Books & series that need prequels, sequels or companion novels | Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and is currently hosted on That Artsy Reader Girl. 

I’m usually not someone who wants prequel, sequels or companion novels because I feel like a lot of times they ruin the original story and also a lot of times they are done for financial reasons and not because the story truly needed to be continued, so this list was hard to put together. Nonetheless, I found a few books and series that I would actually like to get continuations for.

The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club Series by Theodora Goss

I know the author has said that she is open to writing more books in this series and I need the publish to let her because while the general storyline comes to a close, some of the individual storylines, especially around one of the main characters, is not wrapped up. Also, I just feel like there are so many more stories that can be told with these characters.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

This is such an interesting concept, a world where cannibalism is the new normal and people are being harvested, and I would love to see another story with different characters exploring a new side of this world.

Rolling in the Deep series by Mira Grant

I’m convinced that this was supposed to have a sequel that never happened because while it closes the story, there’s a final scene that hints at a continuation of the story.While I liked the prequel, I really want a sequel or a companion novel because I want to know what happens next and because the idea of killer mermaids and the way Mira Grant executed are so interested.

Crazy Rich Asians Series by Kevin Kwan

I really enjoyed reading about these ridiculously rich people living in this world of opulence, gossip, appearances, and power, so I would another book set in this world following other characters.

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

I want a sequel because I want to know what happened to all the characters, I feel so invested in their stories and while it’s a slice-of-life novel and the ending fits that type of story, I want to keep reading about their lives and see where they end up.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

I think a prequel about how Catherine House came to be and how the experiments started would be really cool. I just think this book has such an interesting setting that it would be a waste to not have more stories set there.

Sal and Gabi series by Carlos Hernandez

I don’t read that much middle grade but I love this series and I really want more stores with these precocious and very endearing characters. Also, the whole concept of other universes and opening holes in the fabric of the universe is so cool, and want more of it.

Brooklyn Brujas Series by Zoraida Córdova

I want Nova’s story, we see him and heard so much about him throughout the series, he is such a complex and compelling character, and his backstory is so sad and heartbreaking, that I would love to learn more about him and see how his storyline would end.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djéli Clark

I want another story set in this world. I love the 1884 New Orleans setting, the alternative history concept, the inclusion of African Folklore, and the steampunk elements, so I want a companion novel. Also, if it follows the spy nuns that would give it extra points.

What books or series do you think need prequels, sequels or companion novels?

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It’s Not Magical Realism: Fantasy Books by Latinx Authors

Hi everyone! Today I have another post to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month and it’s a very exciting post because fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I have some recommendations if you want to read fantasy books by Latinx authors.

If you are wondering why this post includes “It’s not Magical Realism” in the title, it’s because oftentimes fantasy books by Latinx authors are label as magical realism, especially if they are paranormal or urban fantasy and it’s a big source of annoyance for Latinx authors and readers. Not everything that Latinx authors write and that includes magical elements in it should be pigeonholed as magical realism. Latinx and magical realism are not synonyms. This post is not about this discussion tho, so if you want to learn more a quick google search will help you out with that!

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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• This book follows a young woman and the Mayan god of death as they embarque on a quest, where they face all kinds of mythological creatures ande deities, in order to save their lives.

  • The writing makes it feel like reading a myth or fairytale, it was so engaging.

  • The Mayan mythology was captivating and lush, and since it’s a mythology that it’s not often used in fantasy books, this book was full of gods and mythical creatures that felt very new and unique.

  • It’s set in 1920’s Mexico and the mix of the mythological elements and the ‘modernity’ of the Jazz Age worked well and gave this story an even more unique touch.

Nocturna by Maya Motayne

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• This book follows a thief with powerful magical abilities and a prince running from his past, who inadvertently free an evil force and then have to try to capture it again before it destroys everything.

• The most magical thing about this book is the way it embraces Latinx culture and the way it uses Spanish as the language of magic in this world.

• It addresses colonialism and slavery through the history of this fantasy world in a very organically and subtle way.

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

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• This story follows a young women, who has trained all her life to be a primera, a wife who runs her husband’s household. But when a rebel group treatens to expose her biggest secret, she is forced to start working for them. All this while having to live with the enemy, her husband’s other wife, the Segunda, in charge of giving him children.

