T10T: Books I Almost Didn’t Read

TTT-Big2

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly blog meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt was actually to list ten books I’m No Longer Interested in Reading, but I do the Down the TBR Hole posts every Sunday, so that felt a little bit redundant. Instead, I decided to highlight ten books I almost didn’t read – and what I thought of them in the end!

Click the book’s title for a link to my review!


 

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1. A Darker Shade of Magic — V. E. Schwab
I know, shocking, but I actually didn’t think the synopsis interested me that much… until I started reading it, and was sucked in within, uh, 3 pages?
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. The Bone Season — Samantha Shannon
The plot didn’t sound too interesting to begin with, and then, right before I picked it up, a few friends told me they had hated it, so I was feeling very skeptical. The first 75 pages or so didn’t interest me, but then I was so hooked I stayed up until 5am reading it, two nights in a row.
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. The Hearts We Sold — Emily Lloyd-Jones
I had the chance to get an eARC of this one, but passed it up because I thought it was going to be some vaguely boring contemporary story. When I received it in an Owlcrate box, I somewhat reluctantly decided to read it, but holy hell, did I fall in love. Now, I want to read everything Emily writes, forever. ❤
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. 27 Hours — Tristina Wright
I was actually really interested in the idea of this super queer, super diverse sci-fi story, and was ecstatic when I received my ARC, but the controversy surrounding the author’s treatment of POC individuals was so bad that I almost didn’t read it just to avoid getting sucked in. I ended up mostly liking the book, but as time progressed, I realized the writing was actually incredibly subpar, and now that she’s been outed as a sexual abuser, well…
FINAL RATING:

5. Nice Try, Jane Sinner — Lianne Oelke
I heard so many negative reviews after receiving an ARC of this one that I kept putting it off, and I’m ashamed to admit (seeing as it was an ARC) that I had no interest at all in reading it. That said, this book totally taught me to stop reading negative reviews of ARCs I haven’t read yet, because I really enjoyed it.
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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6. One of Us is Lying — Karen McManus
I swore I wasn’t going to read this book. I read the description, I read a short excerpt of an ARC, and I thought, “Nope, not interested. At all.” But then it won a Life & Lit BOTM poll, so I felt like I should finally give it a try. I definitely should have listened to my gut, because my review rips this book to pieces.
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐

7. Flame in the Mist — Renee Ahdieh
I requested Flame on NetGalley, but by the time it released, my review was still pending and I had realized I wasn’t all that interested in reading it. Naturally, the same day I finally removed it from my Goodreads TBR shelf, I was given a late ARC approval. It was okay – not good enough to say I enjoyed it much, but interesting enough to kind of want to read the sequel?
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

8. Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror — Junji Ito
I had formerly read one of the 6 manga that make up the full story of Uzumaki, and was thoroughly unimpressed, but when I saw the full collection bind-up at the library, I reluctantly decided to give it another try… I still wasn’t a big fan, but I have to say, it was certainly unique.
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

9. Stalking Jack the Ripper — Kerri Maniscalco
I’m not sure why I wasn’t sold on this series, but I think, honestly, it might’ve been subconscious bias regarding the publishing imprint, because I’m not a fan at all of James Patterson’s work, and I thought this would be too similar? That said, I finally caved and have ended up adoring this series. ❤
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

10. Wonder Woman: Warbringer — Leigh Bardugo
I’m not a big fan of superhero books, and I’ve never been a fan of WW at all – I don’t actively dislike her, but I was raised on a lot of heroes and she was simply never one of them. I finally agreed to pick this one up because my friend Julie loved it so much, and though it dragged a little in the beginning, by the end of it? I was so glad I read it!
FINAL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐


What was the last book that surprised you (in a good or bad way)?


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Just a children's librarian/horror aficionado/geek girl trying to juggle motherhood, grad school, blogging, gaming, and everyday life.

