Welcome to the fifth month of the reading/blogging event Flavia and I are hosting, Calendar Girls! It’s a monthly event designed to ignite bookish discussions between bloggers based on the monthly theme. For more information, check out my or Flavia’s launch posts!
And in case you missed it, we made quite a few changes to Calendar Girls last month. Check here for all the details! Oh! Don’t forget to sign up for the monthly newsletter! 😀
May’s Theme:
Best Sequel!
Hahaha! So, funny story. I am the worst person to be hosting a bookish event where we talk about books because I obviously do not read enough. 😂 As you may have noticed, I have had very few options for the last couple months. This month was even worse because I almost NEVER actually make it to the second book in the series! Hahaha! Well, here goes nothing. :p
Specials
by Scott Westerfeld
I might be kind of cheating with this one because it’s not like… a sequel… o.O I mean, it is, but it’s the third book in the series. You feel me? Well, whatever judgement you decide to pass upon me for my choice, I won’t be changing my mind.
Now, I know many people have a deep-rooted hatred for this series, but I personally quite enjoyed it. I picked this one over other possible sequels because it didn’t just attempt to extend on the story that began in the first book. Additionally, it wasn’t simply an interlude from one book to the next (to make the plot timeline feasible. -.-) However, Specials offers its own plot, its own developments among the characters, and really dug deep into the issues with the modern world. It was brazen, blunt, and epic. And it offered a realistic ending. ;p
Anyone else read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld?
If you haven’t, you should!
Calendar Girls’ picks for Best Sequel!
Flavia – A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Deanna – Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty
Mandy – A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
Matxi – Frostbite by Richelle Mead
Thai – Unleashed by Sophie Jordan
Lauren – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Shanah – Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Darque Dreamer – Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
Sophie – The Rose &The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
Melanie Noell Bernard 
I know I’m late, but I decided to join the fun!! https://darquedreamerreads.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/hunting-prince-dracula-by-kerri-maniscalco-joining-the-calendar-girls/
I have not heard of this series or author before.
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No worries! Calendar Girls are welcome to post their pick any time during the month. Interaction just tends to be higher at the beginning (and we post a poll for best pick on the 3rd Monday. So we like posts to be in by then. 😉 )
P.s. Would you like to go by ‘Darque’ or ‘Darque Dreamer’ or something else for the Calendar Girls list? I want to make sure before I add you. 🙂 (probably helpful for my discussion highlights, too. :p )
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Darque Dreamer is fine, unless its too long, than we could just go with Dreamer 😉
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I’ve heard such great things about Scott Westerfeld! One of these days I will pick up one of his books!! It was so much fun participating in this for the first time! I look forward to June! https://bionicbookwormblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/03/calendar-girls-blog-event-may-2017/
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😄 Yay! I hope you enjoy Westerfeld and thank you so much for participating! I’m happy you like our event and we look forward to seeing you next month and at the chat.
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Will give a proper comment tomorrow when I have more time but for now I wanted to share my link: http://twobirds1blog.blogspot.ca/2017/05/calendar-girls-may-2017-best-sequel.html
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Gosh these covers have changed since I read them (and now I feel old o.o). But I 100% agree with this choice. I like the Uglies fine and dandy, but the Specials just took this series to a wholllllllllle new level. I totally remember this book being what started the love for me for it. Now, I’m off to go contemplate my life choices because I now say, back in my day. XD Wonderful choice, Melanie!!
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Haha! I don’t think you’re as old as you think. 😉 I was in high school when this series was popular, but I just remember this series more vividly because I only just read it last year. (Also why I have the new covers and not the old covers, but I like the new covers better because they offer a more dystopian, futuristic vibe than the original covers.)
And I completely agree. Specials brought a new angle to the world and the plot and, obviously, the genetic enhancements. Though, we lost one of my favorite characters in this installment. 😥 P.s. Have you read Extras?
