Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Books With Plot Twists and Surprises

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish, now hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl. Expect a new top ten list every week!

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| Top Ten… Books With Plot Twists and Surprises|

Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday where this week we’re looking at the books that gave us the biggest surprises.

I’m fairly certain that the majority of the books I’ve read have provided a good assortment of twists and turns to keep me hanging to the very last. Narrowing the list down therefore is a rather difficult task. This Top Ten considers those books that gave me the biggest surprises when I first read them, and that still surprise me when I think about them now. So, without giving anything away, here are my Top Ten… Books With Plot Twists and Surprises.

| 1. |

The Second Sons Trilogy

by Jennifer Fallon

| 2. |

The Mistborn Series

by Brandon Sanderson

| 3. |

The Turn of the Screw

by Henry James

| 4. |

His Dark Materials

by Philip Pullman

| 5. |

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J. K. Rowling

| 6. |

Angels and Demons

by Dan Brown

| 7. |

And Then There Were None

by Agatha Christie

| 8. |

Rebecca

by Daphne du Maurier

| 9. |

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë

| 10. |

The Girl With All The Gifts

by M. R. Carey

Which books gave you the biggest surprise? If you would like to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, head on over to ThatArtsyReaderGirl and sign up!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Doomed Romances of Fantasyland

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish, now hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl. Expect a new top ten list every week!

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| Top Ten… Doomed Romances of Fantasyland |

Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday! This week it’s a love freebie in honour of valentines day so, to get you all in the spirit, I bring to you the Top Ten… Doomed Romances of Fantasyland!

| 1. |

Túrin Turambar + Niënor Níniel

from The Silmarillion + The Children of Húrin

by J.R.R. Tolkien

Without giving away any spoilers to one of Tolkien’s many great tragedies, there is one glaringly obvious reason these two star crossed lovers should never have got their heavenly bodies entangled. Amnesia can be a bitch.

| 2. |

Beren + Lúthien

from The Silmarillion + Beren and Lúthien

by J.R.R. Tolkien

While this may be the only ‘happy ending’ The Silmarillion has to offer, the tale of Beren and Lúthien, which sees a man fall in love with an elvish woman, takes pleasing the in-laws to a whole new level. With more shapeshifting, limb-lopping and blood-letting than you can shake a silmaril at, its a good job this elf maiden had a beautiful voice.

| 3. |

Aredhel + Eöl 

from The Silmarillion

by J.R.R. Tolkien

When your spouse traps you in a forest and stops you from seeing any of your friends or family you know life has taken a turn for the worse. But hey, at least you didn’t try and escape with your small child and get fatally wounded in the process… Though on the grand scale of things death is probably the least of your worries.

| 4. |

Harry Dresden and Susan Rodriguez

from The Dresden Files

by Jim Butcher

If Harry Dresden and Susan Rodriguez can teach us anything with their dramatically flawed relationship it’s that being honest with your love interest is probably the best course of action. Harry and Susan however did not take this advice which lead to an escalating series of lies, dangerous encounters and eventual vampirism… things couldn’t get any worse, could they?

| 5. |

Albus Dumbledore + Gellert Grindelwald

from Harry Potter

by J.K. Rowling

Albus Dumbledore’s fancy for dark wizards and muggle suppression in his youth was bound to end in disaster from the start. After a chain of events instigated by his lover all but destroys his family, his interpersonal relationships took a sudden turn for the worse. But hey, love excluded, he didn’t do too badly afterwards.

| 6. |

Severus Snape + Lily Potter

from Harry Potter

by J.K. Rowling

The spurned love of Severus Snape by Lily Potter, which was escalated by her not-at-all-spurned love for infamous bully James Potter, lead to his eventual joining of He Who Should Not Be Named, her untimely death, and a somewhat short lifetime of secretive babysitting. 

| 7. |

Cersei + Jaime Lannister

from A Song of Ice and Fire

by George R. R. Martin

This one really doesn’t need any description, explanation or sorry conclusions. Suffice to say that having an incestuous affair with your twin is probably not the best idea you’ve ever had.

| 8. |

Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish + The Tully Sisters

from A Song of Ice and Fire

by George R.R. Martin

If love makes you go crazy then Petry “Littlefinger” Baelish may be the perfect example. Spurned by his childhood sweetheart, Littlefinger’s unrequited love caused him to instigate a civil war just to get her back. After this plan fails abysmally he settles for the runner-up, which leads to a series of deaths, murders and general mayhem thereafter. 

| 9. |

Lyra Belacqua + Will Parry

from His Dark Materials

by Philip Pullman

After spending almost an entire two books together, Lyra and Will’s blossoming relationship is cut woefully short when neither of them is capable of living in the others world. I guess some things just aren’t meant to be.

| 10. |

Lord Asriel + Marisa Coulter

from His Dark Materials

by Philip Pullman

After a steamy affair results in the birth of a certain compass wielding little girl, a sequence of murder, abandonment and child cruelty ensues. But it wasn’t all so bad; their tragic end, for once, made all the difference. 

What are your favourite doomed literary romances? If you would like to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and sign up!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Young Characters I’d Love to Read as Grown-Ups

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – a weekly feature hosted by those lovely bookworms over at The Broke and the Bookish. Expect a new top ten list every week!

