Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - Review

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: YA fiction, dark fantasy
Published by: Quirk Books
Published in: 7th January 2011
Content warning: Language, mental illness, mild gore
Format: Hardback
Source: Borrowed from the library
My Rating: ★★★★

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography.

          I have to admit that I am not completely sure I know how to review this one. I rarely read horror/thriller books because I am chicken when it comes to scary material being put into words. Movies I can handle but get me far away from the books. And yet here I am, about to express my opinions about this book with a cover that screams "CREEPY. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK." you must wonder why did I read this in the first place. Yes, I would never have read this book if not for Jessethereader on YouTube. I've liked his selections and turns out this particular book is his favourite so I don't need any other convincing. Simple, really. *apologises for the anti-climatic moment*

Here goes the obligatory howl:

VINTAGE PICTURES PEOPLE. REAL VINTAGE PICTURES. SO DON'T EVER READ THIS AT NIGHT. OR DO. WHATEVER. I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER.

          Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is about 16-year-old Jacob, who grew up listening to his grandfather's mystical and fascinating stories about his childhood and teenager years while taking refuge on a Welsh island during WWII. What was so fascinating about these stories is that the home he lived in was filled with children who possessed supernatural powers. Grandpa also convinces Jacob that these stories were in fact real and shows Jacob many old pictures taken of the children as proof (we also get to see these pictures!). However as Jacob grows up he becomes more skeptical about his grandfather's stories and at last dismisses the stories as pure imagination and the pictures as manipulated mediums. When an unexpected tragedy strikes, Jacob's life is turned upside down. As he slowly recedes into the darkness of his mind, and the people around him start to question his sanity. Jacob realises that his only way to find escape and closure is to visit the island that his grandfather's beloved memories stemmed from and discover if there were any truths behind his (last) words.

          The story started out strong. It is told from Jacob's POV. The author writes fluidly about the normal but not-so-average life of Jacob as a privileged kid of a wealthy family. He constantly tries to get himself fired from his family's company and has a friend who is his complete opposite. Then the plot heads deeper from the surface and describes his grandfather's tales of adventure and wonder that Jacob used to love to hear about and believed were true since young. It was all sunny with dashes of the occasional skin crawl reading about the children who his grandfather befriended as a young teen. All his descriptions of them were accompanied with grayscale pictures of different kids from another era that reminded me of a toned-down version of vintage freak shows. Then Jacob's grandfather was mysteriously and brutally murdered and this is the point where everything goes downhill and outright creepy.

          Jacob's visit to Cairnholm Island and the now rundown children's home were the highlights of my read. I love the depictions of the unique Welsh culture and locals, and the thrill I got from reading about Jacob's exploration of the house. It was so creepy and I was constantly on guard for fear of reading about something jumping out and attacking Jacob. Expect the overused (but still not cool) horror gimmick from this book. If you succeed in getting through those, the part where Jacob finally unravels the truth about everything was definitely my favourite, and I will not spoil it for any of you. IT'S SO GOOD.

          Then after a slow-paced middle section, the plot completely shifts into a completely different genre of fantasy, action and adventure. I personally did not expect that coming as I did not read the synopsis and what type of genre it was. It caught me off guard when everything seemed to happen in one go and I was instantly swept away by the events taking place one after another at full speed. Despite the heavy suspense and the fingernail-biting live-or-die moments, there were hillarious scenes that made me giggle like a maniac late in the night that added colour to the one-way adventure direction the characters seem to be heading to.

          This book definitely ended with a boom *clap the sound of my heart the beat goes on and on..* (sorry) and dissolved into a serene atmosphere that promised a resolve to fight back the forces of evil that plagued Jacob and the other characters in the next book.

          A couple of things I did not like about this book were Jacob's characterisations and the unused potential of the pictures. Jacob was supposed to be sixteen and yet the whole book gave me the impression that he is more like a 13-year-old boy that still has difficulty balancing being childish and mature. I wished Jacob could have been more down to earth and empathetic towards people other than his grandfather and that he would have a narrative that is more fitting to the genre this book is supposed to be categorised in. I definitely loved the inclusion of the pictures with the plot but in some moments I felt like the author depended too much on them to tell his story and therefore lacked in consistency. Some of the pictures don't match the same person and certain ones did not play any role in the story. The descriptions could be written in a more mysterious and hauting manner to help readers connect with how Jacob felt when he looked at them instead of the straightfoward explanations I got, only to experience the creepiness after seeing the pictures.

          I give Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 4/5 stars. It is not as well-written as I would've preferred, but somehow I find myself satisfied with the book. It was adventurous and unique, and somehow I was grateful that it did not turn out to be as horrifying as I thought it was going to be. It certainly did not end tragically or with my mind screwed up with a horrible plot-twist kinda thing like the film "The Others" and "Shutter Island", and I am delighted about that.

