Top Ten Tuesday: Underrated Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

This week's theme asked us to come up with a list of books that we feel are underrated, or don't get enough love. 

Instead of doing underrated books, since we have done this topic before and I don't want to just keep talking about the same books, I decided to go ahead and show the new books I got from my husband for Christmas. 

 

 

I am the worst at this topic. I just don't pay attention to the way things are rated, or how popular they are. It makes it hard to come up with a list of books that not enough people are loving. So, I went to Goodreads and looked up a list of underrated fantasy and picked my favorites off of it. 

I'm not going to lie, I really don't remember a ton from this book. It has been a really long time since I read it, which makes me think a good re-read is in order. I remember liking it so much that I went out and bought everything else by the author, though! 

Legend states that there exists a mighty sword that makes its possessor invincible to his enemies. But there is a curse on anyone who lifts the sword for conquest. King Kareed of Archeld goes after this sword anyway, winning it from the King of Bellandra. When he returns home from battle, he brings his daughter, Princess Torina, two special gifts. One is a unique crystal, in which she can view visions of the future. The other gift is the defeated king’s son Landen, who is to be her slave. Torina immediately releases Landen, who becomes a member of the King’s army and her close friend.

But trouble is lurking in the kingdom of Archeld and people are accusing Landen of plotting against the King. Torina refuses to believe he would hurt her family. Then Torina begins seeing deadly visions in her crystal. Can she save her father’s life and the future of her kingdom? 

I seriously cannot say enough good things about Juliet Marillier. Her writing is impeccable, she creates these worlds that are horrible and beautiful, full of characters that are just so vivid and real. Seriously, everyone should pick up her books.

Whistling Tor is a place of secrets and mystery. Surrounded by a wooded hill, and unknown presences, the crumbling fortress is owned by a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the district in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies over Anluan's family and his people; those woods hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom.

For young scribe Caitrin it is a safe haven. This place where nobody else is prepared to go seems exactly what she needs, for Caitrin is fleeing her own demons. As Caitrin comes to know Anluan and his home in more depth she realizes that it is only through her love and determination that the curse can be broken and Anluan and his people set free. 

 Oh how I miss smelly North and his drunken antics. This book is just such an amazing read, because Bracken really knows how to write characters that you can't help but love, flaws and all. In fact, I think I am going to go home and re-read this right after work! 

The day the rains came was like any other, blistering air coating the canyon in a heavy stillness....

Just as the rains come after ten long, dry years, a young wizard, Wayland North, appears, to whisk Sydelle Mirabil away from her desert village. North needs an assistant, and Sydelle is eager to see the country - and to join him on his quest to stop the war that surely will destroy her home. But North has secrets - about himself, about why he chose Sydelle, about his real reasons for the journey. What does he want from her? And why does North's sworn enemy seem fascinated by Sydelle himself?

This is another situation in which I honestly don't remember too much about this book. I remember absolutely loving it. I remember that I read it, and the two sequels all in one sitting during a very long day temping at my brother's law office answering phones. It is what made Sharon Shinn an auobuy author for me, though I am thinking I need to give this one a re-read too!

Damiana is safe-keeper in the small village of Tambleham. Neighbors and strangers alike come one by one, in secret, to tell her things they dare not share with anyone else, knowing that Damiana will keep then to herself. One late night, a mysterious visitor from the city arrives with an unusual secret for the Safe-Keeper—a newborn baby. Damiana, who is expecting her own child, agrees to take the foundling. She names him Reed and raises him side by side with her daughter, Fiona. Ad the years pass and the two children grow into teenagers, they must come to terms with who they are—and who they may be.

 

A little bit of fantasy, a little bit of dystopia and a whole lot of great characters are to be found in this book! I have yet to continue on with this series, as when I first started it, there was a tortuously long wait for the next book and now I will have to start over from the beginning whenever I do finally get to continue. 

For Elspeth Gordie freedom is-like so much else after the Great White-a memory. 

It was a time known as the Age of Chaos. In a final explosive flash everything was destroyed. The few who survived banded together and formed a Council for protection. But people like Elspeth-mysteriously born with powerful mental abilities-are feared by the Council and hunted down like animals...to be destroyed.

Her only hope for survival to is keep her power hidden. But is secrecy enough against the terrible power of the Council?