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| Top Ten… Young Characters I’d Love to Read as Grown-Ups |

This Tuesday we’re looking at young characters we’d love to read after they’ve grown up. And since there are far too many to really do them all justice, I’ve decided to mostly go for those characters which made an impact on my childhood – for better or worse – with a few new favourites thrown in here or there. So in no particular order, here’s the literary line-up:

| 1. |

Artemis Fowl

from

The Artemis Fowl Series

by Eoin Colfer

Spoiler time. Imagine if you will a boy megalomaniac; an arrogant and resourceful genius who will stop at nothing to fulfil his most criminal desires. Now imagine that he isn’t quite the Artemis who met Holly Short, the only female captain of the LEPrecon; who through various criminal enterprises and sinister plots (with varying degrees of disaster and triumph) became almost a changed man and/or boy. This Artemis Fowl – this brand spanking new clone, this untapped criminal mastermind, this arrogant bastard of a boy-genius – is the one I want to read about. This Artemis Fowl is going to cause a riot.

| 2 |

Lyra Belacqua

from

His Dark Materials

by Philip Pullman

Ohh Pullman, you crafty devil you. We’ve had some hints – or rather outright statements – regarding future Lyra and her fascinating adventures in further education… but we want more! Who did this wonderfully feisty little girl grow up to be? Does she once more bring the world to rights? Does she fight armoured bears for a living and/or other nefarious relations? Another foray into this dark and strange world of Lyra’s Oxford – with her equally grown dæmon Pan – would not go amiss.

| 3 |

The Princess and the Dragon

from

The Princess and the Dragon

by Audrey Wood

A book from my early childhood, The Princess and The Dragon may have been one of my first fantasy favourites. Not bad for what is essentially a picture book. Here we have a rotten princess – a bad mannered, naughty prankster who drives her kingdom to distraction – and an intelligent, eloquent and cultured dragon who spends her time reading and playing the piano forte. Much to the delight of the seemingly deceived royal family and all their subjects, the two decide to swap places and find that they’re equally more suited to being the other. But what happens next? Does the dragon marry a prince and have various well-mannered mutant children who live happily ever after? Does the princess terrorise the flocks and steal hapless virgins from the nearby villages? I’ve been waiting for this sequel for twenty-five years!

| 4. |

Maria Merryweather

from

The Little White Horse

by Elizabeth Goudge

Another childhood favourite, The Little White Horse was the epitome of magical, hidden lands; strange enchantments and ancient mysteries. Maria Merryweather, a brave an intelligent thirteen year old with red hair and freckles was my ultimate fictional heroine and I found myself lost in her world again and again. But what did the future hold for Maria and all those who fell under the spell of Moonacre Manor? I for one would love to find out.

| 5. |

Matilda

from

Matilda

by Roald Dahl

Matilda finally found her place in the world at the end of her tale, but what happened next? Did she just remain the Matilda we all grew to love, surrounded by books from wonderful new authors? Or did she resent the loss of her powers and turn into the Trunchbull Mark II?! Did her powers eventually return full force leading her down the dark and depraved path to world domination?!! My money’s definitely on Matilda megalomaniac…

| 6. |

Mary Lennox

from

The Secret Garden

by Francis Hodgson Burnett

Over the course of The Secret Garden, Mary Lennox grew from a selfish and spoiled little girl into a kind and thoughtful girl whose transformation mirrored that of the garden under her care. But what happened next? Did Mary find she was more of a weed, beginning her embittered relationship with life anew? Did she re-cripple Colin to once more become the centre of his father’s attention leading to an adulthood of self-loathing and inevitable drug addiction?! I guess we’ll never know.

| 7. |

Ip

from

The Copper Cat Trilogy

by Jen Williams

Having only read the first novel in this trilogy, I’m in little of a position to say what happens to Ip and whether she is indeed around to grow up by the end of it. However, I love this creepy and devious little girl with the blood red eyes and a penchant for human heads, and I sure as hell want to know what happens to her next! Does she grow up to be a cannibal? A blood priestess? A combination of the two?! More please!

| 8. |

Everyone

from 

Harry Potter

by J.K. Rowling

Few words are needed. Want to know everything. Right now.

| 9. |

Madeline

from

Madeline

by Ludwig Bemelmans

Small, feisty and mischievous, Madeline was yet another childhood heroine of mine. But what did this fearless little lady grow up to be? A lion tamer? An acrobat? A daredevil? Perhaps all three! But I’m longing for the sequel to:

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”

| 10. |

The Watson Children

from

Elidor

by Alan Garner

Alan Garner saved me the trouble of wondering what happened to Colin and Susan post-The-Weirdstone-of-Brisingamen-and-The-Moon-of-Gomrath by writing a sequel from their adult perspective. Therefore all my Garner cravings are heaped on the Watson children from the wonderful fantasy novel, Elidor. Garner’s darkly fantastic tales were a mainstay of my childhood and this tale of parallel worlds and dark and terrible powers have always left me wondering what happened next. Did the Watson children-now-adults find themselves slipping through to Elidor at inopportune moments? Did the forces of darkness return to find their way into our world once more? Will I inadvertently find myself joining them as I wander the streets of Manchester?!! There’s only one way to find out…

Which young characters would you love to read as grown-ups? If you would like to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and sign up!

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