Top Five Wednesday | Second Book is Best

This week's Top Five Wednesday is the top five 'second book in a series'. We've talked about series that went downhill, and series that are worth it, but which series were best in the middle? I love this topic because we often talk about how trilogies suffer from 'second book syndrome', aka the worst book in the series because it's a filler. It's refreshing to get to talk about the authors who manage to do this well.

1. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I absolutely loved the first two books in this trilogy, but the final book was one of the most disappointing endings I've ever read. I really didn't like the supernatural elements and I feel like it worked so much better as a psychological thriller. This book was so fast-paced and tense. It genuinely made me feel scared and it also completely messed with my head. It was exactly what I wanted the book to be. It was easily the best book in this trilogy.

2. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake

This is the second book in the Gormenghast trilogy (the first book being Titus Groan). This is a high fantasy trilogy that my sister recommended to me for years. I finally read them this year and loved them. I really enjoyed the highly descriptive language and the characters were fantastically fleshed out. The final book in the trilogy is very strange in a sad way. The author got dementia and it really seeped into his final book. Unfortunately, he died before publication so his son had to compile the final book which is much shorter than the other two. I do love the first book, but the second book is easily the best.

3. Hunger by Michael Grant

The Gone Series by Michael Grant is one of my favourite YA series ever. I do love nearly every book in this series equally but the second book is easily a 5 star book. If you've not picked up this series because you don't want to invest time in a long series, or because you're sick of YA Dystopian, please give these books a go anyway; they are fantastically written and nothing like any other YA I've ever read.

4. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Don't get me wrong, I loved Ender's Game, but Speaker for the Dead blew me away. I know there are issues with this author, but this book was amazing. I loved the exploration into different worlds and the mystery of what is happening on the planet. I've never read anything quite like it before and it left me needing the rest of the series.

5. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Now, this book is only last on my list because I know it'll be on nearly everyone's list. This is probably the best second book in a series that I've ever read. It's easily the best book in its own trilogy and it's probably one of my favourite books of all time. Sarah J. Maas (despite some issues generally known), can write so well and her characters are fantastic. Rhysand is absolutely wonderful and I loved that she can twist her characters so you see very single side of them. She has a skill for writing incredibly three-dimensional characters that you either love or hate.

So, those are my top five! Let me know what your Top Five are below, or if you have a blog post then link it! Just in case anyone is new to this, Top Five Wednesday was created by Lainey (Gingerreadslainey on YouTube) and is now run my Sam (ThoughtsonTomes on Youtube), so that people can share more of their favourite (or sometimes least favourite) books in an interesting way. Sam creates weekly topics for each month so Bloggers and YouTubers alike to discuss books. The group which lists the monthly topics can be found here! And if you want to see more of my previous Top Five Wednesday Blog posts, you can click here!