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Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke & The Bookish. Each week they host a different top ten topic.




Sometimes the ending of a book can save a book or it can just decimate all that came before it. There is nothing worse than making it all the way to the end of a book only to be utterly depressed and disappointed by it. This week we get to pick our own topic so I wanted to feature some of the books that had total WTF, Oh Em Gee, Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck or What Just Happened? endings. I really wanted to use ten but I honestly couldn't think of ten that really, really shocked me in a good way. If I'd added in some of the worst endings then this list could have been a lot longer (Allegiant anyone.).


We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas, HP7 by J.K Rowling, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

We Were Liars has to make this list because that ending, well, I did not see it coming. I don't know what I was expecting by the end of this book but the end shocked me and left me in tears. This whole book makes you think and question because you know the narrator is unreliable. She has issues with her memory and so you are as in the dark as she is about what has happened on the island. The book is about finding out what happened to Cadence the summer she was found washed up on the beach in nothing but her underwear. She knows her family aren't telling her everything and she's determined to find out why. You'll come to love Cady and all the Liars and you'll be as eager as Cady is to find out the truth. But, when you do, you will probably be as shocked and surprised as I am.

I only recently read and reviewed Dangerous Girls and was so surprised by this book. I have seen three other reviews since and was so pleased more people had read it and loved it as much as I did. This is such an underrated book and it's the kind of book that needs more hype. I have read so many books that have this huge hype surrounding them and then been left disappointed. This book is deserving of hype or at least more people raving about it. If you ever see this book then I really suggest picking it up, you won't be disappointed. When Anna's best friend is found murdered she becomes the main suspect and every aspect of her life is picked apart by the prosecution on the media. You'll be left questioning everything and everyone and the ending is just perfection. This was the perfect thriller and I'm so happy the ending wasn't anti-climactic but a total gut punch.

I feel like the whole of Deathly Hallows deserves to be on this list, not just the ending. For me that whole book was mind-blowing in how awesome it was. I was completely satisfied and yet utterly devastated at the same time. I wept like crazy as more and more characters died and then I smiled in happiness when it ended before promptly crying again because it had ended. Can we please just forget that awful epilogue though? I mean, seriously, what was that all about? It was even more laughable when they put that bit on screen. Other than the epilogue and deaths of favourite characters, that last book was just superb.

My Sister's Keeper definitely has one of those WHAT THE FUCK!!!! endings and I hated it at first. But, when I saw the movie, and it ended how I expected and wanted the book to end I wasn't happy. I was actually really angry. Yes, the book ending devastated me and seemed far fetched and like it was shock value, but I LOVED that. I couldn't stop thinking of that book for months after. I just remember it making me so upset and had me sobbing so much my boyfriend thought something was seriously wrong when he came home from work that night. It's not often a book makes me that upset and I actually ended up loving that about this book.


Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma & Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik 

I honestly wouldn't have stuck with Life of Pi if it wasn't for the fact I was doing a read-a-long with my mum so we could go see the film. She kept encouraging me to get to the end. For me, the end was the bit that really made this book. The rest of the book either really bored me or got me a little confused. But I really wasn't expecting that ending. It just got me thinking and my mind was split over what I thought had happened. Even now I'm not quite sure which story I really believe in.

As far as mind-blowing endings go, Noughts & Crosses is one that instantly comes to mind. I didn't see it coming, I wasn't expecting it and I wasn't happy about it. I was upset, weeping and actually really devastated. But if it wasn't for that particular ending then I wouldn't have got the three amazing sequels that followed and I love those. So, although it wasn't the ending I wanted, it was the ending the book needed and I love that the author was able to pull it off so well.

To this day I am pretty certain that I hate the ending of Forbidden but I am not sure that there was any other way for it to end. I know what I wanted to happen but it wasn't realistic to the story at all. That whole book surprised me, a love story between a brother and sister isn't something you see everyday, especially in young adult fiction. To be honest, I'd been expecting to not be able to see part the incest part of the story but it was pretty easy for me. Tabitha Suzuma wrote this book in such a beautiful way and I absolutely adored this whole book. That ending is one of those mind blowing books in the WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!? way.

Fight Club! Oh, how I adore, love, worship Fight Club. I love the book and I super, mega love the movie. This has an ending that I don't think many people see coming. The storyline itself is pretty mind-blowing but I really loved the ending. I think it works so well in the book but they perfected it for the movie. I have heard of the authors idea for a sequel and I am in love with it.



I probably left out some really great endings but I almost didn't get this post up at all. I had the whole wrong week planned and scheduled. Thankfully I double checked and managed to get this up pretty quickly. So let me know which book endings surprised you the most, in a good way.


