Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I Liked More/Less Than I Thought I Would

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Liked More/Less Than I Thought I Would.

What an interesting topic!  I don't know if I'll be able to remember which books (out of all I've ever read) surprised me in a good or bad way... but here are some of the ones that stand out (click the titles for my reviews):

Top Five Books I Liked More Than I Thought I Would:

5. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai - This was the first novel in verse that I read and, to be honest, I picked it up only because it was short.  I'm not that interested in historical fiction about fairly recent times, and I didn't know much about Vietnamese immigrants in the 1970s at all.  But I found the voice of ten-year-old Hà engaging and by the end of the book I wanted the best for her and her family.  If I hadn't enjoyed this one as much as I did, I probably wouldn't have discovered the world of verse novels.

4. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - I actually kept putting off reading this one, because I'd heard that the beginning was gory and disgusting and I'd be traumatized for life (or something like that).  When I finally plucked up the courage to read it, I found that it wasn't that bad.  Intense and disturbing, yes.  But not intolerable.  And once the graphic depictions of the accident and injuries were over, there was a fascinating story about a flawed man and a mysterious woman who may be more than she seems.

3. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson - When I put this book on my wish list, I'd seen mostly positive reviews of it.  By the time I got around to reading it, I'd seen some more mixed reviews, and they were enough to make me question whether I'd like this one or not.  The format was a bit different but, other than that, I didn't find much to complain about.  I actually really liked it.  While I guess it's technically a science fiction story (since it's set in the near future), I thought the questions of medical ethics were the real star and they made for an interesting, thought-provoking read.

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - I had to read this book for a first-year university English course.  I'd heard of it, of course, but at that point I didn't know the story and I hadn't yet seen any film adaptations.  I was surprised at how accessible it was, being written in the first person, and I was genuinely interested in the story.  Stupid professor ruined the ending for me, as I wasn't reading quite as quickly as she would have liked.  So much for slowing down and savouring it.  Oh, well.  It's still one of my favourite classics.

1. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - I'd heard such good things about this book, but at the time I got around to reading it, I was feeling a little bit jaded, having been misled a few times into reading "amazing" books that really... weren't.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like this one when I started; Sam was not a likeable girl.  But by the time I finished the book, I'd fallen in love with it.  Oliver's writing helped bring those mean girls alive, but in a way that made you care and wonder about the nature of teenage cruelty.

Top Five Books I Liked Less Than I Thought I Would:

5. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - I kept seeing this one making the rounds of the book blogs (and getting rave reviews), so I thought I'd give it a try.  It sounded unique and interesting and definitely like something I would enjoy.  While I have no beef with the premise (which is actually a pretty cool one), I couldn't stand the characters -- especially Lily.  She rubbed me the wrong way almost from the get-go.  I never even finished this one.

4. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I was so disappointed with this book... especially with the ending.  While I appreciate the sentiment ("war is hell", etc.), much of the last book felt like a slap in the face.  If your main character is going to mope around, hide, and have her raison d'etre pretty much erased, it should be at the beginning of a series... not at the end.  This book was just depressing.  After all the sacrifices Katniss made in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, she deserved better than this.  Just because things don't always have a happy ending in real life doesn't mean they can't in fiction.  My reaction after reading this final book in the trilogy was to wonder what the point of it all was (if anything).

3. Evermore by Alyson Noël - A tortured heroine, a hot immortal guy, manifesting things out of thin air, and living the high life in Orange County.  What's not to like?  Apparently, a tortured heroine, a hot immortal guy, manifesting things out of thin air, and living the high life in Orange County.  I'd read good things about this book, and it seemed to have the paranormal elements I was looking for, but it was a mess.  Swap out a few character traits, and it was basically Twilight... with worse writing.

2. Basajaun by Rosemary Van Deuren - I went into this self-published book thinking I would enjoy it.  It was supposed to be a magical tale, set in Europe, about a little girl and her rabbit friend defending their town from a religious zealot.  It was supposedly written by a "masterful wordsmith".  I'm sorry, but I wouldn't call someone who doesn't even know how to write technically correct dialogue "a masterful wordsmith".  And simply saying your book is set in Europe doesn't evoke a sense of place... especially when your characters all have American-sounding names and the main antagonist sounds like a reject from the Westboro Baptist Church.  And why can the rabbits talk?  And why does nobody question this?  And how did a six-foot-tall rabbit manage to make his way from Australia without being noticed?  Magic, indeed.

1. The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth - This book has a Scottish setting, a kid who gets to live in a castle, and time travel.  Sounds like a pretty good read... but I was disappointed.  I thought it was too long and drawn out for the target age (the main characters were 13 or so, which probably puts the reading level at middle grade)... but I'm not sure actual middle graders would relate to these characters, either.  At times, they seemed much younger.  I think it could have been a decent book if either the characters' ages and/or reading level had been changed or if the story had been edited a little more tightly.  As it was, it didn't really work for me.  And after all the trouble I'd gone to to procure a digital copy (I had to buy it from Australia)!  I thought I would definitely like it... but I didn't.  Such a disappointment.

Review - The Gargoyle

The Gargoyle
by Andrew Davidson

The story begins with the book's unnamed narrator surviving a horrific and fiery car crash that leaves him permanently scarred. In the hospital, he is visited by a sculptor of gargoyles and grotesques named Marianne Engel, a mentally ill woman who claims that they were lovers in Germany... 700 years ago.

