Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Ten Books To Read If You Are In The Mood For X… which means lot of room for individual interpretation… which makes checking out other bloggers’ lists so much fun.
My spin on the this week’s topic is all about the big shockers. When’s the last time you read a book that made you gasp with a sudden game-changing reveal? Or something that made you have to go all the way back to the beginning to see how it all looks different now that you know what you know? Or even (see #1 below) something as basic as assuming a certain character is the THE most important character, only to see him/her killed off in the very first book in a huge series?
My ten books with the biggest game-changing shockers — those “what did I just read???” moments — are:
1) A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: You know what I mean, right? That heartbreaking moment when the character you love DOESN’T get a last-minute reprieve from the executioner? Damn you, GRRM, for killing off the people I expect to win! And he just keeps doing it and doing it and doing it.
For the rest, I’m not going to include any comments. Because even knowing that there’s a twist, or knowing what kind of twist it is, can really take away from the impact of that OMG! WTF! moment.
2) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (review)
3) Everything, Everything by Nicola Joon (review)
4) The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler (info)
5) Fingersmith by Sara Waters (info)
6) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (review)
7) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (review)
8) Hater by David Moody
9) The Uninvited by Cat Winters (review)
10) Then and Always by Dani Atkins (review)
Have you read any books with mind-blowing twists? Please let me know in the comments! And if you’ve written a TTT post this week, please share your link and I’ll come check it out. Thanks!
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Bookshelf Fantasies 
I love the topic you’ve chosen ! I love books that surprise you 🙂 And I will definitely check the ones I didn’t know yet… My TTT
Thanks! I love when these surprise ending sneak up on you. 🙂
Excellent topic choice (might have to steal it in the future!)
Ha ha, be my guest. 🙂
Just had a thought about the book that had a twist that left me stunned – John Irving’s Last Night at Twisted River. Honestly felt like I’d been punched in the guts.
Ooh, great to know! It’s been on my TBR list for a while now… now I’m curious enough to actually get a copy. And now that you mention John Irving, I’d say that’s true of so many of his books. Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, Owen Meany… he is definitely mean to his characters!
YES to We Were Liars, Everything Everything and Gone Girl. Those books’ twist are just insane! 😀
Right? Made my head spin. 🙂
True!
Gone GIrl is soooo twisty, I love it — definitely didn’t see that one coming at all! I also enjoyed Everything, Everything but I wonder if the twist ‘cheapens’ the whole book, in a sense, i.e. it provides an easy way for the author to solve the problems and let the character do what she wants instead of actually dealing with it.
Here’s my TTT. 🙂
I agree with your thoughts on Everything, Everything. It was a huge twist and such a shock — but I did also feel that it cheapened the characters’ choices in a way by removing the stakes so completely.
Yeah, exactly! You put it so much more eloquently. 🙂
Gone Girl is one I want to read- I love twisty! Several of these look good. And yes Game of Thrones- that one was shocking. It took me a long time to realize he wasn’t going to explain it away somehow. 🙂
I know what you mean about GoT. I kept waiting for there to be some way out, because that character just couldn’t be… you know. Oh, so heartbreaking!
Well Game of Thrones certainly fits in the shocking twists category haha. Nice picks this week! I read We Were Liars a little while ago but I found that one very predictable. It just seems to be me that thinks that though.
My TTT
You’re ahead of me, I guess — I definitely did not see the We Were Liars twist coming!
Sometimes I can predict these harder twists but not some of the really easy ones hahaha
Great topic & list this week! GoT is definitely the quintessential book when it comes to shocking twists–was scarred for years before I finally got around to reading the next book in the series, lol =/
My TTT
Oh god yes, GoT did some major damage to my soul! And then book 3 came along and chopped me up into pieces all over again. Those books are brutal… but I love them.
Love your choice of topic, though the only book I’ve read on your list is Gone Girl.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/top-ten-tuesday-46/
Thanks! This was a fun one. 🙂
I love Everything, Everything and Code Name Verity! I don’t read books for a shocking twist, but I love those books so much.
