Books are funny things. There's the old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover", but how many of us do exactly that? Or maybe it's not the cover--maybe we just hear a bit of the premise, and immediately we catch ourselves thinking "Oh no, I don't think I'm going to like this book." Even fervent readers like those of us at M.B.B.H. are not immune to such things! Just check out these answers!
Leslie
Conzatti
Being
such an avid reader, but not so well versed in picking out my own
books for a long time meant that my exposure to really diverse books
was limited at the beginning, and I tended to shy away from the books
that looked to be shallow, girly, chick-lit types… which is sort of
what I assumed for both Ruby
Red and
Cinder.
At first sight, they looked to be along the lines of The
Selection,
which I very much did not
enjoy,
and for Ruby
Red especially,
when all that the blurb talks about is how “girl with unwanted
destiny initially hates but then finds herself falling for hot guy
with similar fate--Such
adventure! Very kiss… Oh wow!” (I’m
paraphrasing, of course!) I just assumed it would be another
“Will-They-Won’t-They Junior!” but I decided to give it a
chance--
Oh
man,
am
I glad I did! Turns out the whole “teenage romance” thing was
appropriately secondary to the true mystery that was the main thrust
of the plot, and I could giggle at the shenanigans and smile every
time certain secondary characters came onto the scene… Same with
Cinder,
I really hoped that it wasn’t another Selection
(since
both Cinder
and
The
Selection profess
to be inspired by the Cinderella story--a trope many teen girl novels
love to reproduce again and again, with little to no gravity to it,
just bubbly, airheaded characters and flouncy, poofy dresses and
floating on rainbows and dancing hearts…) and was pleased
beyond all reason to
find out it wasn’t, and in fact the whole Lunar
Chronicles series
is full of hands-down the BEST fairy-tale re-tellings I have ever
encountered!
Jo
Linsdell www.JoLinsdell.com
I
recently got sent a copy of Letters
from Alice by Petrina Banfield
from
Harper Collins Publishers for review and whilst I did think I’d
like it, I didn’t think it would blow me away the way it did.
Seriously, this book was awesome!
About
the book:
Two
women. One secret. Will they be able to keep it under wraps?
It
is a stormy evening in 1920s London. When newly qualified almoner,
Alice, stepped into the home of Charlotte, a terrified teenager who
has just given birth out of wedlock, she did not expect to make a
pact that would change her life forever. Thrown into secrecy after an
unexpected turn, Alice is determined to keep bewildered Charlotte and
her newborn baby safe. But when a threatening note appears, she
realises that Charlotte may need more protection than she first
thought. But from who?
Based
on extensive research into the archive material held at the London
Metropolitan Archives, and enriched with lively social history and
excerpts from newspaper articles, LETTERS FROM ALICE is a gripping
and deeply moving tale, which brings the colourful world of 1920s
London to life. Full of grit, mystery and hope, it will have readers
enthralled from the very first page.
The author did a huge amount of research for this book and it shows. A great historical read that took me to 1920’s London. I loved the characters and how all the various storylines crossed over and came together. A real work of art. I highly recommend it.
Tania
- The Bookworm Mummy Tania-richardson.com
Earlier
this year I got the change to read an ARC of Ash Princess, by Laura
Sebastian, and I expected it to be riddled with a ton of YA fantasy
tropes that would annoy me, written solely as a Throne of Glass et al
type of thing. And to be honest, for the first few chapters, those
opinions held. I found the main character to be annoying and dull,
but am I glad I carried on reading! Of course Theo is meant to be
appear dull and uninteresting - that is the part she’s been playing
for years to keep herself alive. When the plot kicks in, and she has
no choice but to start taking action, I realized I’d been taking in
by her act too. Theo is a far more interesting character than
Sebastian at first leads you to believe, and the plot plays out less
predictably than you’d expect. And also, I’m a sucker for a
little bit of forbidden, royal romance here and there! I’m glad I
stuck with it, and I would totally recommend it to all YA Fantasy
fans on the fence, like me!What about you? Is there a book you didn't expect to like... but you ended up loving it? Share the title with us in the comments! And don't forget to return to the >Introductory Post< to see what other questions are coming this month!
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