Calendar Girl is a monthly meme now hosted by Katie @nevernotreding and Adrienne @darquedreamer
but created by Melanie at MNBernard Books, and Flavia at Flavia the Bibliophile.
Each month we get a new theme and choose our favorite book for the theme. The participants get to vote for their favorite. There is also a Twitter chat spanning as last month on several days!
Hi dear friends,
Today’s topic in Calendar Girls is so fitting! It’s either a book with good plot twists either a surprise ending!
I don’t know you but I love a book turning my world on its axis!
You expected some ending and then, BAM! Never saw it coming!
Or you thought you were reading a story just to realize that you’ve been fooled all along and it was a completely different story!
Did I have a field day choosing the books today!
Books in plural as you’ll have several contenders and I will choose two winners.
First contender, really, really famous and one of my most favorites: The Wicked King by Holly Black
My reaction was:
Trick and tricksters!!!!
Oh and the ball keep rolling by the end of the book because Cardan pulled the rug under Jude’s feet!
Second contender because of the ending that shed a whole other light on the story: Ryan’s Bed by Tijan
It won my “best plot twist” of 2018!!!!
Third contender: Be the Girl by K.A. Tucker
Because Aria fooled me all along! I never guessed the truth.
Fourth contender: Sweet Nothing by Jamie McGuire and Teresa Mummert
“WOW, what just happened here????
I was going to give it a 3,5 to 4 stars as it was good but I expected greater (not so “smooth”) from these authors and then, I reached 80-85% and BANG, the world turned on its axis!!!!
I never saw it coming and this is brilliant!
So, 5 stars it is and I won’t tell anything about the story to keep the surprise. Just read it and do it until the very end, even if you think it’s too “sweet and perfect” for these authors sometimes in your read because it’s not what you think at all!”
“Each chapter shows another deceit, another lie and clues are coming after Grizz execution. Even in death he remains the controlling man, the puppet master as he orchestrated and foresaw many things.
Honestly Mrs Flynn, I don’t know where you find all these ideas and make them work incredibly well without losing your way. I’m officially starstruck. It’s diabolical and I must have experienced intellectual orgasms as it was soooooooooooooo smartly executed!
But this isn’t the end, it’s just a beginning. Something else is coming and it’s BIG! We stills have many, many things to learn, YAY! But be prepared there is a big cliffhanger ahead! So if you don’t like it, wait for the third installment.”
Today I chose two winners again as they are my “underdogs” and I love rooting for underdogs.
James has an intelligent writing. As the story sets it gets more and more intricate. Secrets are unearthed, revelations come to light and you realize that James truly IS a mastermind. A genius scheming writer. He places seemingly innocent facts here and there, fortuitous encounters, little crumbs and we don’t realize all the intricate connections between these threads before a big reveal!
That’s the kind of stories I adore. When the plot gets slowly, discreetly more and more intricate until you realize you’ve been carefully led a certain way and all these innocent facts were part of a vast and complex scheme. I’ve been played all along and never realized it!
James told me he built the plot and the characters first and it shines through its writing”
“-I felt like a mouse in a trap or in a labyrinth. The hooded killer was waiting, lurking in a dark corner and I never knew when he would strike or who he would kill. I felt hunted!;
-If you can imagine how a fish out of the water must feel you have a pretty good idea of how I felt. I was not only totally out of my comfort zone rarely reading mysteries but I was also literally panting seated at the edge of my chair. Totally out of breath as it was riveting!
-you see the flight simulator astronauts have to experience? The one with the seat going in every direction so fast you can no longer tell up from down? Well that was me in the seat with my brain cells pushed in every direction to try to understand what was happening and who the killer might be!
-now I’ll use Tom Thumb analogy. You know how he leaves a trail of crumbles to try finding his way back home? Well that’s what J.L Myers did with her clues. She left a trail of clues to help the reader find the killer. Only I never found my way either, except by the end of the book.
And I hurt So MUCH for that poor girl and what she went through. Be warned the book is closer to very, very dark read sometimes!
So in a few words it was: confusing, riveting, breathtaking and pure genius! I was left speechless and open mouthed!“
Now what book did surprise you?
Thanks for reading
Sophie
Sophie!
Thank you so much. I’m sorry for the delay in responding. I switched to a weekly email on my fave blogs (like yours) as I couldn’t keep up daily anymore. So now, when I get the mail Monday mornings, I read thru them all. Then I found this one!!!
I’m honored. I love chatting with you about books and plot twists and all this stuff. I really appreciate all you’ve said. You are AMAZING! 🙂
xoxo
j
hahaha don’t fret Jay! I have days of delay because of RARE Paris! And you are always welcome you know it!!! I hope I’ll get to catch up with your other books 😉
🙂
Brilliant choices Sophie. Father Figure is going on my TBR. Can’t wait for The Wicked King. Just your few Words has wet my appetite. ❤️❤️
I hope you’ll enjoy Jay’s book Dani!
Thank you!
OMG, I totally agree with you on The Wicked King! That ending was awesome even though I predicted some part of it. Ryan’s Bed’s ending line was jaw dropping! I also liked the last twist in King Of Scars which left me speechless! I’m still in shock!
Oh now Raven I HAVE to read King of Scars!
I am going to go into Queen of Nothing expecting to be surprised because Holly Black has managed to shock me, not once, but twice. Can’t wait to see what she does next.
Oh Alicia me too! And why do we have to wait so long????
Oooo, lots of interesting choices and a few I’ve never heard of that I need to check out. And I love the choices who you picked as the winners. Both excellent choices, Sophie.
Thank you Alexandra!
Brilliant choices! I bought Father Figure (and also Watching Glass Shatter) and they sit on my Kindle looking at me accusingly as I bypass them to read yet another ARC! I really must get round to reading them!
I hope you’ll love them Lucinda!!!
Haha, couldn’t pick just one, huh? That second book sounds way too scary for me. Several people have picked absolutely terrifying (looking) books. Am I just THAT much of a wuss??? Anyway, great choices, as always. <3
Why Katie, you? A wuss? Lol these are anomaly for me as I am usually too chicken to read something too suspenseful LOL
Bach bach!
I’ve got Nerve Damage. I’m moving it up my list now. I love when a book turns out to be something other than what I thought and give me that surprise ending anytime!
I really really hope you’ll love it Laura as the author is one that I’d like to push on everyone LOL
Fun post. I love books with twists and turns that surprise me. The Cruel Prince definitely surprised me, and Descendant of the Crane, which I just finished a few days ago, caught me off guard several times with unexpected plot twists.
Oh Suzanne I hope to read Descendant of the Crane one day! It is hyped and the cover is just so pretty!!!
The Wicked King is on my TBR list, but have no idea when I’ll get to it. Have to admit – there were some unexpected twists in The Cruel King.
I hope you’ll get to read it soon Teri!
The Wicked King and The Cruel Prince were the first two books that came to mind when I read the prompt!!
Oh yes that ending Brittany!!!