Yes, there are only nine books on this list, it is what it is. There were a ton of series that I finished up this year, but not all of them stood out to me in a way that was WOW BEST SEQUEL material, so I didn’t want to stick a tenth one in there just to fill the spot. There were several, though, that had me sitting back in awe when I finished, baffled by the fact that a) those series were over, well and truly over, and b) holy magic, look how far these characters have come. Let’s dive in and take a look!

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo was truly everything and more that I wanted out of the Nikolai duology. I mean, right there, nail on the head, because I didn’t at all expect how Nikolai’s end was going to come about (he’s not dead, calm down, I realize that was bad wording), but I am so hyped about what happened. This had me legit screaming and crying during so many different moments, and there was one night, in particular, where I had to put the book down early, cry into my pillow, and then go binge watch some GMM on Youtube because my feelings were shot to hell.

I had such high hopes for We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal, and let me tell you, every single one of them was exceeded, and a solid portion of that was due to the final chapter, thank you very much. Getting to see my beloved Altair happy and safe is just?? Thank you, Hafsah, I am indebted to you forever. This duology was truly stunning, and it’s made Faizal an auto-buy for me, and I am weeping with joy over the concept of her next book.

Not gonna lie, The Queen Will Betray You by Sarah Henning was kind of a surprise for me. I mean, I knew I was going to like it, but I was also really unsure how the story would progress given that we’ve left A Princess Bride behind, but holy magic, this was so good. And I didn’t know it was a trilogy?? I’m so hyped for the next book, and this was such a fantastic middle book that I’m honestly considering rereading them before it comes out.

I have been fully thriving with Lori M. Lee’s Shamanborn trilogy, which I also didn’t know was a trilogy, and Broken Web was an outstanding middle book. I definitely want to read Lee’s middle grade series now because this series has just been so damn good that I want to read everything else she’s written. This was not only action-packed, but it propelled the characters’ stories in so many different ways, and the emotional impact it had was next level good.

I was just talking about The Serpent’s Curse by Lisa Maxwell in a recent post about why I love slow books, and hi, it’s me again, not realizing anything is longer than a duology, this is a quartet?! I am so hyped. I was about halfway through this book when I was suddenly realizing that there definitely was way too much to happen still, and it was reallllll slow, thus me discovering that it’s a quartet, and we get more of Esta & Harte! This was insanely long, which meant that I was freaking out for almost 800 pages straight, and it was glorious.

Lol @ me putting Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan on this list before I’ve even read it, what a mood. I had so much faith in this book that it was one of the first books I put on this list, despite the fact that I read it at the very last minute. And honestly? This was not only a perfect finale, but a perfect trilogy. There is not a single thing I would change about this series, and if I had to pick one favorite in this list, it would be this.

Okay, okay, okay. Y’all know how much I love Katy Rose Pool’s The Age of Darkness trilogy. I’m sure a solid amount of you are even excited that Into the Dying Light is out in the world so that I’ll stop talking about it (unlikely), but this means you also know how much I was hyping this book up in my head. It was my most anticipated release of the year, and it’s one of my favorite series ever, and it fully exceeded my expectations. Again, a solid portion of that is definitely devoted to the end of the Jude & Anton’s story because THANK YOU, KATY, I APPRECIATE THE CARROTS SO DAMN MUCH. Ugh. This has been such a good sequel year.

I know a lot of people who were meh about Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell, but I really appreciated Simon’s character arc. His reactions to pretty much everything felt very deserved, and they made sense for what he was going through. Yes, he was an actual hot mess the entire book, and he’s got some serious issues to work on, but, by the time we get to the end, Simon & Baz are actually communicating in a really healthy way, and that is so far from what they’ve ever done that it was really nice to see them go on that journey together.

And last, but in no means least, Bridge of Souls by VE Schwab was a truly sweet finale to the Cassidy Blake trilogy. This one was the only one that I thought was longer than it actually was, but I’m satisfied with this ending. There was a little ambiguity with Jacob, but Cass has come a long way, and she seems to have much more solid footing now. I could so easily see this adapted as a Supernatural kind of show, which expands well beyond the material presented because this had a very monster of the week vibe by the end, but with Cass as a solid character that actually knew what she was doing.