YA Series Books Where The Sequel Is Better Than The First

Cursed by the DawnThis captivating finale to the New York Times bestselling Dream by the Shadows series is filled with revenge, romance, and redemption. Perfect for fans of Adalyn Grace. Follow Esmer and Erebus into the dark as they attempt to achieve the impossible: forge an army from the broken and unravel ancient horrors before it’s too late. 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 ...