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins - Review

Title: Rebel Belle
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Teen/YA Fantasy
Published by: Putnam Juvenile
Published in: 8th April 2014 
Content warning: Mild violence, mentions of a family 
                            member's death
Format: Hardback
Source: Borrowed from friend.
My Rating: ★★1/2
 

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

           I am finally done with Rebel Belle! I found it incredibly challenging to read this book till the end because I did not really like it. I am aware that it's a well-loved book and I've heard so many great things about it so I was honestly surprised that it wasn't to my liking :(

So what's my howl for this book?

A LET DOWN. UNFORTUNATELY. (LOVERS OF THIS BOOK PLS DON'T HATE ME)

          Rebel Belle is about Harper Price, a wealthy Southern Belle who has got everything going for her. SGA President, head cheerleader, possible valedictorian, Homecoming queen, girlfriend of the most popular boy in school yadda yadda. She is that perfect girl that everyone wants to be/befriend (and whose dead sister we don't talk about). Until one day right before being crowned queen during prom she encounters a bloodied janitor who passes on mysterious powers to her before breathing his last. She is then thrown into a world where magic spells, badass ninja-fighting and having visions of the future exists. Turns out, she is to become a Paladin, a protector of the Oracle, the "chosen one" that has the ability to see the future, who happens to be David, her nemesis from birth.

Things that were wrong with this book:

1. The so-called "destiny" of the Paladin. First of all, the only reason Harper received Paladin powers was because she forgot to bring her lipgloss. That's it. No backstory of prophecies or generations of daughters in her family meant to become Paladins. It all stemmed from a coincidence. I could not accept it because it means anyone can become a Paladin without any restrictions. As long as you are present right before your predecessor's death and they kiss it into you. So completely no qualms in involving INNOCENT CIVILIANS WHO HAVE LIVES OF THEIR OWN. No qualms in endangering their lives and the lives of their loved ones, expecting them to abandon everything to protect a stranger. And this sort of absurdity happened twice, when Ryan was dragged into it too.
2. The fact that it was harder to kill Harper than it was to kill Christopher, who actually went through official training to become a Paladin. It took one high heel to kill Mr. DuPont. Only one. Darn it, Christopher should have thought about adding some ladies' footwear into his non-existant armory. And the fact that Christopher had to be "fake fat, fake bald and kind of good-looking" to explain away the revulsion the readers would get when Harper was forcibly "kissed".
3. The fact that boys make bad Oracles. Okay, I can accept it. But at least tell me why?
4. The chemistry between Harper and David. There was none.The story just says they've been fighting ever since they were young. Maybe David was the one that had feelings for her and was pulling her pigtails. But COME ON DAVID. GROW UP. Technically he did have character development to an extent but he was such a jerk to Harper in the beginning, writing scandalous gossips about her on the school paper, while self-proclaiming to be a legit writer who is committed to the art. Harper and how she came to fall for David just made me internally scream "REALLY GIRL???". She already has a boyfriend of two years (who is the sweetest and most matured of them all imo) and suddenly after receiving her powers she somehow feels connected to David romantically. It came out of NOWHERE. David wasn't even those mysterious bad boy types. He was an immature bully who wore jeans that were a size too small. EW.
5. The breakup between Harper and Ryan. Still not over how that was written. Just NOPE.
6. The redundancy of Leigh Anne's tragedy. I really wished there was more to it. She is like Harper, the perfect golden girl. And one day she just dies from a freak accident because she drove while she was drunk. Why was she drunk during one of her most important nights? If she was Miss Goody Two-shoes why was she doing something so reckless? Also, I couldn't believe Harper would use her dead sister as an excuse for getting out of her friends questions about her whereabouts during one of her Paladin adventures. It was so out of character. 
7. The fact that they completely forgot about Bee just after she was kidnapped. Harper and David were SO CHILL at the end, still talking about whether their relationship would work out bla bla when Harper's BEST FRIEND is out there somewhere with a crazy MAGE with unlimited powers. SNAP OUT OF IT YOU TWO. And shame on both of you. Harper JUST broke up with Ryan.

          I give Rebel Belle 2.5/5 stars. The points above alone made it hard for me to finish this book. I'm sure there were more minor irk-ish moments but these were the main ones. Nevertheless I read it till the end as I liked the action scenes, and because it involved an unconventional female main protagonist. But I would not be interested in reading the next book in the series.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - Review

Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: YA Fantasy
Published by: Harper Collins (in 2015)
Content warning: Violence, mild language
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
My Rating:  ★★★★

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

I initially didn't want to post this review up so early but my reading of Rebel Belle has been way slower than expected so here it is! (I really want to like Rebel Belle, but the first person POV is ticking me off a little gahhh. More on that next time)  Red Queen was released just last month on Feb 10th. Assuming that there are a lot more humans who have yet to read this book (hard for me to imagine why not because the of the HYPE), this review will be ~SPOILER-FREE~ right after my howl *evil chuckle*.