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The Distance Between Us by Kasie West: Review 5/5
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: How I Live Now Movie Review
Five Friday Favourites: Not-So-Favourite Dystopians 
My Weekly Book Haul: 24/05/2014
Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams
Discussion: How Book Series Made Me Their Bitch

92 comments:

  1. Yup to Dangerous Girls and Forbidden, oh man the gut-punch for the first one, I was in total denial about the whole thing in the end, and Forbidden? Such an underrated book completely, written beautifully and I swear I was a total mess by the end, emotionally broken to pieces. Here's to all the other mind-blowing books you'll finish with their amazing endings! :D

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    1. I KNOW!!! More people NEED to read Forbidden. I'd kind of make everyone read that if I could.

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  2. I loved Life of Pi, it's one of my most favorite books ever!

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  3. What an amazing list this week! I completely agree with Dangerous Girls, Forbidden and My Sister's Keeper. Such powerful, amazing endings.

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  4. Great topic idea! We Were Liars is on my TBR list, and I'm waiting anxiously until I get to the top of the library hold list. I didn't like the ending to My Sister's Keeper AT ALL--I LOVE Jodi Picoult but I thought the ending to that book was a total cop-out. I didn't see the movie, so maybe that would have changed my opinion. . .

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    1. I hope you love We Were Liars! Haha, I hated that ending but loved it at the same time.

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  5. I 100% agree with this post, the endings really can make or break a book or even a whole series or trilogy. I hate it when you spend so much time, effort and emotion in a series or book only to be shattered and disappointed at the ending.

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  6. Oh yea, I was so shocked with We Were Liars. WTF? Totally threw me. I just kept reading not knowing what I expected the truth to be. But it sure as hell wasn't that.
    My Sister's Keeper was a punch in the face.
    I only just read Noughts & Crosses a few months ago(I know...) and I was so angry throughout that book. I loved the book. Just the topic matter makes you angry. But that ending! :O I might have thrown the book. My heart hurts. I've got to get back to the second book next month.
    Of course DH! So. Many. Feels.
    I keep putting Forbidden off for some reason. I've heard nothing by good things but I'm just scared of what it's going to do to me.
    Great list!
    Happy TTT!
    My TTT

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    1. I KNOW!!! We Were Liars really shocked me and then made me cry at work, not impressed. I love N&C but that end destroys me every time. I definitely recommend Forbidden, but it's a hard one.

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  7. Obviously agree with HP. I was always a massive HP fan but since I've started blogging there appears to be this section of the community (I'm guilty of it too) who literally obsess constantly over HP. Rowling was one smart cookie... Anyways, I also agree with Noughts and Crosses. I haven't read any of the others yet but I want to - We Were Liars, Fight Club and My Sister's Keeper (already have it in the TBR pile), thought I've seen the movie and it broke my heart. The ending of Jodi Picoult's Handle With Care shocked me, bawled my lamps out.. I'd have included Allegiant and Gone Girl for the shocking but bloody awful endings. Though I love books that do that too, they really make you FEEL even if it is anger!! Great topic for this week :)

    My TTT: http://confessionsofabookgeek.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/top-ten-tuesday-remembering-alfie/

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    1. I know, I obsess a lot too. You've got to love HP!

      Definitely get to Fight Club when you can, it's brilliant. Most of JP's, actually all, have shock endings. Now I keep trying to guess them before they happen.

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  8. I took was really bored with Life of PI. I didn't think the ending was much of one, since it just stopped with him arriving on land. I don't even remember the details. That's how little it affected me. LOL
    Great topic choice! Thanks for stopping by.

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    1. Haha, it's the part about where he tells his two separate stories at the end that I was referring too.

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  9. You've got me wanting to read Noughts and Crosses now. I've actually never heard of it before so Thank you for introducing it to me!
    This only one that I've read out of this list is Fight Club and I definitely agree 100%! What a mind blowing TRIP of a book and ending! My goodness. I had to reread it to get it all in LOL!!!
    Come by and check out my Top Ten Freebie @ Book Hangovers
    xoxo Michelle

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  10. I've read other reviews about My Sister's Keeper that say the same thing. I still haven't read that and I keep thinking I want to know about that WTF ending. You've nudged me even more toward reading it.

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  11. That is such a great topic! I loved the ending for My Sister's Keeper. As insane as it was, I think it was the perfect way to round it out, and when they changed it for the movie, I was pissed! I'd have to add The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer to this list, too, simply because that ending was just OMG.

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  12. The ending of My Sister's Keeper was DEFINITELY unexpected! I was shocked! And I'm still bitter over the fact that they changed the ending for the movie. :/

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  13. I SO need to read We Were Liars. great list!
    here's our TTT

    Janhvi @ The Readdicts

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  14. I love, love, LOVE it when a series that I devoted my time and love to ends perfectly. It make me adore the series that much more. Harry Potter... *sniff, sniff* When it was done I didn't really know what to do with myself for a while. Thankfully I had the movies, which were awesome too, to hold on to, but now those are done. I love a great ending.