• This books has two beautifully complex main characters, a forbidden sapphic love story, fascinating mythology, an infuriating world and a flawed and complicated rebelious group.

  • The strengh of this book lays in the way it addresses immigration, privilege, poverty and opression, because it manages to evoke so many emotions and be incredibly thought-provoking, it’s brilliantly done.

Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria

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• This book follows Cassa, the orphaned daughter of rebels, who is determined to fight back against the high council to do it she must go on a heist and her only allies are no-nonsense Alys, easygoing Evander, and perpetually underestimated Newt.

• This book has five main characters, who are queer, poc or struggling with mental illness and trauma. They all have distintive voices and personalies and the author seamlessly integrates the different aspects of the characters identities to the story.

• This book is full of twists and turns and a fast pace that keeps the book entertaining and engaging.

Labyrinth Lost + Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova

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• Each book in this series follows one of the Mortiz sisters, who are brujas and who always end up getting into trouble when their spells backfire.

• This series includes a variaty of magical beings like brujas, werewolves, vampires, fairies, zombies and so much more. All of them as well as a lot of the mythology in this book are steeped in Latin American culture and mythology. And that’s one of the main things that’s wonderful about this book: how unapologetically Latinx it is.

Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro

• This book tells the story of Xochital, a girl who has been the Cuentista of her community, she takes the stories involving secrets, lies and deceit that produce feelings like guilt and she gives them back to the land so people can be forgiven by their god. If this process doesn’t take place, the stories manifest themselves as Pesadillas – monsters out of nightmares.

  • Each of Us a Desert is a quiet fantasy book about the role of stories in our lives and in our communities and the link between the stories we are told and the things we believe in and have faith in. This is a character-driven book with a loose plot but with strong thematic elements.

Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova

• This book follows Renata, who thanks to her unique magical power was kidnapped and forced to work for the King only to escape and join the rebels. But when the commander of her unit is taken captive, Renata has to return to the palace under cover and complete his top secret mission.

  • One of the stronger aspects of this story is that it feels like like something bad is about to happen at any moment because Renata is living in the midst of enemies and there are so many secrets and interests at play.

    • Incendiary has an intricate magic system, vivid characters, twist and turns that will keep you at the edge of your sit and an ending that will leave you wanting more

Have you read any of these books? Are any of them on your tbr? What Fantasy book by Latinx authors have you enjoyed?

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My 5 Favorite YA Books by Latinx Authors | Latinx Heritage Month 2019

Hi everyone! Since it’s Latinx Heritage Month, I thought a great way to celebrate was talking about some of my favorite book by Latinx authors. This is the first post of  the series and since I read so many YA books I decided to start with those.

Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno (YA CONTEMPORARY)

It’s not often that a book breaks my heart and makes me sob, but this book managed to do just that. This book has beautiful writing, complex but lovable characters, a community that’s like a huge family, but the most special thing about it is the brilliant and bittersweet way it explores the feelings of a granddaughter of immgrants: the feelings of confusion and guilt for belonging to two places at onces, for speaking biligual words, for not knowing exactly where she comes from and what happened to the family that stayed behind.

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (YA FANTASY)

This book captured my heart with two beautifully complex main characters, a forbidden love story, fascinating mythology, an infuriating world and a flawed but commited rebelious group. This bookfeels Latinx, it IS unapologetically Latinx and it has the respectful and wonderful Latinx representation that we need in fantasy. Beyond all those amazing things, the strengh of this book lays in the way it addresses immigration, privilege, poverty and opression, because it manages to evoke so many emotions and be incredibly thought provoking.

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (YA CONTEMPORARY)

This book holds a very special place in my heart, it was one of the first YA books with a Latinx main character that I ever read and I fell completely in love with it.  This book has amazing writing, complex, messy and vulnerable characters, it talks about feminism and about being queer in a thought-provoking way, and it shows the different perspectives that exist in these broader movements and the importance of intersectionality. This book is insighful and provocative and I think it’s incredible important for teens, because it’s a great introduction to femenist and queer ideas.