This is what I howled to the wind:

PLOT TWIST. SERIOUS THRONE OF GLASS FEELS. PLOT TWIST!!!

(oh yea I went there)

          Red Queen centers around 17-year-old Mare Barrow who lives in a dystopian society where the differentiation of status is based on a person's blood color. There are two blood races: The Silvers, who have silver blood running through their veins and the Reds, who have red blood. The Silvers are the superior race. They are wealthy, physically stronger, powerful, basically those who belong to the privileged upper class in the society. As if there wasn't enough to prove that point, each of them also possess distinct SUPERNATURAL POWERS which gives them the ability to control various elements. (I know a lot of people have compared this to X-men but I kept thinking about AVATAR). The Reds are the normal humans, the weaker race that were not born with any of the abilities the Silvers have, and are thus subjected to exploitation and servitude for the whole of their lives, unable to fight back due to their inferiority. 

          Mare is a Red, and she despises the status quo and how it is leeching her family's happiness one family member at a time. Being forced to become a thief in order to support her family and facing conscription very soon, Mare is the last person you would expect to be a beacon of change for her oppressed people. Until one day a power like no other was accidentally awakened from within her, and revealed for the Royal family and just about every noble Silver there is to see. She is now faced with difficult decisions and her role as the Red with a Silver's abilities are much bigger than anything she has ever imagined.

         While not completely original, the concept of the society in Red Queen is just marvelous and absolutely attractive. It has so much potential to become a cinematographically stunning film (if that ever happened) with its action-packed fantasy plot, the medieval, steampunk-ish setting, the different colors representing different noble houses (ARISTOCRATIC COSTUMES FTW!!!), and SILVER BLOOD. How beautiful would that look being poured out of a Silver!!! (sorry, got a bit gory there) I fell in love with the world that Victoria Aveyard painted with her excellent writing style and the fact that there are other settings besides the ones in the first book that has yet to be explored and elaborated makes me wish the next book would come out TOMORROW. 

         I actually read this book in one sitting so I thought that the suspense was well-distributed throughout the plot. There were some parts that were a bit too far-fetched but I easily accepted it because it is a YA fantasy so these things tend to appear often. Overall, the characters were likeable, with Mare being my favourite as there are many sides to her. (Passive one-dimensional protagonists are my ultimate pet-peeve). I liked that she is level-headed most of the time, and is not easily swept away by the detriment of various events that happened. Usually we get heroines that throw themselves into the fire of their enemies without proper strategy or COMMON SENSE, but I never got that from Mare. The other characters were a little weak, and there were several who were redundant nearing the end. Fortunately, the plot was still able to move along with full speed pass those issues towards an ending that promised epicness in the next book.

         I give Red Queen 4/5 stars for its impressive writing and brilliant concept. Victoria Aveyard has raised the bar for debut novels of the same genre I'll be reading in the future.

p/s: I would like to comment on the COVER. Don't you agree when I say that it's GORGEOUS? The gradient silvery background. The bloody crown turned upside down. This simple image foreshadows so much of the story's conflict. Oooh I got goosebumps the first time I saw the physical book in real life... *flails*

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - Review

Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: YA Fantasy, Romance
Content warning: Violence
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed from friend
My Rating: ★★★

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

I've been wanting to write up this one earlier, but I got hit with the flu bug, so writing anything for leisure with a body temperature of 38 degrees just doesn't feel... leisurely. But THIS BOOK. So much I want to SAY.

My howl for this book is:

GREATEST ASSASSIN IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY? HHMMMMMMMMM.

          This book had a lot of hype, and people introducing the book mentioned "female assassin", so nothing was going to stop the strong female protagonist lover in me from reading it, and I went in without so much as glancing over the synopsis. When I read the synopsis right before posting this, I snorted a little because it sounded way cooler than how the actual story was like. Probably should not have snorted though, because I actually did not have a hard time finishing the book, so it must have brewed suspense well somewhere. Unfortunately, it was lacking in terms of characters, especially the most important character of the book and for me, it was a huge problem. *shakes head and sighs*

