This weeks Top Ten Tuesday topic hosted by Broke and Bookish is Top Ten Underrated Books I’ve Read ! The original topic is to pick a genre, but I decided instead to go with an overall category from the books I have read. I also decided to go to goodreads and look at those books that I have read and enjoyed with under 5,000 ratings. These are all books that I believe deserve more attention and love! The pictures are linked to the goodreads page and the title is linked to my review if I have one. There is also a theme of book that have been published recently and that I have read in this past year. This was a little hard to find because I feel like I haven’t branched out and read a lot of underrated books, so these aren’t all 5 stars, but each is unique and worth a read.

♠  THE SEVENTH FRIEND BY TIM STEAD

This is an intense epic fantasy novel with an interesting system, immaculate  world building, gods and war.  The story is complex and gripping layered with an attention to detail and extremely action packed and descriptive battle/fight scenes! Even though I haven’t yet read any of the work, but it has been recommended to fans of Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin and those fans of Robin Hobbs work!

♠ HEXED BY MICHELLE KRYS 

It is a fast-paced witchy novel filled with intrigue, mystery and humor. It has fun light hearted/ realistic characters that are full of sass and sarcasm.This is a fantastically written book about witches, magic and high school life, that is a quick and easy read filled with twists and surprises, a big cliff hanger and even a dragon! I haven’t read any of Rachel Hawkins work, but have heard they share the same tone of paranormal and humor!

♠ THE STORYBOOK OF LEGENDS BY SHANNON HALE

This was an absolutely adorable middle grade fantasy (fairy tale retelling). The characters were so dynamic and entertaining.The stories of Ever After High revolves around the lives of fairy tale characters children. The language used was fantastic and really gave a youthful vibe that fit perfectly in the world, which was absolutely hexellent! There was adventure and drama and some great messages about being yourself, accepting who you are and making your own decisions to follow your own path!

♠ CHARM & STRANGE BY STEPHANIE KUEHN 

Strange. Baffling. Mysterious. Unique. Unexpected. It is an emotional contemporary based at a boarding school. The book is full of mystery, secrets and twist that lead you to question what you thought was happening and what the outcome would be. It is told alternating between the past and present creating more confusion as you slowly learn parts of secrets that are all brought together towards the end and ties up all loose ends for the most part. The way this story was written was extremely unique, complex and intriguing.

♠ PROXY BY ALEX LONDON

It is a sci-fi rendition of the Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman, I don’t know if this was the purpose, but they were really similar in my perspective. It contains dark and controversial elements. The tech used is so awesome and I loved reading about of these futuristic mechanisms that London created. The characters were dynamic and so full of life. The LGBT element was fantastic and added a wonderful dynamic between two of the main characters! It was action packed and so gripping. A fresh story with some awesome content. 

♠ BRANDED BY ABI KETNER AND MISSY KALICICIKI 

Branded is a fast paced, unique concept dystopian novel revolving around sins, forbidden love and the need to drive a revolt against the standing government. This is a story about Lexi and how she came to be and her life in the Hole. The world building was amazing and it was so greatly detailed that I felt like I was there. Action packed up to the very last page.This is an amazing book for fans of the Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi and the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth.

♠ HALF A KING BY JOE ABERCROMBIE 

Joe Abercrombie is absolutely brilliant! Half a King was filled with diversity, amazing and breathtaking world building and dynamic and fantastic characterization. This is the first book I have ever read by Joe Abercrombie and I have to say I am absolutely sold. In a coming of age story, Prince Yarvi must struggle and go far from home to use his knowledge and learn more about himself and life than he ever expected. I have to say that this book is pretty grim and has some dark and gruesome material , but it was not lacking in adventure, actions or some bad ass characters.

♠ I AM THE WEAPON BY ALLEN ZADOFF 

I Am The Weapon is an action packed and extremely fast paced.I was reminded of the Jason Bourne series/movies. Getting inside the head of an assassin makes for a gripping story and really draws you in. You see the main character go through so much and put through the internal struggles of what is really the right thing to do. As with many mystery and thriller novels, there were many twists and unforeseen outcomes that take you on an awesome suspenseful, intense journey.

♠ GATED BY AMY CHRISTINE PARKER

Dark, Intriguing, A twisted version of a modern day Noah’s Ark. Jim Jones, Charles Manson, David Koresh, cults have always intrigued me, especially because it is something that takes place in the real world.Gated is based on a group of people that are living in the middle of nowhere in a development called Madorodage Meadows. This book is not for the light of heart. It is extremely deep and dark and cause a lot of feelings. I thought it was wonderfully written and Amy Christine Parker did a fabulous job developing the characters and world and really makes you understand a little bit behind the ideas and beliefs that are involved with “cults”.

♠ LIES BENEATH BY ANNE GREENWOOD BROWN 

I did quite enjoy the twisted dark side of the mermaids that was taken by Brown and think if I were to write about mermaids I would have taken the same approach. I mean Killer Mermaids! how exciting and enticing. It is alway interesting to read a dark take on something in which we are raised to believe is good. Overall this was about mermaids, relationships and family.

What are some great underrated books and authors that you absolutely love?