When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore (YA MAGICAL REALISM) 

This book is magical, mysterious and captivating and it’s probably my favorite magical realism book of all time and a book I’d recommend to anyone that wants to start reading this genre. This book has beautiful, flowery and poetic writing, an intriguing plot, an alluring atmosphere and complex and fascinating villains. It’s has a dark and dangerous vibe that underlies the story and that makes the reader feel unease and worry and that adds a compelling and engrossing element to the book.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova (YA URBAN FANTASY) 

Witches, fairies, an all latinx cast of characters and great bisexual rep … there was no way I wasn’t gonna love this one. The mythology and magic in this book are rooted in Latinx traditions and beliefs in such big and profund way that it can’t be confused with anything else but a love letter to Latinx magic and that’s the most amazing thing about this book. Another great thing about it is that the unveiling of Los Lagos, the magical world where part of this book takes place, is done in such a slow and delibareted way that you can’t help but be completely captivated by it.

Have you read any of this books? Do you want to read any of them? What YA books by Latinx author do you love? 

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Fantasy Series I’m in the Middle of: Should I Keep Reading Them?!

Recently, I went through my Goodreads shelves and I made a list of some fantasy series that I started but I didn’t read the sequels or I haven’t read all the books in the series that have been published. On this list, I have 4 fantasy series that I know for sure I want to catch up on and then there’s 6 fantasy series that I’m not sure if I want to continue reading, so I thought you could help me decide what to do with those 6 series by giving me your opinions and tell if they are worth finishing or not.

The series I’m sure I want to catch up on: 

An Ember in The Ashes Series by Sabaa Tahir

The third book in this series came out recently and there was a whole promotional campaing, so this series has been EVERYWHERE. I really enjoyed the first book, An Ember in the Ashes, I found the brutal and violent world fascinating, I really cared for the characters and I was scared the entire time of something horrible happening to them. I didn’t read the second book, A Torch Against the Night, right after finishing the first one because the realese date for the third book was so far away. Now that the third book is finally out, I can’t wait to continue with this series.

The Diviners Series  by Libba Bray

I read the first book in this series, The Diviners, a few months ago and I really enjoyed it, it’s one of my favorite books of the year so far. The different paranormal aspects of the story, the mystery, the spooky scenes and the characters intrigued me a lot and made me love the first book. I’m currently reading the second book in the series, Lair of Dreams and I’m really enjoying it as well. I’m planning on reading the third book before the end of the year and then I’ll have to wait who know’s how long for the next book in the series 😭

The Dark Artificies Series by Cassandra Clare

I really liked Lady Midnight, the first book in this series. I enjoyed being back in the shadowhunters world, I  liked the new set of characters and I loved learning more about the fey, which I find fascinating. I have heard nothing but great things about the sequel, Lord of Shadows, but I have been nervous to read it and I’m not sure why. I hope to read it before the third book comes out in December.

A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin

I have said this before, I’m always in awe of the world building in the books in this series; the amount of details in terms of hystory, family trees, religions and so much more is mindblowing. Also, there’s so many complex and captivating characters that I can’t help but root for most of them even when they are in completely opposite sides of what’s going on. I have been reading this series slowly because the books are HUGE, but I finally finished book four last month and I’m looking forward to reading the fifth book, even if I’m nervous the sixth book is never gonna be realesed 😕

The series I’m not sure if I want to continue reading or not: 

These are the series that I want to know your opinions on, should I keep reading them? Are they worth finishing? Let me know what you think!

Poison Study Series by Maria V. Snyder

I read Poison Study at the beginning of 2018 and I think it was ok (I gave it 3,8 stars), I really liked most of the characters, but there was nothing unique about it and it was easy to tell it was an older ya fantasy book and that a lot of books have replicated what this book did since then. Nonetheless, I’m still curious about this one and I have been wondering lately if I should continue this series even if I think it’s gonna be similar to things I have read before. Is this series too similar to other YA Fantasy series? Does this series have unique elements? Is it worth reading even if it’s similar to other series? 