          Throne of Glass is about Celaena Sardothien, 18, (supposedly the best assassin in all of Erilea) who was temporarily released from her enslavement in the Endovier salt mines and brought to Rifthold (the capital) to compete with other killing specialists for the title of the King's Champion, in other words, the king's personal assassin, so it's totally "official". The Crown Prince of Adarlan (the country) made her this offer: win the competition and be a free person after four years of service, or get thrown back into the harsh environments of the salt mines, awaiting death. Of course she chose the former, and thus started this journey to train and win the competition. If only it were that simple of our heroine. Not long after, the competitors start turning up dead, mauled to shreds by someone or SOMETHING, then there are the mysteries that lurk beneath the castle's walls...(ooohhhhhh)

          If my "ooohhhhh" seemed sarcastic, that's because it was. From the very beginning of the book, Celaena has been described as "the most notorious assassin", and that hearing her name would actually petrify people. All in all, she was THE BEST. And I got that impression, when she boasted about killing her overseer and twenty-three other sentries back in the mines with just a pickax. BUT IT ENDS THERE.  Although she kept talking about how she would murder some of the characters in extreme detail during her internal monologues, she doesn't assassinate anyone else AT ALL. You can argue that she only does it on a hiring basis, but what's the point of giving us an assassin as a main character when we don't even get to read about her doing what she does BEST? I thought that I'd get some showcase of badass female assassinating skills in the trials before the actual competition but guess what the trials were?? Humdrum tasks that every assassin were unquestionably expected to already be good at like poison identification, one-on-one sparring, archery, wall scaling and parkour-like race... like "oh, these were the deadly trials to select the King's Champion? Sorry I thought I just read about AN AMATEUR CONTEST FOR JUNIOR ASSASSIN-WANNABE STUDENTS." Okay, maybe the trials weren't meant to be. But why not AT LEAST get one of those nobles in the court to hire her for their own hidden political agendas? I would read the heck out of that.

           Fine. Let's say we give this book the benefit of doubt. Maybe Celaena will assassinate someone in the NEXT book, as she is distracted with competing at the moment. But honestly speaking, there were so many instances that made me question her competence as an assassin. For one thing, she is able to sleep through a whole lot without even being on guard and perform that classic "sneaking up on any intruders with a knife" assassin move. Someone was able to enter her room, draw Wyrdmarks (magical sigil thingys) UNDER HER BED UNNOTICED and still, most mornings she had to be woken up by Chaol her babysitter, then complains about how she needs more sleep because "she stayed up till four in the morning". Doing what you might ask? READING. Passionately READING the books that the Crown Prince sent her after writing a rather flirtatious letter to him asking for them. *smacks forehead* The most laughable incident was when someone left a huge bag of candy on her bed (again she slept through it and did not notice) and the first instance she saw what it was, she went "oh how I love candy!" and proceeded to gobble up half the bag no questions asked, forgetting that a KILLING MAN/BEAST WAS ON THE LOOSE in the castle targeting competitors LIKE HER, and that those lovable candies might be POISONED. Seriously girl, there is a time and place for everything. You don't even need to be an assassin extraordinaire to know that.

           And the ROMANCE (if you can even call it that) was just as subtle as a brick. It takes up about more than half the book, with the constant flirting and lame banters that came across as forced and led to nowhere. It kinda felt like reading Twilight again, as it got me reminiscing about the love triangle plot from hell. So much of the book's potential gems like the magical lore and murder mystery got overshadowed by these hormone-infested manchildren obssessing over a criminal who just happened to be an attractive woman.

          Did I like anything about the book at all? Well if I had to turn a blind eye... I generally favored Chaol Westfall, our Captain of the Royal Guard, who seemed to be the only one who is most aware of his priorities, until of course, his role as love interest had to be played. At least he played the less annoying one, actually trying to fulfill his responsibility as her supervisor or tutor, building some form of friendship with Celaena first before going googly eyes all over her, despite knowing her for the killer she was because he is just so good-natured that way. (I just can't understand why he has to be the one to wake her up in the morning though, like doesn't Celaena have a personal maid??? And how is he allowed to walk into her private rooms anytime he pleases? Did the court not set any rules or boundaries??? GAHHH). I also kind of liked Nehemia, the Eyllwean princess as our character of color, but only when she hung out with Celaena, and together they somehow led this book to pass the Bechdel test. I guess I liked reading about her because it was only when the two women converse that Celaena wasn't gushing over Prince Dorian or how pretty she herself looked in court dresses, most of the time anyway. But Nehemia, as a princess, seemed clueless about diplomacy and political strategizing, hence the "kind of liked".

           I give Throne of Glass 3/5 stars, because if I look pass the ridiculous writing of the characters, I could sense an inkling of interest in me to know about that never-before-seen Wyrdmark on Celaena's forehead,  and how is she connected to the Fae King and Queen, and the identity of her dead parents because THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING THERE. I HOPE. WE'LL SEE IN THE SECOND BOOK. At least I still want to continue reading so I'll give that credit to the author.