12 Underrated/Overrated Books I've Read Recently

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is about underrated books/hidden gems we've read lately. We did a similar topic a few months ago so I'm switching it up a bit. Below are 6 great books that I think deserve to be more widely read, and six books that everyone else seemed to like but I didn't get the hype. I've read all these in the past year and half or so (most in 2016).

I highly recommend the underrated books (the first four were 5-star reads for me!) and if you were a big fan of any of the books on my overrated list, I'd love to know what you saw in them. (Granted, we all have different reading tastes, and I think it is totally ok for some books to just not "be" for us.)

1. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey // From my review: I loved everything about this historical fiction novel, from the setting -- Alaska and Washington -- to the unique format to the engrossing story to the illustrations.

2. The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis // From my review: "The Wolf Road" is a post-apocalyptic tale, an adventure story, a horrifying thriller and, above all, a fascinating character study of 17-year-old Elka, who just found out the man who raised her may very well be a serial killer.

3. The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church // From my review: Meridian and the issues of marriage, identity, sacrifice, regret, love and friendship are center stage, but they're perfectly supported by the unique WWII story playing in the background. On top of that, Church's prose is beautiful. I couldn't put this book down and I urge you to get wrapped up in Meridian's heartbreaking -- but ultimately hopeful -- saga too!

4. Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey // No review for this one, but I absolutely recommend this dual narrative told in WWII and present day. It was amazing and anyone who enjoys historical fiction should read it!

5. Poor Your Soul by Mira Ptacin // From my review: I appreciated Mira's candid, sincere, real account of this terrible thing that happened to her, her grief and, ultimately, how she overcame it. An added bonus is that her writing is gorgeous -- almost poetic at times -- and full of lovely similes and metaphors. Plus the book is as readable as a novel. I highly recommend this insightful, enthralling memoir.

6. Boo by Neil Smith // From my review: "Boo" is one of the most unique books I've read this year. Somehow Smith managed to write a book about a dead eighth-grader -- not the most cheerful subject matter -- that is sweet, funny and thought-provoking. I fully recommend this quick read.

1. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena // From my review: Oh, the writing. It was fine grammatically, but it was so very dull and uninspired. Half the time I felt like I was reading a "Dick and Jane" book, with short, straightforward sentences -- no metaphors or interesting word use and little varied sentence structure. There was no "writing as an art form" to be found here. (Needless to say, I had a few other problems with this one besides the writing.)

2. Redemption Road by John Hart // From my review: This gritty North Carolina crime thriller didn't live up to the hype. The plot was over-the-top and the writing was not nearly as good as I expected from reviews. This one was just ok for me.

3. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George // From my (rather long and rant-y) review: That book-centric plot certainly sounds intriguing and I fully expected this book to be one of my favorite reads of the year, but I just could not get into the story. I had to force myself over and over to pick it up and read. The last 50 pages were the best of the book -- not only because it was ending, but because our characters finally stopped being moronic idiots!

4. Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson // From my review: "Be Frank With Me" is a perfect example of a promising premise suffering from poor execution. I was all set to love what I thought would be a charming, funny and poignant story only to encounter a plot that went nowhere and zero character development. At least it was well-written!

5. What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan // From my (self-described as a bitch-fest) review: The most glaring problem with the book is that it's billed as a psychological thriller -- and the cover even proclaims that it's as gripping as "The Girl on The Train." But it's really just a straight-up mystery -- and a slow-moving one at that. It didn't have the requisite twists, turns, unreliable narrators and jaw-dropping reveals of a proper psychological thriller. I kept waiting and waiting for the big game-changer and it never came. It was nothing like "The Girl on the Train."

6. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katrina Bivald // From my review: While "Broken Wheel" was a cute, fun, fluffy bookish story, there were several things I struggled with. I initially had a hard time keeping all the characters straight, and I never really cared about their stories or the sometimes-annoying small-town dynamic. Bivald was going for quirk, but sometimes Sara's new friends were just plain irritating. I also never really warmed up to Sara. I appreciated her deep love of books, but I was frustrated with her utter lack of self-confidence and her weak nature.