Top Ten Books I Loved More (or Less) Than I Expected
I used books that I’ve read in the last year or so to narrow things down.
(In no particular order, except how I happened to arrange them in the pic. Links go to my reviews)
LOVED ‘EM
1. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction definitely isn’t my go-to genre, and this book is formatted kind of strangely—with lots of short chapters from each character’s perspective. But that didn’t stop me from LOVING this book! It was a bit of a surprise.
2. Written in Red by Anne Bishop
Even though I’d seen lots of my blogger friends raving about this series, it just didn’t appeal to me for some reason. Urban fantasy is hit or miss with me, and I just wasn’t sure about this one. And then I read it. LOVE THIS SERIES!
3. A List of Cages by Robin Roe
I didn’t have any real expectations at all when it came to this book. The cover was just okay, in my opinion, and it didn’t look like a me book. Um, I was wrong.
4. The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron
My mom read this book before I did, and she (ironically) kept seeming to forget about it—including the title. I sort of assumed it wasn’t that great, so I was blown away with how much I loved it.
5. The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I wasn’t sure to expect with this since I had only read Armentrout’s Lux Series. I hadn’t really felt inspired to pick up her contemps in the past, but this one was so super pretty I couldn’t resist it (yep, I really am shallow like that when it comes to covers). I absolutely adored the book!!
6. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
This is another author that people have been raving about for forever, but I just wasn’t feeling inspired to pick up her books. I decided to change that with This Savage Song, and I am now completely convinced!
7. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
This book looked good, but I had NO idea how wrapped up I would get in the mysteries surrounding the three queens. Apparently I’m not the only one, since my Spoiler-Filled Discussion of this book is my most visited post of all time. I actually plan on reading this one again before the next book comes out, which I NEVER do, so …
NOT SO MUCH
8. The Memory Book by Lara Avery
Everyone loved this book—even my friends who I ALWAYS seem to agree with … but not me. I just could not connect to the main character, and I found myself feeling really let down when I read this one. It was a rare two-star read for me.
9. MILA 2.0: Redemption by Debra Driza
I actually haven’t reviewed this one yet, since I just read it pretty recently. I really enjoyed the first two books in this series—I wouldn’t say that they were absolute favorites, but they were great reads (and my son loved them, which was an extra bonus since we could talk about the series together). But this last installment was … boring. Until the very end, when it was disappointing.
10. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
Okay, nobody jump down my throat here. I didn’t dislike this book, but I just didn’t love it the way everyone else seemed to. It was good, but I was a bit puzzled by the romance and had a really hard time getting behind it. I actually liked the second book much better than the first.
Honorable Mentions:
Aftermath by Clara Kensie and Die for You by Amy Fellner Dominy
I actually thought I had Aftermath on my list, but looked back at the picture and realized it wasn’t there. I won both of these books along with Hello? from Liza Weimer. I usually let books I’ve won sit, but for some reason, I read all three of these right away, and I really loved all of them!
What books either impressed you way more than you were expecting or let you down? I want to know!
I love that you loved Salt to the Sea, that is super encouraging. I agree completely with you about the Wrath and the Dawn. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t wildly memorable or stand out to me.
Salt to the Sea was really special. It continues to stand out in my mind nearly a year after reading it, which is unusual for me.
I still need to read The Wrath and the Dawn, and I’m hoping to make time for that duology in the next month or so. Fingers crossed I like the first book a tad more than you. ♥ But I’m SO glad you fell for TPWF more than you thought you would. It was such a wonderful story!
I just wasn’t as enchanted with it as everyone else seemed to be. The romance seemed a bit farfetched to me because of the way it was set up (though I will say that this is a retelling and it was set up that way in the original, so …)
Ooh nice picks! I too was pretty surprised by how much I enjoyed The Others series (so far!) as it’s a bit slower paced than I would prefer yet it really works for the story! LOL! Though I rather enjoyed the Wrath and the Dawn and was really struggling with Three Dark Crowns. When I saw how much everyone loved it, I was trying to figure out what I missed. Though I still love Kendare’s books and will likely read the sequel to it because the ending was one of my positive points on it! LOL!
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I guess Three Dark Crowns can’t be for everyone—for some reason, it totally caught my imagination and got my brain spinning with all the possibilities, which I love!!
I loved two of the books on your not so much list, but you know, different people, different tastes, and that’s ok. I really want to read A List of Cages, as I keep hearing good things about it. I commend you on your list. I tried, but could not come up with ten.
Let me guess, Memory Book and Wrath & the Dawn? I know I’m the black sheep on those!
I just took a picture of A List of Cages at the bookstore yesterday, which is how I remember books that sound good that I can’t afford just yet. I love Sepetys and Schwab. I actually like TWATD better than the sequel, so, yeah, there’s that. I still struggle with the fact the the main characters have sex the first night they meet, when she is hoping to kill him, and he is planning to kill her, but BESIDES THAT I liked it.
I had trouble with that aspect of the romance–and the illogical fact that he would spare her life for the story. I just didn’t get it, though I did eventually connect to the romance. It just took me quite a while!
Fun topic! One thing that I absolutely love about following book bloggers is finding books that I wouldn’t normally read, giving them a shot, and then LOVING them.
Yes, I’ve found so many books that way!
I had a tough time with The Wrath and The Dawn at first, too. But I grew to love it more as time goes by. Lol. Probably should check out A List of Cages. I’ve been hearing wonderful things!
The romance just didn’t work for me … at least not until I got well into the book.
