Books that are part of a series–whether that’s a duology, trilogy, or even longer–face much higher expectations than standalone novels. When standalones are finished, whether they end up good or bad, the story ends. You move on, never have to think about it, and pick up the next book. When it comes to series, you likely expect the sequel to deliver or be even better than the first.
Unfortunately, that’s not happening to many sequels. In fact, there’s this term called “second book syndrome” where sequels either fail to meet expectations or perform worse than their series openers. This usually happens when authors expand on the world introduced in the first book, but instead of drawing readers in, they push them away with too much exposition.
Thankfully, it’s not the case with every series.
The books included here fare far better than series starters, per reader consensus and critical response. Others in here are in stark contrast to the first book, while some, though they aren’t as different, are still significantly better. Being a critic myself who reviews books for a living, I relied on my own exper...
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