Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!
This week’s theme is ‘The Last Ten Books I Abandoned (this could be books you DNFed, books you decided you were no longer interested in, etc.) (submitted by Claire @ Book Lovers Pizza)’, but today I’m twisting the topic a little to talk about ten fantasy sequels I won’t be reading. Let me know if you think I should change my mind!
The Riddle by Alison Croggon: Looking back, I probably should have DNF’d The Gift. I remember forcing my way through that book during my teens but I don’t remember much about the plot other than that it didn’t feel like anything I hadn’t come across before.
Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder: I so wanted to love this series, but Touch of Power didn’t stay with me and I’ve never been able to forgive the love interest for hitting the heroine so hard she fell over.
Tears of Frost by Bree Barton: Sadly Heart of Thorns wasn’t for me at all – the fact that two different bi characters both had tragic/bad queer romances bothered me – so this is a YA series I won’t be continuing.
Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier: Oh man. I adored Daughter of the Forest and then I read the second book, Son of the Shadows, and loathed it. This is one series I won’t be continuing!
The Missing of Clairedelune by Christelle Dabos; translated by Hildegarde Serle: I really hoped I’d enjoy A Winter’s Promise but I ended up DNFing it, so this is another series I won’t be continuing.
The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi: The Gilded Wolves is another one that just didn’t work for me, which is a real shame!
The Damned by Renée Ahdieh: Sadly The Beautiful wasn’t for me, so I won’t be reaching for this one! (UNLESS I discover there’s an f/f romance between Pippa and Odette, which is all I want.)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire: I hoped to love Every Heart a Doorway, but it turned into one of the most obvious murder mysteries I’ve ever read and I’ve had no interest in reading more from this series.
Turning the Storm by Naomi Kritzer: This duology has so many things I love – Italian-inspired fantasy world; religious turmoil; f/f romance! – but Fires of the Faithful ended up being a 1 star read for me.
Sea Witch Rising by Sarah Henning: I quite liked Sea Witch, but I don’t think it’s a novel that needed a sequel and I haven’t seen particularly good reviews for this one.
Jessticulates 
I haven’t read any of these yet, but there’s definitely not enough time and too many books to spend time on books or series we don’t like 🙂
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I abandoned the Pellinor Series in the middle of book 3 so I guess you didn’t miss much 😀 I actually enjoyed the first 2, but hated the 3rd cause suddenly it was told from the POV of the protagonist’s little brother? And I couldn’t care less about him!
I should have abandoned Sevenwaters earlier too.. I liked the first 2 books, hated the third, liked the fourth and didn’t finish book 5. It’s kinda always the same story anyways. Just gets more annoying.
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Sometimes we have to let some of the books on our TBR, whether actual or a mental I-hope-to-read, go. I think I’ve tried to be more like this as a reader in recent years because there’s just too many books out there, and given our limited time to read, prioritizing is the way to go…! 😀 Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland.
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I see other commenters have already encouraged you to read Down Among the Sticks and Bones, so I will join their chorus 😉 The murder mystery was also my least favourite part of Every Heart but if you liked other aspects of the writing/setting/characters/premise, I recommend giving Down Among a shot. Every other book in the series is essentially a standalone fantasy, where you follow one character as they visit their secondary world, before they arrive at the home.
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I’ll have to give the series another try, then! 🙂 Hopefully my library has them in so I can get them when lockdown is over.
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I completely agree about the sequel to Sea Witch. It just feels unnecessary to me.
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Doesn’t it?! I don’t see the point at all.
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I won’t be reading The Damned either as I was really disappointed by The Beautiful, which was a shame as I was really looking forward to reading it.
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who wasn’t a fan!
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I don’t usually read fantasy novels, so I haven’t heard of any of these books, but it’s great that you aren’t wasting time reading books you won’t enjoy!
Here’s my TTT list.
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There are to many books to read to waste time reading rubbish ones!
