Tuesday 11 April 2017

Unique Books I Have Read and Loved

I have such a bias towards unqiue books. Regardless of actual quality, I'm always tagging on an extra star for that feeling of 'I've never read anything like this before and I doubt I'll ever read anything like this again'. And when they're actually written successfully? You can garuntee that I'll be throwing paperback copies of whoever comes my way.




A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Schwab's insanely original ideas are one of the reasons she's my favourite author. ADSOM is about 4 parallel universes all containing a city called London. I'm a total ideas over execution person when it comes to my own writing, but Schwab has both of those things down which is incredible.

Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas
This is a sweet little existential-sci-fi-contemporary-speculative-fiction book about two boys who can never meet because one is allergic to electricity and the other has a pacemaker. They get in contact and write letters about their lives and discover a shared past and it's truely precious.

More Than This by Patrick Ness
This book is the very definition of an existential crisis. It's one of those books I had to put down at times because the twists were too big and I needed to breathe. To say what it's about would be to give a lot away, but all I'll say is that it's about a boy who thinks he died... but then wakes up.

And I Darken by Kiersten White
There are probably plenty of books similar to And I Darken that I haven't read, simply because I'm just not that big on historical fiction. But I doubt there are too many historical books where they replace a key MALE historical figure with a murderous and cruel young woman.



Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
I know David Mitchell's books aren't to everyone's tastes, but boy did I love Cloud Atlas. It's about 6 different lives across time that are all interconnected by a shared birthmark and a string of music, and each of their sections in the book is in a different writing style (some better than others).

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
This book is about several different points in the life of Holly Sykes, from being a teenage runaway to watching the world fall to pieces before her, and how a series of small events in her lifetime are connected by a strange truth: that there are beings free from the limitations of time.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The writing style of The Night Circus is what makes it stand apart from anything I've ever read. The language really captures the essence of circus magic and is utterly atmospheric, and the story is just as splendid, focusing on an age long rivalry between magicians and their heirs.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
I read The Host an incredibly long time ago, but I don't recall coming across anything anywhere near as similar to the story. It's about an otherworldly species that essentially reincarnate on different planets, that have now come to earth to use humans as their vessels, and it's pretty darn cool.


What books have you read that feel completely one-of-a-kind? Have you read any of the books on my list or anything similar? Do you think all books need something unique to be any good?

14 comments:

  1. Now you have sold me on Bone Clocks. I need to read that one soon. And Night Circus.

    https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-most-unique-books-ive-read-part-deux.html

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    1. I keep finding copies of The Bone Clocks and The Night Circus in charity shop book sections wherever I go for some reason! Both are truly excellent reads :D

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  2. I've read and loved a few of these too! I just got ADSOM in the mail last week. I can't wait to finally read it!

    My Top Ten

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    1. Yay! We must share similar reading tastes :D
      I hope you enjoy ADSOM - the hype is worth it!

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  3. Because You'll Never Meet Me sounds like such a tearjerker. I hadn't heard of it, but now I'm curious to give it a try.

    Here is my TTT

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    1. Both it and its sequal made me tear up at the end, mainly because I got super attached to the characters (but also because I cry at everything). I don't hear much about the duology but I'd highly recommend it!

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  4. The Night Circus and pretty much anything by V.E. Schwab is on my TBR and now I'm curious about More Than This. I've been wanting to read Patrick Ness for awhile and this sounds like a good one to start with!

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    1. The Night Circus and pretty much every Schwab book are my go-to whenever anyone asks me for reading suggestions! I hope you enjoy them when you get round to them.
      More Than This is fascinating and (excuse my language) a major mind fuck. I know it's one of Ness's books that's very hit-or-miss with people, particularly because it's not like any of his other books (although truthfully all of his books are incredibly unique). A favourite author I'd definitely recommend!

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  5. A Darker Shade of Magic is one of my favourite books! The Night Circus is certainly unique, it didn't really work for me personally, but I can see why other people like it. And I Darken is on my TBR.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/top-ten-tuesday-102/

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    1. ADSOM is fabulous and I'm glad you liked it too! I know what you mean about The Night Circus. Sometimes precisely what makes a book unique is actually what makes it not work for me. I'd definitely recommend And I Darken if you can get your hands on it - it's dark and twisted and has awesome characters :)

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  6. I listened to The Bone Clocks on audio - the production was awesome. :)

    Lauren @ Always Me

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    1. Oooh one of my old teachers mentioned the audio production but I completely forgot about it! I have to see if I can find it because I really enjoyed the book but it was very long so I'm unlikely to have time to reread it ever.

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  7. Wow great books. Cloud Atlas is on my wishlist as I want to read it before I see the movie (I bought the DVD recently so I'm going to have to borrow the book from the library soon). And The Nighy Circus has been sitting on my bookshelf since it's release date... it's one I was so excited about, but kept getting put aside for review books. I plan to read it this Summer. 😀

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    1. Thanks I still haven't seen the movie of Cloud Atlas but I've been meaning to! There are some things in the book that I imagine will translate wonderfully onto the screen (and others which I'm curious to see how they're dealt with). The Night Circus was also something I put off for ages for some reason. It's really easy to focus on review copies for me too. I hope you enjoy it!

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