Top Ten Tuesday: Best Sequels Ever

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the wonderful girls at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there's a new topic to go gaga over.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Best Sequels Ever. Some books have second book syndrome, but these one blew it out of the park

1. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins: I for one loved this book! In fact, I liked it more than Mockingjay. Going back into the arena gave me more of what I loved from the first and the Katniss/Peeta love was swoon worthy.

2. Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer: Cinder blew me away and I wasn't sure if Scarlet would live up to it, but it exceeded my expectations. I loved Scarlet and Wolf and I love how it tied in with the first book. This is going to be a series to remember.

3. Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky) by Veronica Rossi: This is a dystopian worth mentioning. The characters are wonderful and the storyline is new and different. This sequel took everything we knew about the first book and stepped it up a notch. 

4. Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss) by Stephanie Perkins: Not sure if this entirely counts since it's a new set of characters, but Perkins writes teenagers so well and this book was everything the first book was and more. 

 

5. It's Not Summer Without You (The Summer I Turned Pretty) by Jenny Han: Ugh, what can I say about this series? Every book was perfection and I would love to read more about Belly's summers and boys. Heartbreaking and so real, Han has captured the essence of summer and this may have been the only love triangle I actually liked.

6. The Evolution of Mara Dyer (The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer) by Michelle Hodkin: The first book made me ask a lot of questions and this book just gave me more. Now, this is not a bad thing at all, in fact it's tangling the story up so much that I know by the time I read the final book, I'll be blown away by all the clues hidden throughout the books. Amazing series so far!

7. Where She Went (If I Stay) by Gayle Forman: This book broke my heart.As if the first book wasn't bad enough, Forman dug that knife deeper. It was great seeing the story told from Adam's point of view and it answered so many questions. Beautiful and heartbreaking.

8. Insurgent (Divergent) by Veronica Roth: Some people may not have liked this book, but it was perfect to me. There was a lot of character development and the post traumatic stress was the perfect addition to the series. Oh and that ending? Let's not forget that!

 

9. Shift (Shade) by Jeri Smith-Ready: This was another great series. Aura and Zach are the cutest couple ever and each book took an important step in the story. It was perfection, all of them.

10. The Dead Tossed Waves (The Forest of Hands and Teeth) by Carrie Ryan: I liked the second and third book better than the first only because it was more relatable. All three are so different but they tie together nicely and they were all equally scary. Still one of the bet zombie series I've read. 

Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Published: October 23, 2012
544 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.

She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

There is something about Mara Dyer that just makes you want more. Maybe it's the fact that we don't know her real name or why she can do what she does. Maybe it's her fascination with the lovely Noah Shaw, or maybe it's because were not sure if she's actually crazy or not. Having an unreliable narrator always makes for an interesting story and with the sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, we certainly get more interesting.

After seeing her dead ex-boyfriend, Jude, in the police station, Mara finds herself in an institution due to an outburst she had. She barely remembers (as this seems to happen to her every day) and she is convinced that he is alive and decides she needs to prove it to everyone else. Things get worse when dead animals start showing up on her doorstep and things are moved in her room. She knows Jude is out there and he's watching her. She knows he wants to get revenge for his sister and he thinks that Mara has the answers to his questions. Add that to flashbacks, sleepwalking, and spending days in the asylum, and Mara's life just keeps getting more complicated.

What gripped me with the first novel still rings true throughout this sequel. Noah is still a beautiful jack ass that we still seem to fall head over heels for, and Mara is still experiencing things she has no control over. Throwing us right back in to where we left off. Mara spends most of the novel surrounded by crazy people and you can see how it affects her. When she finally gets to spend time at home and sneaking visits to Noah, she still doesn't feel safe. The only problem I found was that this book felt really long and it could have been cut down. There was a lot of scare tactics that could have been slimmed down and we still would have gotten the point. And a lot of the institute scenes felt boring and drawn out. Noah actually kind of pissed me off in this book. I know he's supposed to be a pretentious bastard, but his jokes just seemed mean and not at all funny. Hodkin kept describing him as lovely and beautiful, so I guess it's a good thing he's hot or else I don't know what Mara would see him in. But there is something about him that makes me want to love him to ruins, so I guess I'll have to give Mara the benefit of the doubt.

With twists and turns around every corner and enough suspense to keep you reading, this book will give you some more insight into Mara's character and a bit of a back story about her abilities. There are still many unanswered questions and many new ones to be asked. I'm sure The Retribution of Mara Dyer, the final book in the series, will be thrilling and amazing and I can't wait to find out how it all plays out. 

“If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one.” 

“We are far too screwed up for a goddamned love triangle.”

“You’re stronger than you believe. Don’t let your fear own you. Own yourself.”

The Evolution Of Mara Dyer Teaser + Giveaway

If you haven't discovered the intense, mysterious and amazing novel, The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer, you're missing out. With the release of the sequel, The Evolution Of Mara Dyer, in 8 days, my excitement is amping up!

Here's the blurb for the madness that will indefinitely be The Evolution Of Mara Dyer:

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.

She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?


Creepy? Suspenseful? Yes, and then some! The first book blew me away and I can't wait to dig deeper into Mara's story. I know there will be even more questions to answer and more mysteries to solve and I can't wait! Also, Noah Shaw is perfection and I can't wait for his snarky, British humour again!

And don't forget to enter the giveaway on Michelle's website to get some fun goodies! And if you haven't read Te Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer, I suggest you go do it now!