Let’s Talk Bookish: What Makes a Good Sequel?

Hey, everyone, happy Friday! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I have another Let’s Talk Bookish. I’m really excited for this topic, so let’s get into it.

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and is hosted by Rukky and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss various topics and share our opinions. Today’s topic is What Makes a Good Sequel? (suggested by M.T. Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left). For the first part of this topic, I’ll be listing what I think should be included in a good sequel, and then talking about each point. Then I’ll answer some of the other prompt questions.

Character Arc

The characters in the sequel need to reflect what they were at the end of book one. They shouldn’t be how they were at the beginning of book one, they should be how they were at the end. Stuff happened; they changed. (Or at least, I hope they did). Also, their character needs to be consistent. It isn’t realistic if a character was selfish and self-centered in book one, but then suddenly the nicest person ever in book two. An example of a sequel that didn’t have consistency in characters is A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer, the second book in the Cursebreakers trilogy. In the first book, A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Rhen tried so hard to not be the villain. And he grew so much. And then in the second book, it’s like his personality changed, and he had no problem with being the bad guy. He was pretty horrible in the second book.

Plot

Another thing that makes a good sequel is plot. I don’t want the same thing over again, the second book needs to have its own plot and structure to it, with some sort of goal in mind. Also, while I do think it’s good to refresh people on what happened in book one, it only needs to be small bits. And it can be added in throughout the story, when necessary. It doesn’t need to be a huge info-dump summary of what happened in the previous story. That gets tiring to read.

Novelty

The sequel should introduce something new—a character, a problem, a location, whatever. If it’s just the exact same thing as the first book, it’s going to be a little. . . boring? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but we want something that wasn’t done or introduced in the first book. Something that will keep people interested.

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Do you feel like most sequels are worse than the original, or is that just an old wives tale? 

I think it depends on the book. Some sequels I like, and others I could like without. I feel like something that authors do when they’re making their sequel is that, since people already read book one and obviously liked it enough to read book two, they make the beginning of the second book slightly slower paced.

I also just really like the first book in a series, so I normally like the first book better anyways. This isn’t saying that sequels are worse, but I just personally enjoy first books more. Especially in fantasy series, the first book is your introduction to the world this author has created, as well as the characters, and it has this “magical” sense to it. Like with the Harry Potter books, that scene when they’re on the boats in the first movie, it’s so full of wonderment and awe. The movies make it come to life even more. Anyways, I usually tend to like first books better than sequels, but not because the sequel is bad.

Do you get excited about sequels or do you prefer standalones?

Again, it depends on the book. Fantasy, most definitely I want a sequel. For other genres, it depends on how much I liked the book and characters. If I wasn’t really invested in them, I’d be okay with it just being a standalone. If I fell in the love with the characters, yes I would want another story with them in it.

Conclusion

Sequels can be done well and they can be enjoyable. I think it really all depends on the author and how they write the book. I’ve read some awesome sequels and I’ve read some not-so-good sequels. It really just depends on each book and how it was written and like the stuff I mentioned earlier.

What do you think of sequels? Do you like them, or do you prefer standalones?
Chat with me in the comments below!