I LOVED A List of Cages too!!! SO MUCH! I haven’t read The Forgetting yet, but I really want to!! HAHAHA about your mom forgetting the title of it. Too cute!
It was pretty hilarious, actually. Every time we’d talk about the book, my mom would say, “What was that book again?” And I’d remind her, “The Forgetting.” And then we’d just end up laughing.
Three Dark Crowwwwnnnsss! I love that book. I also loved The Forgetting. And Wrath and The Memory Book, but ah well, can’t win ’em all! I still need to read Salt to the Sea though, it sounds SO good. OH and A List of Cages!
Yes, we did disagree about The Memory Book. I guess we can’t agree about ALL the books, right?
I adored TWATD so much more than I expected and even though I was super excited for TDC it was so so underwhelming and disappointing for me! Great post Nicole!
So I guess we were opposites on that series. I just wasn’t inspired by TWatD until the end … so then I went into the second book with lower expectations and really enjoyed it.
Oh my gosh Three Dark Crowns is one of those books it is SO fun to talk about, speculate, etc. And your spoiler post has a TON of great theories and ideas, most of which I’d never have thought of. Plus she made the sisters likable enough that it’s hard to pick one, or at least it was for me. I didn’t hate any of them for example.
Exactly! I keep thinking to myself, “That spoiler-filled discussion is such a huge hit, I need to write more of those.” But most books just don’t inspire that sort of exciting theorizing and I haven’t felt compelled to write others. TDC seems special in that way.
I already have The Others, Salt to the Sea and A List of Cages lined up to read. Actually a List of Cages is already on my nightstand 🙂 I added the Forgetting and The Problem with Forever to GR! I have never been able to get through any Victoria Schwab yet 🙁
Great list Nicole 🙂
Hope you love them all!! I haven’t read any of Schwab’s other books yet, but I definitely loved that one.
A bunch of these are on my TBR list. I agree about The Wrath & The Dawn. I found the romance kinda unrealistic and creepy.
Yeah, I thought so too.
Great list. There is only one on your list that I have read The Wrath and the Dawn. I have to say that I agree. I didn’t dislike it, I enjoyed it, I just didn’t love it as much as everyone else seemed to. I didn’t get the romance at all, I just couldn’t buy it for some reason. A lot of the others are ones I want to try, so I am glad most ended up being ones you really enjoyed.
That’s how I felt about it too—I was expecting to adore it based on everyone’s rave reviews, but I had a hard time getting into it because of the romance.
I just read A List of Cages last week and it was such a tough read. I shed some tears over that one. I’m not even sure I can say I enjoyed it, but it definitely made an impact and hurt my heart. I loved The Problem with Forever. There was such growth in Mallory. And Rider was sweetheart – so determined to be there for her and protect her even though he had never dealt with his own past. Loved it. I started The Wrath and the Dawn last year but just wasn’t connecting with it. I still plan on trying again at some point, though.
I agree that A List of Cages was a really tough, heartbreaking read. I loved it in a crush my soul sort of way.
I looooved The Wrath and the Dawn, but I can definitely understand why some people don’t. You have a few books on your Love list that are on my TBR. That makes me even more excited to read them!
I know, these lists can be terrible for my TBR because there’s always more books I really want to read!
I’m totally with you on The Memory Book! I liked the idea for the story but the MC just kind of ruined it for me a little. Couldn’t connect with her, plus I felt like everything in this book happened way too late!
I LOVED This Savage Song, it was the first of Schwab’s books that I read too and although I haven’t yet read any more I have bought them all and they are sat waiting on my bookshelf!
I thought I was the ONLY one who didn’t love The Memory Book. That was my issue too—I just couldn’t connect with the MC at all. I knew I was supposed to be sad about what was happening, but I didn’t actually feel anything.
Written in Red is so good right! I’m kinda struggling with This Savage Song but I think it’s more my mood. I liked the Wrath and the Dawn but I didn’t love it either. I still need to read book 2 but hopefully that’s good! Great list, Nicole.
I’ve seen a few other people who struggled with This Savage Song too. I guess it can’t be for everyone.
I listened to Salt to the Sea. I wasn’t aware the book was formatted differently. Next time I see a copy, I’ll have to pick it up and take a look. I loved the story. But I’m WWII historical fiction nut. 🙂
The last book that took me by surprise that I like more than I thought I would? I’ll leave the link in CommentLuv. 🙂
It wasn’t so much that it was formatted differently—just that each chapter was relatively short and it moved from POV to POV relatively quickly. I wasn’t sure at first that I was going to like that, but I ended up really enjoying the story, even told in that somewhat fragmented way.
Oh, I am right there with you with A List of Cages. I thought for sure I’d like it, but I wasn’t expecting it to move me as much as it did. Written in Red was a good one, too. I love that series.
Great list. 🙂
Yes! It was shocking but really amazing!
Aftermath is greatttt! And I recently loved This Savage Song a whole lot too. And it’s a shame you didn’t like The Wrath and The Dawn, but we can’t be over the moon about everything we read all of the time, so makes sense 😉
I’m glad to find someone else who read (and loved) Aftermath!
I absolutely love Victoria Schwab, I have not read This Savage Song. You should read the two books in her Archived series. I read both of them recently and they were AMAZING! She has the third one plotted and outlined and everything, but isn’t sure when she will write it. Ugh, annoying. And I didn’t expect to love Three Dark Crowns as much as I did either. It was darker than I expected too, but it was also so good.
So, is the second book in the Archived series an end or does it leave things up in the air? I’d hate to get invested if I might have to wait years for the next book! (Unless the storyline feels complete after just two books.)