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Original poster

Anyone recommend a great book with an unexpected twist please?

138 replies

TangoShoes · 10/02/2023 19:45

Thanks 😊

OP posts:
OttersMayHaveShiftedInTransit · 13/02/2023 18:34

The Judas Child by Carol O’Connell

Spanielsarepainless · 13/02/2023 18:40

The Breakers by Claudie Gallay
The Way the Crow Flies by Laura Hill
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Whyisitdarkalready · 13/02/2023 18:40

The day we disappeared by Lucy Robinson is fantastic and I ended up reading it a second time after finishing it the first time due to the twists.

The man who didn't call by Rosie Walsh. Brilliant twist.

Halsall · 13/02/2023 18:46

'The Expendable Man' by Dorothy B Hughes, a 1963 novel. It’s a corker. The twist is so clever. But you can’t give it away to anyone who hasn’t read it!

WhoAteMyBiscuit · 13/02/2023 18:47

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon had a good twist! The narrator plays everything so simply but then you realise what she's done and it's brilliantly dark!

Cloud Cuckoo Land is very different but I loved the twist with one of the characters, didn't see it coming at all.

Thanks to other posters for their recommendations, I am making a list for my next trip to the library!

JoonT · 13/02/2023 18:58

Great Expectations. If you don’t know the story, the plot twist is a massive shock. You can’t beat the classics. Anything that has stood the test of time is worth reading.

Movinghouseatlast · 13/02/2023 19:01

The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
A Fatal Inversion Ruth Rendell

Both made me gasp out loud.

PuppyMonkey · 13/02/2023 19:04

I think if you’re watching or reading something you KNOW has a twist coming, it’s not actually an “unexpected twist.”

Reminds me of when The Sixth Sense came out and my sister said I should go and see it, it has a great twist at the end. So I watched the first five minutes knowing there was going to be a big twist at the end and wondering what it could be… bloody worked the whole thing out. Before the opening credits had even finished from what I remember.Grin

EyePredictorRiot · 13/02/2023 19:10

Another vote for The Silent Patient! Thanks for the recommendations so far 📚

Crikeyalmighty · 13/02/2023 19:19

Fingersmith- ha- I had to re read the previous chapter to see if I had missed something!! I stayed up till 6am one night and read it all!!

Sarah walters- Affinity- another cracking twist in the tale

Arguelikeagrownup · 13/02/2023 19:35

EarringsandLipstick · 11/02/2023 21:01

I'm sorry, but this a) had a 'twist' I saw in a iou chapter 3 and b) was one of the most repugnant books I've ever read. Hate would be too slight a word for what I felt. (I could say a lot more but it would definitely ruin it for anyone who does want to read it!)

Show quote history

I felt exactly the same.

Dashie · 13/02/2023 19:50

Fingersmith and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd are both 99p on kindle!

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 13/02/2023 19:54

Thank you @Dashie …. (Wanders off to kindle land)

AccidentallyFabulous · 13/02/2023 19:57

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 11/02/2023 21:55

Verity by Colleen Hoover

I found that incredibly tedious, but other book group members enjoyed it.

almay8830 · 13/02/2023 20:08

F

Allshallbewell2021 · 13/02/2023 20:35

Yes Fingersmith!

Andante57 · 13/02/2023 20:40

The Goldfinch. There were two twists I never saw coming though with hindsight there were hints for one of them.

OneFrenchEgg · 13/02/2023 20:49

I feel there are a couple of comments here that give the book away, but otherwise there are some really brilliant suggestions. I'm trying to think of a good 'twist' but I haven't read one in ages.

MamaNewtNewt · 13/02/2023 20:51

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult really surprised me.

Findyourneutralspace · 13/02/2023 20:52

Fingersmith is the twistiest book ever but I’ve just finished Tipping the Velvet. That’s less plot twist but the protagonist twists herself all over the place. It’s a good read.

MissJam · 13/02/2023 20:52

whirlyhead · 11/02/2023 21:45

We need to talk about Kevin. That book totally threw me for six when I read it.

Me too! I struggled through it and then when I got to ‘that bit’ I was beside myself!

My suggestion is I’m The King of the Castle by Susan Hill - I did this in A Level English and it’s still one of my favourite books. Couldn’t believe the ending.

Heyjoewhatsup · 13/02/2023 20:55

The cuckoo sister by Alison Stockham, it’s a new psychological thriller about a sister who takes the other sister’s children. Very original

newfriend05 · 13/02/2023 20:55

The Peculiar Smell of lemon cake ... the ending left me opened mouthed

yellowhedges · 13/02/2023 20:55

Following blatantly

countrypunk · 13/02/2023 21:01

When I read Fingersmith and got to the twist, I was so shocked by it I had to put the book down and go for a walk round the block. It floored me! I think with Sarah Waters' writing you just become so utterly absorbed in the character telling the story that you take absolutely everything they're saying at face value. I love her, she's absolutely wonderful.