Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is: Ten Books I Loved Less/More Than I Thought I Would (recently or all time) — or you could do something like books I liked more/less than everyone else.

So I decided to go with books that were just… mistakes, basically. I was confused. I thought I would loooove them but I actually kind of hated them, or I thought they’d be a mess but then I fell in love.

Let’s start first with the happy surprises! These are generally books that I was A) Peer pressured into reading and B) Thought I wouldn’t like because of some ridiculous hangup that is based on nothing but the strangeness of my own mind. But then, whoopsie, I ended up loving them. Preconceived nonsense be damned!

So here are 12 of these, and my ridiculous reasons for thinking I would not like them:

(Covers link to Goodreads!)

1. The cover.  Motels? Idk. (My review)

2. Daredevil behavior frightens me. (My Review)

3. I am too soft for the military.  (My Review)

4. I didn’t trust the sound of anyone who was a Serpent King. (My Review)

5. Church. Not just church, but extra churchy-church. (My Review)

6. Do I like books set in Mesopotamia? I didn’t know. But I assumed not. (Wrong.) (My Review)

7. Theater/Shakespeare are both hard nos. (My Review)

8. Because baseball (Thanks to Holly for this rec!) 

9. Fighting to the death? Really? Sounds awful and kind of dumb. (Yes, seriously. I told you I was an idiot!)

10. Vampires. 

11. Music. (My Review)

12. I didn’t think I could relate to the MC (I couldn’t necessarily, but I still thought the book was awesome.) (My Review)


This next group… this is the sad group. Books I was sure I’d fall in love with: Either I love the author, or the genre, or hell, the rest of the series. But for whatever reason, these simply didn’t work for me. At all. And it bummed me out. 

1. The cover, the potential, GAH. (My Review)

2. I loved the author’s debut. So much. But this didn’t work. (My Review)

3. Um yes PLEASE to prehistoric book? I am holding out hope for the sequel though. (My Review)

4. The whole synopsis was incredible! But I ended up with a crappy MC and a lot of questions. (My Review)

5. The synopsis sounded incredible, but I was mostly bored. (My Review)

6. I thought this would be super positive and uplifting, and instead it was flat and even a little irresponsible. (My Review)

7. Bunkers and the wilderness and possible apocalypse!? Then why am I so apathetic? (My Review)

8. A school for people dying of some new epidemic? YESS. Only… NO. I couldn’t even muster a review for this one but… not good. 

9. A dystopian with a very cool premise that left me confused and underwhelmed. (My Review)

10. I thought this was about the end of the world. It is not. At all. (My Review)

11. I mean, I liked the other two books, right? Nope, doesn’t work like that (my first lesson in finale letdowns, tbh.) (My Review)

12. It sounded so great.  I formally broke up with it. (My Review)

So, those are the books that were either very happy surprises or… very unhappy ones. Do you have a book that you thought you would NOT like but did? How about a big ol’ disappointment? Do share!

Posted February 21, 2017 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Top Ten Tuesday / 49 Comments

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49 responses to “Books I Was Very, Very Wrong About

  1. I’ve been meaning to read “Don’t Touch” for a looong time now. The cover and synopsis intrigues like CRAZY. Alas, I haven’t. Oh, and “I’ll Meet You There” is one that’s come up as a good read recently. I’ll have to look into that one! 🙂

  2. Mariela

    I like this week’s TTT because i got to see a lot of books I have not heard of before! I like how you did your list. Unfortunately for me I haven’t read any of them.
    My TTT.

  3. I am so judgy about books. “No! Because I see green on the cover.” “Baseball, ew.” Then I get all embarrassed for making such a fuss for such a small reason.

  4. Ooh, I have Don’t Touch on my TBR to read very soon. I loved I’ll Meet You There. I think Heather Demetrios is such a great author. I love it when books surprise us! Fantastic list!

  5. I have most of these on my TBR … I definitely agree with Rites of Passage, though! I was put off because of the cover and it was only after reading a glowing review that I decided to just read it! I am so glad I did!

  6. I think I had similar thoughts about the Hunger Games before I blogged. I didn’t read much YA and was clueless on SO many books. Ivory and Bone- because prehistoric? That just sounds awesome, bummer that it actually wasn’t. I’ll have to check your review, because if there’s any hope the sequel can redeem it, maybe I should give it a go.

    I still haven’t finished Allegiant.

