* Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme/challenge for book bloggers, hosted by Lainey and Sam. The goal is for bloggers to choose their top 5 picks for the week’s given challenge, and you can find out more over on Goodreads! *
This week’s challenge is to pick your top 5 series in which the first book was good (or not), but the second book was better! In other weekly news, Destiny realized how many series she’s only read the first installment in…
1. A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you already probably expected this book to be in this list, but honestly, it had to go at the top because… well, to quote Shakespeare:
How is ACOMAF better than ACOTAR?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee…
Okay, seriously though, ACOTAR is a fun read, but ACOMAF is vastly superior (and is still my favorite of the series thus far, as ACOWAR was fun, but a little bit of a disappointment tbh).
2. Scarlet – Marissa Meyer
Cinder wasn’t a bad book by any means. I thought it was a fun read with a unique twist and all, and I’m pretty sure I gave it 4.5 stars?, but honestly, Scarlet was leaps and bounds better. You could really see how Marissa’s writing improved so much in such a short span of time, plus with the bulk of the world-building out of the way in Cinder, Scarlet had way more room to focus on action. (Of course, Cress was even better, but this isn’t called the T5W: 3rd Book is Best list, now, is it?)
3. Now I Rise – Kiersten White
And I Darken was great, don’t get me wrong, but Now I Rise was… magnificent. With the world-building out of the way, it was non-stop badassery, back-stabbing, action, violence, love, cuteness, sarcasm, angst, and brilliance. I honestly cannot say enough good things about this book, and how much it improved upon the first book, makes me so excited to read the final installment.
4. Gemina – Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
Illuminae is a masterpiece of epic proportions, honestly, but Gemina has Nik Malikov and his adorable cinnamon roll self, and that’s really all I feel like I have to say about this one. Also, space cows.
5. Sadly, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t pick a series for #5. Not only did I realize that I have way too many series I’ve only read the first book in, but I also realized that, of the series I have read 2+ installments of, I’m very prone to the first book being my favorite!
18 Comments
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver? A Million Suns by Beth Revis? And I completely agree with the Cinder/Scarlet/Lunar Chronicles – the second book was so much better! <3
Cass @ Words on Paper
I haven’t read either of those! I tried to read the first book in Lauren’s series – was it called Delirium, maybe? – and don’t remember liking it much, though I have wondered if I should try it again.
great answers. i am looking forward to these books. unfortunately, i couldn’t participate in this weeks top 5, because i haven’t read that many second books, that were better haha. but now i know, that i have something to look forward too 🙂
It was tough to come up with them so I don’t blame you!
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It always makes me excited when people say Gemina is better than Illuminae because I think how is that even possible?! Can’t wait to read it! Great list!
Right? That’s how I felt before I read it! I literally remember telling one of my friends, “There is NO WAY that Gemina is that much better than Illuminae!” I had to eat my words. ;P Thanks!
I have to agree with you on ACOMAF. Wayyy better than the first! I still haven’t read Illuminae. I need to get one that.
Oh man, I highly recommend it, whether you read it through the physical edition or the audiobook. I love the formatting of the physical edition, personally, but the audiobook is also awesome because it has a full cast.
I 100% agree about ACOMAF! That’s my favorite SJM book so far and the best in the series. I agree that ACOWAR was fun but not nearly as good as ACOMAF. I’m still really curious to see what else she does in that world tho!
I’m also super curious to see what else she can come up with! I’m sad that we supposedly won’t see much more of Feyre and Rhys, but I’m stoked for the other books in the series. I really hope Cassian and Nesta get their own book. ??
Ahh I totally agree with ACOMAF!! I loved it a lot more than ACOTAR, and I’d say it was my favourite of the series as well. And eeep I haven’t read Illuminae yet but I’m so glad you enjoyed Gemina even more!! ?
Ohh definitely check out Illuminae when you get the chance! Such a good series! ?
ACOMAF is definitley the best sequel I’ve ever read, though Catching Fire is a close second.
Catching Fire was very good! I almost put it in this list, but I couldn’t decide if I actually liked it MORE than THG or not – I ultimately decided they were tied, for me. ♡
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I totally agree with your choices here ? – the only one I have not read is Now I Rise and I am even more excited about it now ?
Ooh, did you enjoy And I Darken? If so, I HIGHLY recommend picking up Now I Rise whenever you get the chance! ?