Top Ten Tuesday! Ten Books We Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the awesome and wonderful people over at The Broke and The Bookish

We’re talking about books that didn’t start out so great but that we ended up loving madly this week!

On The Jellicoe Road

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way… this book was so hard to get into, but you hit this one point in the story and it just completely does a 180 and you can’t believe you ever felt like you weren’t going to love it! Trust me … if you ever pick this one up, please don’t stop reading!

The Thief

I almost flounced this one too – it’s super slow going in the beginning… I honestly was expecting more action… but I was urged by people not to give up and I’m really glad I didn’t. I still have to read the rest of this series but I’m very excited to see what happens next!

This Savage Song

I love Victoria Schwab you guys, so when I found myself struggling to click with the story and the characters of this book I seriously questioned what was life… but I found as I read more, I was getting more engrossed in the story and really understood what Schwab was trying to convey through the story and needless to say I was worried for nothing – I ended up loving this!

The Rest of Us Just Live Here

I honestly thought I was going to flounce this book… and I’m glad I didn’t because I really love the story that Ness ended up telling with this book. While the beginning was slow going, I’m glad I didn’t give up!

Finnikin of the Rock

Do not judge me on this… I actually started and stopped reading this book twice and I ALMOST pulled it off my TBR pile all together, but decided not to because of all the raving. I finally decided to give it one last chance and I’m so glad that I did. I really truly feel that timing can be everything when you read a book (maybe that’s why I find planned reading lists so hard to follow) because this final time was the charm and I couldn’t put it down and I loved it so much! I still have to read the next books… soon!

Nevernight

The use of footnotes was distracting but once I made the decision to ignore them, I actually really enjoyed this book. I did eventually go back to read them and they definitely add to the story but I just couldn’t jump in and out of the story and appreciate it.

Now I Rise

Let’s face it, Lada is not a likable character. Add to that, the chapters jump around from her to her brother, Radu, and it made it really tough to stay in the story. All of that said, I really did like it and do look forward to the third book in this series.

These Ruthless Deeds

I think this one makes the list only because there was so much time between when I read book one and then jumped into this book. I admit, I started this then stopped and went back to re-read the last half of book one just to get back up to speed with where things left off. Until I did that, I wasn’t super invested in this story but in the end, it was great and I enjoyed where it went.

The Bear and the Nightingale

At times the pacing felt slow with this one but I still enjoyed the whole story. I find myself struggling with an explanation about this whole book because there are so many different pieces that Arden ties together and I applaud her for the way it all came together in the end.

Empire of Dust

Overall I thought this was a solid book two. There were some parts that felt a bit slow but all of the pieces came together to link all of the characters and the ending of this book was definitely one that had me flipping pages wondering why Herman would be so cruel as to end the book the way she did! Just kidding – it only was cruel to me because it was a great ending and I NEEDED to know what is in store for everyone.

There you go, the books we didn’t love…at first. All books we highly recommend though! What was a book you were reading and wasn’t in love with but ended up raving about? Let us know in the comments!