Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday: Books That Surprised Me!

Dini @ dinipandareads42 Comments

We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is: Books That Surprised Me (in a good or bad way)

Following last week’s post about unpopular onions, I wanted to focus this week’s TTT on books that surprised me in a good way! Until one very popular book that I have unpopular opinions about snuck its way in and I’m currently feeling too under the weather to search out a new book, so we’re going with it! These were all books that I loved and gave at least 4-stars to although most were 5-stars—except, of course, for the one I disliked.

I was shocked by how much I loved Normal People by Sally Rooney. I read her debut and loathed it and not because of her unique writing style without quotations. I was surprised by how much the messiness of these characters hit me in the feels and how deeply it left a mark on me (and continues to years down the line).

check out my full thoughts!

I don’t know if I immediately fell in love with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid but I can remember the surprising moment that took this in a totally different direction that I loved. It was so good and I cried an ocean of tears.

check out my full thoughts!

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this a million times on my blog by now, but Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins was my first book by this author and I immediately fell in love. The way Ms. Bev teaches me about history but also gets me to fall in love with the characters, has me cackling at the banter, and swooning with the romance? Truly, a delight.

check out my full thoughts!

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree was a book I was not expecting to love as much as I did. I was lucky to get an ARC when Travis was still managing his promo and wow, I fell deep into my cosy fantasy era after finishing this! I adore this book so much.

check out my full thoughts!

Sadie by Courtney Summers was my first audiobook and it absolutely blew me away. Not only did I finish the audiobook in one sitting (thanks to getting stuck in traffic) but it made me realise just how incredible audiobook productions can be! If you love the podcast format, I would highly recommend checking it out.

check out my full thoughts!

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is the one and only non-fiction book that I finished in one sitting. I picked this up thinking it sounded interesting and then I couldn’t put it back down. I gobbled it right up! 😂 It was fascinating and I loved how much Grann made it feel like reading fiction.

check out my full thoughts!

I had heard mixed things about We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and since I read (and loved) it, I haven’t heard many people talking about it. That said, the twist in this had me shook! 😂 What a ride this was.

Ah, The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas. I should’ve had this on my unpopular onions post last week but I totally forgot about it. I don’t know what everyone else was reading but after I finished this I wonder if we had read the same book because this was not it for me. Oof, this made me so mad! 😅

I’m so glad that I found a ‘replacement’ middle grade fantasy that I personally feel deserves so much more love than it gets: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. This one feels just as whimsical, magical, and empowering as HP, but I have to say that I love it even more.

check out my full thoughts!

The Poppy War Series by R.F. Kuang is one of the most popular Asian inspired fantasies of the last few years and rightfully so. However, I was initially very surprised by how dark it was! I had no idea the “grim dark” sub-genre existed until this book and well, the name is apt. 😅 It’s still one of my favourite series of all time but wow, yeah, when people say “dark” in their reviews, they really mean it!

And that’s it for the books that surprised me! Have you read these books and did you feel the same way about them?

42 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Books That Surprised Me!”

  7. Oh my gosh!! Evelyn is one that surprised me so much! I thought there was no way based on the cover. I still think that cover is the worst and does not represent the book. lol. Spanish Love Deception was a buddy read and that book was so disappointing. I remember how sad we were because it was all over the place! I read Legend and Lattes solely on your recommendation! 🙂

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    • Haha yeah, the cover and I think even the synopsis give you a very different impression of what the book could be about. I mean, it was about that but it was also so much more and I loved how it went there 😍 Yeah, I remember reading it with you and Julie and being so disappointed. I felt like we read a totally different book than everyone else who absolutely loved that book to death, lol. 😂

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  9. I’d say I had the same surprised reaction to SADIE and to NORMAL PEOPLE as you. There was so much sex in the NP book you’d think I would have hated it but I found it quite entertaining and profound. I couldn’t find your link on Top Ten Tuesday this week. Did I overlook it, oris it not there?

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    • I’m glad that you ended up enjoying despite all the sex 😂 It was such an interesting observation about human behaviour. People, especially younger people, can be so messy as they grow and I think Rooney captured that so well with NP! I’m glad that you found my link on TTT because I thought I linked up but I wouldn’t at all be surprised if I didn’t and just thought I did. My brain has been very scattered lately 🫣

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    • I have to admit that the last book was a bit of a let down to me, especially because of how amazing I thought the second book was. I mean, it wrapped things up in a way that I know only made sense with the way things were going but I still just wanted a bit more… Still, it’s one of my favourite series overall! I hope you enjoy it if you end up picking it up 🙂

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  14. Great list, Dini! I’ve been eyeing Evelyn Hugo on my shelf for a while now, so I might just have to pick it up, I’m intrigued by the twist. Also 100% yes to The Poppy War, I was not prepared for just how brutal and dark it would be, but I loved it.

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    • Ooh, I hope you love it, Becky! I’ve been meaning to re-read it at some point (no concrete plans) so if the mood strikes and you’d like to do a buddy read for it, just let me know! I’d be down 😃 Yeah, I think TPW should definitely come with stronger content warnings especially since the first book was wildly brutal and dark, but I love that series so much. So good!

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      • Gah! My own fault, but I actually read it before you commented lol. I would have loved a buddy read because I had SO many thoughts, but it was brilliant anyway, so thanks for the recommendation.

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  15. I was furious at the end of Normal People. I was hopeful for those two.I didn’t love the book, but it was well written and was a train wreck I could not look away from. We Were Liars = all the tears. I believed I bawled. Sadie, so heartbreaking. These were all pretty dark for me.

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    • I was definitely mad about the ending as well, but I think it made sense for the characters and how messy they were. They deserved but didn’t deserve each other! 🤭 To be honest, it would normally be a story that I probably wouldn’t enjoy but something about it with Normal People worked for me. It really got me deep in my feels! And yep, pretty sure I bawled reading We Were Liars too 😂

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  19. Nice list, Dini. I read Killers of the Flower Moon and really liked it. Then I tried to watch the movie, and gave up. It was so dull. I’m glad these were all good surprises for you.

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  21. Would it surprise you to hear that most of these are on my TBR? Probably not by now 😂 I saw the adaptation of Normal People and really enjoyed it so I’d like to give it a try sometime. I’ve seen the lack of quotations mentioned in another book by the author but I thought it was just that one, I didn’t realise it was a recurring style of hers. I’ve seen such mixed things that I’m kind of nervous tbh 😅

    How I haven’t gotten to Evelyn Hugo yet I simply don’t know. That’s literally my number one unowned standalone to try though.

    I haven’t read Sadie but I was pleasantly surprised by This Is Not A Test by the author. It was such a different read for me as it was this strange mash up of zombie fiction and contemporary yet it really worked for me and came with some major emotional damage from what I remember. I majorly need to try more by the author (especially as I own a bind up of two of her books).

    I couldn’t get into the Killers Of The Flower Moon movie but it’s one of the few non fiction books on my TBR as the story seemed like one that should have fascinated me. I just wasn’t keen on the approach in the film.

    I’ve definitely seen the mixed responses to We Were Liars but it’s become a recent high priority read for me. I’ve wanted to try it for a while anyway but not only does it have an adaptation coming out but it features the guy whose going to play Haymitch in the next Hunger Games movie. So I figured it was definitely time to get on with it.

    I still need to try Nevermoor but it’s one of the main MG series on my TBR. And I can’t believe I haven’t read Poppy War yet either. In that case I kind of get why though. I read Babel first and wasn’t a fan so now I’m incredibly nervous 😬 I so want to love the series though.

    Great list 🥰

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