is going to be a disappointment and won't measure up to the first. Because if you go into the story with that kind of expectation, you will probably find a lot of things to dislike and feel that your expectations were justified, and you might miss parts that were awesome because you're focusing on the negative.

Do any of you share some of my feelings about Second Book Syndrome? Or if you do think second books are often weak, can you explain why? Are my ideas of why some people might feel like that way off or is there something to them? This is an issue I see around the blogosphere a lot for example when there are Top Ten Tuesday posts about sequels, or also in reviews. I'd just like to hear some other thoughts/opinions/theories, so please share and comment?

Top Ten Tuesday: best / worst series enders

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.


This week is about the best and worst endings to series, and I'll give you some of both plus another category. It's actually kind of hard because there are many awesome series that are still ongoing or that are finished but I haven't gotten to the end of them yet. To be honest, the number of series I can't use because I still haven't read That Last Book makes this really hard >.<


Best series enders

Curse Workers series, by Holly Black

I know, you must be sick to the death of me blabbing about it in my TTT posts. I just really liked the ending, though I sure wouldn't mind more books about Cassel and Lila ;) 

Wicked Lovely series, by Melissa Marr


I really like the structure of this series. Books 1, 3, and 5 are about the 'main' couple while book 2 and 4 follow secondary characters but still relevantly figure into the whole thing. Book 5 just ties it all up nicely and I was satisfied with where the characters ended up.

Night Angel Trilogy, by Brent Weeks

I read the whole thing in a about a week and it's just... epic. The characters come so far and develop so much and the scope of it all is just... wow. I wouldn't have minded a bit more of an aftermath but I actually like that there's some openness at the end.

Soul Screamers series, by Rachel Vincent

I was really scared of how it would all end and it was certainly different from what I expected. I really liked it though. There was enough pain to make it all seem worth it but not so much that it left in me in book trauma.

Iron Witch trilogy, by Karen Mahoney

This is a really cool mixture of fairy lore, alchemy, demons, and romance. The ending rounded it off well and left me with a feeling of catharsis. This series is not getting enough love...

Demon's Lexicon series, by Sarah Rees Brennan

SRB's writing is hilarious. But she can also make you feel allll the heartache. Well, my heart was definitely sore by the end of the books, but I think the ending was realistic while still ending on a positive note.


Worst series enders

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games), by Suzanne Collins

This seems so harsh. I don't think I disliked this ending as much as many others did, but I just... the whole book wasn't really my thing. I don't remember it all that well because I only listened to it as an audiobook once, almost 2 years ago. But I think the first one was by far the strongest in the trilogy.

I dunno, there are also a couple other series enders I felt kind of indifferent about, or I'm not sure if they count because there are spin-offs. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an ending to a series I really hated.


Series enders that were 'bad' because I wish there was more


Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake
On the one hand, I like that it's a duology. On the other hand... somehow I got this feeling of unfinished business. I wish there was more. Or maybe I just want to go back into Cas' snarky brain.

If I Stay / Where She Went, by Gayle Forman

Again, not sure if this belongs in here. The ending was realistic and gave the reader a good idea of what Adam and Mia's lives might be like from there onwards. But I think Forman could just as well write another book that shows them 2 or 3 years down the road.

The Infernal Devices, by Cassandra Clare

Now don't get me wrong. I liked Clockwork Princess. It made me cry more than once. But that epilogue... mpf. I liked the first part of the epilogue but then it was just all too... neat. It was really close to feeling cheating (not relationship-cheating), like having your cake and eating it too. Maybe I was just braced for more pain? Maybe I just want more Tessa / Will? I really enjoyed the glimpse of them I got in the 4th installment of the Bane Chronicles. And I know there will be several spin-offs more. But just... it won't be the same.


So... that's that. Do you have any glaring disagreements? Fist bumps? Also, link me up to your own posts so I can slam my head into my desk because of all the obvious choices I forgot about ;)