Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

"We cling to our fairy tales until the price for believing in them becomes too high" 

- Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Review by Kathren


Book Details:
Published June 7, 2011
Quirk Books; Book Club edition
352 Pages


Book Synopsis:
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, 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 Miss Peregrine's children were more than just peculiar. They may be 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, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.


General Review:
I had been meaning to read this book since I saw it in the bookstore and didn't buy it because I'm a broke college kid. After a while I forgot about it, then one day I was watching one of my favorite you-tubers, John Green, and saw it again, apparently one of John's friends wrote it. (*!!!!* <-- that's what my brain did because I had seen it before and had wanted to read it) What originally drew me to it was the old-timey picture that was the cover. If you know anything about me you know that I love photography and a book with cool vintage pictures is a book that I will, doubtless, like, and the fact that John Green's friend wrote it was a definite plus.


Plot:
When I skimmed the synopsis, the first time, I didn't really take the time to think about what I read. I knew that I had $0.00 dollars to spend on a book that day so I didn't really want to get invested in a book to realize that I could not afford to get it. I originally thought that it was about a home for insane children, and that the main character would be discovering their horrifying history and the events that would lead to their grizzly deaths. I was wrong. The story is a sort of historical fiction meets fantasy and marries science fiction. The story is based in modern times with a grandson, Jacob, and his relationship with his late grandfather, Abraham (Abe) who was a war veteran and refugee from the time of Nazi Germany. Jacob grows up hearing,what he believes to be, fairy tales about the home that took Abe in after he escaped and the peculiar children he lived with. When tragedy strikes, Jacob is left with a mystery, what if the stories his grandfather told him were actually true? The only place he can find answers is where the fairy tales came from, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.


Characters:
This part is tricky for me to explain. I enjoyed being introduced to most of the characters because there was almost always an interesting picture to go with them. However I was disappointed with many of the characters because I felt that they could have been more developed, most of the time they were introduced because there was a corresponding picture, and after the picture was shown, they were never mentioned again. While, I greatly enjoyed the characters, I was left wondering more about minute details of that character's life than I was about what was going to happen to the character in reference to the actual plot.


Final Thoughts:
I did enjoy reading this book, however I was left with a feeling of wanting more. Many times I felt that it was a story was about the pictures, rather than the pictures about the story. It was a good idea to begin with, however there were times when it was poorly executed. I was sort at odds with the whole "overlooking the lie" in order to enjoy the story because the author acknowledges that the pictures were tampered with, and yet tries to pass off the story as though the scenes depicted in the pictures were real.I got the feeling that this would become a series and greatly look forward to the next installment.

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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

"Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck does it? And God help the poor bastard who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie."

- Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

Review by Chase

Book Details:

Published: March 27, 2007

Publishers: Margaret K. McElderry Books

496 Pages

Book Synopsis:
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?


This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a  vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...


Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end. 


General Review:
I know I'm probably the last person in the world (other than Kathren and Dylana) to read The Mortal Instruments Series and I don't know why it's taken me this long. I was given City of Bones to read by a friend back when it was first published but I had to return the book before I was able to finish it, therefore; I never finished the book and up until recently I forgot all about it. It wasn't until I saw Book 5, City of Lost Souls, that I remembered that I had once started City of Bones. I was initially worried that reading it as an adult (at least somewhat of an adult) would ruin the entire thing because I would be overly critical, but alas, I was not. The story is original and the writing is acceptable, though not entirely flawless. 


Plot:
While the idea of the story was original, the plot of the book was extremely predicable. I was able to guess the ending before I even reached the halfway point, but amazingly, by the time I was at the ending, I completely forgot that I had already seen it coming. I loved the characters and the overall idea of the story was so amazing but the plot was extremely cliche at times. Now, as it is the first in a series, I wasn't too disapointed because I think that Clare was using this novel to set up the remainder of the series so I didn't think that much was going to go on during the first book. 


Characters:
Overall, I really enjoyed the character development as each one had their own unique personality. However, the character development for the minor characters was a little dissapointing. I get that you need to focus on the main characters, but that doesn't mean that the minor characters have to suffer. Also, while the characters are original, they tend to do predicable things, but that is mainly the plot's fault. 


