Earlier this month, we compiled a list of our favorite hooks - the concepts most likely to draw us to a book, and ones most likely to ensure our continual enjoyment of said book. There was beautiful writing. There was witty banter. But the one universally agreed-upon hook was The Plot Twist. 

 Oh, The Plot Twist. It barges out of nowhere like an unwelcome guest, it proceeds to slap us across the face, turn us around in circles and laughs at our lack of perceptiveness. By the time it leaves, we are punch-drunk, wine-drunk, all kinds of drunk, just to battle the side effects. And still we love it so.

 So this week, we have compiled a list of our favorite books where plot twists were a prominent factor of our overall enjoyment. And while we've done our best to keep away from so much as hinting to the actual twist, we do acknowledge that some people are so allergic to spoilers that even a knowledge that a book contains a plot twist is unwelcome. If you are one of those, we thank you very much for stopping by and suggest you check out some of our other posts instead. If the knowledge about the existence of a plot twist only serves to fuel your desire to read a book, however, then welcome aboard! You are among friends. Please proceed, and keep away from the cages. The plot twists bite.

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1. Shadow And Bone (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo

To this day, one of my best friends goes on a Grisha rant every time we get together. Our getting together isn't nearly often enough, so he has enough time in-between these outings to summon more rant material. All these rants have to do with nothing more and nothing less than the plot twist in Shadow And Bone, a story of a girl whose rare breed of magic can make or break a world... provided she can learn to master, control and channel it on time. Alina is taken for as big of a ride as the readers themselves, and by the time the truth is revealed at the end, it's one of those I-should-have-seen-it-coming-but-alas-I-was-not-a-perceptive-potato moments. Leigh Bardugo certainly doesn't withhold clues. The reader, and Alina, just prefer not to see them.
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor

Karou is an art student in Prague, raised by demons, stalked by angels, and about to be caught in an otherworldly war. To her knowledge, Karou has no parents, no home and no identity beyond a first name. For all the world it seems as though she just popped into existence one day as a baby. And as an avenging angel struggles to understand the importance of a human girl to her adoptive family of monsters, so does Karou venture out to unravel her formative years and find answers to the questions which had plagued her her entire life. Who is she? She is... a plot twist. It's all you really need to know.
3. Endless Night by Agatha Christie

Mother of plot twist. Mother of mind-boggle. Mother of frightening human qualities. As the titular "queen of mystery", Agatha Christie was certainly no stranger to plot twists. She was, in fact, largely expected to deliver one towards the end of each of her books. Talk about pressure. But Mrs. Christie was the queen of mystery for a reason - that is, that she succeeded in blowing her readers' minds time and time again. But never had my (still innocent) fourteen year-old mind been more blown than at the end of Endless Night, a story of a rich heiress's death under mysterious circumstances and her family's quest to find justice. The world was never quite the same after Endless Night. It's a small wonder I grew up crying MORE DARKNESS, MORE DARKNESS after each book.
4. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

It is not a twist impossible to guess. Still, many failed to guess it. And it is not a twist that would necessarily break your heart. Still, many hearts were broken. In this suspenseful story about a girl whose accident led to a loss of memory of one summer which she struggles to come to terms with, nothing is quite what it seems. And once Cadence pieces together the memories of what happened to her during her "lost summer", the reader is left with that itch to flip back to page one and start the story all over again, with this knowledge in hand. All the clues were there. How could we have missed them?







5. The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Here's how Maggie Stiefvater presents obvious facts in her books: covertly, in metaphors, by sneaking them between the lines.
Here's how Maggie Stiefvater presents clues in her books: she whacks you over the head with them. By the time these plot-twist-clues come around, obvious and transparent, you will be so busy fishing in the subtext and turning random phrases over that the clue will go unnoticed, even if it danced naked before you. And that's exactly how Maggie prefers it (unnoticed, not naked). (We assume.) (Then again, clues are sexy beasts, if shaped right.)
The Raven Cycle is a series which abounds in both veiled truths and obvious clues, and once the protagonists come together for the Big Reveal, it is very commonly one which was there all along, and prominently so. But it is also commonly one which no one saw coming. Or at least it was so in The Raven Boys, for many a shocked reader (and character alike).