  7. Sam

    I tried to do this TTT, but I could not come up with enough books. I did have TSK on my prelim list though. It was so much more than I expected. I only read two of your “sad group” books. I thought Beautiful Broken Girls was ok (beautiful writing), but I had no expectations, as it was my first Savage book. But Allegiant. Womp, womp, womp! All that build up for that!? Such a let down.

  8. I have it happen both ways ALL THE TIME. It’s so frustrating when I think I’m going to like a book and then it’s awful though. Like what is with that. #rude ? But I looooove when I don’t expect much of a book and then iT KNOCKS MY SOCKS OFF WITH SHEER AWESOME LIKE YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU.? I was totally sure I wouldn’t like Blackhearts because everyone said it was dull and not piratey. And it wasn’t piratey but I was still IN LOVE with it. And I didn’t think I’d like Steelheart because I don’t generally like Superhero books. But omgggg so funny and great. So, note to self: read all the books of ever JUST IN CASE.?

  9. I loved I’ll Meet You There! I was pretty unsure about it too. I didn’t think THG was for me when first started getting a lot of buzz. Sci-Fi? Fighting to the death? Not things I would normally seek out. But of course I LOVED it! I really want to read Firsts and Rites of Passage.

  10. I was totally confused by I’ll Meet You There’s cover. I didn’t get the motel and thought maybe a roadtrip. I really should read blurbs more often. I loved it though. I still haven’t read The Serpent King but before I saw the glowing reviews the title turned me off. The second list stinks because I hate being excited for a book and it falling flat. Great list!!

  11. Hahaha, I can’t believe you thought you weren’t going to like The Hunger Games! How wrong you were. 😉 I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed Wintersong, I’m planning to pick it up soon myself, and seeing Allegiant on your list just makes me glad I stayed away from the Divergent trilogy.

  12. I loved reading your list and your comments. I’m wanting to read Wintersong soon. I managed to read Divergent but couldn’t continue on. I finally watched all the movies but then I heard the last one didn’t actually cover the whole book and now they are filming a tv series to complete it (Majorly confused here). However, I’m perfectly fine with how the movie ended so that’s enough for me. I’m thrilled to say that Charlaine Harris series is one I’ve actually completed. If you enjoyed this, maybe you should read the Midnight Texas books by her if you haven’t already.

  13. I never read Allegiant! I had planned on reading it a few months after it was released but then SO many people hated it that I’m like, why even bother? I was planning on just watching the movies (even though they are vastly different) but then they failed in the box office and we aren’t getting the last half. Ah well! I’m not too broken up about it.

    As far as Forbidden goes, I felt the same way — am I interested in books taking place in the time era of Mesopotamia? I still haven’t tried it, but it sounds like I should!

  14. Tammy V

    I DNF’d the Instructions For The End Of The World. I thought it would be more about the “end of the world” too. I didn’t try the Forbidden series for the same reason. I was bummed about Missed Connections by Mataya. I was so turned off of the MC Sarah. She was so self-absorbed.

  15. Oh my goodness I totally agree with Tell the Wind and Fire, Allegiant, and Glitter 🙁 I thought I’d love them but… ended up on the totally opposite spectrum… But I am super excited to hear that you loved Rites of Passage and Wintersong because those two are on my TBR and sound so wonderful 🙂 Lovely list, I’ll have to add these to my TBR!

  16. I actually was looking forward to I’ll Meet You There! I kind of want to re-read it because I feel like I missed out on something since it was good but not great for me. I so want to read Play On and Game On!! I had started Future Perfect but was eh on it and then I saw your thoughts either on your blog or somewhere so I DNF’d it.

  17. Jo

    Ugh Allegiant was just the worst. Glad that you liked The Hunger Games though. And Wintersong and Rites of Passage because they’re on my TBR. Several of the books on your no list are on my TBR, so here’s hoping I like them better than you did!

  18. Ugh it sucks when you think you’re going to like a book and then…don’t! That’s the worst! I also enjoyed The Hunger Games more than I thought I would, but was so disappointed by the Divergent series!
    ~Sara

  19. UGH. Future Perfect was so gross, which is so sad to say because it had suuuuch potential. LOL. How did I know The Hunger Games was gonna be on this list, but I agree entirely. 😀 I still need to read Devoted and Play On, but more-so, Devoted because I looove Jennifer Mathieu’s writing. And ooooh same, what a mess Glitter was, but how I’m anticipating the sequel with a giant bowl of popcorn. Hee.

