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Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Were Totally Deceiving


Happy Tuesday everyone!  This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is a freebie.  I have free rein to select any topic I would like, so I'm going to select a past topic that I've missed.  I'm selecting Books That Were Totally Deceiving, which was originally done on April 10, 2012.  I'm going to break this down by deceiving in a bad way and a good way.

Deceiving In A Bad Way:



The Sinister Urge by Frances Newton - The description of this book completely neglects a huge portion of the story.  It sounds as if it's about romantic feelings between two members of a broken up band.  It's actually about the incestuous relationship between siblings who were in a band.




Mrs. Hudson's Diaries: A View from the Landing at 221B by Barry and Bob Cryer - With my love of all things Sherlock Holmes, I felt deceived by what could have been an awesome addition to the canon - mostly it just falls flat with an annoying running commentary.


Incarnate (Newsoul #1) by Jodi Meadows - I fully expected the romance angle based on the description, but I felt deceived because the reincarnation mystery was pretty much completely dropped after the boy saved her life early on in the story.


Unbreakable (The Legion #1) by Kami Garcia - I knew that this had been compared to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural.  Buffy was even thanked for making it possible in the acknowledgements.  I felt deceived because it was a Supernatural  rip-off, and it wasn't even mentioned in the acknowledgements.  There are zero to few to direct references to Buffy, but it's officially acknowledged while it draws very heavily from Supernatural which isn't.



The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1) by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare - I felt the most deceived by the authors on this joint venture.  With their combined talents, I figured there could be so much more to it than essentially regurgitating Harry Potter.  Don't get me wrong it was fun, but I couldn't help but count all of the similarities.

Deceiving In A Good Way:



The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle - This was a great pleasant surprise.  I had fully expected a contemporary with a dash of mystery based on the summary, but I got a fantastically creepy mystery with a hint of the paranormal.



The Spirit Chaser by Kat Mayor - Going in I knew there was going to be a bit of romance element, even though that based on the summary I wouldn't have guessed at it.  I felt a bit deceived because the romance, in places, gets pretty graphic and takes a front seat.  Overall, though, it all works out in the novel's favor.



The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - Mostly, I feel deceived by this book because the summary does not do the novel justice at all.  I probably also partially deceived myself due to my normal thoughts on the Oprah Book Club books.  However, this is now one of my all time favorites.


Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - This was my first foray into Stephenson's work and I loved every second of it.  Most deceiving is the book summary simply because it doesn't begin to touch on half of everything covered in this fantastic cyberpunk novel.


Divided We Fall (Divided We Fall Trilogy #1) by Trent Reedy - I wasn't expecting this to be such a superbly written pre-dystopian novel.  Again, this one's on me, I think, but when I listened to it on audiobook it was paired with The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, which is a good classic read alike, but just didn't make it come across as timely (which it really is) in my mind.


Have you read any of these novels?  Did you feel deceived in some way or another by them?  What topic did you choose this week?  Thanks for visiting my corner of the internet - all comments are appreciated and I try to respond to everyone!

Comments

  1. Based on this, I think I'll have to move The Poisonwood Bible and The Accident Season up on my TBR list! :D

    Mel @ Reviews In A Pinch

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  2. Really want to read The Accident Season, I'm hoping to get to it this year!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/26/top-ten-tuesday-41/

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  3. I would add Artichoke's Heart to this list! It really sucks when you get excited for a book, and once you sit down to read it, it turns out to be a dud! Great Top 10!

    My TTT! :)

    Weird Girl and What’s His Name.

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  4. I've been meaning to read The Accident Season. It sounds awesome. I've enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver books in the past, but never got to The Poisonwood Bible (even though I do own it). Great list!

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    1. The Accident Season was quite an unexpected surprise! I hope you'll enjoy it along with The Poisonwood Bible. Thanks for visiting!

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  5. YAY! Great choice of topic this week. I always love freebie week as people always do such amazing topics! I actually haven't read any of these myself. I actively avoided The Iron Trial because it sounded far too much like Harry Potter, I am really glad I did now.

    Here's my TTT post if you want to check it out. I picked non-book romances I would love to see get book adaptations.

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  6. I have to admit, I don't like deceiving books. Surprises and twists are good, but I don't like it when it feels like the author pulled the rug out from under my feet. That being said, I do want to read Incarnate - I'll just make sure I keep in mind that it's mostly romance.

    My TTT

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    1. Exactly. I hope you'll enjoy Incarnate more than I did - which you may since you know going in about the romance.

      Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I haven't thought of deceptive books before. What really irritates me are the little descriptions on the books placed by the editor which make just about every book as a classic-in-waiting. Things like "If you like Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar, you will love this book." Talk about setting the expectation bar high.
    My TTT: Hottest Books in My Library right now.

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    1. I know. If there was reader blurbs, I would be much more likely to believe it...

      Thanks for sharing!

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  8. I can see why The Sinister Urge is called that if that's what it's about. LOL. And the Iron Trial- I didn't realize it was a rehash so that's good to know. I've eyed it once or twice since I liked the cover.

    Glad the good surprises were nice reads!

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    1. Yeah, makes sense when you know that...also there were space ships used as scene breaks - I had no idea what to make of those as they were completely irrelevant.

      The Iron Trial's not bad, it just not original.

      Thanks for visiting.

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  9. Yes to The Accident Season, I did not expect a lot of what I got out of that book. Nice list!

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    1. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to more from Fowley-Doyle!

