It’s Top Ten Tuesday again!  It’s a weekly bookish list hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week’s topic is:

Books That Surprised Me

For this week, I’m going to feature 5 books that surprised me because I loved them, and 5 books that surprised because, well, I didn’t love them.  I’m going to start off with the ones I didn’t love, because I want to end this on a positive note, lol.

Okay, let’s get started!

Books I’m Surprised I Didn’t Love

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I was supposed to read this book for my high school’s book club, several years ago, but I could not get into it.  Everyone else in book club loved it, but I ended up DNFing about halfway through, which really says something because I don’t do that often, especially back then!  I am tempted to try re-reading this book again now that I’m older, and my reading tastes have expanded, but we’ll see…

 

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

The Kill Order

I know The Maze Runner series has mixed reviews, but I was someone who really enjoyed it.  So, you’d think I’d like The Kill Order, right? Wrong!  There was so much action in this book, yet I found myself bored!  I didn’t care about the characters, and I didn’t care what happened.  I only finished this one, because I was waiting to see how it connected to the rest of the series.

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

 

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Unpopular Opinion Time: I read A Court of Thorns and Roses because the hype for this book is STRONG!  Everyone I know who has read this book has absolutely loved it.  It’s loosely based off Beauty and the Beast, and it sounded so intriguing.  Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t the one for me.  I liked it, but I didn’t love it, and I don’t think I liked it enough to continue the series.

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

 

These Broken Stars

 

This is another unpopular opinion, but I didn’t love These Broken Stars either!  I was for sure I was going to love this one, and I was so excited to read it.  Unfortunately, something in this story was missing for me.  I ended up not loving it nearly as much as I expected to, which was so disappointing!

 

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

The Accident Season

Okay, for this book, I did actually enjoy it.  However the premise was so intriguing, I thought I was going to love it, and I didn’t.  I was left feeling slightly confused and like something was missing, but I could never put my finger on what it was.

 

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

 

Books I’m Surprised I Did Love

The You I’ve Never Known

I’ve always been intimidated by Ellen Hopkins’ books because of how large they were and their subject matter.  However, when I accidentally read The You I’ve Never Known, without realizing the author, I really fell in love with the story and her writing style.  I did not expect to really enjoy this book, and I ended up loving it!

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

 

The Coronation

I expected to like The Coronation, but it really took me by surprise how much I enjoyed this novel!  This book is 460 pages, and I read it in less than 2 days, which is unheard of for me!  Once I started reading, I just got so invested in the story, and it truly exceeded all the expectations I had for it.

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

 

Beastly

Beastly is one of those books that I picked up expecting to like, but not really feeling anything towards, like a mediocre TV movie you enjoy but will never watch or think about again.   However, that was so not the case!  I absolutely adored this book.  It’s another retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  I actually read it not that long after A Court of Thorns and Roses, but, to my complete surprise, I ended up loving Beastly so much more.  I admit, it was a little cliche, but it was such a nice read, it was refreshing!

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie

Because of my love for all things Nancy Drew, I was really unsure of whether or not I would enjoy this edgy, noir, graphic novel.  To my delight, though, I actually really enjoyed this one.  The Big Lie is definitely different from any other Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book out there, and I was unsure at first, but it is really well done!  I hope there will be more in the series!

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

 

The Afterlife of Holly Chase

Just like with Beastly, The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a book that I expected to enjoy well enough, but not think much about.  It was Christmas themed, and so I thought it’d make a fun holiday read.  I was really surprised with how much I ended up enjoying this one.  It had so much heart and a great cast of characters!

 

 

Check it out on Goodreads!

 

 

---

Those are some of the books that surprised me!  Tell me about some books (for better or worse) that surprised you!

Thanks for reading!

---

Follow me on:

Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Litsy (@thecalicobooks)

Buy from:

The Book Depository

(I receive a tiny commission if you follow my BD links!)