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Great post Melanie! And It’s fine that it’s not the second book in the series, hehe. It might still count as a “sequel”? I don’t quite know. I’ve read the first book in this series, and was left sort of intrigued. I never continued due to time constraints, but after reading your post, I think that I may have to get to reading the rest of the books ASAP! I also read Spill Zone (a graphic novel by Westerfeld) just a few days ago and am completely in LOVE! We shall have to see how I feel about the rest of the Uglies series when I get to it 😉
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Hee hee! Like what is the exact definition of ‘sequel’ anyway? ;p But that’s okay. We’re the co-hosts. We can totally bend the rules. Haha!
Honestly, I know a lot of people who didn’t like this series. For one, many of them didn’t like the slang that was commonplace for the characters, but I personally believe (from a world-builder point-of-view) that the slang made the world. Additionally, the plot and the genetic modifications become way cooler later on in the series. It’s definitely something worth continuing if you’re interested.
Though, I’m not sure Pretties was very good. It, like most, felt like a 2nd book interlude.
Not much you can do about that, though, unfortunately, but my FAVORITE character is introduced in book 2. So, that’s the important part. 😉
Oh! I have a couple other Westerfeld books I’m looking to read. I’ve owned them for over a year, but… well, you know TBRs. Hahaha! Hoping to get to it at some point… once I figure out which box it’s in. And that’s really cool! I didn’t know Westerfeld did graphic novels. Might have to take a peak at that.
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Yeah we the hosts! We can do what we want! power hungry laugh
Hehe. And omg. I LOVED the slang. I thought that part was so cool. I always love when authors come up with slang for their made-up worlds. It sounds as if I definitely need to keep reading 😉
Ahhhhhh I shall keep that in mind when I’m reading. And heck yeah I know TBRs hahaha. They are looming and ever-growing! And yeah I highly recommend that graphic novel. It was so so cool! And creepy >:3
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I loved that series! I got a bunch of girls in my dorm to read it because I was obsessed with it when it first came out. lol Here’s my post for this month: Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty https://deannawritesabout.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/calendar-girls-best-sequel/
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Hahaha! I was quite young when the series originally came out. It was a time when I didn’t even like reading. So, I actually only got to this series like… last year? :p But I’m glad I did. I know a lot of people didn’t like it for the dialect choices, but I thought they really enhanced the world that the series was in. What did you think of the slang?
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I think in books like these, sci-fi ish books, having a new language makes sense. Like in the future people aren’t going to talk like we do, so imagining how teens in the future would talk is interesting to me and makes the books, like, almost inclusive. Only people who have read the books understand it.
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Exactly. I mean, look at how language has evolved over the last few decades. Just 40 years ago, teens were saying ‘groovy.’ That has clearly fallen out of style and soon enough so will the stupid things like ‘yolo’ and ‘swag.’ waiting for the day
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haha I’ve heard about this series, but I don’t plan on getting to it… the premise, although being a dystopian, beeing based on beauty the way it was… I was just not interested at all!! But I am glad you liked it and that you actually went ahead with the series instead of staying on the first book!! 🙂 🙂
My post will be going up on a couple of hours and it turns out I had more choices than I thought I would!1 Unlike next month! Zero choices for then!haha 😉
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https://matxibooks.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/calendar-girls-may/
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Yeah, I could understand not wanting to touch this series because of the obvious pretentiousness of the society, but I think that’s actually what drew me in. Beauty standards are something we deal with a lot in modern society and I really loved how Westerfeld wasn’t afraid to delve into the topic and deal with it. But to each their own. 😀 I liked it and I know plenty of people who didn’t.
Hahaha! No choices for next month? Guess that means you need to hop to reading some plays. 😉 I know a few because of British Literature class in high school (which I chose to take. #geek :p )
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haha we definitely didn’t have a british literature class in here and if I would have I probablly wouldn’t have read it! I was such a bad reader…hehehe Unless I read a play in spanish… Because I know a bit about Shakespeare and that is, thta I don’t understand it!! 😂😂😂
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Hahahaha! I understand. Brit Lit can be quite difficult, especially since language has changed so much since those works were released/popular. Still, it was kind of fun learning about all the slang. I think that’s the best part. I think many who have read books from that time agree we should bring back at least the insults. 😉
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hahaha It always to learn insults in other languages… Don’t they say that’s the first thing we learn about other languages?¿? 😂😂😂
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