Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
- Wildefire: The cover is a beautiful and mysterious piece of art (look above) and the synopsis promises crazy times with teenage mythological Gods. It still angers me how shallow and underdeveloped the actual story was.
- Ditched: What seemed like it would be cute and light was surprisingly substantial and moving.
- The Name of the Star: Fun with the paranormal became a story about making sure you are a person you respect and not letting the world just happen to you. (+ bits of intriguing history)
- The Knife of Never Letting Go: A boy chased by an army on an alien world seemed like an interesting sci-fi that would be full of action. BUT this is also a story about truth and hope and all the big questions.
- Atlas Shrugged: I thought this super thick philosophy classic would hold important insights but be a typical dredge. Really, though it has some monster monologues, it was rather enjoyable with amazingly complex characters, moments of extreme action and shocking reveals.
- Divergent: I thought this interesting debut would be fun but ultimately forgettable in the sea of dystopians. What I discovered were characters I instantly connected with and cared about + can't put it down action.
- Anna and The French Kiss: I thought chick flick in Paris, fun but typical fluff. This story is actually unforgettable and moving, and the Paris in the story puts you there in the bustle of a real word, not a fantasy. A world you'll never want to let go.
- The Hunger Games: I thought this would be a remake of older "fight the man" stories (Brave New World/1984/etc) with teenagers; unoriginal. But surprise: Katniss is pure, caring, witty, independent and affecting; and the story was able to stand on its own and excite revolutionary thought.
- The Fault In Our Stars: I thought nerdy coming of age, emotional with great characters (ya know, typical John Green). It was those things but it was also a real life epic. Life changing without the use of extraordinary circumstance.
- Haunted: I sought interesting tales about the dark in some people. The disturbing result bore into my brain making all people a little frightening after reading a story about what people will subject themselves to for financial freedom and then later survival.
Have you guys read any of these, and were you as surprised as I was? Any suggestions on what surprising novel I should delve into next or completely avoid?
Great list! Makes me want to read Anna and the French Kiss even more :)
ReplyDeletehttp://ajarndtbooks.blogspot.com/
If you haven't read it definitely do. Everything people are saying is true, it lives up to the hype.
DeleteAnna and the French Kiss and The Hunger Games were both on my list too - Anna was mainly because of the cover, and THG was too - though I also wasn't too excited about the idea of kids killing kids - thankfully that's not all of what it's about!
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Divergent, though it wasn't on my list. It was often mentioned in the same breath as THG, and I was a bit worried about it being same-y. Thankfully it's completely different and I loved it just as much!
Great list!
Tara @ Hey, Tara
Hunger Games was a complete shock to me. It shouldn't have been, given that the author is adored by so many of my students for other fabulous series. I just thought that I was too good for Hunger Games!
ReplyDeleteHere's my
Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Were Deceiving. I'd love to have you stop by!
Anna is on my list too! And I amglad to hear that about Atlas Shrugged because it is on my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this list! I loved Anna, Knife, THG and Divergent! And I have Atlas Shrugged sitting on my bookshelf (its been there for years) still neglected and unread. I need to get it read at some point!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: http://www.pocketfulofbooks.com/2012/04/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-were-totally.html
Yay for the Knife of Never Letting Go! You are so right, this series is so much more than an action-packed sci fi story!
ReplyDeleteI actually rather liked WILDEFIRE, but I'm with you on THE HUNGER GAMES!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant list this week :) I'm your newest follower.
Thank you.
DeleteA lot of people seemed to love Wildefire, so to each their own. I guess I just expected too much being a mythology buff.
Also I was really upset about the indication that being a size six is large. I don't think that's a good thing to portray to teenage girls, size six is a beautiful and healthy size for many, so is a size 8 and for some a size 4, ect. It depends on your body type. Anyway... that's enough.. if people want to see a rant I reviewed it.
The Knife of Never Letting Go was surprisingly amazing. It is one that is really awkward to try to explain to people though...lots of misconceptions can happy in a synopsis - it's one you just have to read =)
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