Ten Books That We Feel Differently About Now That Time Has Passed

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is ten books that we feel differently about now that time has passed! We were really excited about this topic - don't you always find that you can love a book upon finishing it, but dislike it years down the line, and vice versa? 

As always, we've picked five books each! 

Angharad's Picks: 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I first read this book pretty much when it came out and at the time as I wasn’t a huge reader, I thoroughly enjoyed it as I had nothing to compare it too. However, now that many years have passed and my ‘read’ pile has grown significantly, I realise that I didn’t like this book as much as I thought I did. In fact, I preferred the movie version.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I read this book, I went to DNF it but then I tried again. I read it and rated it 2/5 stars but I rated its sequel, A Court of Mist and Fury, 5/5 stars. Looking back, I know my main problem with the first book was Tamlin. I don’t like abusive characters being romanticised and I felt like he was. However, I now appreciate the world-building and Feyre’s character development. 

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

This is a short story and by short, I mean like less than 100 pages. I loved it so so much after reading it but as time has passed, I wish this had been made into a full-length novel because it had SO much more to give.

The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne

I read this book last year when I was going through my annual ‘crime-thriller’ phase so I read this novel among many others and I feel like although I loved it, I didn’t appreciate it enough. I loved the spooky, desolate setting and more than once it made chills run down my spine. Realistic and scary and I do recommend it if you like this genre!

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

I read this book a while back and I rated it 3/5 stars. I didn’t enjoy it that much but I hear that the next two books are definitely an improvement. Thinking back, I really enjoy the character of Kestrel and I am interested to see where her journey goes. It is refreshing to have a fantasy character that relies on her brains and isn’t a good fighter. They are equally as dangerous.

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Becky's Picks:

Deathless by Catherynne M Valente

When I read Deathless, I did really enjoy it. I gave it five stars and immediately classed it as being amongst my favourite books. However, after reading it a second time, I can see that there's so many little things I missed the first time round. This is such a perfectly complex book, and it'll definitely take me a few reads to fully appreciate everything that it has to offer. 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I adored the first book of this series, but was really disappointed with Ruin and Rising, and I think I let this change my opinion on the trilogy as a whole (for the worst). I fell back in love with Leigh Bardugo's writing after reading Six of Crows, and now I've learned to appreciate Shadow and Bone as though it was a standalone. Plus, if I ignore the final book, I can pretend that Alina ends up with the right person... 

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

When I read Red Queen, I felt as though I'd read something really new and unique, but when the sequel came out I just couldn't bring myself to be bothered about it - in fact, although I probably will read it eventually, I still haven't got around to it. Unfortunately, this is just one of those books that I found faded away with time as I read books that I preferred. 

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Like many people did, I got swept right into the hype surrounding The Mortal Instruments. I couldn't get enough of the series and basically counted down the days until City of Heavenly Fire was released. Back when I read them, I rated each book five stars. Now that a couple of years have passed, and now that I've seen the Shadowhunter franchise be dragged through a film and a netflix show, I can definitely say I'm way over it. (P.S. it's very likely that I'll still read the rest of the Shadowhunter books though...)

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Now before I say this, don't get me wrong - I will always love The Hunger Games. This is the trilogy that got me back into reading in the first place, and I'll be forever grateful to Suzanne Collins for that. When I hadn't read a book properly for a long time and decided to pick up The Hunger Games not long before the film came out so I could go and watch it (despite my reading drought, I still firmly believed in reading the book before watching the film) I thought it was by far the best thing I've ever read. Now I can see that, although I do love the books and still enjoy re-reading this series, my severe lack of literature for a couple of years was probably the reason that I thought so highly of it. 

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 characters we'd like to revisit as adults

It's that time again for a Top Ten Tuesday by the wonderful people at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top 10 childhood characters we'd to revisit as adults however, we have decided to do our top 10 general fictional characters otherwise the entire list would just be every character in the Harry Potter series. So without further ado..

1. The Raven Gang (The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater)

As you may not know, I did not like the ending of The Raven King (spoiler-free review here.) I feel like none of our beloved characters got closure and so every member of the 'Gangsey' should be written about ten years later. Did they actually mourn Noah? Did Adam become successful? Did he and Ronan live happily ever after? What about Blue and Gansey? Let's get better closure!!

2. Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)

Okay, I couldn't not add my sweet child to this list. "Oh but Angharad, J.K. Rowling did nineteen years later?" I hear you all asking but I will not be satisfied until all of Harry's life is written down for me to read. People underestimate my love for the boy who lived. Just an average Sunday where Harry spends time with his grandchildren, levitating things to make them smile. Sign me up!

3. Sydney (Vicious by V.E. Schwab)

My sweet summer child. I would like to visit Sydney when she is older, considering she is 12 years old when we first meet her. In only one book, she develops so much as a person and a character and I would love to see how she ends up. Is she still friends with Victor? Is she coping with her ability? V.E. Schwab needs to write more female characters.

4. Liz Emerson (Falling into Place by Amy Zhang)

When we meet Liz Emerson in this novel, she is not in a good place. She wants to die as she feels there is no chance of redeeming herself after all the horrible things she has done. Although we get a small snippet of Liz in the epilogue, I would still like to visit her 10 years later. She is a morally grey character which I love in a protagonist but I would like to see how her suicide-attempt affected her and if she changed as a person.

5. Camille & Amma (Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn)

Were there ever two more complex characters than these two? It is no secret that Flynn is capable of instilling fear into our hearts over how good she is at writing terrible and frightening characters. These two half-sisters are characters I would love to revisit. Without spoiling the novel, I want to see the person Amma becomes and if Camille stands any chance of recovery.

6. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)

There is not one person in this world that doesn't know who Katniss is but do we know what her life is like ten years later? Nope. Would we like to? Yep. How is she coping after the death of Prim? Is she still in contact with Gale? I would like to hear more about her PTSD and hope it didn't magically disappear and also Peeta's. Before the children and their 'happily ever after.'

7. Lia (Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson) 

We meet Lia, a young girl struggling with anorexia and body dysmorphia, as she comes to terms with the sudden death of her friend, Cassie. We see her difficult journey but we eventually see the start of her recovery so we would love to see what she is like 10 years later. Is she healthy? How is her relationship with her mum? Did she see Elijah again? 

8. Elisa (Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson) At the end of The Bitter Kingdom (without giving away too many spoilers), Elisa has shown her country's enemies who's boss and got her happy ending. However, with this sort of ending, I always wonder if the happiness stuck around. What was the rest of Elisa's rule (and relationship) like? I (quite unexpectedly) really enjoyed this series, and definitely wouldn't complain if I learned more about the story later down the line!

9. Katsa (Graceling Trilogy by Kristin Cashore) Graceling was my favourite book in this series, and although Katsa appeared in Bitterblue, I've always wanted to read more about her. She progressed so much throughout the trilogy and I would love to know more about her adventures, the school she founded, and of course, her and Po.

10. Amy Elliot Dunne (Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn)

My forever antagonist. What happened with her and Nick? Did they have the baby? Did Nick stay with her? Did she cull her murderous ways? I love Amy, I love how she's complex. Yes, she's nuts but she's interesting and I want to see how she is 10 years later. We had such an ambiguous ending but I would love to see Gillian's thoughts on what happened to the toxic pair.

Do you agree with any of our choices?
Leave us a comment!