Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children By: Ransom Riggs

Rating: Incredibly AWESOME

Age Group: 14+

Summary (from BarnesandNoble.com):

 A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

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 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.

My Thoughts:  I really loved this book!  I don’t usually read horror books, much less like them, but this book was just so interesting and unique that I couldn’t put it down!  First I want to say that while this book DID have some very scary parts, the book as a whole wasn’t as dark as I was expecting.  From reading other reviews I thought it would be utterly terrifying, but it wasn’t.  There were many sweet and funny parts that kept the book from being such.  I really liked how the characters were developed and how the Home was introduced, and I loved Miss Peregrine and the children.  Finding out about their pasts and the reason why they hid was my favorite part, along with the children’s peculiarities themselves.  And the pictures!  These added so much to the story, and made the story seem so much more real and believable.  I tend to imagine things as cuter or safer than they are described simply because that’s the direction my mind likes to go, but thanks to the pictures the true nature of the book came through.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes supernatural books as well as those that like horror.

Book Recommendations: Bones of Faerie By: Janni Lee Simner

The Girl in the Steel Corset

The Girl in the Steel Corset By: Kady Cross

Rating: Great

Age Group: 13+

Summary (from Amazon.com): In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one…except the "thing" inside her.

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch….

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help—and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on—even if it seems no one believes her.

My Thoughts:  So this was a fantastic book.   You don’t find many steampunk novels out there, at least I don’t, and I think that it’s a really cool genre.  The thing I like best is the atmosphere, especially in this novel.  It’s just very unique and interesting, a melding of old and new ideas and mannerisms.  The setting was rich and well described.  The other thing I loved about this novel was the characters.  They were all very interesting and unique, and I especially loved their back stories.  Each character was complex, with a story of their own, ,and I loved find those stories out throughout the book.  Finley’s was especially interesting to me.  In this book there was a little romance, though mostly it was building up for the next book.  There were parts of this story that had links to classic stories from the industrial era, and I thought that was a nice touch.  And the science!  While I had trouble envisioning the technology of the world (to me, if it acts like a phone then it looks like a phone, no matter how it was described), I really liked the idea of Organites and rapid evolution (my biology centered mind geeked out a bit :P ).  It was believable in the context of the story and I love that in books.  I loved how the characters interacted and how the story resolved, and I especially can’t wait for the sequel.  This is a definite must read!

Fairy Bad Day

Fairy Bad Day By: Amanda Ashby

Rating: Good

Age Group: 12+

Summary (from Amazon.com): While most students at Burtonwood Academy get to kill demons and goblins, fifteen-year-old Emma gets to rid the world of little annoying fairies with glittery wings and a hipster fashion sense. She was destined to be a dragon slayer, but cute and charming Curtis stole her spot. Then she sees a giant killer fairy - and it's invisible to everyone but her! If Emma has any chance of stopping this evil fairy, she's going to need help. Unfortunately, the only person who can help is Curtis. And now, not only has he stolen her dragon-slayer spot, but maybe her heart as well! Why does she think it's going to be a fairy bad day?

My Thoughts:  I thought this was a pretty mediocre read, unfortunately.  I think I’ll start with the things I did like about this book.  For one, the plot was very interesting, and there was a cool twist near the end that I loved.  There were a few plot holes that bothered me, which I can’t REALLY talk about without ruining the book, but there it is.  A lot of things happened that were a little to convenient for my liking, and the convenience wasn’t really explained.  Still the plot did keep me interested and I loved how the story resolved itself.  I liked Emma’s best friends Loni and Tyler very much.  They were such interesting characters!  Loni’s love of horoscopes was just so fun.  I also liked Curtis a lot, he was just such a sweet person and he had an interesting back story.  And I loved the fairies!  They were such goofs!  But I think the thing that bugged me the most about the book was the fact that I didn’t really like Emma, mostly because her character didn’t seem very developed to me.  She was spunky, which I generally like, but that was pretty much all there was to her personality that I could see.  Honestly, I felt like I knew the others listed above better than her, and I was in her head reading the book!  I don’t know, I just didn’t connect with her.  Also, I was a little bothered by the way the author used italics.  When I was reading it was like the characters were emphasising entire sentences, or that they were making sure that we the readers knew what was important.  That nitpicky, but it bothered me.  All in all, this book is still worth the read though it isn’t the first book I’d recommend.

