Hello fellow Bookworms! I don’t know about you but I’m always slightly weary when picking up a “popular” book. Sometimes the books have been sooo hyped up that they cant help but be a let down. However, there are some books out there worth the hype and this post will focus on my top 5. What popular books do you love, and do you feel they lived up to the hype?

A Darker Shade of Magic

I’d heard so many good things about this book it was almost hyped up to the max. It was the premise though and not the reviews that originally made me buy it. This is one of the books that made me fall in love with fantasy. Schwab writes a magical world in Red London, one which I would love to be able to visit, her descriptions are beautiful both of places and the characters themselves. Delilah Bard is my all time favourite heroine, she has some amazing dialogue, and this series  includes one of my all time favourite bookish quotes:

“I’m not going to die,” she said. “Not till I’ve seen it.”
“Seen what?”
Her smile widened. “Everything.”

Cinder 

This is another series that I’d heard rave reviews about. I was a bit wary though when I found out all the books were fairy tale retelling’s, especially Cinderella, which is not a favourite of mine. However, Amazon had a deal on Cinder so I decided to give it a try, and boy am I glad I did. This series is the perfect blend of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, with fantastic characters that you cant help but bond with and a story line so intriguing that I read the whole series in under a week.

Nevernight

I’ll admit to buying this after hearing rave reviews, reading the first chapter and then not picking it up again until over a year later after I’d heard someone say it was a slow starter. I finished it in a day and quickly went out and bought the sequel Godsgrave! Mia is an amazing and thoroughly interesting character and some of the dialogue between her and Mr Kindly left me in tears of laughter. Mia definitely fits into the Anti-hero category but this makes for a much more interesting story line. After reading this I would pick up anything that Mr Kristoff writes… I may have already bought a few. If you doubt my love for this book you can find my review here.

The Bear and the Nightingale

This book is so beautifully written I just babble every time I take about it! I love books based around different folklore and this one is based around Russian folklore and fairy tales, add to that every review I’d read had been positive and this was an easy sell. I originally bought this on my Kindle and then ordered the paperback when I saw how gorgeous the covers are! Vasya is a fantastic heroine and I’ll admit to having a slight crush on Morozoko the frost demon. This was definitely not a let down and lived up to all the hype, I’ve already read the Girl in the Tower and I’m eagerly awaiting the Winter of the Witch, the last book in the trilogy.

Ready Player One

I really expected not to like this book. Before reading this Sci-Fi was a Genre I had never really delved into. However, after being told by numerous friends and reading rave review after rave review I gave in and bought it. This is one of those books that you just loose yourself completely in. With a plot that doesn’t seem too far from reality nowadays you almost wish that the OASIS did exist so we could all escape our mundane lives. This opened up a whole new genre of books I’d never thought of reading before and I will be eternally grateful for that. Cline’s Armada is also a favourite of mine although not a hyped as this I would definitely recommend if you liked RPO.