July 30, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Popular Books That Lived Up To The Hype

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Topic: 

Popular Books That Lived Up To The Hype

Some are recent books, some go back a few years.

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas  - So this actually stands for the series as a whole. I had this sitting on my shelf for a while and avoided it like the plague for fear of it not living up to the hype. OMG. I can't believe I let it sit so long! This series is legit one of my favorite series EVER now. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series! I loved the world building, the fae, Rhysand & Feyre. ACOMAF is my favorite out of all the books but this series. It definitely lived up to the hype  built around it!

2. An Ember In The Ashes (An Ember In The Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir - Same with #1. This goes for the whole series so far. I was never pulled into this series with the other covers for some reason. But as Reapers release grew closer, the series was popping back up again EVERYWHERE. So I decided why not pick it up and see what all the hype is about?! OMG. Seriously. So good. I loved the world built in this too. The empire, the scholars, the martials. And the characters. Sabaa Tahir wrote every character so well! I was pulled into Laia's story so quickly. I was super curious with Elias since he wanted to escape and Helene grew on me the more I read about her and her story. It's just so well written overall. 

3. Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - I cannot believe I waited so long to pick this up. I flew through this is 3 hours (its over 600 pages guys). It was that good. I was so engrossed in the story and the characters and the fun format these books are written in. I also love love love the space aspect of this. I love space (I'm a super big Trekie) and I cannot get enough of space related things. So the fact this was a space/sci-fi novel just filled my heart with glee! Gemina and Obsidio just came in so I'll be cracking those open ASAP and continuing the story!!!! :D 

4. Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi - So I was incredibly hesitant to read this with all the hype surrounding it since it's release earlier this year. I'm so so glad I picked up a copy because it blew my mind. Another huge book I read in like 3 hours. I kid you not. I was laying in bed with James (my fiance) reading and I was finishing quarters of the book in the time he was finished a chapter or two of his. I was so enthralled with the story and everything going on. The story behind the Maji. The characters and their backgrounds. It was incredible!! :)

5. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas - I literally just read this a little over a week ago. I was so against reading this because I was super afraid of being disappointed and I swear like everyone loves Throne of Glass. I'm so happy to say I was not disappointed. I am really enjoying Celaena's story and I'm also super glad I read The Assassin's Blade before it because it made a lot of things make more sense to me. I really love how much of a badass Celaena is but also how sweet and soft she can be on the inside. She's a great character. Definitely excited to read more of the things hinted at in the rest of the series! 

6. Renegades (Renegades #1) by Marissa Meyer - So this out of all the books on this list is probably the one I had the biggest reservations about. So many people were saying this book was amazing. I got it for Christmas right after it came out. But it sat on my shelf until 2 weeks ago because I was genuinely unsure I'd enjoy it because I'm not super big into superheroes/villains type of thing. I forced myself to finally pick it up and I actually enjoyed it. I took me about 100 pages to be sold completely on the superheroes/villains thing but it was good! It wasn't what I was expecting and I have to admit, after reading this I might be more willing to read another book with this type of story. 

7. Strange The Dreamer (Strange The Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor - So I was pretty sure I was going to like this one regardless of the hype that was built around it. I love Laini Taylor's unique writing. But I wasn't expecting to be immersed in such a magical and genuinely interesting world! I loved this story. And there was such a huge backstory with the humans and the godspawn. I loved how beautiful the world was built, the characters built into it, and the story interwoven. It was incredibly amazing and I'm thrilled this lived up to hype! 

8. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi - So I think we all know there as a huge hype around this before release. I even helped build that hype when I won an ARC and read it and started talking about how amazeballs it is! I love the Shatter Me Series! I hadn't been blogging much before this came out so it was my first big hyped book read. And I was just so pulled into Juliette's world and everything with the Reestabliment. I was all over learning about Juliette's power and why she can touch some people and not others. I was also super gripped with all the action and running happening in the first book. I could not put it down. I don't care if some people don't like it, but it's one of my favorite popular hyped books! :D

9. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) by Michelle Hodkin - This also had a huge hype around it before release. I actually didn't buy into it right away. It took close to release for me to really want to read it. But then I was lucky enough to get a copy right at release and I just fell in love with this story. Mara's story was so unique to me at the time. I was sucked into everything happening to her and even more so when sweet precious Noah came into the picture. I loved Noah and Mara together and just could not put this book down. 

10. Just One Day (Just One Day #1) by Gayle Forman - So I have a hard time getting into and reading Gayle Formans books. I try but they don't grab me. This one however was the one hyped Gayle Forman book that pulled me in. I think it is because of the world traveling, sweet adorable romance. I loved Allyson's story in Just One Day. I couldn't get enough of this book. I was also just all over Paris. One day I'd love to visit Paris. I have a french background and it's my goal to visit some of the places from my ancestral background. Any time I get to read about Paris I'm totally in and I think that's what really helped pull me in to this.