Book Recommendations: This will now only happen if I actually think of a book that reminds me of the book reviewed.  That said, I’d recommend  Hex Hall By: Rachel Hawkins

Angel Burn

Angel Burn By: L. A. Weatherly

Rating: Great

Age Group: 13+

Summary (from Amazon.com):  Willow knows she’s different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people’s dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces, and that he’s one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil. In the first book in an action-packed, romantic trilogy, L..A. Weatherly sends readers on a thrill-ride of a road trip - and depicts the human race at the brink of a future as catastrophic as it is deceptively beautiful.

They’re out for your soul . . . and they don’t have heaven in mind.

My Thoughts:  This book was pretty dang amazing!  I thought that Alex and Willow were really well developed characters and I loved both of them.  They both had strong, clear voices and they were both interesting.  I liked how Mrs. Weatherly switched from first to third person when she switched from Willow’s to Alex’s point of view, mostly just because it was interesting and because it helped to show that Willow was the main voice of the story.  And I loved their relationship!  I thought that it was very sweet.  It did bother me how much Willow dwelt on the fact that she’s part angel, though for the most part I can understand were she’s coming from.  I just thought it was unnecessary how much she brought it up and dwelt on it.  But that’s one of my pet peeves, so take that opinion with a grain of salt.  It’s a long book that takes it’s time developing the plot, however the plot starts going early in the book so I didn’t mind the time spent on it.  The only thing that bothers me with waiting for the plot to develop is the time before hand when the characters aren’t necessarily doing anything except build their character, but as long as things are actually happening I don’t mind.  The plot really is interesting enough that it could be so long, and I really liked the twist on angel’s natures.  It has so much potential and I can’t wait to see where this series goes! 

Book Recommendations: Halo By: Alexandra Adornetto, The Host By: Stephenie Meyer,  Coffee House Angel By: Suzanne Selfors

Jane Jones: Worst. Vampire. Ever.

Jane Jones: Worst. Vampire. Ever.  By: Caissie St. Onge

Rating: Really Good

Age Group: 12+

Summary (from Amazon.com): For Jane Jones, being a vampire is nothing like you read about in books. In fact, it kind of sucks. She's not beautiful, she's not rich, and she doesn't "sparkle." She's just an average, slightly nerdy girl from an ordinary suburban family (who happens to be vampires.) Jane's from the wrong side of the tracks (not to mention stuck in the world's longest awkward phase), so she doesn't fit in with the cool vampire kids at school or with the humans kids. To top it all off, she's battling an overprotective mom, a clique of high school mean girls (the kind who really do have fangs), and the most embarrassing allergy in the history of the undead, she's blood intolerant. So no one's more surprised than Jane when for the first time in her life, things start to heat up (as much as they can for a walking corpse, anyway) with not one, but two boys. Eli's a geeky, but cute real-live boy in her history class, and Timothy is a beautiful, brooding bloodsucker, who might just hold the key to a possible "cure" for vampirism. Facing an eternity of high school pressure, fumbling first dates, or a mere lifetime together with Timothy, what's a 90-something year-old teen vampire to do?

My Thoughts:  I’ll admit I didn’t really have high hopes for this book.  I sort of thought that it would be a lighthearted, fluffy sort of read.  Basically I was just expecting a full on chick flick type book, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It was not only hilarious but also had a good plot.  I loved Jane and her family and they way they interacted with each other and the other vampires.  I liked both Eli and Timothy so much that I had a hard time deciding who I wanted to root for.  There was a plot twist that I wasn’t expecting, and I LOVED that!  I thought I had the book more or less figured out, and it seemed for a long time that I was right, when out of nowhere the unexpected happened!  I am a little disappointed with the ending, though I think the author is setting things up for a sequel (though I could be wrong about that).  It was a sweet, funny read with an interesting plot and I’d recommend it.