  20. I mostly read disappointed thoughts on Ivory and Bone which sucks ’cause I have it. I’ve been holding it off since I got it. I’ve also been holding off reading Allegiant. I liked Divergent; Insurgent not much. But then I read spoilers for Allegiant and I’m like, what? But I plan to read this before 2017 ends (a rereading must happen first though).

  21. I love your list of (often arbitrary) reasons why you thought you would like/not like a books. Like the extra-churchy church. LOL It would have hurt my heart if you didn’t love I’ll Meet You There. I mean, that’s like book perfection for me. One of my all time favorites. The Serpent King… you’ll be happy to know that I (finally!) read it a couple weeks ago. I haven’t shared a review yet because I’m still sorting out my thoughts.

  22. I totally get some of the books you thought you would love and didn’t – I really disliked Beautiful Broken Girls, and while I didn’t read the author’s debut, I thought this was going to be amazing, but I hated all the characters and the plot was just weak to me. I also didn’t like Ivory and Bone (we were definitely the black sheep for that book, haha). Away We Go was kind of depressing and impossible to relate to any of the characters, and Instructions for the End of the World was a let down, especially after reading the author’s other book, The Good Sister.

  23. Ivory and Bone disappointed me too, but yes hopefully the sequel lives up to the expectation! And I’m definitely sad to see Glitter wasn’t as amazing as it’s cover! I really need to read Heather Demetrois!

  24. I’ve been running into a few books lately that I would also like to formerly break up with. I rarely DNF a book, but I’ve done it 4 times since January and I’m currently struggling to finish books that I was very excited to get my hands on.

  25. I would NEVER have picked up the Sookie Stackhouse series without first seeing the HBO series. 🙂 I needed something to hold me over until Season 2 came and out and I read the books voraciously. Every spring like clockwork I would get the new book. The series just start to fall apart and get way to confusing, but they were my bubblegum books. Books that gave my mind a break.

    And don’t get me started on Allegiant. Still my most favorite negative review I’ve ever written because it was so clear to me where the book fell short in trying to share a message.

  26. To be fair ‘Instructions for the end of the world’ does sound like it would be about the end of the world haha. Ugh, I HATED Rites of Passage SO MUCH. I listened to a good chunk of it and then DNF’d because it made me angry. I think 50% of that was the book and 50% my incompatibility with the military. Glad it was a good suprise for you though. 😀 I also hate Allegiant of course. I didn’t love the prequels, but I also didn’t hate them, but that book was just genuinely horrible. I got angry every time I looked at it, so I gave the series away.

  27. LOL Hold Me Like A Breath, yeahhhh I crashed and burned on that one. AND UGH THE MARKED GIRL HAD SUCH POTENTIAL but that just wasn’t great either. Wah.

    I still need to read You Were Here. And wow, Hunger Games. Just think, you could have never pushed through, and you wouldn’t be here.

  28. Heh…I recently read Dead Until Dark. I thought I wouldn’t like it because of vampires as well. Turns out, the vampires were tolerable…but, I wasn’t so keen on Sookie. Eek!

    The Mistresses of Versailles trilogy by Sally Christie is turning out to be an incredibly pleasant surprise. It’s a pretty steamy historical fiction/historical romance series that is 100% outside of my comfort zone. But these books are so hilarious, and Christie writes such rich and vivid scenery. I adore these books!

  29. Oh man, You Were Here surpassed my expectations so much. I may have to reread it because this list has reminded me of how much I loved it. I actually did not request Firsts for the longest time because I thought it would be so annoying and I just didn’t like the premise. Then the rave reviews started coming in so I requested it and I am so glad I did. It was so good. I had to DNF Marked. Hated it. The sequel to Hold Me Like a Breath was actually good so you may want to give it a shot . . . maybe. It helps that it involves different characters. 🙂

  30. Marked was quite a bit of a disappointment for me too… and I understand where you are coming from with Allegiant as well. As for books you ended up LOVING, I haven’t read any of them 🙁 Well, except for the Hunger Games. I find it quite humorous that you thought you’d hate that one, hehe 😀

  31. Amy

    This is a fantastic list! I come across these things all the time, so it’s neat to see others! I’m glad to see you enjoyed Don’t Touch- I got it on an impulse buy from Book Outlet!

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