The nice thing about a lot of these books is that I didn’t set out to read a book with a book twist, so the impact was huge and unexpected. Code Name Verity is such a beautiful book.
Great choice of topic! Both We Were Liars and Gone girl have such good twists I really didn’t see coming! I’m also currently watching the GoT Tv show, and still can’t get over the deaths of some of my favourites!
My TTT
Oh, I know, it’s so hard to watch some of those scenes on TV! It breaks my heart to see what happens to some of the characters, particularly the ones I’ve come to love.
Great topic! I loved Everything, Everything! Here’s my TTT. 🙂
Thanks!
I haven’t read GoT or Gone Girl, but their on-screen adaptations are amazing! Good list!
My TTT: http://bookclubbabe.net/2016/03/01/top-ten-books-when-you-just-want-to-laugh/
I agree — those are both books where the screen version really does justice to the original!
Great topic! I absolutely love books that have twists at the end.
Thanks! I’d love to hear suggestions if you can think of others. 🙂
I do love a good twist and you’ve got so many of them here! 😀
Thanks! I love the feeling that books are playing mind-games with me. 🙂
Fingersmith is wonderful. Great to see it on your list!
I’m so glad to hear you love it too! That book made me gasp out loud a few times. I’d really love to re-read it one of these days.
I don’t think I’ve read any of these books, but man, I love a big shocker in books! Great list!
My TTT: http://brownbooksandgreentea.com/2016/03/01/books-to-read-if-youre-in-the-mood-for-activism/
Correction: I’ve DEFINITELY read Gone Girl, and that was a big shocker if I’ve ever read one.
Ha, yes, that’s a good one! Do you have any other books with big shockers to recommend?
I’m currently reading We Were Liars (only on the first few chapters) and I didn’t know there was gonna be a “what did I just read…???!?” moment!!! Will definitely be looking out for that moment in the book ☺️
Uh oh, I wish you didn’t know that in advance — sorry! Still, I think you’ll enjoy it — will look forward to hearing what you think.
Oh man, the ending for The Uninvited gave me serious chills. And my mouth was hanging open for The Gone Girl. So many shockers on this list. I really love when an author can surprise me in a big, huge way. Great list!
Thank you! Chills is right for describing The Uninvited — I loved it!
Great list! I have wanted to read We were liars forever but I just haven’t gotten to it. And Gone Girl seriously made me question my faith in humanity! So messed up!
Ha, you’re so right! And questioned my faith in marriage too. 🙂
Great choices! I just bought Code Name Verity too so now I’m very intrigued!!
It’s such a beautiful book. I hope you enjoy it!
You have a good list here. I do like the shocking twists. They are great for book club discussions!
Absolutely! Book club discussions (or even rousing arguments) can definitely be sparked by those surprise twists. 🙂
Even though Everything, Everything is a bit predictable, I still LOVED IT! It was such a good read! Great TOP 10!
My TTT.
I agree, it was such a good one! Thanks.
Loving this list, I love a good twist. I really enjoyed Everything, Everything, the Uninvited, and Code Name Verity (still in pain).
Thank you! (and I’m still mopping up the tears…)
Great post! Completely agree with the ones I’ve read- GOT, We Were Liars and Everything Everything- such brilliant shockers!
Thanks! This was a fun topic to think about — and I love the weeks where everyone’s TTT is a little bit different. 🙂
Oh definitely! And you’re welcome 🙂
oh what a fun topic! Going to check out some of these 🙂 My TTT
Thanks!
Absolutely to We Were Liars, Fingersmith, and Gone Girl. I’ll have to check out the others. I keep wondering if Gone Girl will hold up on a second read. I really like the way she writes, and I’ve read both of her other books twice, but neither of those hinged on such a big reveal.
I still haven’t read her other books. I’ve heard that they’re really good, but I haven’t been in the mood to tackle anything that dark. Are they worth giving a try?
Yes, they definitely are. Both protagonists are sarcastic (in a funny way), but they’re also dark. I read them back to back (before Gone Girl) one summer and didn’t find them all that dark because of that, but on re-reading them I realized they are pretty dark.