Book Recommendations: Haven By: Kristi Cook , Hex Hall By: Rachel Hawkins

My Unfair Godmother

My Unfair Godmother  By: Janette Rallison

Sequel to My Fair Godmother

Rating: Great

Age Group: 12+

Summary (from Amazon.com): Tansy Miller has always felt that her divorced father has never had enough time for her. But mistakenly getting caught on the wrong side of the law wasn't exactly how she wanted to get his attention. Enter Chrysanthemum "Chrissy" Everstar, Tansy's fairy in shining, er, high heels. Chrissy is only a fair godmother, of course, so Tansy's three wishes don't exactly go according to plan. And if bringing Robin Hood to the twenty-first century isn't bad enough for Tansy, being transported back to the Middle Ages to deal with Rumpelstiltskin certainly is. She'll need the help of her blended family, her wits, and especially the cute police chief 's son to stop the gold-spinning story from spinning wildly out of control.

My Thoughts:  This is one of my more favorite series, probably because I love fairytale retellings and fairies so much.  For this series you don’t NECESSARILY have to read the first book to understand Tansy’s story, however it would be helpful if you want to know Chrissy’s story and the books inside jokes.  Which brings me to one of my favorite things about this book:  it is SO funny!  Tansy doesn’t have the greatest life at the moment, and things just seem to keep going downhill.  So the book deals with lots of tough and very real problems, but it still manages to crack jokes.  Also, I thought Tansy’s relationship with Hudson was very cute and I loved their banter.  Like the last book, I love how the story was resolved.  Contrary to what the characters may say, Chrissy DID help Tansy live happily ever after.  All of the characters were full and realistic.   I even liked Chrissy, though I wouldn’t want her as my fairy godmother.  She’s just such a fun character, and even though I read someone say that Chrissy hadn’t grown as a character I don’t agree.  She is still herself, but she did learn from her last assignment and I think that in the next book she’ll do very well.  And really, like I said, both of the girls lived happily ever after because of what they learned from their ordeals.  Tansy learns a lot about her family and herself, things she might have missed if not for Chrissy eccentric wish granting methods.   Anyhoo, this was a good light hearted read that had a good plot and was very funny.  I highly recommend it!

Recommended Reading: Beastly By: Alex Flinn, The Wide Awake Princess By: E. D. Baker, Half Upon a Time By: James Riley, Ella Enchanted By: Gail Carson Levine

The Vampire Stalker

The Vampire Stalker

By: Allison Van Diepen

Rating: Incredibly AWESOME

Age Group: 12+

Summary (from Amazon.com): What if the characters in a vampire novel left their world--and came into yours?

Amy is in love with someone who doesn't exist: Alexander Banks, the dashing hero in a popular series of vampire novels. Then one night, Amy meets a boy who bears an eerie resemblance to Alexander. In fact, he IS Alexander, who has escaped from the pages of the book and is in hot pursuit of a wicked vampire named Vigo. Together, Amy and Alexander set out to track Vigo and learn how and why Alexander crossed over. But when she and Alexander begin to fall for each other, Amy wonders if she even wants him to ever return to the realm of fiction.

My Thoughts: So I loved this book.  I liked the double meaning in the title, too.  This book just sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down!   The writing was very clear without being flowery, and the plot was strong.  All of the characters seemed so real and I liked most of them (Amy’s sister was just awful).  The relationships developed believably and the characters themselves developed believably as well.  And the romance in this novel?  SO CUTE!  I fell in love with Alexander right along with 8021 other ladies, and I’m sure that number is just going to keep going up.  But the thing I liked most about this book was that Amy didn’t dwell too much on anything.  For example, her parents are separated and it’s because her father left them for another woman.  We are told what she thinks about this and you can tell that she hasn’t really forgiven her father, but we aren’t told over and over again about it.  In a lot of books, characters will dwell on such things and reflect on them a great deal even if it’s not necessary for the books plot, which can get annoying.   All in all, I just loved everything about this book and I’ll definitely be rereading it when I get the chance. 

Books with similar themes:  The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls for Jersey By: Lisa Papademetriou, Inkheart By: Cornelia Funke , My Fair Godmother By: Janette Rallison

Mostly a test, sort of an introduction

Well, ok, so!  Lets see how this goes.  So in this first post I'll just say what kind of books I read so people know.  I prefer fantasy or other fiction, and I read mostly young adult and middle grade books.  My favorite books in general are fairytale retellings.  So, yup.  Once I figure this thing out, and if my reviews get any traffic, I'll put a clickable somewhere with a list of my favorite books and why I liked them so much so that people can decide if my tastes match theirs.  So for now that'll do for my first post thing.  :)