Monday, April 22, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #7 - Books I Thought I'd like MORE/LESS Than I Did

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke And The Bookish. Check them out!

This week, we got to choose 10 books that either pleasantly surprised us, or not-so-pleasantly annoyed us when we were sure we'd love it.  Since I like to keep things even, I'm doing five of each!




Books I Thought I'd Like More
I am already predicting hate-mail for some of these.... -_-
 
  1. "Divergent" by Veronica Roth - I know the entire world fell in love with this book and with Four, but for me...I just didn't buy it.  At all.  This was the first example of my uber-pickiness when it comes to dystopia novels.
  2. "Angelfall" by Susan Ee - I didn't dislike this book, but I didn't love it like so many of my goodreads and blogger friends did.  The kickassness of the second half wasn't quite enough to overshadow the faults I had with the first.
  3. "Immortal Beloved" by Cate Tiernan - I love her Sweep series, so when I saw this one, I just had to get it.  I was so ready to rediscover the awesomeness of Cate Tiernan, but the novel ended up falling flat and ignoring all of its potential.
  4. "Dead To The World" by Charlaine Harris - Me before reading; "A plot sure to be Eric-heavy?  No way this could go wrong!"  Me after reading; "...what the f*#$!!!  I have so many feels.  Most of them disappointment and anger."
  5. "Going Too Far" by Jennifer Echols - This book....  Months after reading it, I still want to gather every copy and burn them in order to rid the world of its evil.  Want to see my rantiest review to date?  Look up my review for Going Too Far.
     
 
    Books I Thought I'd Like Less
    Let's hear it for the underdogs!
     
  1. "Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead - This book was sitting on my shelf for months before I ran out of other books to read and finally picked it up.  I never leave a book on my shelf for longer than a couple of weeks, but I was so scared that this would be a Twilight carbon copy.  Oh, how wrong I was.  VA was my book obsession from from ages 17 to 20.
  2. "The Sky Is Everywhere" by Jandy Nelson - I don't know what I was expecting when I ordered this off of Amazon, but it certainly wasn't such a beautifully written, heartbreaking tale of loss and love.  This will always remain a favorite.
  3. "Ultraviolet" by R. J. Anderson - The synopsis for this never managed to catch my attention, but it came recommended by a close friend and trusted reviewer.  I shouldn't have doubted her, because it proved to be one of the most unique and fun reading experiences I had last year.
  4. "Bloodfever" by Karen Marie Moning - Who hasn't heard me rave about this series in the last couple of months?  Or been warned about the mediocrity of the first book, Darkfever?  I expected Bloodfever to be another so-so read, but what I got was the spark to fuel my Barrons obsession.
  5. "The Truth About You And Me" by Amanda Grace - I recently got this off of NetGalley, and was pleasantly surprised.  I was expecting an Aria/Ezra (Pretty Little Liars) relationship, but what I got was a book that actually shows real consequences, one that doesn't ignore reality to give us a happily-ever-after ending.  It doesn't come out until September, but keep a look out for this one!  Or better yet, head on over to NetGalley and request it now. ;)
 
 
Want to yell at me for including Divergent or Angelfall in the first half?  Or praise me on yet another awesome list? (Yeah, right.)  Let's hear it in the comments!  And as always, link to your TTT if you have one this week so I can show your blog some love!


30 comments:

  1. I fell in love with Divergent and gushed about it to all my friends and forced them to read it--and no one was as obsessed as I was. It was sad. ;)

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    1. Haha really? I was that one weird person who wasn't obsessed in my group of friends!

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  2. BLASPHEMY!!! *grabs torches and angry mob*

    Angelfall is the bread and butter of Angel/Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic books!!

    Just kidding, even though I am extremely obsessed with Angelfall I can honestly say I love your list! I haven't read Divergent yet but I was worried about being the black sheep.

    Thanks for stopping by my Top Ten Tuesday

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    1. I think I'd prefer regular hate mail. :p Haha. I did like Angelfall, but nowhere near as much as half of goodreads.

      Divergent is good for people who don't over-analyze world building. I can't get into a story with inconsistent world-building, which I think was my main issue with it.

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  3. I've only read Divergent from your list! *gasp* lol AND I agree, I didn't like it that much. I wasn't fangirling about it at all. It was just fine. haha

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    1. I think you're only like the third person I've met who didn't call me crazy for not liking it haha. I'm just not into most of the new dystopia books in general.

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  4. Once I started the Fever series, I had to finish all five. I read them all back to back, and I regret nothing! :)

    Going Too Far was just alright to me. Nice list.

