One of my favorite types of books to read is a book with a really great plot twist. I love reading something that completely surprises you and knocks you off your feet. One of the best feelings is reading a book when you think you know where it’s going, and then it completely surprises you.

There are two books in particular that come to mind when I think of good plot twists, and these are Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. These two books have very little in common. One is a dark drama about a family with secrets, while the other is a hopeful romance about a teenager stuck living her whole life inside her house because of a disease. These plots are written completely differently, and one protagonist is trying to figure out her future while the other is figuring out her past. What they do have in common, though, is plot twists that deliver so well and so shockingly that readers are left just sitting there looking at the books in confusion.

I am not going to go into specific details about these plot twists, so as to prevent any spoilers for people that may end up reading them (and you should—they are both amazing novels). However, I will point out what I think makes both of these plot twists so powerful: the build-up. I think that a problem with plot twists sometimes is that they can often feel rushed and out of place, as though they do not make much sense with the story. In these two books, though, the plot twists reveal something that already happened in the past instead of something that ends up happening in the future. By doing this, the writer is able to set up the entire book before revealing something that changes everything. The writer is able to completely alter the way you see everything else that has already happened in the book, because you will never be able to look at it the same way again.

Although a plot twist isn’t necessary for a book to be a great read, I think that, when done well, plot twists can really be affective at making the reader question the book and feel even a little bit betrayed by the shocking plot. Sometimes the best books upset the readers.