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    1. Me either! I was so sad when it ended, probably part of the reason I blubbed like a baby from beginning to end.

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  15. I like you list! I'm hated the ending of My Sister's Keeper. It was stupid, that the sick girl lived.

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  17. Posting again since I inadvertently did something with code to remove my spoiler tag! My bad!

    My Sister's Keeper and Life of Pi made me so mad! I felt like MSK was too contrived SPOILER> - it took away the decision making of our MC, which was the whole point of the book!!!

    As for Life of Pi, I didn't like that it took away from the magic of the book. It was all a test - you can believe one thing and not the other. Just, meh.

    I haven't read Fight Club, but LOVE the movie. That ending was fantastic! And you kick yourself for not catching some hints along the way.

    Excellent topic!!!

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    1. I know, but I liked that Life of Pi made me choose. Richard Parker all the way!

      Fight Club is one of my favourite movies, I think it's the best book to movie adaptation ever.

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  18. Love this topic! The only book on your list that I have read is the Harry Potter series. I really want to read We Were Liars!
    I love when the endings of books surprise me!

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  19. Great topic and list! I've heard so much about We Are Liars that I can't wait to pick it up. Never heard of Dangerous Girls but I'm going to have to look it up now!

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    1. Definitely recommend both, Dangerous Girls deserves more love! <3

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  20. Great list! I love your topic! If you love shockers, try Code Name Verity.

    Emily @ Follow the Yellow Book Road

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  21. You listed such great ones! I felt like My Sister's Keeper was definitely a shocker of an ending.

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  22. Oh my WORD, AMEN TO FIGHT CLUB!!!

    Interestingly, HP7 wasn't as mind-blowing as I thought it would be. It was just mainly the fact that something I'd followed and invested emotions in for years was coming to an end. The JOURNEY was mindblowing, but the actual ending, it was awesome enough. (LOL I know you're a huge HP fan so don't hate me! =P )

    I'd quite like to read Life Of Pi, and I feel as if I read Noughts and Crosses a very long time ago. But seeing as I'm doing a fantasy summer reading challenge, I can't read anything else til September! =O What an interesting post! Thanks for sharing =]

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    1. Haha, I'm probably just the same. I was so angry at J.K. for so long over that book. I think I'm still angry ;)

      Thanks! :)

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  23. Harry Potter 7 was definitely a book that had me crying the entire time! From the very beginning to to the very end. Oddly enough, I think I was one of the few people who didn't mind the epilogue. Sure, it was a bit...awkward? Not sure which word I want to use, but I liked it. And I understood why the author did that. But then you would think there'd be enough clauses in contracts of whatever to prevent a fear of that happening--if I am recalling correctly why it was done, or if that had just been a mere rumor.

    The movie made it more awkward though. Could've done without that. Out of all the things to leave out, the movie peeps decided to keep that! I was still a bit outraged in movie 4 where Dobby's role is eliminated! Half expected Neville to die in that last movie.

    Okay...sorry...turning this into a book vs. movie rant! Didn't mean to tread that territory! :)

    Great topic and picks! ;)

    Here's my Tuesday Post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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    1. I know, that book was just too much. I think I needed an epilogue but that wasn't the one I was hoping for. It was more like a weird future info dump.

      I know, the movies changed a lot but I always expected that. I gave up getting mad about it very early on.

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  24. I love this topic! Ohh Forbidden. The ending was one of most heartbreaking I think I've read, it's certainly the one that sticks in my mind the most. I was hoping for a different outcome too, but I agree, it wouldn't have worked. I really need to read Dangerous Girls, I've seen lots of good things about it. Now, I need to read it even more! Thanks for stopping by my my TTT earlier!

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    1. You're welcome! I know, that book ending totally broke my heart and made me want to throw the book across the room. READ DANGEROUS GIRLS!! I can't stress that enough, that book needs to be read and loved by all :)

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  25. I love the topic you chose to do this week.

    Jodi Picoult writes some of the best OMG endings! I can't wait to read We Were Liars this summer. Oh, and the ending of Life of Pi 100% made the book.

    Thanks for following my blog. I love yours too and am following back. :)

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  26. Great topic! For me the most blowing ending i have read recently would have to be We Were Liars i never ever saw it coming and my heart still hurts.

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  27. Love this topic! And yes, I agree about Dangerous Girls - never saw that ending coming

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  28. I totally agree on We Were Liars and Harry Potter! At the end of We Were Liars I had to re-read it to make sure I read the words right.

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  29. Ohh, I love the ending of My Sister's Keeper IN THE BOOK and I was pretty disappointed at how the movie ended (as in that it didn't follow the book, but by itself, I did really like the ending - if that makes sense).