Final Thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised at this book and it made me excited to read the rest of the series. Clare did a wonderful job presenting her world and creating a suspenseful story to ensure that readers would read the next installments with as much enthusiasm as the first. Writing the review after reading the rest of the series really makes me see how important this novel is to the rest of the story and I promise that the rest of the series is just as amazing as the first one. 

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Room by Emma Donoghue

"If I was made of cake I'd eat myself before somebody else could." 

- Emma Donoghue, Room

Review by Chase


Book Synopsis:
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. 


Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work. 


General Review:
Wow. That is all I had to say when I first read this book...just wow. I first picked up this novel when I glanced at the cover while browsing around and became intrigued by the synopsis. The story is so original and so fast-paced that I found myself tearing through the novel, eager to see what happens. 


Characters:
The only skepticism I had regarding the novel before I began reading it was the main character. I didn't think that Donoghue would be able to tell the story through the eyes of a five year old and still have it be convincing and functional. Boy was I wrong. Jack was such a realistic character and the story was only enhanced by having it told through his view. To see the world as he saw it was absolutely genius and it was so well written that you actually feel as if you are this little boy. The characters are brilliant and they are some of the most believable characters that I have ever read. 


Plot:
The plot is what really drew me in. Without giving too much away, the book is almost two separate stories but they flow so well together that you forget that there is such a gap between them. While most books tend to have a dry spell in them, I never got bored with this book. Not everything is fast-paced but it's all intriguing in it's own way. 


Final Thoughts:
I have not one complaint for this novel. It was flawless and compelling. I found myself thinking about it days after I finished it and I still love it when I read it again. It's such a twisted, demonic, yet beautiful story and I think that everyone that reads it will fall in love with it.

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The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

"My Dear, here is lesson number one for using opportunity; waste no time in false humility. Tell the world about your achievements don't wait for someone else to do it."  

- Kate Alcott, The Dressmaker

Review by Kathren


Book Synopsis:
Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.


Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes. 


Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky. 


On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love.


General Overview:

I have a thing for sewing as you can see from my page, and Chase has a thing for Titanic. He saw that this book had elements of both and decided that we were going to read it together, so, naturally, I read it alone. Regardless of that whole silly situation, I enjoyed it.  


Plot:
The story takes place during the whole Titanic crisis. However the part of onboard the Titanic/Titanic sinking was only a small part of the entire book. The focus was mainly on the criminal trials that took part after the sinking, and the trials of a young woman trying to make her way in America after the turn of the century.


Characters:
The main protagonist, Rose, is a young woman who has worked most of her life as a lowly servant/seamstress with dreams of leaving the servant life behind behind and becoming a designer. Her chance at such a life comes with famous fashion designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon(based on the real Lucile Duff Gordon) who takes Tess on as a servant so that she can go to America with her on the Titanic. Tess meets her two love interests onboard the Titanic, they typical much older rich man who can't help but notice this ambitious young girl who is definitely going places, and the rough but kind-hearted sailor who understands her on a level no one else can. Then, there is the ambitious reporter Pinky who does her best to leave the shadows of both her father's legacy and the trials of being a female reporter at the turn of the century.


Final Thoughts:
There are so many aspects of this book that I like and that I didn't like. I liked that it was a true coming out story, a girl must figure out what she will do with her life given the magnificent opportunities provided to her. It's a historical-fiction novel, so there is a history lesson embedded in the story for the unwitting reader. However, being a person who likes to sew, as mentioned before, I was confused about the parts of the story that gave the book the title "dressmaker" in that they described sewing with terms that made no sense. For the... I'll call them average people (to avoid "normal" implicating that I'm not "normal" which I'm not... but I don't like to admit it)... average person, these details would be meaningless, but for myself trying to picture the clothes that the main character was seeing and sewing was near impossible, especially using the techniques she described. I will say, overall the book was good, I would probably read it again.

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Elixir by Hilary Duff

"In dreams, and in love, there are no impossibilities."

- Hilary Duff, Elixir

Review by Chase


Book Synopsis:
Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, she has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel tot he most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea's father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea's photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man - a man she has never seen before. 


When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father's disappearance, and they discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and hunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives - and their futures.  


General Review:
I know, I know, Hilary Duff wrote a book? I had the same skepticism before finally buying the book to read. The thing that made me finally decide that it would be worth the shot was that she cowrote it with someone who had experience. I really appreciated the fact that she knew she needed help on her first book. Overall, I was very surprised with the book and found that I quite enjoyed it. 


