If You Like This, Read That || Hyped Book Edition

Posted July 28, 2020 by Sammie in if this, then that, recommendations, top ten tuesdays / 52 Comments

A fact of publishing is that sometimes certain books get hyped waaaay more than other books.

Doesn’t mean the other books are worse. Doesn’t mean hyped books are better. Reading is subjective, and it really comes down to the Wizards of Marketing, who all gather in a secret location, brew something tasty (or possibly disastrous, who really knows with wizards) in their cauldrons, read the future on chicken bones (probably cooked in the cauldrons, I assume, for efficiency), and then decide what to promote heavily. And who can argue with magic?

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie, and I had a hard time coming up with what I wanted to do, so I figured I’d call out some less hyped books that still deserve all the hype.

Granted, some of these books still have thousands of reviews, so not all of them are underhyped. They’re just less hyped than what I compared them to, and y’all should read all of them because I said so. That works with my daughter, I’m assuming it works here, too. Mom powers.

I’m also going to admit that some of these are across age groups, because I fully believe that adults should read all age groups (which I do myself), so I’m not discriminating. Hyped is hyped. For the purposes of this post, that’s mostly what I focused on.

Heart Divider

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the GalaxyThe Last Human

What they have in common:

  • Comedic space operas featuring plenty of alien species.
  • Humans are a bit of an endangered thing.
  • For some reason, everyone wants the humans dead? Pfft. Offensive.
  • Lots of space travel and space tech.
  • Some very meta thinking and discussions.
  • A robot that’s more helpful than it first appears.
  • Despite being funny, somehow makes you think about bigger things.
Heart Divider

Children of Blood and BoneDavid Mogo, Godhunter

What they have in common:

  • Plot based on the richness of the Orisha pantheon.
  • Except in David Mogo, the gods are actually ON EARTH, and that is a yikes scenario if you know anything about these gods.
  • Both set in a fantasy Nigeria … except one is dystopia, and I think you can guess which.
  • #OwnVoices
  • Unique “chosen one” protagonist fighting to save the world.
  • All sorts of different kinds of magic and powers!
Heart Divider

Six of CrowsDiamond City

What they have in common:

  • Heist plot! Gang dynamics!
  • Protagonist who’s not always great at being a team player.
  • Interesting, fun gang dynamics with characters you can’t help but love.
  • Protagonists with a grudge and something to prove.
  • Dark worlds that kinda suck to live in.
  • But that’s okay, because these protagonists are tough enough to carve out a place for themselves, tooth and nail.
Heart Divider

Steel Crow SagaKnightmare Arcanist

What they have in common:

  • Humans bonding with animals … or mythical creatures in Knightmare Arcanist.
  • All sorts of super neat elemental powers.
  • Animals with personalities that are super fun and quirky.
  • A larger war brewing in the background.
  • An antagonist that has abused the beautiful powers of the world.
  • Found family and enemies teaming up.
Heart Divider

Sorcery of ThornsThe Library of the Unwritten

What they have in common:

  • Books about books (and libraries, in particular!)
  • Bad-ass female librarians as protagonists.
  • Books that sometimes come to life and have personalities, the result of which can be terrifying or adorable.
  • Enemies teaming up to stop the Big Bad.
  • Authors and their works creating all sorts of trouble, like they do.
  • Breaking all sorts of forbidden things.
  • Eh, rules are really just guidelines, right?
  • Besides, does it even count if you don’t get caught?
  • (But they totally get caught, because of course they do)
Heart Divider

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah HeepTwist

What they have in common:

  • Characters from books coming to life and terrorizing poor, unsuspecting humans.
  • Okay, so the humans probably had it coming. Not the point.
  • Range of characters with varying personalities to enjoy.
  • Fuzzy magic that seamlessly blends the real world with fantasy.
  • Strong sibling bonds!
  • Perfect for bookish, geeky, nerdy readers (and aren’t we all).
  • Giant dogs that are more than happy to eat your face.
  • And probably the rest of you, if we’re honest.
Heart Divider

Howl’s Moving CastleThe Will and the Wilds

What they have in common:

  • Whimsical fantasy world facade that only barely covers the dark fantasy underneath.
  • Drama queen males that need to be kept in line by soft, but strong, females.
  • Magical male leads that have to protect the female lead.
  • But let’s be honest, the female lead is really the one keeping things from going tits up.
  • Demons!
  • A backdrop of war.
Heart Divider