The narrator is eventually released into Marianne's care, where she tends to his healing wounds and continues to weave stories about love in Italy, England, Japan, Iceland, and Germany. But Marianne also believes that she has been assigned a task from God... and when that task is finished, so will be her time on earth.

I've had this book sitting on my bedside table for ages. It had been on my wishlist and I found the hardcover for an incredible bargain (less than $3). However, I'd read some reviews that said that the beginning was so horrifyingly graphic that it was traumatic. I was then afraid to pick up the book, for fear I'd have nightmares. Without getting into too much detail, I suspect that those reviews were written by men. I'll just leave it at that (but I will say that I've actually read more graphic scenes in some YA books).

It states on the book jacket that the author spent seven years researching this book. It shows. The depiction of life (and death) in the burn unit was compelling, fascinating, and unnerving. At the end of it all, you have a new respect for anyone who has had to go through such an ordeal. There were also a great deal of historical tidbits woven through Marianne's stories. I can only imagine how much research was required to get everything right.

The story pulled me along, and I loved watching the main character change. He started out as a drug-addicted pornographer so, really, the only place to go was up. But watching him get there was amazing, and his relationships with the other characters really helped with the journey.

Ultimately, I liked the book... but I wasn't crazy about the ending. As I was reading the book, I had a few theories as to what was actually going on (all of which would have pushed the book into the contemporary fantasy category instead of... contemporary romance?). But because of the narrator's beliefs (or lack thereof... he was a self-described atheist), those elements were never really explored, and he never asked the right questions of Marianne. As a result, I found the ending to be much less satisfying than it could have been; certain things were hinted at which would explain some of the unasked questions, but they were never spelled out. I got the feeling that we were supposed to draw our own conclusions... but I'm really not a fan of books that do that. If it's that important to the story, we shouldn't have to guess.

The writing was good, the story was intriguing, the characters were well developed, and the book certainly made me think. So, overall, I would recommend it to others. I just wish I had gotten a little more satisfaction from the ending, after that amazing journey.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Overall: 3.8 out of 5

It's Tuesday... Where are you? (4)

I am in a hospital burn ward with a former pornographer and an artistic woman who may be more than just creative (she may be insane).

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

This meme is hosted by raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading.

In My Mailbox (10)

What's the only thing better than getting a bunch of new books? Getting a great deal on those new books, of course! I found some absolutely phenomenal deals at the bookstore yesterday. I got five new books for under $25. At regular price, those five books cost $125. Now that's what I call a bargain!

Here's what I got:

The Gargoyle
by Andrew Davidson

An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time.

The narrator of The Gargoyle is a very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, who dwells in the moral vacuum that is modern life. As the book opens, he is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide—for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul.

A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love. He is released into Marianne's care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete—and her time on earth will be finished.

Already an international literary sensation, The Gargoyle is an Inferno for our time. It will have you believing in the impossible.

The Explosionist
by Jenny Davidson

A series of mysteries.

An explosion of truths.

The Explosionist: Someone sets off a bomb outside fifteen-year-old Sophie's boarding school, but no one can figure out who.

The Medium: Soothsayers and séance leaders are regular guests at her great-aunt's house in Scotland, but only one delivers a terrifying prophecy, directed at Sophie herself.

The Murder: When the medium is found dead, Sophie and her friend Mikael know they must get to the bottom of these three mysteries in order to save themselves—even as the fate of all Europe hangs in the balance.

Set in a time of subversive politics, homegrown terrorism, and rapidly changing alliances, The Explosionist is an extraordinarily accomplished debut novel for teens that delivers a glimpse of the world as it might have been—had one moment in history been altered.

The Summoning
by Kelley Armstrong

My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

The Awakening
by Kelley Armstrong

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl—someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment—not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends—a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch—and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness
by Jeff Warren

A world at once familiar and unimaginably strange exists all around us, and within us – it is the vast realm of consciousness. In The Head Trip, science journalist Jeff Warren explores twelve distinct, natural states of consciousness available to us in a twenty-four-hour day, each state offering its own kind of knowledge and insight – its own adventure. The hypnagogic state, when our minds hover between waking and sleeping, can be a rich source of creativity and even compassion. Then there’s the Watch, an almost magical waking experience in the middle of the night that has been all but lost to electric light and modern sleep patterns. Daydreaming and trance, lucid dreaming, the Zone, and the Pure Conscious Event – from sleep laboratory to remote northern cabin, neurofeedback clinic to Buddhist retreat, Warren visits them all. Along the way, he talks to neuroscientists, chronobiologists, anthropologists, monks, and many others who illuminate his stories with cutting-edge science and age-old wisdom.

On this trip, all are welcome and no drugs are required: all you need to pack are a functioning cerebrum and an open mind. Replete with stylish graphics and brightened by comic panels conceived and drawn by the author, The Head Trip is an instant classic, a brilliant and original description of the shifting experience of consciousness that’s also a practical guide to enhancing creativity and mental health. This book does not just inform and entertain – it shows how every one of us can expand upon the ways we experience being alive.


What was in your "mailbox" this week?



In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.