50 thoughts on “T10T: Books I Almost Didn’t Read

  1. I haven’t read any of your choices, but I’ve been hoping to read ADSOM and The Bone Season. Sometimes I find it difficult to get into a new fantasy world, though… It’s going to take me a while, but I’m going to stop putting these off eventually!

    You can find my Top Ten Tuesday here.

    Like

    1. Yikes! 😦 Yeah… what a mess. The way she reacted to the whole thing made it all so much worse, too. And I can definitely understand that. I don’t think I’ll request an ARC of the sequel, but I’m gonna keep an eye out for reviews and see what the general consensus is before I read it.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Love your twist on this week’s topic! Also, glad to hear that you enjoyed The Bone Season– it’s one of those books that’s been on my TBR for quite some time but I’ve just never gotten around to actually reading it 🙂

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  3. I really loved A Darker Shade of Magic too – VE Schwab’s writing is just so engrossing, you know? I wasn’t sure I’d like either and I had heard it was slow but wow, it was a great surprise! I was interested in 27 Hours at first but then the reviews concerning her treatment of POC and colonization came and as you said, now… just nope.

    Like

    1. Her writing is really lovely! I honestly can’t wait to read more by her. A friend of mine and I are planning to buddy read the second and third books in a couple of months and I’m so looking forward to it. 🙂

      And yes, 27 Hours is… a mess. I would just stay far away, lol!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I had to go back and reread your initial blurb and title about 5 times before it settled in that you weren’t doing the original prompt – my heart nearly stopped when I saw A Darker Shade of Magic on your list! Haha. I LOVED that series SO much, have you read the other books yet?

    I’ve read quite a few of these titles and really enjoyed them. A couple that are still on my TBR are The Bone Season and Stalking Jack the Ripper, so I’m glad to see you loved them!

    Here’s my TTT.

    Like

    1. Bahaha, I’m sorry! I always try to give a little heads-up for what I’m doing when I change the topic around, but I think maybe I should start putting it in bold if I’m changing it up a LOT like I did this week, haha. I haven’t finished the series yet, but I’m planning to this spring/summer and I’m very excited!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Love your spin on this week’s topic, and I’m glad that most of these ended up okay for you! I’m especially glad for Flame in the Mist because I’ve been looking forward to getting to that one. I have Wonder Woman on my list this week, but I’ve seen quite a few people praise it today so maybe I’ll reconsider…

    Like

  6. Yes, sometimes we should go with our first instinct. Of your list of books, the only one I’ve read was One of Us Is Lying, which I liked, but which would not have been a good match for everyone. Happily, there are lots of others around, right?

    Like

  7. I really want to read Uzumaki but at the same time I’m not sure if I’m brave enough for it because the furthest I’ve gone into Japanese horror is the original Godzilla movie from the 50’s 😂 But I do really want to see if Junji Ito is really that big of a deal because he’s so celebrated.

    Like

    1. Thank you, Jenni! It was such a fun read – not the best writing I’ve ever read, but still enjoyable and her writing improved exponentially by the time she wrote the second book, so as far as I’m concerned, book 2 is practically perfection. 🙂

      Like

      1. Oh, man, that’s… honestly a tough one to answer. I mean, on the one hand, I try to review all of my ARCs, but on the other hand, she really messed up and I don’t know if I would read it, in your position. Especially since her writing is honestly just “meh” at best.

        Okay, full disclosure, IF you decide you don’t want to read it, but you don’t want it hurting your Netgalley ratio? I would just fill out the “send feedback” option (not the review section where you have to put a star rating), and I would put, in the note to the publisher, why you aren’t comfortable with reading her work. The publisher for that one is EntangledTeen, and they are a really lovely group of people (LOVE working with them!) and they’ve actually dropped her from their imprint entirely, so if you send them a note, I am 100% convinced that they will not hold it against you on this particular title.

        Whatever you do decide, your choice is totally valid and I support you! ❤

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I’m so glad you didn’t leave ADSOM because if you did, I would have totally screamed at you until you read it. The trilogy is one of the best I read last year and I’m still not over it.

    Like

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