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    1. I know, right?! I wasn't thrilled with Darkfever, but I liked it enough to continue. Bloodfever hooked me completely, though! That series should come with a "highly addictive" warning.

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  5. Totally with you on VA and The Sky is Everywhere but I'm totally a Four lover
    My Top Ten

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    1. So many people are lol. I feel like an outsider whenever I admit that he didn't do anything for me. But I've still got Adrian, so I'm good. ;)

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  6. I do fangirl about Four but I'm happy enough that you don't like him, less competition for me!
    The truth about you and me, I'm so off to NetGalley to see if I can blag a copy for myself :)
    And note to self come back and read the JE review when I have a bit more time! Kels-on-a-rant is always worth a snigger or two!

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    1. Well, I have Akiva, it's only fair that you get Four lol.

      I hope NetGalley approves you! It's not like fantastic and it hasn't been completely edited yet, but it was definitely better than I expected.

      Hands down, the Going Too Far is my most brutal. I seriously couldn't stand that book. Why so many people love it still completely baffles me.

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  7. I'm so sorry to hear that you didn't love Divergent, since I absolutely adored it. I was a bit skeptical towards the world building in the first book, but Insurgent definitely changed that.

    But I can so relate to what you said about VA. I was afraid it would just be another Twilight-y book, but IT WASN'T. I just read the first book this year and I'm currently OBSESSED with this series. So good!

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    1. Aww, you are so lucky! I started the series right when Shadow Kiss came out, so I had to wait a freaking year for Blood Promise! I was dying after that cliffhanger.

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  8. I really really liked Angelfall and Divergent! I have not read Vampire Academy yet, but I promised my co-blogger I would this year!

    Our TTT

    Ashley @ The Quiet Concert

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    1. I don't think you'll be disappointed at all, it really is so much different than a lot of YA vampire books. And they're turning it into a movie! ^.^ Hurry up and jump on the fanwagon with us!

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  9. Same thoughts for VA! I was so afraid that it wouldbe like all the vampire books out there. But boy, was I wrong!
    Top Ten Tuesday
    Check This Out! :)

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    1. It's that title. Vampire Academy does not to the series justice.

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  10. I keep hearing how great VA is, but I still haven't read the books. But everyone says they're great so I really should look into them.

    I've never read Going to Far but a Jennifer Echols made it on my list, too. Love Story - yuck!!!

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    1. They really are. They're a lot different than what you'd expect.

      Haha, Going Too Far was my first book by Echols, and it will be my last. I've heard all of her books are as ridiculously bad as that one. Seriously, I hated it.

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  11. I'm impressed by the number of people who LOVE the Vampire Academy series. I have yet to read it, because it just doesn't appeal to me, but maybe I would also be pleasantly surprised by it. It doesn't surprise me that you thought you'd like Divergent more than you did. That book has so much hype surrounding it, that it seems almost inevitable that new readers aren't going to be as gaga over it after a while.

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    1. If you can get behind vampires and romance, I think you'll like it. It's not at all like other YA vampire books, and the MC is awesome.

      I actually read Divergent a little over a year ago, but I agree. It's basically taking The Hunger Games' dystopia crown, and I doubt even the people who loved it would say it's as good as THG. It really is a shame, hype has the power to kill a person's reading experience.

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  12. The Sky is Everywhere touched my heart. I'm so glad you enjoyed! -S

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    1. Thanks! It was soooo much deeper than I was expecting. I absolutely loved it.

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  13. I actually haven't read any of these, so can't really hate your or love you for any of your thoughts. But I do own Divergent and I plan on reading it next, so we'll see how it goes. Of course, I think you're much more picky when it comes to world-building than I am, so I'll probably be one of those other fans who think you're just evil for not loving. EVIL KELLY! :P

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    1. Complete with devil horns and flaming pitchfork. Lol.

      I'm pretty sure you'll love it, even I have to admit it's compulsively readable.

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  14. So from your list, I've read Divergent (which I loved and couldn't believe was on my shelf for two months before I read it), Dead to the World (again, I loved this one!) and Vampire Academy (Also loved!).

    Other than those, I can't hate you for any of your other picks, since I have no opinion :)

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    1. Haha hopefully you don't hate me for the first two either. :p

      Thanks, Jenn!

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  15. You sadden me with Angelfall :( But definite yes to Ultraviolet :)

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    1. Lol sorry! I did like it, though. Just not as much as I thought I would.

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