Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jamie @ The Broke and the Bookish.
This week’s theme is books we either loved less or more than everyone else, pretty self explanatory. I, being the black sheep that I am, chose to go with books I loved less since that usually seems to be the way things go for me with more popular books.
As usual I’ll link up my full reviews to the titles!
10.) Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
This book was insanely hyped last year when it came out and so my expectations were pretty high for it and….it was not that great. It lacked world building and honestly I didn’t think anything was developed at all. There were elements I enjoyed but overall it was a disappointment.
9.) Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
So a TON of people love Rosamund Hodge’s books and they do sound amazing, I mean dark fairy tale retellings? Hell yes! Unfortunately this one was confusing, I spent a lot of my time completely lost as to what was going on and the characters were really flat. Maybe I’ll like her other books more but if they’re like this one I already know I won’t.
8.) Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Another extremely hyped book and series that I just did not love as much as everyone. I hated the main character and I felt there was a lack of world building. However, I thought Bardugo’s writing improved vastly with “Six of Crows” which I loved.
7.) Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
I honestly think I should turn this rating from a 3 to a 2 since I really didn’t like this book all that much. Celaena was annoying and vain and not as badass as everyone makes her seem, also a lack of world building. Definitely a black sheep with this one since EVERYONE loves this series.
The Lunar Chronicles is another series that is wildly popular and for me “Cinder” was a big disappointment. My main problem was how predictable the story was but I am thinking about continuing the series.
5.) The Crown’s Games by Evelyn Skye
Another book that got super hyped and was wildly disappointing for me. It was FULL of insta-love, an awful love triangle, and lack of world building once again (see a theme here for me?). Also the magical fight to the death was just a bunch of parlor tricks and no actual fighting occurred.
4.) Soundless by Richelle Mead
I absolutely loved Mead’s Vampire Academy series so I was expecting to love her new standalone but I did not. Once again the complete lack of world building was the biggest reason I did not like this book.
3.) Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
Seems a ton of people loved this book and while the writing is very beautiful I thought the characters were awful and idiotic, and the romance was also full of cliches.
2.) These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
I really wanted to like this book because EVERYONE loves it but it was just so slooooooow and boring for me. Seriously this book had no business being 500 pages….
1.) Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman
Lots of people actually liked this book and I can see why like if you like historical fiction romances for the most part. However, for me I was expecting actual PIRATES since this is supposed to be about Blackbeard! Did I get pirates! No! I got zero pirates!
What books do you love more or less than everyone else?
Did you dislike any of these books too? Or like them?
Let me know in the comments and feel free to link up your TTT as well!
thesassygeek.wordpress.com 
Truthwith & Shadow and Bone were on my list as well. They just didn’t live up to the hype for me. I’ve been on the fence about Soundless because as much as I love Richelle Mead, I’ve heard nothing good about that book. Great list overall! 🙂
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Thank you! Glad you feel the same way about Truthwitch and Shadow and Bone, it’s always good to know we aren’t the only black sheep!
Even after reading some negative reviews for Soundless I gave it a shot anyways because I LOVED her Vampire Academy series and was still disappointed. It’s not a long book so if you wanted to give it a go yourself it wouldn’t be too much of a waste of time if you needed up not liking it! 😊
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Wait. People actually LIKED Soundless? I mean, I adore Richelle Mead, but dear Lord that book was awful.
I completely agree with you about Crimson Bound too. I enjoyed Cruel Beauty, and I understand the appeal of Hodge’s books, but that second one was such a let down. it was so… dry.
Great list!
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I’m surprised as well, haha but there will always be people who loved and hated a book. I personally agree with you because that book was not good!
Glad to hear you enjoyed Cruel Beauty a little more since I have a copy and have been putting it off since I really didn’t like Crimson Bound.
Thank you! 😊
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I felt the same way about These Shallow Graves. Like, so much of the book was filled with unnecessary frustration plots and miscommunications. I picked it up for the mystery!
Great list! 🙂
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Thank you and glad you agree with me on These Shallow Graves! So many people love that one and I didn’t since the pacing was slow for me and like you said lots of unnecessary points. 😁
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I initially wanted to read all the books in your list but didn’t cause they were all over-hyped making me stay away from them all. I just read Cinder and even though I liked it, have to admit it its the least liked book for me in the series. I still have Winter to read though.
