Top Ten Tuesday: Standalones I Wish Weren’t

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

I started doing the actual Top Ten Tuesday for this, then realised I had not really finished many series’ for a good long while, or the ones I’m reading are in the middle of the series so they’re not completed. Instead, I’ll highlight ten standalone books I wish were in series, instead. I’ve also stuck to six, rather than ten, as it’s actually kind of hard to find books that would make a great series, but aren’t already the start of one!

Top Six Standalone Books I Wish Were in a Series

Together We Burn – Isabel Ibañez

I really loved this book, and the world it’s set in. Zarela was a great character to follow and someone I really, truly rooted for, and I loved the way her relationship develops with Arturo. I can fully understand why it’s a standalone, and it is a great, contained story, but I’d squeal with delight if a sequel was ever announced.

Read my review of Together We Burn

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Nettle & Bone – T. Kingfisher

This is another one that doesn’t really need a sequel, but I would love to know what happens to Marra next. I couldn’t help but completely fall in love with her while reading this, as she does everything she possibly can to save her sister. It’s honestly an excellent book, a wonderfully dark fantasy novel, and still sticks with me now even though it’s been a fair while (and who knows how many books!) since I read it.

Read my review of Nettle and Bone

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Witch, Cat, and Cobb – J.K. Pendragon

This book was so lovely and such fun to read, even for a novella I found myself totally sucked into this world. It’s another instance of a fully wrapped up story that I would just love to see the next stage of, especially with characters as enduring as these. Fantasy novellas are really hard to pull off, needing to squeeze in so much worldbuilding in such a short space, but Pendragon really does excel at the shorter format.

Read my review of Witch, Cat, and Cobb

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Cinderella is Dead – Kalynn Bayron

This was such an intriguing though messed up world, and the way the story ends the main plot is completed, but the world itself has been completely changed. Seeing more of these characters after the events of the novel would have been really interesting, but I can understand why it’s a standalone.

Read my review of Cinderella is Dead

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Whispers in the Dark – Laurel Hightower

A standalone horror/thriller novel written by a fantastic writer, Whispers in the Dark takes great care with its characters, and Hightower brings them fully to life on the page. I loved Rose, I loved her family, and I loved her journey through this novel. I can understand why there’s not a continuation, and Laurel has put out as equally awesome stuff since, but I do miss spend timing with Rose.

Read my review of Whispers in the Dark

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Good Omens – Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman

I loved this book, and the TV series was an absolute delight. Though it’s great we’re getting more of the show, it’s a shame we couldn’t have had more of this wonderful collaboration between two great writers. The book is such a delightful parody of end-of-the-world prophecies and stories, and with the wit of these two combined it makes for a truly great reading experience.

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So there we have it – six standalone books that (I think) would have made great books to start a series from. But there are plenty of other series’ to dig into, anyway. What this has made me realise is I really need to get better at continuing to read ones I have started, if I liked the first book. But there we are. Maybe if this comes up again I can come up with at least 5 ones I have read by that point!

What about you – are there any standalone books you wish had been continued, or a book series you wish hadn’t ended?