Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
written by Ransom Riggs

Just another random person reiterating what an incredible book this is.  This was not at all the story I expected.  I thought, oh, a combination of text and old photographs, this is going to be some artsy wannabe pretending they're a hotshot professional photographer.  Guys, look closely at the cover.  She's hovering.  And that's just one of many incredible photographs contained within these pages, shaping a terrifying, suspenseful book that will actually leave you with chills.  There are so many incredible plot twists along the way.  I lost my love of the story a bit when time travel came into the picture, and the focus shifted from the incredible characters who I wanted to fully know to a less interesting, less bone-chilling plotline.  All of the props I have to offer to the characters, though.  Great book, really original, stays with you long after you're done.

Rating: 4.5/5

Underworld

Underworld
written by Meg Cabot

I've written on my dislike of the first book in the series, Abandon, so I was surprised to see that I liked Underworld slightly more than its predecessor.  It's still nowhere near the Meg Cabot I grew to love with The Princess Diaries and Mediator and all her other books, but it was a slight improvement.  We got to learn a bit more about John, which was nice, but he's still kind of a controlling boyfriend, and I'm still unsure how to feel about all that.  The novel is still slow-paced much like Abandon, but there was a decent amount of suspense to move it along.  Alex's storyline had very little appeal and didn't seem to add much to the story, despite pretty much being the main point of the book.  This book felt so forced.  I'm just not sure what happened to Meg's writing charm, but I wish she could find it again.

Rating: 3/5