Let's Do The Twist!

[rachelmanija]

I know it all depends on execution, but in general...

Poll #26831 Do the Twist

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 114

View Respondents

What is your favorite twist?

View Answers

Two or more characters are actually the same person.
20 (18.7%)

One or more characters are actually imaginary or hallucinations.
9 (8.4%)

One or more characters were dead all along.
12 (11.2%)

Someone is secretly God.
5 (4.7%)

It's all taking place in virtual reality.
2 (1.9%)

It's all a dream.
1 (0.9%)

What you think is the future is actually the past or vice versa.
38 (35.5%)

The narrator misunderstands something.
48 (44.9%)

The narrator is lying about or deliberately omitting something.
42 (39.3%)

Someone is secretly related to someone else.
22 (20.6%)

A character is a woman.
21 (19.6%)

A character is queer.
19 (17.8%)

A character is trans.
14 (13.1%)

A character is [some other surprise marginalized identity].
12 (11.2%)

A character is a cis man. (Has anyone ever seen this one? I can't think of an example.)
3 (2.8%)

Someone the protagonist trusts has been secretly manipulating them all along.
27 (25.2%)

The entire story was all deliberately planned by a character.
40 (37.4%)

Someone is a mole.
22 (20.6%)

The narrator is in a mental hospital or otherwise delusional all along.
3 (2.8%)

The apparent victim is actually the perpetrator
22 (20.6%)

Everyone in the story is actually pigeons/aliens/dolls/etc.
14 (13.1%)

Something else I've forgotten to mention, so please explain in a comment..
6 (5.6%)

What twist do you HATE?

View Answers

Two or more characters are actually the same person.
8 (7.5%)

One or more characters are actually imaginary or hallucinations.
25 (23.6%)

One or more characters were dead all along.
23 (21.7%)

Someone is secretly God.
26 (24.5%)

It's all taking place in virtual reality.
48 (45.3%)

It's all a dream.
73 (68.9%)

What you think is the future is actually the past or vice versa.
4 (3.8%)

The narrator misunderstands something.
4 (3.8%)

The narrator is lying about or deliberately omitting something.
17 (16.0%)

Someone is secretly related to someone else.
4 (3.8%)

A character is a woman.
6 (5.7%)

A character is queer.
9 (8.5%)

A character is trans.
13 (12.3%)

A character is [some other surprise marginalized identity].
10 (9.4%)

A character is a cis man. (Has anyone ever seen this one? I can't think of an example.)
0 (0.0%)

Someone the protagonist trusts has been secretly manipulating them all along.
20 (18.9%)

The entire story was all deliberately planned by a character.
10 (9.4%)

Someone is a mole.
4 (3.8%)

The narrator is in a mental hospital or otherwise delusional all along.
66 (62.3%)

The apparent victim is actually the perpetrator
11 (10.4%)

Everyone in the story is actually pigeons/aliens/dolls/etc.
14 (13.2%)

Something else I've forgotten to mention, so please explain in a comment..
2 (1.9%)

Please mark spoilers for recent canons in your comment headers, or encode with rot13.com.

Comments

[marjorie1170]

And I immediately cannot think of a single book I've read with a twist. That can't be right.

I will say, though I cannot think of an example, that having the narrator omit information can be used to really good effect. So I guess that is my favourite.

(I think it's bit strange that I can only think of The Sixth Sense! I know I've had more twists in my life than that.)

[rachelmanija]

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd? Fight Club? Gone Girl? Life of Pi? We Were Liars? Liar?

[sholio]

And the plot of Liar is 100% twist. Every twist that can possibly be in a book is in that book.

[rachelmanija]

LOLOLOL, I think it hits literally every twist in my poll except "everyone is actually pigeons/aliens/dolls."

[sholio]

But they could be!

[asakiyume]

(LOL, I was going to reply with "Are you sure?")

[hamsterwoman]

Haha, I was thinking of Liar A LOT while going down the ticky boxes.

Spoilers (maybe) for LIAR by Justine Larbalestier

[rachelmanija]

Right? At an absolute minimum, I count as reasonable possibilities...

One or more characters are actually imaginary or hallucinations.

The narrator misunderstands something.

The narrator is lying about or deliberately omitting something.

A character is queer.

A character is trans.

A character is [some other surprise marginalized identity].

Someone the protagonist trusts has been secretly manipulating them all along.

The narrator is in a mental hospital or otherwise delusional all along.

The apparent victim is actually the perpetrator.

Probably also "It was all a dream."

Re: Spoilers (maybe) for LIAR by Justine Larbalestier

[hamsterwoman]

Spoilers (maybe) for LIAR

LOL, doesn't that just say it all XD

Liar also worked for me on the twist of not-the-genre-you-think-it-is that sholio mentioned upthread -- I genuinely waffled on whether there was a real supernatural element to the book at various points in the narrative, and mainly come down on the side of "yes" because a) I think of Larbalestier as a SFF writer and b) it's more fun if that part is true.

[ironed_orchid]

My favourite twist in Liar is probably the genre twist. But I feel like some things are not twists if they are stated upfront. Like unrealiable narrator can be a twist, or it can be explicit from the very beginning.

[marjorie1170]

Yes, Gone Girl! And I watched Life of Pi, but watched it knowing the twist going in, so didn't experience it. I haven't seen or read the others.

But now I'm rolling my eyes at myself, because I adored the twists in The Thief and The Queen of Attolia. I also liked The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees a whole lot.

[hamsterwoman]

I also liked The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees a whole lot.

Ooh, that's another great twist that doesn't properly fit into any of the provided boxes, but which I loved a lot.

[rachelmanija]

That was a fantastic twist.