The Witchlands Series by Susan Dennard

I LOVED Truthwitch, the first book in this series, because of its complex magic system and world building and the amazing characters. Once the second book, Windwitch, came out, I got it and started to read it inmediately, but after reading a few pages I was not enjoying it at all. I don’t know if it wasn’t the right time to read it or if I should have read a bit more pages or what. I loved the first book enough to give the rest of the series another chance, but I do want to know if you think it’s worth it or not.  Is the rest of the series as good as the first book? Does the series go downhill after the first book? 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series by Laini Taylor

When I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the first book in the series, I really enjoyed Laini Taylor’s writing and I was fascinated with the world she had created. Nonetheless, the romance in the book put me off of reading the rest of the trilogy, because it was so insta-lovey and I didn’t like Akiva, the love interest, that much. I’m still really intrigued about the world and it’s not like I didn’t like the first book, I gave it 4 stars, but I’m not sure if I liked it enough to suffer through the romance. Does the romance get better in the rest of the series?  Should I continue reading the series even if I didn’t like the romance?

Falling Kingdoms Series by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdom is the lowest rated book I included in this list, I gave it 3,5 stars. I had a lot of trouble with the first half of this book, I found it boring and I even stopped for two month halfway through before finishing the book. I didn’t like any of the characters and some of the relationships made me uncomfortable. But the world left me intrigued and even when I finished the book and I thought it wasn’t that good, I was still interested in reading the rest of the story. Do you think the next books get better? Or are they really similar to the first book? Do the characters develop in the other books of the series? 

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

I enjoyed The Name of the Wind a lot when I read it, but then I check out the second book in this series from the library three times in the last few years and I haven’t read it. I don’t know what is it – maybe the fact that it’s so long or maybe it’s because the third book isn’t out yet and we don’t know when it’s coming out- but I haven’t been able to read this. I feel like I have forgotten a lot of things about the first book and that worries me because I think I’m gonna feel lost while reading the other books in the series. Is the second book good? Should I read it now or wait until the release date for the third book is announced? 

Brooklyn Brujas Series by Zoraida Córdova

I liked the first book in this series, Labyrinth Lost, because the premise and the characters were wonderful. I was interested in the second book of the series until I found out it is a companion novel, it follows other characters within this world and a totally different premise. I’m not sure what to feel about that and my excitement to read the second book, Bruja Born, has declined a lot.  If anyone has read it, is the second book as good as the first? Do we see the characters from the other book? 

Please let me know your opinions about these series! Are they worth finishing?

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9 Books with Bisexual Female Characters

In this post, I will talk about 9 books with bisexual female main characters: 3 books I have read and loved, 3 books on my tbr and 3 books releasing soon. I haven’t read that many books with bisexual characters, but it’s something that’s important to me and I will definitely be reading more books with bisexual female characters in the future.

3 BOOKS I HAVE READ 

The book that inspired this list is How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake, I think the way in which  Grace’s bisexuality is described in the book feels real and honest and the way her bisexuality is treated and viewed by other characters as something normal is so meaningful. here’s my full review.

I recently read Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee and the main character in this books is not only a bisexual girl, she is also biracial. Sadly, it’s not that easy to find positive representation of a bisexual, biracial girl, so I think this book is so incredibly important.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova is especially important to me, because the main character is not only bisexual, she is latinx like me. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres and finding a fantasy book that I can relate to means so much to me.

3 BOOKS ON MY TBR 

I’m so excited to read Keeping her Secret by Sarah Nicolas, it sounds like Parent Trap (the movie with Lindsay Lohan, which I have watched countless times and loved it all of them), but instead of sisters the girls like each other and one of them is bisexual. I think that’s all I need to say about it.

I have heard so many good things about Ash by Malinda Lo from Riley @RileyMarie that I can’t wait to read it. Also, I love retellings and more when the main character in the retelling is bisexual.

Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz has a black, bisexual female main character that has an eating disorder.  Finding a book like that it’s so rare that I can’t wait to read it. I’m so happy this book exist.

3 BOOKS RELEASING SOON 

27 Hours by Tristina Wright sounds amazing, the synopsis is great but the fact that it has a bunch of queer teens in space saving the day has me really excited to read it.

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate has a bisexual, Asian-American female main character and it has accapela and I’m intrigued by that. I love books where there’s music and I want to see how they incorporate the accapela into the book.

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde sounds amazing, I have heard the representation is spot on and I know it includes not only a bisexual female character, but also positive representation for autism (this is #ownvoices).

Have you read any of these books? did you enjoy them? Are you planning on reading any of them? Do you have recommendations for books with bisexual female characters? 

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