Top Ten Tuesday Seventeen – Top Ten Books That Surprised Me

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/ meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This weeks topic is one that I was excited about, but also one that I knew I wouldn’t have ten books for.  I don’t really know why, but its very rare that I am really surprised by a book that I didn’t have that high expectations for, likely because I tend to just ignore books that I don’t think I will enjoy.  My list is also shorter because I decided to just focus on books that surprised me in a good way, and not ones that disappointed me, as I would much rather talk about books I love than books that I didn’t really enjoy.

And so, here are six books that surprised me in a good way!

Despite this book having so much hype surrounding it when it was first released, because I had yet to really explore the online bookish community, I missed all of it, and so only ended up picking up this book because I liked the sound of the synopsis and wanted a good summery read.  So when I ended up absolutely loving this book and being so shocked by its huge plot twist that I didn’t know what to do with myself, its safe to say I was pretty surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this book I picked up on a whim.

This is one that I actually first picked up from the library because I remembered hearing some people talking about it and spontaneously decided to give it a go, something I am very glad I did.  This book was action-packed, addicting, and full of shocking plot twists I did not see coming.  I loved everything from the setting to the amazing characters, most of whom I fell instantly in love with, and so I am very happy that I decided to give this book a go.

If I’m completely honest, I’m not sure if I would have even ended up reading this book if I hadn’t recieved in a Fairyloot box, as I had just heard such mixed things about it that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bother reading a book that by that point I was pretty sure I was not going to love.  And I can’t tell you how wrong I was about that.  This book took me completely by surprise with how fast paced it was, with how many amazing complex characters it introduced me to, and how quickly I fell in love with its writing style.  So I’m definitely grateful to Fairyloot to introducing me to one of my favourite books that I otherwise likely would have never read.

If anyone asks for just one book that really surprised, then this one is definitely my go-to answer.  Despite adoring The Raven Cycle series, for whatever reasons I still didn’t expect much from this book, and so went into it with pretty low expectations.  And I can’t tell you how wrong I was.  I adored this book so much, with its gorgeous writing style and amazing characters that just instantly made this story another one of my all time favourites.

Okay so this one may seem a little strange, as not only was this book highly anticipated and hyped both before and after its release, but it was also on my five star predictions post.  So how was a surprised by a book that I was expecting to give 5 stars?  Because as much as I was expecting to really enjoy this book, nothing could have prepared me for how much this book would end up meaning to me.  This book just made me feel so understood and made me really emotional because of how well it portrayed mental illness in such a brutally honest yet realistic way.  So okay, I didn’t go into this one with low expectations.  But nonetheless, I definitely was not ready for how much I was going to end up adoring this book with all my heart.

Finally, this is one that I only picked up recently, and as with all of the books on this list, was one I was not expecting to love as much as I did.  This book is so far out of my comfort zone that I was so sure that because of that I was going to find this book really hard to read and to really enjoy.  I’d also heard a few mixed reviews, but in the end I clearly ended up absolutely adoring this beautiful story that I am so glad I stepped out of my reading comfort zone for.

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What books surprised you in a good way?  Have you read any of these – what did you think?

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