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  10. You've got such a great list here! The Accident Season has been on my radar ever since I've heard amazing things. I remember you reviewing/mentioning The Sinister Urge before..ugh. That had to be a shock! One book that deceived me (and in a bad way) was Freak of Nature by Julia Crane. I thought I was going into a great sci-fi novel that explored the moral rights and wrongs of science, and instead I got a teenage insta-love plot with science on the side. Thanks for visiting my blog earlier! :D

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    1. Thanks! The Accident Season was well worth the read - one of my favorites of 2015!

      Yeah, it was quite a shock...

      I've seen Freak of Nature floating around before - never really had the urge to read it, but at least now I'll know what to expect if I ever pick it up.

      Thanks for visiting my blog, too. :)

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  11. I love the two different directions this topic an go in :D great picks also! I read Unbreakable forever ago and don't actually remember anything about it - I'm the biggest fan of Supernatural (whereas I haven't watched Buffy) so maybe I should check it? Or not? I'm still deciding that one XD same with The Accident Season because I've heard so many amazing things just about everywhere, while originally I wasn't all that interested from the synopsis.
    Thanks for visiting Enchanted by YA earlier <3

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    1. You may want to - I would definitely be interested in what another fan of Supernatural thinks of it - to me though it was a ripoff of the show.

      At first, I wasn't all that drawn in by the summary of The Accident Season either, but then I started reading it and it completely sucked me in!

      Thanks for visiting my blog, too.

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  12. Great list. I need to read several of these books myself.

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  13. I've heard only good things about The Accident Season, so I would love to give it a try.
    Great choice of topic :)

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    1. Thanks! I would like to hear what you think of it! :)

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  14. I like your take on the TTT this week, lots of great choices. Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.

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  15. I am definitely adding The Accident Season to my TBR. Great post!

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  16. I have not read any of these though I have heard great things about The Accident Season. It has already been added to my TBR.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Amanda

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    1. Thanks for visiting my blog, Amanda! Happy reading!

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  17. Really great topic! I've been curious about a few of these. Glad you divided them into bad and good categories. I've seen The Accident Season around, and definitely want to read it. Good to know it's worth it.

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  18. Great list! Interesting topic! Mrs. Hudson's Diaries would have been a cover buy for me, now I don't think I'll buy it after all.

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    1. I was so excited for it, but it was entirely underwhelming. Thanks for visiting.

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  19. That's the worst when you go into something and it's not what you thought or what was described. You definitely sparked my interest in several of them. I have the Poisonwood Bible and I need to get moving on reading it.

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  20. Great topic! I hate when books are deceiving in a bad way, but it's so fun when it is in a good way. I haven't read any of these books yet though!

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  21. What a great topic! It makes me crazy when the book description doesn't really match the feeling of the book or is deliberately misleading -- although I don't mind so much when I end up loving the book anyway!

    Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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  22. I like the topic and how you focused on both positive and negative examples. You've made me quite interested in The Spirit Chase which is a book I hadn't heard of! I am also now pretty curious about The Iron Trial, lol. I'm up for a rip off of Harry Potter! I do agree with you though - those authors are excellent and creative enough they could have come up with something a little more original. Didn't Cassandra Clare write HP fan fiction online before becoming a published author?

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    1. The Spirit Chaser is so awesome - I was lucky enough to be a part of the blog tour. :)

      I believe Clare did, yes..

      Thanks for visiting!

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  23. This is such a fun topic because we all have those books that have deceived us. Thanks for sharing this!

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    1. Thanks for visiting my blog! I had a bit of fun putting this together.

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  24. I really like your topic, great choice :)
    I haven't read a single book from this list, though some of them are on my TBR.. making me doubt if it is worth it XD

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    1. Ah, well, maybe you could add some of the positive ones. :)

      Thanks for visiting!

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  25. Oh my. Incest does seem like a rather important thing to leave out of a blurb lol. And it does bother me when a novel is too similar to another novel or tv show. The book that deceived me the most recently was The Three Sisters by Sonia Halbach. I was expecting horror from the description and instead got teens on a mystery adventure. I wouldn't have thought I'd like that, but I ended up loving it! Great topic choice :-)

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    1. Thanks! I know what you mean - although sometimes if it's done well it still works.

      Glad you ended up liking it! :) Thanks for commenting!

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  26. I need to read The Accident Season asap. I really like your topic this week. Great list. Thanks for sharing, and for stopping by my TTT earlier. :)

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  27. Ooh, definitely an interesting topic, and good choices too -- the ones I know, anyway!

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  28. It's sad when books are deceptively bad.:P
    I haven't read any of the books you mentioned, but they look interesting. The latter part, that is.;)

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  29. Ugh, The Iron Trial made me mad. Like, rageball mad.

    I am looking forward to The Accident Season! I have it checked out from the library right now. :)

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    1. Yay! I hope you like it!

      I don't think I was that mad about The Iron Trial - more like irritated and annoyed.

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  30. This is a great topic! The Sinister Urge sounds like it was a huge deception. I'm assuming they probably did that on purpose. I don't think it would've probably sold as if if they had called out that little plot point.

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    1. You're most likely right on that.

      Thanks for visiting!

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  31. Great post! I hadn't heard of some of these, so I'll be looking them up, especially the ones on your "deceiving in a good way" list! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Haha! Yes, I hope you'll like them when you get around to them!

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  32. Ugh, totally agree with you on Incarnate.

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    1. I really wanted to like it, too...

      Thanks for visiting, Ally!

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  33. Ooh, I've heard good things about Poisonwood Bible! And I must read The Accident Season soon ...

    PS I'm doing a big blog-reading catch-up, can you tell? XD

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