Top Ten Tuesday | Top Ten Books That Surprised Me

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke And The Bookish, now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Lists galore, I can think of nothing better!

This week's theme is books that surprised you, either in a good or bad way. I often go into books with certain expectations and on many occasions have been surprised by the book either not meeting those expectations or completely exceeding them. Today I decided to share 5 books that surprised me in a good way and 5 that surprised me in not such a good way.

The Good

1. Harry Potter And The Cursed Child by JK Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne - So many people hated this book, particularly hard core Harry Potter fans, but I absolutely loved it! I wasn't expecting to at all given all the negative things I had heard.

2. Allegiant by Veronica Roth - Again, I had heard so many negative things about this one. Everyone complains about the end of this book and I've heard many people say this book ruins the series. However, I thought the ending was really appropriate and this may be my favourite book of the series.

3. Where She Went by Gayle Forman - I need to stop listening to other people because this is another one I wasn't expecting to like due to what other people were saying about it. I didn't love the prequel If I Stay (I much prefer the movie) but wanted to give the sequel a go and absolutely loved it.

4. Bridget Jones' Baby by Helen Fielding - After being really disappointed by Bridget Jones' Diary, the first book in this series, I decided not to bother continuing. However, I then received this book for Christmas after loving the movie so decided to skip the others in the series and try out this one. I had such low expectations but ended up devouring it in one sitting and loving it.

5. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows - As historical fiction isn't my genre of choice, I wasn't expecting to like this. I lowered my expectations even more when I discovered there were some fantasy elements to the story. However, it was so well written and funny that I ended up really enjoying it.

The Not-So-Good

6. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - I really enjoyed everything I had read from Rainbow Rowell before reading this and as so many people claim this as their favourite of her books, I was expecting great things. I ended up really disliking this book, I was so disappointed.

7. All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher - I adore Carrie and wanted to love this book just as much but I was disappointed. I found that she came across as preachy and annoying, which I know she isn't in real life.

8. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - I'm so interested in books about school shootings (it's strange, I don't know why) so I expected to love this book. Instead, I'm still shocked I didn't just DNF it. I found it really boring and unnecessarily long.

9. Confessions Of A Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella - This is such a well-loved series, I was obviously going to love it, right? That's what I thought but that didn't end up being the case. I really disliked the main character, which meant I didn't enjoy the book at all.

10. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - Another super popular book that so many people seem to love. I wanted to read this before watching the show, which people also seem to love, and was so disappointed. I hated this book. There are so many things I had issues with that I can't even get into all of them just now.

Those were my ten books that surprised me, both in a good way and in a bad way. Did any of the books I mentioned surprise you? 

Sophie :)