Happy Tuesday everyone! Welcome to the first Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's topic is Books That Surprised Me (In A Good Or Bad Way). The first half of my list are good surprises, while the second half are the not so good - each title is linked to my review. Here we go, in alphabetical order by title:
Good:
Duel: Terror Stories by Richard Matheson - I primarily read this short story collection for the title story because I love the movie adaptation. While the story is a bit different, I still found myself pleasantly surprised by the original source material.
Revival, Deluxe Collection Volume 1 by Tim Seeley - I wasn't all that sure what to expect with this, but I knew I had to try it after it showed up in a Chew flipbook. Luckily it turned out to be an excellent combination of horror and noir.
Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel #1) by Josiah Bancroft - Senlin's journey as a character over the course of this series is an excellent surprise.
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor - Welcome to Night Vale is one of my favorite podcasts and as it turns out the novel was a pleasant surprise to see be in Night Vale in this other format, though, I did listen to the audiobook which was narrated by Cecil Baldwin, aka the Voice of Night Vale.
Yellow Locust by Justin Jaschko - I read this dystopian cli-fi novel in exchange for an honest review. It won't be released until May 8th and I wrote the first review - such a pleasant surprise!
Bad:
Autonomous by Andy Marino - Okay, this has been promoted as a funny road trip book with a great group of friends and plenty of action and thrills good for ages 14 and up, but it wasn't any of those things as it turned out.
Divine Intervention (The Dining And Social Club For Time Travellers #1) by Elyse Kishimoto - I was fully expecting to love this time travel novel, but unfortunately the story and characters were quite flat, plus it's supposed to be a YA novel but it sounds like the narrator is all of ten years old.
Fire and Fury: Inside The Trump White House by Michael Wolff - Though honestly I can't say that I was expecting anything else.
Flawed (Flawed #1) by Cecelia Ahern - I was fully expecting to like this just going on the reviews, but unfortunately I DNF'd it. The 39% I managed to make it through just didn't hold my attention - Celestine's voice was so boring and the society just didn't make any sense to me.
#Prettyboy Must Die by Kimberly Reid - Our lead character was an unpleasant surprise who just about made me want to DNF the story.
I've seen Flawed around, but haven't really read all that much about it. Bummer it disappoints. That's NEVER a fun thing for a reader experience. Happy Top Ten Tuesday, Lauren. :)
ReplyDeleteI remember that too - but now that you mention it I don't remember seeing too much about it either...
DeleteThanks for coming over, Rissi!
I know there was quite the buzz when Flawed was released, but nobody seemed to really love it after they read it.
ReplyDeleteCarmen`s Reading Corner
I've noticed that myself.
DeleteThanks for sharing!
Wow, how awesome to have written the first review for Yellow Locust, I would be so happy about that. Autonomous did sound pretty good, such a shame that it turned out to disappoint.
ReplyDeleteAmy;
Wandering Everywhere
It was an honor! :)
DeleteThanks for coming over, Amy!
I love when I do the first review. Thanks for sharing some new to me books.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
It's so cool!
DeleteThanks for sharing, Sherry!
I also read Dual because of the movie, and I loved both. And Senlin Ascends really surprised me too, because I didn't like the beginning at all!
ReplyDeleteMost people I know aren't familiar with Duel, so I'm pleased that you like them! :)
DeleteI started reading Fire and Fury and had to put it down. Amusingly enough, the book I picked up right after was Alec Baldwin's parody/satire novel You Can't Spell America without Me. :D
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks!
I don't blame you there!
DeleteThat does sound entertaining!
Thanks for sharing.
Oh my gosh Duel! Get out lol. I need to read that, I remember that movie. Welcome to Night Vale has me SO curious, I've listened to the podcast a few times. Love the atmosphere of it.
ReplyDeleteLol about Fire and Fury :)
You so do! :)
DeleteFor the Night Vale book, you actually don't need to be that familiar with the podcast, but it definitely helps. :)
I've heard all the good things about Welcome to Night Vale! I need to listen and then get the book! Great list.
ReplyDeleteIt's so much fun! I hope you'll enjoy it.
DeleteI LOVED Revival; I used to live in Tim Seeley's neighorhood.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool! I definitely need to keep going with it.
DeleteOh wow, you're brave for reading Fire & Fury... I won't be touching that book with a 100 foot pole.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my TTT post for this week: https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/03/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-surprised-me.html
Can't say I blame you at all there!
DeleteI've seen #Prettyboy Must Die around, but I don't think it's for me. An unpleasant MC really grates on my nerves.
ReplyDeleteDo You Dog-ear?
It has a lot of potential, but it just didn't make it. Thanks for sharing, Lindsi.
DeleteFlawed was such a mess for the first half! And then even though it didn't really make much sense even after, I got into it anyway ha. I have heard the same about #PrettyBoy from SO many people, a shame really. It's kind of funny that Autonomous was NONE of the things it was supposed to be, someone dropped the ball there! The cover for Divine Intervention is so fabulous, it's sad it wasn't good. Awesome list!
ReplyDeleteWelp, I didn't even make it that far through Flawed. Total let downs...
DeleteI keep hearing all the bad things about #Prettyboy Must Die by Kimberly Reid. I was curious about it at first, before all the reviews started popping up. Now? I'm not even bothering with it anymore, haha. :')
ReplyDeleteI can't say I recommend it...
DeleteThanks for visiting, Kathy!
I wasn't sure how well a Night Vale book would work but glad to see you liked it. I might give the audio a try.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a bit different, but it's great to hear on audio. :)
DeleteI actually liked #PrettyBoy, but I have seen a lot of negative thoughts about it. I didn't dislike Peter/Jake though. I love Ahern, but will admit, I have avoided this duology because of reviews.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of elements I wanted to like to #PrettyBoy. I haven't tried anything else by Ahern, but I can't say I blame you there.
DeleteI've always wondered about Welcome to Nightvale. I'm not sure it's my thing, but it sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely different, but awesome. :)
DeleteI wonder what that trump book will do in my mind. Books are really cool to read because they give you perspectives about everything. Cool lisT!
ReplyDeleteIt'll do a number - that's for sure!
DeleteI haven't read any of the books on your list yet, but I will definitely be checking out some of the ones that were good surprises, especially Welcome to Nightvale :)
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm glad I piqued your interest. :)
DeleteI need to check out Pretty Boy Must Die!
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy it. :)
DeleteI keep on seeing Welcome to Night Vale pop up in recommendations and it sounds really good. One of these days... One of these days...
ReplyDeleteYou just might like it, Leonora. :)
DeleteWelcome to Night Vale has been on my list forever, but I haven't listened to the podcast! Do I need to to enjoy it?
ReplyDeleteTotally! :D
DeleteI can't say I've read any of the books on this list, but Revival sounds pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteI loved the style of it.
DeleteI used to listen to Welcome to Nightvale, and I loved it, but I got way behind and never had the time to catch up. Maybe I'll try this summer when I'm not working. The book definitely sounds like something I would enjoy, though. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun! Happy reading. :)
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