Plot:
As I stated with Beautiful Creatures, I really liked how they took historical elements and made them fit into the story. The plot focuses around the Elixir of Life and the rest of the story revolves around this elixir. The plot, while at sometimes is very cliche, is very captivating and is relatively fast paced. There was never a dull moment and the book flowed smoothly. 


Characters:
The main character, Clea, was very easy to relate to. However, this may be due to the fact that I'm a photojournalist as well. Nevertheless, all of the characters are well thought out and I actually enjoyed the love triangle in this book (and we all know how I feel about love triangles). I was very surprised that Hilary was able to create such round characters on her first writing attempt. 


Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend that you give it a chance. I have yet to read the sequel but I have it and it's on my list of things to read. If you need a rainy day read then I highly suggest that you pick up Elixir. 4.5 stars. 

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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

"Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead."

- Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures

Review by Chase


Book Synopsis: 
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, an crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.


Ethan Wate, who has been counting down the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her determined to uncover the connection between them.


In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. 


General Review:
I first came across this book in 2009 when it was first published but decided to wait and get it because I had other books that I wanted to read. 3 years later I ended up purchasing it and read it in two days. The odd thing is, I couldn't tell if I liked it or not. I was 250 pages into the book and found myself wondering if it was worth it. But I couldn't put it down. The book ended up being...ok. I'm glad I read it but it's not a book that I see myself rereading. Granted, I will probably end up reading the rest in the series, but thats more due to the fact that I hate not finishing a series. 


Plot:
I'm so sick of paranormal romances. It aggravates me to no end that Young Adult novels have become synonymous with Paranormal Romance. What happened to normal people? I guess reality isn't good enough. Other the fact that it is a paranormal romance, the plot was alright. I liked that it blended historical elements with the paranormal. Another thing that I really appreciated was that it didn't involve any vampires. 


Characters:
The characters I thought were a little watered down. I really found Ethan uninteresting and I found myself focusing more on Lena. I think the book would have been better from her perspective, but that's just my opnion. All of the other characters seem to be very cookie-cutter. There is very little original about them. 


Final Thoughts:
Overall, the book wasn't that big of a dissapointment. I really had no expectations for it so I wasn't able to be let down. If you have nothing else to read, I would suggest this book, but don't expect your world to be changed by reading it. 3 Stars. 

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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly, then all at once.”

- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Reviewed by Dylana

Book Synopsis:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

General Review:
I’ve been a John Green fan for about three years now, so like every other nerdfighter, I was very excited about this book coming out. I actually accidently preordered three copies of it back in July. So, needless to say, when I got the book(s) in the mail, I was ecstatic. I stayed up all night reading it. But all the hype aside, this book is fantastic. The Fault in Our Stars is John Green’s first book with a female narrator and though there were some things that I don’t think a girl would actually say, he did a very good job channeling his inner teenage girl. Even though the book is about cancer patients and therefore obviously has several sad moments, this book is really funny. I definitely laughed more than I cried.

Plot:
For a while, I didn’t really know where the book was going. I mean, I obviously knew that there would be the romance between Hazel and Augustus, but that didn’t really seem like a plot to me. About halfway through the novel, the plot becomes more obvious. The book’s central focus seems to be about getting Hazel and Augustus to Amsterdam to meet Peter Van Houten with some romance and cancer along the way.

Characters:
The only problem I had with the characters in this book was their vocabulary. I’m an English major and a narcissistic know-it-all, so I think I have a pretty extensive vocabulary, but some of the words these characters use were definitely not in my vernacular when I was sixteen or seventeen… or now. I can’t even pronounce the word “existentially” (just ask Kathren) without fumbling over it terribly. Super impressive vocabulary aside, the characters were very well written. The book’s main characters are Hazel and Augustus, but I really liked their parents. Not that I didn’t love Hazel and Augustus, but I really felt for their parents. They were so real. Cancer doesn’t just affect the person it infects and I found that the most heart wrenching moments came from Hazel and Augustus’s parents.

Final Thoughts:
The Fault in Our Stars was a beautiful, moving, hilarious novel. You don’t have to be a teenager to absolutely love this book; it’s very accessible. As I said earlier, I preordered this book in July. It came out in January. And I must say, it was well worth the wait. 5 stars.  

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