Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Most Deceiving Books
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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So, deceiving books. This can be good and bad, guys, but I think you knew that already. Sometimes I read a book and it surprises me by being MORE and BETTER than I thought it would be. Obviously this is awesome. Other times, I have expectations about what kind of story I’m going to read and the books turn out to be something different. This is more of a mixed bag in terms of good and bad. So by “deceiving,” I mostly mean surprising. LET’S DO THIS THING.
Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler. This is actually a REALLY solid contemporary, guys. You should definitely give it a go if you haven’t already. No, this one is on here because of the cover. PLAYING HURT is about two kids who are both recuperating from sports injuries in the Minnesota woods one summer. Not really the vibe I get from the cover, because it looks like they’re on a dock facing the ocean.
Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt. Awwww, this book was surprising in THE BEST WAY. I thought it was going to be just a cute contemporary, and it was. EXCEPT. It was also had really great depth, what with Payton learning to deal with her father’s Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. AWESOME.
Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal. I’m not sure that I can describe how this book was deceiving or surprising except to say that I think the title is a little misleading? I was never really sure what the title MEANT, and the book doesn’t explain. So I’m not sure how it fits with Ari’s story–which I enjoyed VERY much, btw–aside from the fact that “love” is in the title and there’s love in the book.
I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg-Sloan. Guys, this book brought the SERIOUS in a way that I wasn’t expecting at all. From reading the synopsis, I thought that this would be a great book about this troubled young kid and his new crush/gf, with a cute little brother thrown in. I had NO IDEA that this book would bring the family DRAMZ the way it did, and the relationship between Sam and Emily was TOTALLY not the focus. Surprising in a good way, friends.
The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway. Another book that I enjoyed, even though it turned out to be a little different from what I thought. There’s lots of superhero/paranormal gifts going on here, and I thought that the sisters would be facing some MAJOR thing, as superheros often do. Not so much, though. Still good! But different from what I thought based on the flap.
Illyria by Elizabeth Hand. So, I wasn’t such a fan of ILLYRIA, and I went into it thinking that it would be weird–the synopsis mentions cousin love–but it still somehow managed to be shorter and weirder than I thought it would be. Also, I thought there would be more of the fairy angle, which was almost nonexistent.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Don’t throw things at me, friends! I know lots of people LOVED WHEN YOU REACH ME (OBVS, it was the 2010 Newbery winner), but I didn’t like this book. I didn’t like it because, based on the flap, I was expecting something very different. The summary talks about these letters and how Miranda has to figure out this mystery of the letters. But she doesn’t GET the first letter until the book is nearly halfway done, and the remainder of the story just…didn’t grab me. Surprising in a not so great way for me.
The Summer series by Jenny Han. First of all, I LOVE THESE BOOKS. Love ’em. Read them if you haven’t yet. But they were a little more angsty and emo than I thought they would be IN THE BEST WAY EVERRRR. Yes the triangle between Belly and the two Fischer brothers is majorly important, but it’s not light in any way. This is SERIOUS STUFF. Also, awesome.
Sweethearts by Sarah Zarr. Another one that brought the serious. Between the FROSTED COOKIE HEART on the cover, and the title, I thought that this book would be lighter and cuter. But EMO and ANGST is what I found instead. This isn’t a contemporary romance like many other contemporary romances out there. In fact, I’d downplay that romance part quite a bit. SWEETHEARTS is more about the characters separately than together.
The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. I wanted this one to be better, friends. But I thought I would enjoy the romance and the Facebook angle. Alas, the thing I REALLY got the biggest kick out of was the flashbacks I got to my sophomore year in high school. Bummer, guys.
I’ve been wanting to read The Summer I Turned Pretty for a while, but then every time I look at the cover/title, I think “oh this is probably silly.” But now that you’ve said it’s good, I might have to check it out….Thanks!
Oh they’re definitely not silly, but I can totally understand why you’d think that. I don’t know if a cover/title combo could remind people MORE of a beach read, but these definitely have some emotional weight. I hope you read them!!
I’ll Be There made my list this week! I was unprepared for what this book was actually about, simply because of the cover and synopsis. I almost had The Summer series, Sweethearts, and Sean Griswold on my list as well! The covers just don’t quite match the quality and topics in the books.
Here’s my top ten, if you would like to take a look:
http://www.fabbityfabbookreviews.com/2012/04/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-were.html
I’ll Be There was very different from what I thought it would be! There were parts of it that were honestly hard to read because they were so upsetting. But so good!
Oh, I want to read Sean Griswold’s Head so much. I think it’s very brave for authors in YA and MG to deal with physical and mental illness, therapy, and struggles in such a real way. I know it’s a common theme this year, but I am enjoying the chance to read fiction including these things.
Sean Griswold’s Head is one of those books that I seriously still think about how much it surprised me in a great way. I have some personal experience with MS, so it was extra special for me to read about Payton dealing with her dad’s disability in a very real (read: not always good) way. I hope you get a chance to read it! It’s also got a pretty cute little romance, too!
Great list! Sean Griswold’s Head made it onto a few top tens.
haha…it was surprising!
I love how you’re so passionate about these books! You’ve definitely convinced me to read a few! Sorry some disappointed you though!
My TTT: http://www.pocketfulofbooks.com/2012/04/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-were-totally.html
Aww, thank you! My blog is my outlet <3 I hope you read some good ones!
I LOVE ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’!!! SUCH GOOD BOOKS!!!! There is deffo a lot of serious stuff in the books too. Death and loss and all of that. You don’t expect that from the cover and description. BUT, so good!! I need Jenny Han to write more YA contemporary! Now.
I KNOW!!! I kept hearing all these great things about those books, and they certainly didn’t disappoint, but they were certainly more than I thought they would be. BUT I LOVE THEM!!
When I see two authors on a cover, I usually run! Not a good sign, often.
Here’s my
Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Were Deceiving. I’d love to have you stop by!
That’s probably good advice! haha…Thanks for stopping by!
I don’t believe I’ve actually read any of these, to be honest, but I’ve heard quite similar thoughts on them!
Love your frank honesty…great list this week 🙂
Thanks so much! Keepin’ it real over here. 🙂
Gahhhhh. I’ve only read 4 of these but your descriptions for the ones you liked makes me want to read them, like Playing Hurt and Other Words For Love and um, The Summer books. LIKE REALLY BAD.
Yo, not enough time in my day.
haha…there’s never going to be enough time, I swear. Playing Hurt is so good with MUCHO sexy times. And Other Words For Love was very good, too. And the Summer books? Freaking awesome. The slow-burning and the FEELINGS…I can’t even.
Um what? SEXY TIMES! COUNT ME IN YO!
The Future of Us was just…ehhh…I was hoping ti would be fantastic. 🙁
Me too. I was excited for it and it was definitely a letdown, except for the flashbacks I got to 1995, lol. THOSE were awesome!
I’m sorry to hear you were so disappointed in The Future of Us. I think I didn’t have very high expectations, so I ended up liking it more? Largely for the nostalgia factor, I think. I really want to read I’ll Be There (love this cover hard core) and Sweethearts, but again, since I’ve read so much about how serious they are, I just keep putting them off. I’ll be reading When You Reach Me soon, I’ll let you know how I feel!
The Future of Us was one of those weird books where some parts were enjoyable but I felt like I didn’t enjoy the part that was supposed to be the most important: the relationship. I enjoyed reading about 1996 more than I enjoyed reading about the other stuff. 🙁