Small SpacesThe Jumbies

What they have in common:

  • Just creepy enough to give mid-graders shivers, but not enough to keep them up at night … probably.
  • Set in small, close-knit communities.
  • Have a plot focused on local lore in the given setting.
  • The Jumbies is #OwnVoices with Caribbean lore.
  • Mothers who have since passed away, leaving single fathers to raise their daughters (and good luck to them).
  • Sweet father/daughter family vibes.
  • Super creepy antagonists that you wouldn’t want to meet in real life.
  • Kids teaming up to take down the bad guys.
Heart Divider

SteelheartThe Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind

What they have in common:

  • Action-packed urban fantasy, filled with humor.
  • Superhero books!
  • Which means lots of fun powers, for better or worse.
  • Obviously something bigger going on with the powers, but they’re not giving anything away just yet.
  • Set in major metropolitan areas and really bring those settings to life.
  • Protagonists that make really lame jokes and/or puns.
  • Which we obviously love them all the more for.
  • Crews attempting to secretly save the world.
  • Suspicion of betrayal within these crews.
Heart Divider

FurybornThe Tiger at Midnight

What they have in common:

  • Sexy enemies-to-lovers with a sort of coy, one-upmanship quality to it.
  • Fierce, stabby women who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
  • Oh, and they both just happen to be assassins, which is the best class of stabbiness.
  • Both have fierce nicknames to drive fear into the heart of their foes, as they should (The Dread vs. The Viper).
  • Betrayal and backstabbing seems to be a general theme.
  • Love interests that also happen to be soldiers/warriors.
Heart Divider
Stay Fierce, Sammie

52 responses to “If You Like This, Read That || Hyped Book Edition

  1. I love these kinds of posts! And you gave so many recommendations! 😀 I’ve read and absolutely loved both Sorcery of Thorns and The Library of the Unwritten so happy to see those two compared. Great list!

    • I’m so glad you enjoyed them both! I actually *just* read Sorcery of Thorns, and I’m not sure why it took me so long, but gosh, yes, it was great. I need me a Silas now, please.

      Are you looking forward to Archive of the Forgotten?! I got an ARC, and I’m so looking forward to it!

    • I don’t normally do them, because when I try, my brain tends to kind of … die. It’s like … books? Yes books. Read … more books? It’s a work in progress. xD Glad you liked it!

    • I hope you get a chance to! It wasn’t as funny as Hitchhiker’s Guide, but it had a much more put-together plot and did some really interesting things that were similar! Plus, it combined humor and philosophy, which was super neat!

  2. Of all of these books, I’ve only read Hitchhiker’s! But The Last Human does vibe with me and I’ll look for it as soon as the library’s open.

    • I hope you’re able to find it! And that the libraries get to open soon. x.X Is yours not doing curbside? That’s what my library is doing right now until we can let people inside again. :3

    • David Mogo was a little slow to get into, I’d just warn you of that. I think you’d really like Library of the Unwritten, though!

    • I hope you get a chance to! I love reading middle grade horror, because it’s enough to give me the creeps without keeping me up at night. xD Goodness knows I don’t get enough sleep as it is haha.

    • It’s so true. I understand why publishers can’t hype everything … but that’s where we come in, obviously. 😉 Besides, throwing books at people is not only fun but good exercise.

    • I’m pretty sure there IS no wrong way on a suggestions chart. xD This ain’t bumper cars. 😉 You do you. Also, yes, I 100% recommend Steelheart if you haven’t read it. The whole series is *chef’s kiss*, though hubby and I were both kinda disappointed with how the series ended.

  3. Aww yiiissss I love lists like this and yours are very well crafted! I’ve added the Last Human and Diamond City to my want-to-read list!

    • *totally fake tone* Ooooh nooo. Shucks. That’s totally the opposite of what I was going for. xD /sarcasm

      Hehe, hope you end up enjoying them!

    • I always feel like they’re so dangerous for my TBRs, but I’ve found some really good books from posts like this. xD

      Ha, I have a lot of books like that, too. We just need more reading time to make it happen for sure. We should start a petition.

  4. Tânia @MyLovelySecret

    I did love Six of Crows very much, so I will have to take a look at Diamond City.

    Happy readings!

    • I hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to read it! I had fun with it, and it’s got a sequel coming out soon. 🙂

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