I feel like standalones are split into three distinct categories for me: the "this desperately needs a sequel" section, the "I love it as a standalone and it would change the story a lot for a sequel to be introduced but I would still be excited about it," and the "please please let it stand alone" category.
Books I would very very much like a sequel to:
1. The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer: I feel like this one really was meant to have a sequel and then just... didn't... and now I will wait forever for a sequel that isn't coming.
2. Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley: this one might just be because I felt like the whole ending was rushed and nothing with Sam's family felt sorted out?
3. That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E. K. Johnson: I just want to see the three main characters navigating their relationship and also royal life?
Books I love as standalones but would also be thrilled to revisit the world and thus am torn (it is the cause of a not insignificant amount of readerly angst):
4. In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan: okay this one doesn't really need a sequel but I do want more of this story, and these characters, and this world.
5. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black: mostly I very much love this as a standalone (it's one of my favourite standalones, and favourite books period) but I also find the world outlined in it incredible and I'd love to see more.
6. The Scorpio Racesby Maggie Stiefvater: again 99% of me wants this to stay a standalone but I also adore the world so much that I want more of it.
7. The Goblin Emperor by Katherin Addison: we're actually getting an indirect sequel/ spinoff of this one and I'm pretty thrilled!
... and that's it, I think. And even that's a stretch. I guess I like my standalones as they are...
I haven't read any of these, bu have heard of Holly's book and Maggie's, the latter of which someone told me is an amazing read. I pretty much like standalones "as is." Of course, if they're forever favorites, it's always fun to "catch up" with the characters, but sometimes that takes away from the story, too.
ReplyDeleteThey're both fantastic authors! (And the write really good standalones). They've actually both teased sequels to the books that I mentioned here but... I am super attached to the standalones as standalones and thus my complicated feelings about the idea of a sequel.
DeleteI haven't read Stiefvater but the Scorpio Races has always sounded good to me, and I do believe I have them (somewhere. Yeesh). It sounds like an awesome world!
ReplyDeleteThe Scorpio Races remains my favourite of Maggie Stiefvater's novels. I've really liked a lot of her books but The Scorpio Races is just extra special.
DeleteI agree with your choice of Scorpio Races. My TTT list
ReplyDeleteWe've been teased on a sequel once or twice but... so far nothing concrete so far...
DeleteI've seen a couple of Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I haven't read it but it's my goal to read a bunch of Holly Black stuff this year!
ReplyDeletewww.tbrandbeyond.com
It's my favourite Holly Black novel! (With stiff competition, admittedly, but. There's just something about the atmosphere and story and characters of Coldest Girl that I absolutely adore).
DeleteRites of Passage is such a good choice! My TTT
ReplyDeleteIt just felt... not totally wrapped up? Maybe Sam felt like things were sorted with her father but... I very much did not. It's possible that I hold grudges more than her.
DeleteI need to read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown someday, as well as anything by Maggie Stiefvater.
ReplyDeleteI definitely recommend both!
DeleteOoooooh, I definitely should have chosen either The Coldest Girl in Coldtown or The Darkest Part of the Forest - both of those worlds would be great to revisit.
ReplyDeleteI guess you can kind of revisit The Darkest Part of the Forest in the Folk of the Air series? There's some cameos and faeries (although the vibe is definitely different). I think that's the only reason it's not on this list as well for me... I wasn't totally sure if it counted as totally standalone when it does exist in a broader world? It's possible that I get excessively pedantic. (Probable, actually.)
DeleteOh, The Goblin Emperor is a good choice.
ReplyDeleteMy Top Ten Tuesday post.
There is another book in the same world in progress! It's a very different character's perspective, though, which I think will change a lot...
DeleteI really enjoyed the setting for The Scorpio Races as well. I haven't read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, but seeing it on your list makes me anxious to get to it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like 2019 has weirdly turned into the year of me just recommending Coldest Girl to everyone... an unexpected twist, but I'll take it. It's just a really good book, I hope you get a chance to read it!
DeleteI bet a lot of books in the second category would benefit from stories written about different characters in the same universe. Maybe an acquaintance, or even someone in the same town.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown yet, but I love her Cruel Prince books and will probably want to check that one out soon too.
Some of them probably would! The Goblin Emperor is actually getting an indirect sequel in exactly that vein and I know Maggie Stiefvater has teased a Finn POV sequel... There's a lot going on in the world of sequels, I guess?
DeleteThe Scorpio Races is an excellent choice! I wish I would have thought of that one!
ReplyDeleteI mean it's kind of on my mind... and a sequel of some variety has been teased by the author but... no confirmation on anything yet and I am currently still trying to figure out how I feel about that... (it is possible that I am a touch melodramatic).
Delete