Happy Tuesday everyone! As it is Tuesday, it is time for a Top Ten Tuesday update. Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and is currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s given topic: Books That Defied My Expectations

As “defied my expectations” can come both ways, I will be alternating books that fell below my expectations and books that went above and beyond my expectations. I will be starting with a book that belongs to the former.

toptentuesday

Sad Girls by Lang Leav

Snippet from my review: One of the things I found most perplexing about the book is how truly unromantic it is. Written by a famed poet, I was really expecting some fireworks or at least more explosive lines. Instead, I found nothing but cliches and unromantic similes that would have worked in a poem but not in a novel. Audrey and Rad’s shotgun love affair left very few to desire.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Snippet from my review: It took me time to complete the book but this is one of those books that has left a mark on me. The writing is refreshing in spite of the difficult subject matter. I have to laud Yanagihara for doing a great job on very ambitious and extensive work. This is a book that has left an imprint on me that I need not read again. And that’s a compliment. This is a read that will never leave your mind.

Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yōko Tawada

Snippet from my review: Memoirs of a Polar Bear was an interesting but challenging and inaccessible read. Tawada tried to underscore complex and seminal subjects but the story fell apart. She aimed to deliver a unique reading experience but the execution fell short. It was an ambitious undertaking and one can surmise that there are deeper voices embedded in the story. However, one must sift harder to access these voices which were weighed down by the narrative’s other elements. Memoirs of a Polar Bear held promise but it also lacked direction.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Snippet from my review: Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, was, at its heart, an intimate story about friendship. It vividly captured the intricacies of the friendship between Sam and Sadie. Together, they shared failures and successes. Their friendship had rough patches but rather than weakening their bond, these rough patches strengthened their bond. Theirs is a friendship that is rare. They are both interesting and complex characters in their own right. They were flawed but they had redeeming qualities which make the readers root for them. The dichotomies in their personalities also gave the story interesting textures.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Snippet from my review: Ishiguro is a crafty storyteller who is never afraid of venturing into the uncomfortable, of deviating from what one perceives to be his comfort zone. He has demonstrated this in his most recent works. In his first major literary work since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ishiguro, unfortunately, failed to deliver. Klara and the Sun relied on the promise of its premise but Ishiguro failed to play to its full potential, unable to give a new perspective or insight into a banal subject. There were semblances of Ishiguro’s brilliance but they were far and few in between. For all the noise it generated, Klara and the Sun simply was not the return to form that it was expected to be.

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Snippet from my review: The story is far from perfect. Its flaws, however, are minor in comparison to what Emezi accomplished throughout the narrative. Freshwater is an upbeat tale, an unconventional story that flourishes because of its balance of the supernatural and the conventional. It explored identity and mental health not through the lenses of Western assumptions but through the perspectives of a culture rarely read of in mainstream literature. Yes, it was lacking, but it was a promising debut from a voice that possesses stories the world must hear or at least read. Her voice echoed from all corners of the world.

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

Snippet from my review: With its flaws, it is fair to conclude that The Little Friend pails in comparison to its predecessor and even to its successor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Goldfinch. But for all its faults, The Little Friend reminded the readers of all the good things that make Tartt’s writing soar. Tartt crafted a multilayered story that incorporated murder, mystery, coming-of-age, and social commentaries. She tackled seminal subjects that persist in the contemporary such as racial injustice class oppression and even death. At the same time, Tartt painted a vivid backdrop upon which the story was juxtaposed. Tartt’s understanding of the South made for an atmospheric read. The execution was, ultimately, uneven.

Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

Snippet from my review: Stay With Me, is, literally, a magnetic story that will remain glued to the reader’s mind. A distinct and memorable story was fashioned through Adébáyọ̀’s graceful, precise, and powerful storytelling. It is a story many can relate to. The colorful albeit tumultuous background, the flawed but intriguing characters, the simple but interesting plot, and the moral crossroads were capably fused into a breathtaking and memorable tapestry by Adébáyọ̀’s cunning ability.

Paprika by Yasutaka Tsutsui

Snippet from my review: It was an ambitious undertaking that merged science fiction, suspense, and even romance. The imagery, particularly when reality started to merge with dreamland, was resplendent. However, many ideas and events were introduced without any context. Misogyny, fatphobia, and homophobia were all over the place. For all its bright spots, the story was undone by its flawed execution and its views.

The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas

Snippet from my review: It is about coming to grips with one’s feelings, an important facet of the transition from childhood to adolescence. The story also underlined the importance of accepting the looming presence of emptiness and loss as an integral part of living. The convergence of prose and poetry, The Ice Palace was an immense commercial and critical success. It won the prestigious Nordic Council Literature Prize (Nordisk Raads Litteraturpris) in 1964, making Vesaas the first Norwegian writer to win the award. It is no wonder that The Ice Palace is considered a classic of modern Norwegian literature.