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TTT: 10 Characters I’d love an update on

Lori

I really struggled with this one. I had to go through my entire goodreads “read” list. Twice. But here are my ten characters (or people, in the case of #10) that I want to know more about.

Spoilers kind of abound. So proceed with caution. There won’t be spoilers in the titles, though, so you are safe to scan and avoid any books that you haven’t read…that you still might want to.

#10–Lauren Manning, Love Greg and Lauren, Greg Manning; Unmeasured Strength, Lauren Manning

Lauren Manning was one of the survivors of 9/11. Her husband wrote a stunningly raw book about her recovery, and she later followed it up with her own account. She is fiercely private, though, and it’s really impossible to find consistent updates about her life. I totally respect that, but I’m always looking.

#9–Oliver Barrett, Love Story and Oliver’s Story, Erich Segal

We last saw Oliver Barrett, IV, in 1977’s Oliver’s Story, which was set about five years after Jenny died. Oliver was in his late twenties by then, maybe early thirties. That haunting last line, “Sometimes I ask myself what would I be if Jenny were alive. And then I answer: I would also be alive,” stuck with me all these years, and I wonder how Oliver fared during the rest of his life. As a widow, I know how hard it is to move past the pain of the life you thought you were going to have, and, honestly, I felt just like Oliver for the first few years. So I wonder, maybe as much for myself as for Oliver, if he’s still walking dead all these years later…or if he did heal, and found someone. I hope he did.

#8 Tres Navarre, the Tres Navarre series, Rick Riordan

I’ve recently whined about the way that Riordan abandoned this series in favor of the Percy Jackson books. I hold out hope that once his kids are all grown, and he grows tired of printing money, he will give us the series end that we deserved.

#7–Mickey Bolitar, the Mickey Bolitar series, Harlan Coben

Coben wrote this trilogy as a YA spin-off to his Myron Bolitar series. I loved seeing the characters I had grown ever so attached to through the eyes of Myron’s nephew. But for some reason, Coben stopped after three books, and has seemed to indicate that we are through with Mickey. I mean, I get it. Mickey will grow up…but I hope that we get to see more of grown-up Mickey in the written-all-too-infrequently main series.

#6–Willow Chance, Counting by 7s, Holly Goldberg Sloan

I want to see a grown-up Willow. This book was so brilliant, and I want an update.

#5–Daisy Jones, Daisy Jones and the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid

All I need is one more epilogue. I want to see what happens when Billy and Daisy meet for coffee, all those years later. Maybe I’ll get it in the TV show..

#4–Amy and Nick Dunne, Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

*EXTRA SPOILER WARNING*

I know how the book said it WOULD end. I just want to know how it DID end. Did Amy and Nick stay together for all those years? Did they end up killing each other? Did they stay together forever, once they realized that no one else was dark or twisted enough for either of them?

#3–Aervyn, Modern Witch series, Debora Geary

This whole series stopped right in the middle after Geary’s marriage imploded. And while I want complete resolution for all the characters, I am especially sad about not getting to see Aervyn grow up. I know I’ve said this before…but she promised. 😭

#2–Rob Ryan, In The Woods, Tana French

I’ve talked before about the structure of the Dublin Murder Squad series, where a secondary character from a previous book becomes the main character in a subsequent book. But we never revisited Rob Ryan, the protagonist of the first book. And of all the characters, he’s the one I really want to know more about.

#1–Lee Fiora, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

This one is personal, because I felt about Prep the way an entire generation of young women feel about Taylor Swift lyrics. This book made me feel seen in a way that was exhilarating and more than a little troubling. I felt like someone handed my diary from my freshman year of college directly to Curtis Sittenfeld, and she just wrote it up, barely even changing the names. I mean, Lee is my little brother’s name, for goodness sake.

So, I’m extra curious as to how Lee turned out. Did she turn out like me? Cause, I mean, I turned out OK…and wow, I hope she did, too.

So that’s my ten…what character’s fate keeps you up at night? Preach on in the comments.

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.

38 thoughts on “TTT: 10 Characters I’d love an update on”

    1. I mean, we sort of got updates on everyone…but there was that one thing that Camila told Julia to tell Daisy to do…and it’s the potential of THAT that keeps me up at night.

