I don't like getting out of my comfort zone but those books proved me wrong | Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Ten Books I Enjoyed Recently (last yearish) That Weren't My Typical Genre/Type of Book (or that was out of your comfort zone). 

I don't know about you, but I read mostly fantasy and historical books, with sometimes sci-fi or contemporary books. But if the book involves an element I'm not familiar/comfortable with... I won't read it. It's actually the reason why I waited a long time before starting The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski, because it involved slavery... But now I loved this series, so... Sometimes, I dare myself to read certain books and discover gems. Sometimes... It doesn't work. But let's focus on the books that worked!

DYSTOPIA

Now, it's not that dystopia is out of my comfort zone, it's just that most of the time... I'm "meh" about it, because I burnt myself out. A few years ago, when The Hunger Games and Divergent were the must-read books... I read a huge amount of dystopias. I can't even remember all of them and so never added most of them on Goodreads. But I read some great dystopias last year!

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent  - Okay, let's be real. I love it because of all the religious aspects of the story, and that it involves demons. But still, it's a dystopia, and totally creeped me out. I'm really excited to read the second book, The Flame Never Dies, even though the first one didn't end on a cliff-hanger, but I know it'll expand the world, so yes!

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa - It also involves vampires and I'm not a fan of vampires anymore. Same situation than for dystopia, like a lot of readers. So I went into it without huge expectations and ended up loving the first one - maybe not the last one though, but it's another story. I liked reading about vampires in a dystopia context - but it didn't work with The Coldest Girl in Coldtown in my case - but my love for it must be linked to the author, whom I discovered last year and love for her Talon's series.

BOOKS ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESSS

Those books make me feel... Uncomfortable. Two years ago, I bought The Shock of the Fall, never read it and sold it. Because it made me so damn scared. I tried to read some of them, like All the Bright Places, last year, but DNF most of these books. Still, I loved som of them, so I think it depends on how it is written.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand - I feel like I'm talking about this one all the time, but it moved me so much. Books about depression/suicide were such a trend last year, but it's the only one that worked for me. I think it's because I felt like it was so genuine and that the author had put all her heart and all her soul into it, and she did, when you read the acknowledgments you get that. Cynthia Hand is one of my favourite writers. <3

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone - This book got so much hype last year, I felt like everyone was reading it. I gave up to the hype and don't regret it. It kind of blew my mind with the twist I never saw coming. Moreover, I liked seeing how the main character changed during the book, and finally became herself, when she was so scared of doing so.

MAGICAL REALISM

This is a genre I don't know a lot about, but it doesn't really appeal to me... I find it pretty vague and I want more fantasy, you know? But for what I've read, it was eerie and whimsical. If I find books like the two I loved, I could like the genre more.

The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle - It was a very strange book, when I come to think about it, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the writing style which made me feel like I floated, which was the whole point of this book: is it read? Is it magical? It's the reader who gets to choose, in the end, but I'll always choose a magical explanation, weirdly enough/

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton - This book was so beautiful and mysterious and heart-breaking. But well, you know what you're up to when you read the title. I was so unsure about it when I started it but ended up loving it! I find magical realism to be a little weird, but this one still worked. It's just that it involved the hearts of all the characters, which touched me even more.

CLASSICS

The Just Assassins by Albert Camus - I read The Stranger by this author four years ago for school and hated it. I was sure I wouldn't pick one of this author's books again. But a French BookTuber convinced me and I'm so happy than she did. It is a play set in Russia were a group of people wants to kill the Duke, because he's an awful leader. The characters kept second-guessing their choices, like: should they do it if children are around and could get killed? It was a thought-provoking play, I loved it.

Les Filles du Feu by Gérard de Nerval - I read it for school at this time of the year last year and was surprised to enjoy it. It's a collection of short stories focusing on a woman each, I liked than an author choose to do it in the 19th century, it was unusual, but this author was unusual.

MYSTERY

It's a genre I used to love, but almost never reach out to it now... It's pretty weird.

Daughter of Deep Silence by Carry Ryan - Fun fact: I haven't read her other books because it involved zombies *coughs*. I'm such a chicken... Someday, I might try them though, who knows? I loved this one, which reminded me so much of Revenge, the TV show, it had a similar feeling to it. 

ZOMBIES

I mentionned zombies above, I really don't like them. But there is this series that made me question what I thought, because I loved it and have an infinite love for it.

Something Strang and Deadly trilogy by Susan Dennard - I feel like I'm mentionning this one a lot, but I love it, you guys. The atmosphere was on point and it involved a lot of necromancy (so magical powers... Of course I loved it). We didn't see the zombies that much, which is why I loved it, I think. It was so well-written and had amazing characters, but I'm saying this all the time.

Have you read any of the books I mentionned? Which genre do you almost never reach for?