I’ve made quite a few wrong assumptions about books in my time. Some are silly, some are me judging a book by its cover, and I thought it might be fun to share them with you!
The time I nearly wrote off a queer book by thinking it was straight
Before I knew of Adam Silvera (and how wonderfully heartbreaking his books are), before I had read this incredible book (or even its description!) I saw the title. I don’t know where it was mentioned, but as soon as I read that title my mind immediately conjured up this vision of it being a tragic historical fiction about a man and a woman.
I could not have been more wrong – this is a brilliant piece of contemporary fiction centred around two queer boys. Far from being historical, it actually features some futuristic company that tells you the day you’ll die.
The time I nearly read a straight book thinking it was queer
Intentionally or not, I’ve been queer-baited a few times, most recently by The Astonishing Colour of After. This came down to a mix-up on my part surrounding the synopsis. When I read:
“…she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel…”
I immediately presumed Axel was a girl.
It wasn’t until I found this in a bookstore that I got to read the UK synopsis, and discovered:
“Leigh … wishes she could turn to her best friend, Axel – if only she hadn’t kissed him and changed everything between them.”
At the time I was quite disappointed to discover it wasn’t the FF romance I’d been imagining. That wasn’t the book’s fault though, and I’d still like to read this powerful story about grief one day.
The time I nearly wrote off my favourite series
Nobody’s perfect, and I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of judging a book by its cover at some point in our lives. It pains me to say this, but when I first saw the covers of Morganville little 13 year old me wrote them off as trashy. I’d just grown out of my Twilight obsession phase, so when I saw these in a discount bookstore I took a hard pass.
After seeing them a few more times (and finding an even better deal in that aforementioned discount bookstore) I decided to pick a few up. Fifteen books later and I’ve never looked back. My tally is currently on three and a half rereads, so needless to say I’m glad I gave them a shot.
The time I thought I might be reading a happy book
A word of warning: don’t EVER dive into an Adam Silvera book without reading the description. I thought History Is All You Left Me might be a happy book. Happy! That line of thinking crashed and burned when I launched the ebook and was greeted with the opening sentence:
“You’re still alive in alternate universes, Theo, but I live in the real world, where this morning you’re having an open casket funeral.”
Okay, so I wasn’t totally naive enough to think a book with this title would be all rainbows and sunshine, but I was imagining a romance reconciling from a breakup, not death!
The time I wasn’t expecting that
This is a wrong assumption in the best way. I was so far off with what I thought this book would be. Less A Game of Thrones, more Six of Crows. *which I still haven’t read yet ahhhhhh* I much prefer the epic heist I got to the political story I was expecting. Give me a rag tag band of characters with a cool mission and I’m happy. *seriously why haven’t I read Six of Crows yet*
I came up with this post on a whim and writing it is definitely the most fun I’ve had in a while. Someone remind me to write like this more often.
Scribbles & Stories 
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