 |
| This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. |
Have you ever read a plot twist that left you speechless? You were innocently reading along, and then something happened that completely blindsided you? Then you stared at the book, stunned?
That's what we're talking about today! Here are 10 books with twists, reveals, or endings that blew my mind. I'm going to give a synopsis of the book and not give commentary because how am I supposed to talk about plot twists? Just trust me that they're good. Or bad. A few of them are devastating.
😵 Books With The Best Plot Twists 💫
Stay With Me by
Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage—after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures—Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time—until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant, which, finally, she does—but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine.
Life Of Pi by Yann Martel
Adult Literary Fiction
When sixteen-year-old Pi Patel finds himself stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with only a menacing 450-pound Bengal tiger for company, he quickly realizes that the only way to survive is to make sure the tiger is more afraid of him than he is of it. Finding strength within himself, he draws upon all of his knowledge and cunning, battling for food and shelter, overcoming storms and disasters, and, in the end, making a peace of sorts with both tiger and ocean.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Young Adult Dystopia
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Young Adult Historical Fiction
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.
By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.
A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Adult Fantasy
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.
The Stand by Stephen King
Adult Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.
And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers.
Oryx And Crake by Margaret Atwood
Adult Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride.
Tess Of The D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Adult Classic
When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Middle Grade Science Fiction
By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner.
But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Middle Grade Historical Fiction
Growing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks. While others have always seen Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. She will soon need to find the courage to stand as a lone voice of justice as tensions mount.
Recommend books with epic plot twists!
I love books with such shocking plot twists. They’re so fun to read.
ReplyDeleteHere is my Top Ten Tuesday.
The Lace Reader is a book with a twist that certainly shocked me. Love your TTT choice this week. :D
ReplyDeleteI do love a good plot twist, especially if I didn't see it coming at all!
ReplyDeleteWhen I Reach You was great. It had such a Wrinkle in Time vibe for me, and well, tons of nostalgia as those were the years I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteI have read several of these (like 5) and agree with your assessment of their twists. I think Life of Pi is amazing.
ReplyDeleteGame of Thrones had so many good plot twists over the books!
ReplyDeleteJamie (jannghi.blogspot.com):
ReplyDeleteI read When You Reach Me and barely remember it. I wasn't sure whether I had read it, so I checked my Goodreads account.
I feel like I should read The Stand. Like why haven't I? It sounds like a very Shannon situation, tbh. I also own Oryx & Crake but what I do not possess is time to read it. Obviously agree with THG. And you have me quite curious about Stay With Me, too! I do love a good plot twist!
ReplyDelete