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I was a bit surprised as well that Sea Witch had a sequel. I debated about reading it but since it’s been almost a year and I haven’t even made an effort, I doubt I will. I don’t think it was necessary and I also really don’t like the cover for some reason.
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Yeah, I don’t think it needs a sequel at all! It actually annoys me a little that it’s being called a duology when Sea Witch was never originally marketed as the first book in a duology. Maybe I’m just a grump, but I don’t think it really counts as a duology if the author just happens to write a sequel to a book that was already perfectly wrapped-up.
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I’m not going to read The Damned either. The Beautiful was only an okay read for me. But I must confess I’m curious about Sea Witch Rising. Sea Witch wasn’t great…but it had this addictive quality to it that makes me wonder what the sequel will be like. Plus I did that thing where I bought the sequel before I’d read the first book so I suppose I should read it because I own it lol 😂😂😂
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Hahaha well I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on Sea Witch Rising if you get to it!
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Bummer that the beautiful wasn’t for you! I haven’t read it yet but want to! Will have to see how it goes for me.
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I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
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Sad about The Beautiful, Every Heart a Doorway, and Gilded Wolves! I have them all but I think I have been holding off because I am afraid of not liking them too! I LOVE the cover for The Damned though, which is why I really want to like The Beautiful hahah.
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There’s a good chance you’ll love all of them much more than I did – I think I’m just a bit of a grump!
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I read Down Among the Sticks not too long ago and it was so much better than its predecessor.
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That’s good to know! I might give it a try if I can find it in my library.
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Down Among the Sticks and Stones was SO much better than and fairly different from Every Heart a Doorway, so if I’m encouraging you to keep going with any, it’d be that one! 🙂
I never got around to reading A Winter’s Promise itself because I heard so many less than positive things about it, haha. I didn’t care for The Gilded Wolves, but I still read an ARC I got of The Silvered Serpents and I think it had a lot of the same issues as The Gilded Wolves, so I’d say you’re probably right to not continue that one.
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I’m glad to hear I’ve made a good decision not to read The Silvered Serpents! I might give Down Among the Sticks and Bones a try if I can find a copy in my library. 🙂
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I’ve never been able to forgive the love interest for hitting the heroine so hard she fell over.
Oh man, that’s a bit of a no-no for me, too… *quietly moves that off the TBR*
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Yeah, it’s not one I’d recommend!
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I haven’t read any of these, but I have a super bad habit of starting fantasy series and not continuing with them. They just feel like they get longer and longer and the books drag.
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Haha don’t worry, I can assure you it’s a bad habit the two of us share!
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I’m probably not going to read Sea Witch Rising either (although I never say never). Gilded Wolves was just okay for me, so the sequel is also not in my TBR lottery. I’ll probably read The Damned at some point, but I won’t pre-order it and it may take me a while to get to it.
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Yeah out of all of those I must admit that The Damned is the one I’m most likely to pick up, but that’s mostly because I did really like Pippa. 🙂
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I’m not much of a fantasy reader, so I haven’t read any of these series. I think it’s good that you know what you don’t want to read, though – you won’t waste any time on books you know you’re not going to like.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Thanks! Haha yeah, I’m very good at DNFing books these days.
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So I haven’t read Denning’s Sea Witch, but I did read her Throw Like a Girl. I really liked that book. It’s not fantasy, but you should give it a go if you like her writing.
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Ooh thanks for the recommendation!
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I have read every Sevenwaters novel and some of them can be hit or miss..
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Yeah, I suppose we can’t expect every book in a six book series to be fantastic!
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I like your version of this list! Many of these books I’ve seen around on blogs but I haven’t actually read any of them, so it was interesting to see your take!
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Thank you! 🙂
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I haven’t read The Beautiful yet and I’ve seen some mixed responses to it, but I’m still going to read it (and the rest of the series probably) because I can’t resist vampires.
