Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish with a different theme every week.
Books I sadly thought I’d like more
1. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson – I was so disappointed that this Peter Pan retelling lacked an interesting world or characters and that the writing felt like it was trying too hard to be poetic. I really wanted to like this one.
2. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows – I really wanted to like this book more, but I felt like the main characters (especially Sam) were just so boring and the plot felt very sluggish.
3. The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse – I didn’t find there was much original about this book. It had a few plot holes and over-explained a lot of things. I love dystopians and I was sad that this one fell short.
4. The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova – The plot was just too jumpy without enough time spent on why anything was happening and why I should care. The main character finds out that he’s a mermaid and hates it…then decides he should go to the island of mermaids for no good reason that I could find.
5. Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation – This book had way too many similarities to Harry Potter for me to find it interesting and the plot just dragged along.
Books that surprised me because I thought I’d like them less
1. The False Prince by Jennifer A. Neilsen – I thought that this would be another typical middle grade fantasy, but I was pleasantly surprised at the main character and his anti-hero charm.
2. Pivot Point by Kasie West – I thought the premise sounded too predictable to be interesting, but I was blown away by how much personality was in the whole thing. The characters were fun and interesting and she managed to stick a plot twist in there that I didn’t see coming. Loved it!
3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel – I thought this book would be long and tedious for some reason, but it was engrossing, entertaining and thought provoking. I adored it.
4. Austenland by Shannon Hale – I don’t like very many chick lit stories, but I was tickled at how witty, smart and fun this one was. Plus I loved all the Pride and Prejudice references.
5. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck – I was surprised at how well the author completely transported me to a different culture. It was one of those rare books that I felt like I was experiencing everything the characters were.
What books were on your top ten list this week? Leave a link and I’ll come look!
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
I really enjoyed Tiger Lily.
I wanted so bad to like it. It just couldn’t keep my interest :(
I need to read the False Prince. I Went to her book signing for it and just haven’t gotten around to reading it. :( That’s how it goes for book bloggers. :)
I missed her signing and I’m still sad about it! At least she lives in Utah. Um…I have an entire shelf of books I got signed and haven’t had time to read yet. So so true lol.
The Good Earth is definitely a book that surprised me! I went into it thinking that I would be bored to tears and may not even finish it. I’m so glad I was wrong because it was one of those books I couldn’t put down.
Oh my gosh you’ve read Good Earth!? That’s awesome. I couldn’t put it down either. I just found out that it’s a trilogy and I really want to find out what happens to his kids. Bet they lose all their money.
Great list! There’s several of these on my TBR pile.
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Hmmm. I want to read Pivot Point, but I’m unsure. I’ve had Forsaken on my shelf for months now and still haven’t read it yet. Oops!
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Beth | The Reading Vixens
Vixen’s Top Ten!
If you like the TV show Heroes you’d probably like Pivot Point. :)
I love being surprised into loving something not usually in our genre. And too bad about Forsaken, I started it a while ago and within the first few pages I thought it had too much info-dumping. I might try it again sometime…or not.
It was pretty meh for me. I don’t think you’d be terribly sad if you skipped it. :)
Tiger Lily and Incarnate were totally the same for me. I was really sad that I like them less. Ah well. That’s life I guess.
So many people rave about Incarnate. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I mean, Sam is perfect and therefore completely boring.
UGH. And Anna was like so freaking bland. Where the heck is the chemistry people!?
I still need to read Life of Pi. I’ve put off watching the movie because I haven’t read the book. I’ve heard it’s so good. Plus, it has animals! It has to be win, lol.
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It is win!! It has the best twist ending I’ve ever read. Beautiful writing too :) The animals were definitely fun to read about.
I was disappointed with Incarnate, too. The characters were way too perfect and the main character didn’t do much to figure out why she was the only Newsoul. I haven’t read Tiger Lily yet, but your the first person I’ve seen without a shining review. Pivot Point was amazing! <3
The newsoul thing was very creative. I have enough theories that I might still read the second book. Too bad the characters bugged me. Pivot Point is the best!! :)
I’m in love with Shannon Hale’s books…and I LOVE Austenland! The second one, Midnight in Austenland is cute too, but very different :)
I read Midnight in Austenland too! I loved it just as much :)
I tried reading Life of Pi but it was so boring. Maybe I’ll retry some other time.
As for the rest, still have to read them. Looking forward to The False Prince and Pivot Point.
Thanks for stopping by :)
I haven’t read any of the books that you found disappointing. So that’s good! I was also surprised by Pivot Point. It was way better than I thought it was going to be. Thanks for stopping by!
I totally agree that Incarnate had some pacing issues. Asunder is even worse! I was also really surprised by how much I loved The False Prince! Thanks for stopping by!
Shannon @ Rex Robot Reviews
The False Prince surprised me too! I started out thinking that it was surely going to be lame, and ended up loving it enough to buy it. That is my favorite thing ever when it happens.
I’m a little nervous about The Vicious Deep. I’ve got it from the library, but I’ve been putting it off. Mermaid books tend to be a miss for me – I’m still looking for one that I absolutely LOVE.
I still need to read Austenland. I’ve wanted to read it for years. I love P&P, Chick Lit, and Shannon Hale, but for some reason I just haven’t gotten to that one. I need to before the movie comes to a theater new me though :)