TTT | Books that Surprised Me

Posted April 22, 2025 by TheNonbinaryLibrarian in top ten tuesday / 5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly topic hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week she provides a topic, and you are free to use that topic and/or variations of that topic to make your top ten list. A full list of the weekly themes can be found here.

Here are some books that surprised me:

Book cover of 'Long Live Evil' by Sarah Rees Brennan featuring a dramatic illustration of a character in a white gown with blood accents, sitting on a throne with golden wings.

Book cover for 'Black Sheep' by Rachel Harrison featuring a black silhouette of a cow against a pink background, with the title prominently displayed.

Long Live Evil-I actually felt dumb that I didn’t see how this was going to end and who was going to be emperor after finishing it. But I’m super excited for what’s coming in the sequel.

Black Sheep-This actually is a early to mid surprise and not a spoiler. I actually physically had a small jump in my seat from reading that the main character grew up in a Satanist cult.

Lore of the Wilds-The ending was absolutely brilliant! I’m salivating for Lore of the Tides!

Book cover of 'Godly Heathens' by H.E. Edgmon, featuring a young woman with intricate braids and vines, accompanied by the words 'Infatuation. Reincarnation. Damnation.'

Cover of the book 'The Honeys' by Ryan La Sala featuring bright floral designs and neon text.

Godly Heathens-It’s annoying that only us in the LGBTQ+ community have to bend over backwards to make others comfortable or to prove we’re not a threat or to forgive those who hate us. Sometimes, it’s nice to read something that is just full of rage, and I was here for this story!

The Honeys-I probably think about this book at least once a week! Everything about it was surprising and the ending was shocking and at times, I’m still not sure what I read.

Gideon the Ninth-If you’ve read this, then you know the ending was horrible! I was NEVER expecting that to happen, but also the fact that the ending happened in a way that made sense and was well-written was amazing.

Book cover for 'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder' by Holly Jackson, featuring torn paper with black text and red string over a light background.

Cover of the book 'The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' by Stuart Turton, featuring an intricate black and gold design with a quote on top.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder-This one is not so much who the murderer was but the fact that the human psyche makes people act irrationally. It’s the tragedy of the entire event that surprises me.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle-Finding out what was going on but also finding out what Aiden does in the end will have you rethink a lot about punishment for crimes.

Bunny-I still don’t know if I understand what Bunny was about. It wasn’t only the ending that was surprising but almost every page was a surprise. I never knew what to expect with each turn of the page. I’m definitely looking forward to reading We Love You Bunny.