My 5 Favourite Bookish Twists || Clichés & Twists 02

Today is part two of my clichés & twists series. Be sure to read part one if you haven't yet. As I stated last week, I like the "perfect" things. Beautiful heroine, handsome hero, predictable romance, happy-ever-after, villain-is-caught type of books. And yet... I also love the not-what-I-expected, bittersweet, realistic, unusual type of books too. There's a place for both. I firmly believe we need books that show different point-of-views--the unheard, unthought-of, forgotten POVs. Books that show life as it is, but reminds you that whatever happens, God is there and He reigns. Books that challenge your opinions and prejudices. Books that show you things you didn't think about. And books that are just frankly exciting and unusual. Today, I'll be listing my five favourite book twists--things that make a book stand out or hit hard. 

1. Blemished hero.

Henty's heroes are almost always handsome, strong, brave, and skilled. And yet one of my favourite of his heroes is the only flawed one--Ralph Bathurst. Bathurst is clever, handsome, and strong; but he has an innate and helpless horror of noise. Yells, gunshots, roars. drumbeats--loud noises he cannot stand. Talk about a serious defect during the Indian Mutiny! Bathurst's struggles to overcome his flaw are excellent. Heroes who struggle, in any way, are very relatable.

2.  Flawed heroine.  
This, again, ties in with number one. The Little Women from the classic are all flawed--pride, temper,  shyness. And yet, don't we all relate to them and love them? Anne Shirley is beautiful, but she struggles against her "romanticness" and her pride. A flawed heroine, whether in her face or her character, is much more "living" than a perfect one. The "perfect" characters often tend to be boring, if not irritating. 

3. Different POV.

There are some topics that we are used to seeing through the eyes of the same type of person. A WWII book is generally through the eyes of an Ally. An American Revolution book tends to be (on the American side at least) to be from an American's POV. The French-Indian wars in the 1600s are typically written from the French standpoint. But a book that shows WWII through the eyes of an German. Or the American Revolution from the POV of an Englishman or a Canadian. Or the French-Indian wars from the standpoint of an Iroquois. Now that is new and fascinating--and, if well done, though-provoking--even to the author himself, perhaps. 

4. Unexpected twist.

Rather a vague title, but let me explain. By this I mean when you, the reader, is expecting something to happen and the book takes a strong turn to the left or right of that and you are left gaping in astonishment. Unless it has nothing whatsoever to do with the story, that is a fascinating place. 

5. Bittersweet ending. 
Your "ship" didn't happen. The MC's best friend died. They didn't strike gold. The homestead was filed by someone else. Loss. Loss in any way. Bittersweet endings can be so well done. In real life, things don't turn out the way we want. In books, the same can happen--and remind us that there is still hope and beauty. 

So let the villain get away. Make your Nazi captain nice instead of devilish. Marry your main character to someone else than her childhood friend or her dashing rescuer. Give you hero a fatal character defect. Make them unusual and real. 

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What are your thoughts on this series? Have you any favourite twists?