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    1. Right? I loved everything about that book…but this tiny detail haunts me. I mean, it’s just one line, at the very end of the book! And it keeps me up at night. 🙂

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  11. I don’t know what is worse – a series that the author never completes or an ending that leaves you with questions about the character! I really enjoyed reading your list and I’d be just as nosy over #10, desperate to know “where they are now”!

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  12. Ooh, good list! Yes, I do wonder about Gone Girl and whether they just stayed together miserably for the rest of their lives. I feel like I read a sequel to Love Story ages ago?? Checking Goodreads… yup, Oliver’s Story. The fact that I don’t actually remember what happened is probably a good indicator of whether it was actually worth remembering!

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    1. The thing is that Oliver’s Story only got us through till he was about 30 or so…and really, its end was as depressing as the first book. So I’d love to know if he ever found peace. But since the author is long gone, this is one I’ll never get satisfaction on. Unless it was in Erich Segal’s will or something… 😆

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  14. Your thoughts about #2 resonated with me—I really enjoy series where we follow one character for a book or two, and then switch POV characters and follow a secondary character from the prior books as a main character for a few books. But the series I like which do that all touch in with the former MCs for a little bit. I can’t imagine a series not checking in. I think it would probably bug me a lot.

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT earlier!

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  19. I hope you get your Riordan story! that’s always a bummer when a series gets abandoned or set aside for something more popular.

    Daisy Jones seems like one that needs that epilogue. and Gone Girl… yes.

    I’ve been wanting to trey that Tana French series too.

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  20. I’ve only read 2 of those – but yes. Updates on Willow and Aervyn please. Though a tidbit on Lizard while seeming more of Aervyn’s story would be much appreciated. I came into that world through her spin-offs and I want to see how that map app developing realtor, who doesn’t realize quite how amazing she really is, develops into marriage (and eventually motherhood?).

    But I’m failing to come up with more right now. I’d have to spend a lot more time scouring my goodreads lists to try to come up with some. Too many books I’ve read still have sequels coming out, so seems silly to list as wanting more. Others I’m satisfied with where the characters ended up, or (embarrassingly) I can’t even remember much of anything about the book (and why did I give it 4 stars?), and still others the plot gripped me more than the characters and with that wrapped up I don’t know that I want more.

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  21. Into the Woods was a great choice: you’re quite right, Rob was never picked up again. I don’t imagine him getting on terribly well… definitely in need of some serious counselling that boy! I do love the balance in that series between the realism of the police procedural and the possibility of something ‘other’ going on!
    This is my TTT this week: books with particularly open and inviting endings which invite you to wonder where they are now.

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  22. All your books sound like they are in desperate need of an update. I have only read “Love Story” (and “Oliver’s Story” but I love your thoughts about it. Would love to know all that, as well.

    Thanks for visiting my TTT which is a top twenty this week.

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  23. I have read two Harlan Coben books and like his style. I think I need to read more of him, he does leave you wanting to know more about the characters.

    I didn’t even think about Gone Girl but YES – all of what you want to know – I wanna know, too.

    I enjoyed reading In The Woods by Tana French, it wasn’t one of the favorites in my book club. I was excited that there were other books but then it was nothing about the previous story or characters except Cassie…I just, what? I was disappointed (not that the other books weren’t good just thought they would be “sequels”

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  26. I’ve only read one of the books here, Counting by Sevens, but I absolutely loved it and agree that an update on an adult, or even just a teen Willow would be AMAZING! I would totally read it if it came out as a book!

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  28. What a great list. I haven’t read Segal’s books but I know of them, and you pose some really interesting ideas/thoughts to ponder. (also, that IS a haunting last line, wow)

    + I LOLed at “I hold out hope that once…he grows tired of printing money, he will give us the series end that we deserved.” I will hope this for you on principle.

    + Counting by 7s is a great pick for an update!

    + I wasn’t personally a fan of Prep, but it’s cool that it resonated so well with you that it leaves you wondering if the character followed a similar life path. It’s always lovely when a book connects with a reader like that.

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  29. Despite ALL THE HYPE, I have never felt curious about the Daisy Jones book or something like Gone Girl. Hope you learn that “extra” info. in the Daisy Jones show. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland on this week, Lori.

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