Top 10 Sequels I Can't Wait to Get My Hands On

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten Sequels You Can't Wait to Get Your Hands On. I am unbelievably excited for all of these books! Gorgeous sequels, COME TO ME <3

(in order of release date)

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas Aug 27/13
Okay, okay, I know I'm way late on this one... but I'm still stoked to read it and continue the series! Talking briefly to Michelle from Lipstick and Literature about it at the Ontario Blogger Meet-up this weekend just rekindled my excitement for it!

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater Sept 17/13
Another late entry but I can't help myself for this, I need it yesterday! The Raven Boys was such an amazing book, and, more than that, the kind of book that leaves me in desperate need of more. So more of Blue and the boys? Yes, please.

The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead Nov 19/13
Richelle Mead knows how to write a story, that's all I'll say. Sydrian Sydrian Sydrian!

Evertrue by Brodi Ashton Jan 21/14
Ahhh, how could Everbound end off like it did?! I'm so excited to see how Brodi Ashton will handle the last book of the series. I'm not sure that I have a way I'd like this one to end myself so I'm fairly open to whatever she has planned!

Cress by Marissa Meyer Feb 4/14
This series is one of my favourites! I'm crossing my fingers for some good interaction between Cinder and Kai and preparing myself for some crazy schemes. Also, I think my mom (who is so not a reader) is more excited for this than I am? She's already planning to snatch up my review copy before I can get to it.

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi Feb 4/14
Warner, Adam... who cares? It's all about Juliette! (Okay, and Kenji....) I'm expecting big things from the final installment of the Shatter Me series.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins May 13/14
Finally a break from the supernatural! ;) I can't wait for the warm fuzzies from reading this book. Stephanie Perkins' books are the perfect bad day cure.

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare May 2014
It's... over? It feels like I've been reading this series my entire life (probably because it's been like 5 years now...) to the point where I just want to see how some characters make it out and escape with my sanity! I'm way too invested in some of these characters (like Magnus... and Alec... and Magnus... and Alec...).

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo June 3/14
My brain turns to mush when I even think about this series. Just... what?? Leigh Bardugo has woven one heck of a tale and I am dying to see how she'll end it. These books take so much out of me emotionally and I'm looking forward to/dreading (I'll let you know when I decide) the explosion that this book is sure to be. But like, the way Siege and Storm ended... wow.

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman Mar 24/15
I'm really relieved to see that Rachel Hartman is taking her time with the sequel to Seraphina because it seems to me the kind of book that requires plenty of planning and tweaking to turn into the intricate, detailed, gorgeous finished product that the first book was. Still though, I would love to have it in my hands!

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Lesson learned from today's post: I use way too many brackets (5) and ellipses (9). I assure you though, this is really what it sounds like in my head! Just keeping it real, folks.

So these are my top picks! Which sequels are you dying to get your hands on?

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Add to: Goodreads
Source: Library
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Format: Hardcover, 424 pages
Release Date: September 11, 2012

Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. She will dance and summon her tribe's deity, who will inhabit Liyana's body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But when the dance ends, Liyana is still there. Her tribe is furious--and sure that it is Liyana's fault. Abandoned by her tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.

Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. The desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god’s help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god’s tale.

The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice--she must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate--or a human girl can muster some magic of her own.

It's no secret that fantasy is my favourite genre. The premise of Vessel had me wide-eyed and eager with anticipation as soon as I heard of it with promises of a trickster god, desert tribes and sand-wolves. However while I liked it well enough, I found myself a little disappointed with Vessel.

Don't get me wrong, the world-building was great. I loved the fantasy elements and adored the stories that were shared. From the world set-up perspective, I was perfectly content and had no trouble at all tearing through this novel. It's easy to read and entertaining as an added bonus.

Where Vessel didn't fare as well for me was mostly in character development and plot progression. Vessel is well-positioned to examine a number of complex moral issues. However while these issues are addressed and pondered, I feel like the author could have done so much more with them by bringing in the characters more. Liyana and the other vessels all appeared fairly one-dimensional. I can categorize them easily by certain distinctive personality traits but these general overviews didn't allow me to connect with them on a more personal level. I wanted to be swept up in feeling for these teens but I struggled to empathize with their situations. The only character that really held my attention was Korbyn, the trickster god, who seemed the most complexly-developed to me.

Sarah Beth Durst is a talented writer and as I said before, the novel reads easily enough with the support of fascinating little stories, but I have to say that the plot dragged at times. The book is written to be slow-going but my dissatisfaction with some of the moral dilemmas coupled with some repetition made it feel overly so at parts.

I'm aware that this review may sound more negative than positive but I'd just like to stress that this novel is really one that I enjoyed reading. The expectations that I had for this book going into it were likely unfairly high and I think my disappointment reflects that. If it sounds remotely interesting to you though, I, as always, really encourage you to give it a try!

3 Golden Crowns

Cover Comments: *swoon* This cover is so dreamy, I adore it.