Book Vent

Shepherdjel · August 2013

So I just finished Emma's Secret by Steena Holmes (will post a review shortly!) for book club. I finish the entire book and read the notes from the author in the end and it hints towards the fact that this book was written because the "first one" Finding Emma was such a huge hit. So basically this was a sequel but it was not marketed as such ANYWHERE! This makes me upset because after hearing this I check out Finding Emma and it was about the search to find their kidnapped daughter where Emma's Secret was when she was home and adapting to being back. I don't feel that there were questions unanswered but i'm sure that if I read the first one first maybe certain things would have made more sense?

Would this bother anyone else? After finding this out I searched everywhere and it truly doesn't say anything about being a sequel but to me it sounds like it is...why do you think the author didn't market it as such?

nocturnalintimacy · August 2013

Yes, this would definitely bother me. I'm guessing the book club didn't know that this was a sequel either.
Is it solid as a stand-alone or were you confused?

CeeCeeSugaPie · August 2013

That would definitely irritate me. I like to read stuff in order.

Shepherdjel · August 2013

nocturnalintimacy said:

Yes, this would definitely bother me. I'm guessing the book club didn't know that this was a sequel either.
Is it solid as a stand-alone or were you confused?

Yeah Book Club didn't know searching it or randomly finding it, it is clearly advertised as a standalone! I don't think there was much confusion, I feel that some additional things just may have been explained in the previous book. Not any lingering questions or anything... i don't know if I should pick up the first one...I mean it would be backwards :-/

GilliC · August 2013

I used to review a lot of series books for the newspaper, and we always stated that it was part of a series and addressed whether it worked as a standalone or not.

I have no problem reading part of a series if it does work standalone, and our book club did this with Bring Up the Bodies (none of us had read Wolf Hall). Also, I can understand not marketing it as a sequel, if the author and publisher feel it can stand on its own merits.

However, I don't understand why they would actively hide the fact that it functions as a sequel. There are definitely people who like to read things in order (even if I'm not one), so I don't see why they wouldn't be open about it. Usually if the books are separate but related entities, publishers just mention something in the blurb like, "Author returns to Setting to..." or "Character returns in..." etc

Shepherdjel · August 2013

GilliC said:

I used to review a lot of series books for the newspaper, and we always stated that it was part of a series and addressed whether it worked as a standalone or not.

I have no problem reading part of a series if it does work standalone, and our book club did this with Bring Up the Bodies (none of us had read Wolf Hall). Also, I can understand not marketing it as a sequel, if the author and publisher feel it can stand on its own merits.

However, I don't understand why they would actively hide the fact that it functions as a sequel. There are definitely people who like to read things in order (even if I'm not one), so I don't see why they wouldn't be open about it. Usually if the books are separate but related entities, publishers just mention something in the blurb like, "Author returns to Setting to..." or "Character returns in..." etc

This is exactly all I was looking for, I thought it was odd that there wasn't anything.

booknerd226 · August 2013

I would be irritated, especially if I liked it. I like reading books in order. They should have mentioned it's book 2 even if it can stand alone.

Ali2b1g · August 2013

I found this really great website that lists books by author, etc.

Here is the link: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/steena-holmes/

You can use the search feature to look up any author who has written fiction. I hope this helps in the future! I use it all the time!

Shepherdjel · August 2013

Ali1b1g+1 said:

I found this really great website that lists books by author, etc.
Here is the link: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/steena-holmes/
I hope this helps in the future! I use it all the time!

So she even lists it as a series but it isn't stated anywhere...weird! Thanks for the link

Ali2b1g · August 2013

Shepherdjel said:

Ali1b1g+1 said:

I found this really great website that lists books by author, etc.
Here is the link: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/steena-holmes/
I hope this helps in the future! I use it all the time!

So she even lists it as a series but it isn't stated anywhere...weird! Thanks for the link

No problem.

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