Friday, June 28, 2013

Let's Talk: Books I Read Because Of Another Blogger's Totally Awesome Review

LET'S TALK is a weekly discussion meme created and hosted by the lovely Melissa from I Swim For Oceans! Every Friday, there is a new discussion topic for bloggers to discuss. If you want to know more about this feature, then go check out I Swim For Oceans for more information! 

What books, if any, have you read only because a blogger's review convinced you to? Did it live up?

Fabulous topic! Below are four books that blogger reviews convinced me to read (after I originally - and stupidly - convinced myself not to check them out):

Blogger: Melissa at I Swim For Oceans
Melissa's review was only one I had in the back of my mind when I stumbled across a copy of MARA DYER, and the fact that she loved it Hodkin's novel so much is what gave me the push I needed to purchase it. I was incredibly excited for MARA DYER prior to the release date, but then the hype scared me off early on (and books with a lot of positive reviews can go either way with me). Thank goodness that I read Melissa's review and remembered it all of those months later, because MARA DYER was incredible!

Blogger: Christina from Confessions of a Book Addict
I was very, very skeptical when it came to this book. I loved Sepetys's debut, but I doubted her latest novel could live up to that story. But, after reading Christina's fantastic review, I knew I needed to start reading my ARC right away. And, Christina was right -- the characters were fantastic and the setting was wonderfully written. Such a great book!

Blogger: Aylee from Recovering Potter Addict
I've actually purchased a lot of books after reading Aylee's reviews (like CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS, THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST, THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, ETIQUETTE AND ESPIONAGE - I just need to hurry up and read them). While she and I think differently regarding some novels, I've noticed that we do seem to enjoy similar stories for the most part, so I tend to take her positive reviews very seriously. And, no surprise, she was right about SHADES OF EARTH! 

Blogger: Can't remember - Multiple bloggers! 
All of the insanely positive blogger reviews for TFIOS convinced me to check it out of the library. It was, unsurprisingly, an amazing book that I had to purchase right away. I feel like an idiot for waiting so long to read this book, but I'm grateful to all the bloggers who reviewed TFIOS - I might have ignored TFIOS without those glowing reviews!

I could name a few more, but then we'd be here all day! ;)


Let's Talk image from I Swim For Oceans

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout-out! :) I loved Out of the Easy and I am so glad you enjoyed it too. It's definitely one of my favorite YA historical reads of the year. Have a great weekend. :)

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    1. No problem - thank you for writing such an amazing OotE review! It's one of my favorite YA historical reads of the year, too :)

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  2. Oooo! I need to read Out of the Easya dn the Fault in Our Stars still!

    Melissa is the reason I read Unbecoming too!

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  3. <3 Awesome post ;) Sigh. The Fault in Our Stars. <3 Perfect. As was Shades of Earth :) And Mara Dyer :D
    Thank you for commenting on my WoW. <3
    Love, Carina @ Carina's Books

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  4. I also read The fault in our stars because of the reviews. Contemporary isn't really my thing, but this book blew me away after all!

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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    1. Such an incredible story! I wasn't expecting much, since I only liked Green's Looking For Alaska, but TFIOS was as wonderful as all of the reviews said it would be.

      Glad you enjoyed it too! Sometimes it pays off to listen to the hype :)

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    1. You absolutely need to read OOTE!! It's incredible!!

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  6. Oh I totally do this all the time. When I see that one of my favorite bloggers posted an awesome review on a book, I go directly to the library site and put it on hold. I'm wary about Out of the Easy too right now, but I guess I need to check it out. Onto the library site! :)

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    1. Out of the Easy has a slow start, but it quickly becomes the type of story you won't want to set aside! If you check it out, I hope you love it :)

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  7. Oh, you've definitely been pretty influential to my reading choices over the years too!! Namely, Shadow and Bone, Cinder, and The Scorpio Races. But I think some of your most memorable and exciting reviews for me are also books that I have unfortunately not read yet. I just remember how PUMPED I was, and still am, after reading your reviews for The Girl of Fire and Thorn series and Finnikin of the Rock. It's pretty sad that I haven't been able to read those ones yet!! Thanks for the shout out, Lea :)

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    1. Woohoo! Glad I influenced some of your reading choices, too! :)

      The Fire and Thorns trilogy is fantastic! The first book is good (although, I enjoyed it more after rereading it), the sequel is amazing, and the final novel is incredible! Finnikin is outstanding, as all Marchetta books are.

      It's so hard to find the time to read everything! I've been meaning to start The Monstrumologist ever since I read your review and bought a copy, but it's still sitting on my shelf! I might just have to have a read-a-thon one weekend, so I can finally read all of the books your reviews convinced me to buy but I still haven't read yet!

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  8. Isn't Out of the Easy amazing? I love this topic and I know there have been several books I've picked up specifically because of one blogger or a group of bloggers. One is from Small Review: Adele Griffin's books and Kat, Incorrigible by Kat Burgis, all of which I have absolutely adored. I love so much when I realize how my tastes overlap with another blogger's.

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