[Top Ten Tuesday] Books That Surprised Me (in a good or bad way)

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish but is currently being run by That Artsy Reader Girl. A prompt is given each week, and I hope to do it every week so I always have something going up on Tuesdays. This week I am talking about the books that surprised me. Whether that means in a positive or negative way!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

I was surprised with how beautiful this story was. I heard amazing things but I also heard it was a slow burning story, which worried me because I can sometimes get into slumps with stories like that. However, I enjoyed it a lot and it is one of my favorite books I've read this year so far.

Synopsis:
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

A Court of  Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 

Although I enjoyed the first book in this series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, I didn't love it. However, I was blown away and in love with this book. It's the best one in the trilogy and I think it's Maas's best book so far. The plot and the characters were amazing.There is definitely problems with Maas's stories when it comes to diversity, which is important to bring up, but I enjoyed this book a lot.

Synopsis:
Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

I loved this story so much. I was so incredibly shocked by the events of this story even if I should have known how it was going to go because its an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland prequel/retelling.

Synopsis:

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

I was so disappointed by this book. Like I said above, I love Heartless and I love the author's series the Lunar Chronicles. But unfortunately this just wasn't for me. I was surprised with how bored I was and I am hoping that the sequel is better because I plan on giving this story another shot. 

Synopsis: 
The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies — humans with extraordinary abilities — who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone... except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice — and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh 

Before reading Reign of the Fallen I hadn't read anything else by this author so I wasn't sure if I would like Sarah's writing. But I was absolutely blown away and I am so excited I have found a new series to obsess about.

Synopsis:
Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their souls from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised--the Dead must remain shrouded, or risk transforming into zombie-like monsters known as Shades. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, the grotesque transformation will begin.

A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears among Odessa's necromancer community. Soon a crushing loss of one of their own reveals a disturbing conspiracy: someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead--and training them to attack. Odessa is faced with a terrifying question: What if her necromancer's magic is the weapon that brings Karthia to its knees?

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig 

I was super excited to read this book but unfortunately it wasn't for me. I was shocked because it had gotten rave reviews from so many book bloggers and BookTubers that I respect and value their opinions. For me it was boring, a bit all over the place, and I wasn't a fan of the writing. It happens, I was just shocked because I went into reading this book with a lot of excitement and high expectations.

Synopsis:
Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination.

As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.

But the end to it all looms closer every day.

Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence.

For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.

She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love.

Or she could disappear.

Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

I wasn't sure what I expected with this book. Honestly, I wasn't really interested until I heard raving reviews. Although I didn't love it as much as some I did really enjoy it and I was pleasantly surprised. I think I was cautious because James Patterson published it under his imprint publishing company. He also published Stalking Jack the Ripper, a book I enjoyed okay but didn't love. So I was really pleased to love this more than SJtR! 

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Serendipity "Pity" Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She's been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great....

In this extraordinary debut from Lyndsay Ely, the West is once again wild after a Second Civil War fractures the U.S. into a broken, dangerous land. Pity's struggle against the dark and twisted underbelly of a corrupt city will haunt you long after the final bullet is shot.

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab 

At the time I had only read  Vicious by V.E. Schwab, and although I loved Vicious, I wasn't sure how I'd like this book. However I was blown away and after this book I knew Schwab would be one of my favorite authors.

Synopsis:
There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz 

This is a story where I heard amazing things but wasn't sure if I'd connect with it. But there's something about this story, the characters, and the writing that really connects with me. Every time I have either read or listened to this book I have bawled. I am still surprised with how much this book affects me.


Synopsis:
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon by Leila Howland

I expected for this book to be super kiddish and not for me at all. Although Tangled is my favorite Disney Princess movie I was worried I was just too much older than the targeted age demographic for this story. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Although it is suitable for a younger audience, like the Disney movies it is enjoyable for all ages of readers. I cannot wait to get this book for my collection and read the sequels when they are released.

Synopsis:
Rapunzel is not your typical princess. For one thing, she has returned to her kingdom after eighteen years spent trapped in a tower and she's still getting to know her parents. For another, she has to get used to royal customs, like the proper ways to sit and curtsy, when she'd really rather climb a tree and paint. Plus, she hates wearing shoes.

Cassandra is not your typical lady-in-waiting. As the daughter of the captain of the guard, she has grown up fascinated by security and weaponry. It has been her life's goal to become a soldier in the guard, and princess-sitting doesn't really fit into her plan-especially when that princess's aggravating boyfriend is always hanging around.

But when Rapunzel and Cassandra stumble upon a secret lagoon said to hold the key to the kingdom's greatest power, it will be up to them to solve the mystery before someone more sinister does.

Follow this tale of adventure and intrigue, love and destiny, and, most important, friendship.


I'd love to know some books that  surprised you! Whether that be negatively or positively.

Thanks for reading!