6. The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) by Michelle Hodkin

The Mara Dyer trilogy is a darkness, a madness, mental illness, an unreliable narrator, a confusion, an embodiment of mystery and suspense. It abounds in shocking revelations left and right, from the first to the final book. But nowhere is a revelation more shocking and more likely to be deemed the plot twist to end all plot twists before it than towards the end of Evolution, the second book in the series. At long last, Mara and her small group of close friends come to an understanding. It is an understanding of the world, an understanding of themselves, but most importantly - it is an understanding of the why and the how that's the crux of this story. As the book titles suggest, from this point on, Mara Dyer's story is one of retribution. But in this second installment in the series, it is an evolution - of shock, of madness, and most importantly - of plot twists.


7. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas

Celaena Sardothien's life is all kinds of complicated even in Throne of Glass, the first installment in this high fantasy series. Prior to the beginning of this series, Celaena had already claimed the title of the country's most notorious assassin, been captured, imprisoned, and enslaved in the salt mines of Endovier. And while her trials and tribulations following the release from the mines in book 1 are a sight to behold, they are no match for the twists and turns and the many, many shocks which the sequel brings about. Sarah J. Maas doesn't hold back on the punches in the sequel, and she certainly doesn't hold back on the plot twists. Celaena Sardothien is in for a few shocks - as is the reader.


8. Hopeless (Hopeless #1) by Colleen Hoover

Hopeless is a deceptive sort of read, not least because of its plot twist. It is a New Adult book, and heavy on the romance to boot, and whatever the reader comes to expect from such books - mind-blowing plot twists usually aren't a part of the equation. But very early on, Hopeless establishes secrets - veiled pasts, incomprehensible tattoos, familiar faces in unfamiliar places, and misleading memories. Once it all comes to a head and the plot twist is revealed, Hopeless becomes much more than a New Adult book, and much more than contemporary romance. And no one ever saw it coming.
9. Locke & Key (Locke & Key #1) by Joe Hill

When my best friend bought, read, and brought me the first volume of Joe Hill's graphic novel series, I flipped it open to a random page to assess the art style. The face staring at me from the page seemed both sinister and not, both unearthly and not. And it was astoundingly androgenous, which is a personal preference and a personal weakness. "Is this a boy or a girl?" I asked. "That is the question, isn't it?" my friend replied mysteriously. And that certainly had been a question. But once the plot twist comes along, it transpired that it hadn't been the question. The question we should have been asking ourselves all along was obvious... after the plot twist made it so. That is the way of plot twists, after all.





 10. Vicious by Victoria Schwab

In and of itself, a Victoria Schwab novel is a plot twist in the making. They head in one direction, only to make a U-turn and take us somewhere entirely different. In each of Victoria Schwab's series and standalones, an ending is a feat of surprise, mystery and utter discombobulation. But never has a novel been more twisty and more twisted than with Vicious, which details the rise and fall of two former college roommates and their quest for superpowers. From superhero to supervillain, from righteous mind to twisted mind, Victoria Schwab covers it all, and then some. As old friend goes against old friend and invincibility clashes with invincibility, precious few readers can even venture a guess as to how the story will ultimately play out. Of those few who did... all were wrong. Suffice it to say that Victor Vale's mind has a mind of its own. And it will leave a mark.
And thus we have come to an end. Many more plot twists await beyond, but these featured above were some of our very favorites. If you are wondering why we haven't included some of the famously twisty books, such as Red Queen or Gone Girl, the answer is this: at least one of the books featured above has a similar/same twist as one of those books you feel we're missing. We won't say which, because spoilers, but we highly suggest you just read them all for good measure and find out. We're sneaky like that.

 Meanwhile, we welcome all comments, and you can find us across social media platforms, where we write, fangirl, interact with kind souls, and plot world domination. Another typical Tuesday at The Honest Bookclub.