Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Surprised Me…& Not For the Better

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

It has now been moved over to That Artsy Reader Girl.

I did a post for Top Ten Tuesday (here) only a little while ago that was similar to this and I did books that surprised me and that I ended up loving. So for this post I decided to go with books that surprised me by not being what I wanted them to be, or “the bad books” if you will.

These are in no particular order and I will provide review links if I have them.

****Also if you loved any of these books, that’s fine! We are all entitled to our own opinions but I would appreciate it if you respected mine as well!****

10.) The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

This was SO hyped when it came out. SO hyped! And the cover is gorgeous! However, I found that the blurb to be pretty misleading as far as the whole magical death battle goes (there wasn’t really one). The pacing was slow, there wasn’t any action, and the romance was extremely trope filled (insta-love and a love triangle, no thank you).

You can read my full review here.

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9.) The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale

Once again we have a super gorgeous cover and the blurb made the book seem like it would be more than a little creepy. BUT! The plot was pretty confusing, I still don’t know what the heck was going on, no world building, slow pacing, and another pointless romance that didn’t contribute to the story whatsoever.

You can read my full review here.

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8.) One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. MacManus

They pretty much had me at “The Breakfast Club” and murder. I was expecting this to be a really great mystery/thriller especially with “The Breakfast Club” comparisons but I felt the overall story was fairly predictable, the characters were “blah”, and the ending was ridiculous. Also aside from student stereotypes, it was nothing like “The Breakfast Club”.

You can read my full review here.

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7.) The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

There was so much potential here and this is a fairly hyped book too. I was expecting an awesome Fae story but the world building was extremely lacking and I found the characters and plot both to be underdeveloped and flat.

You can read my mini review here.

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6.) Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

I am such a sucker for “Peter Pan” retellings and when somebody mentions the fact that it’s a “dark” retelling I’m 100% sold. However, this one was just….messy. The romance was way too much of a focus and the only things that were even vaguely reminiscent of “Peter Pan” were the characters of Hook and Pan themselves. And the plot was confusing and messy.

You can read my full review here.

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5.) These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

I really, really misjudged this book and I admit a big part of the reason was the cover. From the cover I figured this book would be creepy and if not, then at least suspenseful. There was hardly any mystery, everything was pretty predictable, and the pacing was super slow.

You can read my full review here.

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4.) Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten

I have to admit I fell for the whole “let’s sell this book by comparing it to other bestselling books” thing. This was being compared to “Gone Girl” (which I freaking loved) and uff….this was nothing like that. There was nothing new, no plot twists, and the ending was honestly ridiculous. Laughably ridiculous and unbelievable.

You can read my mini review here.

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3.) The Dragon’s Price by Bethany Wiggins

I have to say I big part of why I was excited for this one was because of the dragons, dragons are my jam. But there wasn’t enough dragon action in this book and they were the only redeemable part as well. The writing was really immature feeling and the dialogue was pretty cringey, flat characters, no world building, everything that happened was way too convenient, and insta love to the max!

You can read my full review here.

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2.) There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

I love YA horror and I love ‘Scream’, this book promised me both but failed to deliver. There was no suspense or horror and nothing but romance, plus the “twists” were just…awful and ridiculous.

You can read my full review here.

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1.) Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman

If you asked me: “Heather, what’s the single worst/most disappointing book you have ever read?” my answer would be “Blackhearts”. I have read more than a few bad books in my time but this one just takes the cake.

First of all I was PROMISED a “Blackbeard origin story” and at the very least some bloodydamn pirates! (Yes, I just used slang from the Red Rising Trilogy because it’s awesome) But what I got instead was a historical fiction romance featuring some major insta love and a terrible love interest. He pretty much intimidates and stalks her until she one day decides “hey, maybe I should date him?”. No. Just no.

You can read my full review here.

Have you read any of these books?

What did you think?

What are some books that surprised you? Good or bad?

Let me know in the comments!

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