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Knowing your love of vampires I’m surprised you haven’t read it yet! Although I feel like I should warn you that it takes the book a loooooong time to actually introduce the vampires…
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I saw Sea Witch making the rounds when it released and everyone seemed to love it. I didn’t even know a sequel was releasing. Considering the reviews aren’t all that great I’d agree with you especially if you feel it didn’t actually need a sequel in the first place ♡
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Definitely! Sea Witch was quite fun, but it doesn’t need a sequel at all.
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I feel the same way about Sea Witch. It was a standalone for me and doesn’t need a follow up.
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Hard agree!
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I loved The Beautiful but Pippa/Odette needs to happen in the sequels that’s just a fact
Also the feeling of a great first book followed by a boring/weak/all-around-terrible sequels really is the worst. Ruined so many series for me.
Great list!
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I’ll look out for your review of The Damned to see if it does. 😉 Yeah, it’s rubbish when a follow-up doesn’t leave you with the same good feelings that the first book in a series does!
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I keep wanting to read more of that Marillier series because I love her writing but I’ve heard the sequels aren’t great.
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Some people love them, so I’d say they’re worth a try, but Son of the Shadows just didn’t work for me at all – in some ways I wish I’d never read it!
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I know what you mean, there are definitely some sequels out there I wish I’d never read.
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I agree with Sea Witch Rising, I wasn’t a big fan of Sea Witch, so I have no reason to read the sequel.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/12/top-ten-tuesday-263/
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Yeah it doesn’t seem like it needs one at all!
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Nope, definitely not.
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I second The Missing of Clairedelune…I absolutely HATED A Winters Promise. You couldn’t pay me to read the rest of the series😬
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Haha yup, I feel the same way.
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Aww I was really excited about A Winter’s Promise series. :S Who knows, maybe I’ll like it more than you. 🙂 Great list Jess!
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A lot of people seem to love it, so I think I’m in the minority!
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Sea witch rising was.. not good.. So I totally understand your decision haha!
My post!
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Hahaha sounds like I’ve made the right decision then!
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I haven’t read Gilded Wolves yet but I don’t know why, I have a feeling that I might not jam with it (I hope I’m wrong though) lol I’m also waffling on reading Every Heart A Doorway ever since I got the physical copy (I’m a nutter 😂) but I’ll finally be picking it up it as part of a group read soon so … let’s see how I go with it! 🤞🏽
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I hope you enjoy them both more than I did! 😀
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Love your twist on this week’s topic! I can definitely relate—there are SO many series I’ve started and have lost interest in 🙃
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Thanks! Haha, it’s good to know I’m not the only one.
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I’ve read so many praises on Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway series so I’m sorry that it didn’t work out for you. I’ll still probably give it a try though but not any time soon.
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You should! It’s a series so many people love, it just didn’t work for me, unfortunately. 🙂
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I avoid tragic/bad queer romance endings, too, so thanks for the heads up about Tears of Frost.
And thanks for stopping by my site today!
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Yeah, that series is definitely one I wouldn’t recommend in that case!
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I’ve had a little trouble with Juliet Marillier- everyone seems to love her stuff but I struggled a bit. The Wayward children series is another one I’ve debated starting- I’ve liked some of her books and others not so much, so I’m conflicted!
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I don’t think Juliet Marillier’s work is for everyone – it’s very slow-moving and, from what I’ve read so far, quite romance-focused – and that’s fine! There are some really popular authors, like Marie Lu, that don’t work for me – if we all loved the same things, the book blogging community would be very boring. 🙂
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oh, i’m so sorry to hear that the gilded wolves didn’t work for you! i loved it and i’m really excited to read the sequel, but i definitely get that it wasn’t a book for everyone ❤ and god, i shouldn't have continued the wayward children series because i really didn't love the first book, but it started getting slightly better with each installment only for the fifth book to be absolutely horrible!
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A lot of people loved The Gilded Wolves, unfortunately I was in the minority – I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it and that you’re looking forward to the sequel, though!
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