Reader confession time: hyped books scare me. Everyone, their mother and their dog seems to love them. There's a certain amount of pressure placed on you to love them. Not only that, but your expectations are so incredibly high going into it...sometimes impossibly high. I don't know about you, but I often put off reading hyped books (even if I think I'm going to LOVEEE it), because I a) don't want to be disappointed and b) if I don't like it, I don't want to be the awkward black sheep - you feel?
However, curiosity (and the general desire to read every book ever) gets the best of me, and I end up picking up the Scary Book. Sometimes, I don't like the book, BUT WE'RE NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT THAT TRAGEDY TODAY. Insteaaaad, we'll talk about the books that LIVE UP TO THE HYPE (!!!) Yay!
I finished this last night! AND I LOVED IT. For the first 200 pages or so, I liked it, but I didn't love it. I was a sad peanut for those first 200 pages, because I really really really wanted to love The Cruel Prince. I loved The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black; visually, it's a beautiful book; EVERYONE SEEMED TO LOVE IT, so I wanted to love it. I had resigned myself to the fact that it just wasn't going to be a 5 star read for me, but then the pace started picking up; the politics became brutal and twisted and thrilling, and the characters began to show a lot of development. By the end of the book I was basically screeching "I LOVE THIS BOOK!". It lived up to the hype (✅), even though it took me awhile to get into it!
I FINALLY READ IT. FOUR YEARS AFTER IT WAS PUBLISHED, BUT I FINALLY READ IT! *happy dance* I put off this book for awhile, because a) it's so big; it could be used as a weapon itself, b) I was scared everyone would die, leaving me an emotional wreck and c)...pretty much everyone loved it. I finally mustered up the courage and read it...and I loved it. Yes, it made me cry 5 or 6 times. Yes, it's a huge book and 54% of any anxiety experienced whilst reading it was due to me panicking that I was breaking the spine. Yes, most people loved it, and it's not hard to see why. It was emotional; it was beautifully written; it was intense and clever and thrilling.
I was never going to pick this book up, because I thought it was going to be some fantasy/horror book that featured a lot of snakes. I, for one, am not a fan of snakes. HOWEVER, I saw reviews for it on It Starts at Midnight and Paper Fury and, to my shock, found out it was actually a contemporary?! And apparently a really, really good contemporary at that. I'm a sucker for a good contemporary novel, so the next time I went to my library, I checked it out. GUYS. THIS BOOK WRECKED ME. I cried so many times and that was before I even got to that part (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the book). It was so good. This book exceeded my expectations. The characters, the romance, the friendship, the writing...READ IT, PLEASE.
AHHH I LOVE THIS BOOK. AND GEMINA. I haven't yet read Obsidio (I'M SCARED), but I'm pretty sure I'll love it too! My Illuminae reading experience is similar to that of The Cruel Prince. I spent the first 200 pages sorely disappointed, as I wasn't loving it. In fact with Illuminae, I wasn't even particularly liking it. BUT THEN but then, after 200 pages I fell deeeeply in love with this book. The characters! The plot! The writing! EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING.
I read this in one sitting. You know a book is good if I read it in one sitting. I'd heard sooo many good things about this book, so naturally, my expectations were super high. I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did, though. The characters were great; the writing was wonderful; I loved the romance. I LOVED THIS BOOK A LOT.
I buddy-read this with my friend in South Africa over Skype. #dedication We read all of it in one day, and we both loved it! I read this 2 years ago, so I can't remember much, but I do remember being completely absorbed in the world.
I read The Archived last week. When it was first published, it was a book that I always saw being praised in the blogosphere. When I finally decided to pick it up last week, I wasn't sure how much I was going to love it. I'd read A Darker Shade of Magic last year and AH IT WAS INCREDIBLE...but I'd also read This Savage Song last month, and I found myself kind of disappointed by it? (I was shocked about that too, believe you me) So I wasn't sure what my reading experience of The Archived would be like, but I needn't have worried, because I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I was reading with my friend in the park, and I'd randomly squeal "I LOVE THIS BOOK". I adored the characters, the banter, the writing and the plot. Again, EVERYTHING WAS EXCELLENT.
Guys. This book was SO FREAKING GOOD. I read it during booktubeathon last year and HOLY SMOKES - SO GOOD. The world, the writing, the characters...EVERYTHING WAS PERFECTION.
Oh, this book made me cry (what's new?). I distinctly remember reading this in one sitting and finishing it at 1am with tears streaming down my face. I'd heard a lot of good things about this book when I first started blogging, but I only got around to it when the movie was about to come out. It was such a beautiful, beautiful book. The sequel was even better. SO FREAKING AMAZING.
I distinctly remember reading this when I was 13 in winter time. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to reread it. That was the first time I wanted to reread a book as soon as I'd turned the last page. I'd heard everyone praising this book, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. Jandy Nelson's writing is art itself. Her characters are so real and HER WRITING. If I could write like anyone, I'd want to write like Jandy Nelson.
What hyped books did you love? Have you read any of these, and what did you think?! What hyped book have you read that has disappointed you? If you've done this topic, leave your link in the comments section, and I'll give your blog a visit!