    I haven't actually read Li of Pi because I couldn't get into it at the beginning (I have seen the movie though!) On my TBR list definitely. There's also going to be a re-read of the Noughts and Crosses series this holidays because I have read it but it was many years ago (I do remember it being very good though!)

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    1. I know, I just wanted them to stick to the book. Rewatched it recently and did enjoy the ending and understand why they chose it. JP version did seem a little unlikely and unrealistic.

      N&C is one of my favs, love rereading that series.

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  30. I feel the same way about My Sister's Keeper, my mouth basically dropped open with that ending. I still need to read We Were Liars, hopefully I'll read it soon. Great list! ~Pam

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  31. Still crying over Noughts and Crosses. My Sister's Keeper is one that I have been willing to start. I have seen the movie and I sobbed. But I don't know if I will be able to handle the book.

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  32. Great list! And OMG, yes for both Forbidden and We Were Liars - amazing books both :)
    Thanks for stopping by at my blog earlier :)

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  33. DANGEROUS GIRLS like woooooaaahhh that ending was freaking amazing! I cannot wait for We Were Liars, I haven't read Forbidden either but I need to one of these days.

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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    1. I hope you get to We Were Liars and Forbidden too, I really love and adore both.

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  34. Now I have ten more books to add to my TBR shelf.

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  35. There are a couple of books on here on my TBR list and now I think I'll be more prepared for when I read them. Who am I kidding? I'm sure they'll be some jaw-dropping regardless.

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  36. Amen to Potter, Life of Pi, and Fight Club. I haven't read the others (though I've requested We Were Liars from the library!) but the fact that they all have massive and awesome endings makes me want to read them ALL IMMEDIATELY. Great list! Thanks for stopping by mine earlier. New follower! :)

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    1. I hope you get to read some more of them soon, they're all amazing! :)

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  37. I think this was a great theme choice. I wish I had thought of it! :)

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  38. Oh my god Noughts and Crosses was such a good book! My friend spoiled the ending for me though because she was finishing it while walking to maths class and eneded up hysterically crying down the corridor. Our teacher gave her a deention because she was "disrupting learning" I swear. My Sister's Keeper was a shocker too, but again I was spoiled. Presicely why i read City of Heavenly Fire yesterday so that I couldn't get spoiled, now that was a shockign ending (in the most wonderful way) - no spoilers don't worry. Great theme with an array of awesome books!

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    1. HAHA!!! Oh no, I'd hate if that was ruined for me. I would have been the same, I sobbed uncontrollably for so long. I really hate when books get spoiled for me, I try to avoid looking at anything related to any book I want to read.

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  39. As always with your lists it seems I have read at least one, and I have to agree. I love Malorie Blackman's writing and the Noughts and Crosses ending was amazingly mind blowing and I can't help fangirling right now. That was a smashing series altogether. You should really read the Gone series by Michael Grant as well. Now that was some ending as well :D

    http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/05/a-thousand-splendid-suns-book-review.html

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    1. I will definitely try to get to Gone series soon, read the first four and then stopped.

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  40. The ending of Fight Club really is amazing, I agree!

    My TTT.

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  41. I really liked your topic choice! I need to read We Were Liars and see what all this hype is about!

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  42. My Sister's Keeper... so torn on how I feel about the ending! Definitely made me want to throw the book across the room.

    Life of Pi is one of my absolute favorite books, especially because of the ending! I agree with you, I still debate on which story is the "truth."

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT post!

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    1. I think I might actually have thrown it at one point. It deserved it! I pick Richard Parker all the way! ;)

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  43. I read Forbidden. I do not remember really liking it that much, and i think it is BECAUSE of the ending that I didn't really like it. It was definitely a mind blowing ending.

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  44. Thank YOU for giving me a bit of an idea of what WE WERE LIARS is about. Because frankly, I was sick of hearing, "It's great! Mind blown! Read it!" from every single blogger out there. Give me a setting, one tiny detail about one character, and that's all I'm asking! So thank you. Now I'll actually pick it up!

    Totally agree on HPatDH, and MY SISTER'S KEEPER. Picoult has a way of making you both hate and love her with her endings. Your heart dies...but any alternative would be unsatisfactory.

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    1. Do it! It's really hard though because you really, really don't want to give away very much as it might spoil something.

      I know, I have come to expect the shock endings now from her. I always try to guess them and usually end up being wrong.

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  45. YESSSS Dangerous Girls! It seems to be picking up a little steam again right now - at least with the bloggers I follow on twitter - but it really deserves so much more attention.

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    1. I am so happy that it's picking up steam, it deserves a lot of love.

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  46. Quite fancy We Were Liars - I love unpredictable endings and a read that gets my emotions flowing. Sounds right up my street!

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