Series Week - Let's Talk Sequels!

Both of us have been reading a lot of sequels this year. So as part of our series week, we thought we would combine a few of them into one post.

A Millions Suns by Beth Revis ( Razorbill, January 2012) is the sequel to Across the Universe.  I reviewed that book last year here.  A Million Suns was just as good as the first book. I would say this one was much more YA appropriate, unlike the first book. There is another mystery in this one.  Orion has left Amy clues throughout the ship that will reveal some important secrets about  Godspeed.  I won't give any of them away because it would really ruin it for you.

While trying to help Amy out, Elder is now Eldest and is trying to navigate his way to becoming a leader. Meanwhile, all of the inhabitants of Godspeed are off the drugs that kept them emotionless for so long.  I thought this was really interesting because they are all of a sudden trying to learn how to be a civilized society with only ancient books telling them what to do.  As you can imagine, chaos is rampant!  A Millions Suns ends on another cliffhanger of sorts.  I was pleased that  lot of unanswered questions from the first book are answered here. I look forward to the last in the trilogy, Shades of Earth, that comes out in 2013!

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts (Penguin, May 2012) is the second in the Boonsboro Inn Trilogy.  I reviewed the first one, The Next Always, earlier this year. While I liked this installment, I'm not sure I liked it was much as the first one.  It moved a bit too slowly for me.  It seemed like it took forever for Owen and Avery to get together.  I know that Owen is a planner, but the way they over analyzed their relationship got a bit boring after a while.

It was nice to see all of the other characters in this one.  The scene with Owen and his mother in the kitchen was just too funny!  I could not stop laughing!  The humor between the brothers was a lot of fun as well.  We learn a bit more about the resident ghost and that story line is turning out really interesting.  The last in the series, The Perfect Hope, comes out in November 2012.

The Serpent's Shadow (Hyperion, May 2012) is the last in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan.  This one was kind of a let down for me. I was hoping it would top the second book, The Red Pyramid,(which I loved) but sadly it fell a bit short.  I thought some of the parts were a bit drawn out. I found myself hoping the audiobook would hurry up and finish already. The idea about shadows was interesting but not enough to keep me fully engaged.

As expected, the brother and sister team save the day with help from their friends.  They also learn some lessons along the way.   While I am a sucker for romance, I felt like the "romances" between Carter and Zia as well as Sadie and Walt/Anubis (that kind of creeped me out a bit) were unnecessary to the story line as a whole.  The books would have been fine with out them and would have made for a better ending. 

I finally got around to reading Insurgent (HarperTeen, 2012) the sequel to Divergent by Veronica Roth.  It was really good, but I didn't feel as emotionally attached to the characters as I did in the first book.  Perhaps it was because too much time passed between reading the two books?  Sometimes I think I should wait until all the books come out before I start reading these trilogies, but then I'm behind the times and I hate that too.  Such a quandary!

In Insurgent Tris and Four are battling the ups and downs of their relationship and I think this was part of my problem.  I just wanted Tris and Four to be happy.  I didn't understand why she couldn't just do what he wanted so they could be happy and normal together.  But they're also waging a battle against the Erudite and trying to get and keep the factionless on their side so all that is putting strain on their relationship. 

Overall, it was a good second book in a trilogy.  Usually, seconds are fairly worthless, but this one wasn't too bad.  I'm ready to read the third, but I'm going to have to wait until sometime next year I guess.  It doesn't even have a title yet...although I've seen some jokes going around saying it was going to be titled Detergent  :)

Autumn's Most Anticipated for 2012

Autumn's Top Ten for 2011

I cheated a little and this ended up being 11 instead of 10.

So in no particular order they are:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
Original Sin by Beth McMullen
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams

Divergent

by:  Veronica Roth

published by: Katherine Tegen Books

publish date:  May 2011

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Whenever I do my top 10 of 2011 this book will be firmly at the top.  I'm quite sure of it.  I'm a huge fan of dystopian and I LOVED this book.  This book is the very definition of action packed.  I half listened to the audiobook and finished it by reading the actual book, weird huh?  The audiobook reader, Emma Galvin, was a great choice.  There were times I didn't want to get out of the car and go inside because so much was going on, I didn't want to stop listening to it.   

Veronica Roth, for those of you who don't know, is in her early twenties.  What an accomplishment to have written such a fantastic book at such a young age.  I would say I'm jealous, but I'm not, I'm in awe and hats off to such talent.  I'm really excited that she's going to be at ALA in New Orleans this year because I'm going and I'm going to make sure I get my ARC of Divergent signed!

I will definitely be looking forward to more from Ms. Roth and reading the rest of the Divergent books.  I have expressed my distaste for the YA trilogies in the past, but I'm making an exception for this one  :)