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I’ve definitely found that I don’t have the best of luck with super hyped books so I’m a lot more leery of them now, I go in with low expectations. I’m glad you enjoyed Cinder though, I’ve been told the series gets a lot better so I think I will continue on with the Lunar Chronicles as well! 🙂
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Truthwitch, Crimson Bound, Throne of Glass, Black Hearts and Shadow & bone were so hyped it got me excited too but I waited until the reviews came out. Guess being picky with books came in handy considering these books. In the end, all the over-hyped books just end up being a disappointment.
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Being picky with books definitely comes in handy! I try to be a bit more picky and when I’m not and give in to the hype I usually don’t enjoy myself. Like you said they usually only end with disappointment.
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I was surprised that I ended up loving Shadow and Bone – and the whole trilogy, really. I think I was just in a place where i needed a fast paced semi-generic YA to jump start me out of a reading slump. I’m really looking forward to Six of Crows.
I also thought Cinder was ‘meh’, and though I’ve heard the series gets better I haven’t read the others.
Another book others loved but I wasn’t too fond of was ‘Dorothy Must Die’ by Danielle Paige. Not my favourite retelling, that’s for sure.
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I think you’ll definitely like Six of Crows if you liked the Grisha trikogy, I mean I didn’t like Shadow and Bone and loved this one! 😁
I have heard the Lunar Chronicles get better as well and probably will continue since I already own the second book.
I have been curious about Dorothy Must Die but haven’t added it since I’ve heard a lot of negative things about Danielle Paige.
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I was rather disappointed with Truthwitch as well. It was sooo hyped up and it just didn’t live up to that. I love the world building in fantasy books and Truthwitch was VERY lacking in that department. And I expected more of the female friendship, as everyone was always mentioning that aspect.
I read Throne of Glass three years ago and I hardly remember what happened in it. I did give it 4 stars but I don’t remember why or anything. That was right around the time I discovered booktube and that book was VERY hyped, I think that influenced me quiet a bit. That’s the only book I read in that series, I plan on rereading it soon – to see what I really think of it and if I want to read the rest of the series.
Anyway that’s that, I have started to ramble! XD
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I agree about Truthwitch, soooo hyped it was an okay book but it wasn’t as wow as I was expecting. I haven’t read Crimson Bound but I read Rosamund Hodge’s Cruel Beauty and wasn’t impressed by it, although I am interested in picking up her new release to give her another go.
Ah someone else who isn’t raving about the wonders of Shadow and Bone, I read it and really couldn’t see what all the hype was about, the darkling was the only thing keeping me reading. I bought Six of Crows back when it was first released but haven’t pick it up yet.
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Glad you agree! I find most people did enjoy Truthwitch but like you said it was just okay and definitely not as mind blowing as it was made up to be! I think it’s probably safe to say if you didn’t like Cruel Beauty you won’t like Crimson Bound which is why I’m nervous about reading Cruel Beauty myself. Unfortunately I have heard her new book Bright Smoke, Cold Fire was even worse which is a bummer since I wanted to give it a go as well. I read reviews by readers who loved her other books and strongly disliked this one, just giving you a heads up!
And yes! The Darkling was the best part for me as well while reading Shadow and Bone! The rest was really disappointing though and Alina drove me nuts, however, I decided to read Six of Crows regardless of not finishing the Grisha trilogy and really enjoyed it so hopefully you enjoy it as well when you pick it up! 🙂
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I didn’t enjoy Cinder either. It’s nice when I see someone else that felt the same way, because it seems like we’re the minority.
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Hi! I’ve been interested in Blackhearts. But no pirates?!? 🙂
My TTT
Leslie
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Yes! Absolutely no pirates! They only mention the word pirates once or twice and it’s only when discussing some men being hanged for piracy in England. That’s it though, there are no interactions with any pirates or anything like that. Which is SUPER disappointing!
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The whole insta-love and incredibly boring half of a book in The Crown’s Game really disappointed me…I didn’t even finish it. Even the characters were just bland and boring. So glad to see someone else who didn’t enjoy it!
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