Which plot twist is your favorite?
(submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)
My Answer:
It sounded like twists are being treated like tropes in this question, so I looked up different plot twists and this is what I found:
- Red Herring: a false clue or suspect that misleads the reader or the characters.
- Chekhov’s Gun: a seemingly insignificant detail or object that becomes important later on.
- Flashback: a scene that shows an event from the past that changes the present situation or perspective.
- In media res: a story that starts in the middle of the action and reveals the background later on.
- Reverse Chronology: a story that is told backwards, from the end to the beginning.
- Non-linear Narrative: a story that is told out of order, with jumps in time or perspective.
- Eucatastrophe: a sudden and unexpected happy ending that resolves a hopeless situation.
- Peripeteia: a sudden and dramatic reversal of fortune or situation for the protagonist or the antagonist.
- Deus ex machina: a sudden and improbable intervention of a higher power or an external force that solves a problem or conflict.
- Anagnorisis: a moment of recognition or revelation that changes the character’s understanding of themselves or others.
- Poetic Justice: a fitting or ironic outcome that rewards the good and punishes the evil.
- Unreliable Narrator: a narrator who is biased, dishonest, or delusional, and whose account of the story is not trustworthy.
- False Protagonist: a character who seems to be the main character, but is killed, replaced, or revealed to be a minor or antagonistic character
Out of this list – unreliable narrator is probably my favorite with Chekhov’s Gun and red herrings as a close second. I would say, more generally, I love a plot twist that takes me by surprise, and I think Alice Feeney is the queen of jaw-dropping plot twists. I enjoy a plot twist no matter what genre, but it’s a necessity in the thrillers that I read.
Which plot twist is your favorite?
Hubby and I went out for dinner and a movie this week. That was a nice change of pace. I don’t remember the last time we got out just the two of us. We saw the new Indiana Jones movie and really enjoyed it. I kept wondering what happened to the son they introduced in the last movie and that question was answered, but I wasn’t satisfied with what they did. I thought the point was to open up a next generation series of movies and I was totally down with that, but I guess not.
I also had to buckle down the last few days and get all my excerpts read for the BBNYA indie author competition, which is why I’ve gotten behind on my blog hopping. I happy to say, I finished!!! And look forward to blog hopping today 😊
- Monday 7/17/2023 – Book Review of One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie
- Tuesday, 7/18/23 – Book Review of A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing
- Wednesday, 7/19/23 – WWW Wednesday & Weekly Book Haul
- Thursday, 7/20/23 – Blog Tour Book Review of Academy Arcanist by Shami Stovall
- Friday, 7/21/23 – Book Blogger Hop and Weekly Updates
- Monday 7/24/2023 – Book Review of The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
- Tuesday, 7/25/23 – Book Review of Ghosted by Amanda Quain
- Wednesday, 7/26/23 – WWW Wednesday & Weekly Book Haul
- Thursday, 7/27/23 – Bullet-Point Book Reviews of a bunch of thrillers
- Friday, 7/28/23 – Book Blogger Hop and Weekly Updates
28 responses to “Let’s Discuss Plot Twists, plus my weekly updates”
Hope you have a lovely weekend 💜
I’ll be trying to catch up with my reading and reviews since I had to put everything aside to finish those excerpts and the feedback on them. At least I’m loving what I’m reading right now 🙂
Wow that’s a lot of plot twists I didn’t realise there were so many! I like red herrings, especially Agatha Christie’s but I love stories told back to front! I’m so glad you enjoyed the New Indiana Jones film I know a few people who’ve enjoyed it so must put it on the watch list!
It’s really good and even has some poignant moments towards the end. I highly recommend!
I didn’t know it was called that, but Chekhov’s Gun is definitely my favourite type of plot twist. I love plot twists but it’s very important to me that they’re not pulled out of thin air.
Totally!
Agree – Alice Feeney is queen of the plot twist, I really enjoyed the face blindness in rock, paper, scissors.
I’d say an unreliable narrator is my favourite too
Rock, Paper, Scissors is my favorite by her!
I got done with my BBNYA submissions this week too. Looking forward to the next ones.
I could only manage 3 per day with feedback and it cut into my reading time, so it just got to the point where I had to draw the line and put everything aside to finish. I did have some really good ones in my pile though. I’m excited to see if they progress!
I would say only 5 in my pile got 4 or 5 stars. The other 18 got 2 stars mostly
That’s about my stats too.
Ooh, thanks for that list! I’m also a big fan of the red herring and Chekhov’s Gun, which I’m pretty smug about when I get it early on. But nothing can replace that head snapping, jaw dropping moment when something seems to come out of left field, never saw coming but when you look back at the clues…it was there. Nugent is good at this, too.
Fantastic question and kudos to you for the illumination, Tessa💜
I love that too! Shock me an make me want to reread to find that little nugget that led here – that’s the best twist!
I love the twist that manages to surprise me Or the one that gives plot unexpected turn. I loved all twists in Grishaverse.
I watched shadow and bone show that’s why I’m behind blog hopping and also reading.
It’s always such a balance isn’t it? And one thing you have to or chose to focus on temporarily really impacts that.
It wouldn’t have occurred to me to google different types of plot twists but I am surprised by how many there are. The one I dislike is the Deus et Machina. It sometimes seems a bit lazy as if an author is getting themselves out of a hole. I do enjoy an unreliable narrator though.
oh, I agree! completely!
I love a good plot twist, and when a story seems so mundane until it isn’t. Unreliable narrators are a blast, if it’s not just obsessive drinking to make them unreliable. I don’t particularly like flashbacks, they’re just… meh.
I hope you have a great weekend!
I’m with you on flashbacks. They tend to break the flow which slows down the pace.
Glad you had a great time with your husband! My husband has been wanting to see that movie but I am not an Indiana Jones fan lol.
I started to say I hadn’t heard of several of these, but it’s more that I didn’t know what they were called. Unreliable narrators, red herrings, reverse chronology (the movie Memento blew me away) are just a few that I like. Really, any plot twist I don’t see coming is usually welcome. Glad you enjoyed the movie, Tessa!
I did enjoy it a lot. I got a little sad at the end though. It was so touching.
I don’t know if I consider all those plot elements as “twists,” but I agree with you that a good one is AWESOME! Thanks for mentioning Alice Feeney. Do you have a favorite of her books? And congrats on the night out together as well as entering the BBNYA competition. Best of Luck!
My favorite Alice Feeney is “Rock, Paper, Scissors” with “His and Hers” coming in a close second
I just bought Rock, Paper, Scissors. I have a long road trip coming up in a month and it will be perfect. Thanks!
I hope you enjoy! Both the book and the trip 😊
Wow, thanks for that list, Tessa. Because I read a lot of mystery, I think red herring is probably the one I come across most often. Unreliable narrator is the one I like the most, especially if something seems to come out of nowhere.