Review | Lindsay Ribar – Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies.

Title: Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies.
Author:  Lindsay Ribar.
Pages:  336.
Published: June 7th 2016 by Kathy Dawson Books.

Twin Peaks meets Stars Hollow in this paranormal suspense novel about a boy who can reach inside people and steal their innermost things—fears, memories, scars, even love—and his family’s secret ritual that for centuries has kept the cliff above their small town from collapsing. Aspen Quick has never really worried about how he’s affecting people when he steals from them. But this summer he’ll discover just how strong the Quick family magic is—and how far they’ll go to keep their secrets safe. With a smart, arrogant protagonist, a sinister family tradition, and an ending you won’t see coming, this is a fast-paced, twisty story about power, addiction, and deciding what kind of person you want to be, in a family that has the ability to control everything you are.

Rating:

Aspen Quick can steal anything from someone by touching them or an object that belonged to them. He can take away your memories, your fears, your passions; just one moment of concentration and it's gone. He uses this gift/curse to feed the Cliffs; his ability keeps them from collapsing on the village. He works together with his grandmother Willow (able to feel when the Cliffs need magic) and aunt Holly (to guide whatever Aspen has stolen to the Cliffs). I thought it was a really interesting concept and I liked the process, but in the end the author could have used it to make a more twisty tale.

Aspen has been left by his mother and she keeps looking for contact, but he is too hurt by her. Slowly, we figure out why his mother went away and how his dad influenced his life. This revelation was supposed to make Aspen more sympathetic, but I simply can't overlook all the bad things he has done. He was so careless in his use of the gift - and everything had to be about HIM. He never left the douche-bag stage from the beginning behind and that made this a hard book to read. I need to feel something more for a character and all Aspen did was getting on my nerves.

At the same time, the writing-style reads incredibly fast and I ended up reading this book in one sitting. I just think some parts could have been explored better, especially when it comes to Leah, a girl I did like. She stands up to Aspen and makes him realize, in some rare moments, that he is manipulating everyone around him without taking care of their feelings. Taking something from someone without care; changing their personality without consent, it's awful.

Not too bad, not mind-blowing either.

Review 268. Ransom Riggs – Hollow city.

Title: Hollow city.
Author: Ransom Riggs.
Pages: 396.
Published: January 17th 2014 by Quirk Books.
Sort: Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar children #2.
Part 1. Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar children.

Having escaped Miss Peregrine’s island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises.

Rating:

I loved Miss Peregrine and the unique use of photographs. There is something about books that use this method, like The cure for dreaming & In the shadow of blackbirds that fascinate me. It adds an extra dimension of creepiness to the story and it’s really effective for this book filled with Peculiar children and monsters. It creates the right atmosphere and it feels like I get to know the characters in a different way, because now you can literally see them.

This story takes off right after the end of the first book. The Peculiar children are fleeing from their island with Miss Peregrine captured in bird-form. They must find a way to get her back before it is too late. They need to travel through other time-loops to find the last person who can help them: Miss Wren. During their hopping through time-loops they find out that Peculiars are disappearing. There is something dangerous going on and they need Miss Peregrine back.

I liked the different places and people they see on their journey. The author put a lot of work in creating a big cast with diverse characters. They go from place to place, which made it easy to fly through the pages and I found it hard to put Hollow City down, but keep in mind that the plot still is slower than the average book. You need to be able to appreciate Riggs way of telling the story, because I can also see how this series is not going to work for some people.

Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar children feels more like a set-up in comparison with Hollow City. This book is filled with action and it’s far more fast-paced. The Peculiar children are on the run and they have to use their unique talents to stay out of the hands from the Hollows - and what a scary figures are those!

I liked that we see more of each individual character. The first book introduces us to a lot of people, with Jacob as main character, but they all get their time to shine now. It made me feel more connected to the storyline, because they don’t feel so distantly anymore. The way they have to work together to achieve their goal was nicely done. It’s great when people need each other and how everyone plays their own role. The only downside is that I don't care a lot for Jacob and I'm also not a fan of the sort-of-romance that is thrown into the story.

The ending was great and I want to know what is going to happen right now.

“Strange, I thought, how you can be living your dreams and your nightmares at the very same time.”

Have you watched the movie from Miss Peregrine? Did you like it? I hope to see it soon! 

Review 267. Cat Winters - The Steep and Thorny Way.

Title: The Steep and Thorny Way.
Author:  Cat Winters.
Pages:  352 pages
Published: March 8th 2016
Source: I received an ARC copy from the publisher Amulet books, thanks!

A thrilling reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Steep and Thorny Way tells the story of a murder most foul and the mighty power of love and acceptance in a state gone terribly rotten. 1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds fear and hatred in even Hanalee’s oldest friendships. Plus, her father, Hank Denney, died a year ago, hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now her father’s killer is out of jail and back in town, and he claims that Hanalee’s father wasn’t killed by the accident at all. The only way for Hanalee to get the answers she needs is to ask Hank himself, a “haint” wandering the roads at night

Rating:

Cat Winters has been on my favorite list ever since I read In the shadow of blackbirds. She followed up with the fantastic The cure for dreaming and The uninvited. The Steep and Thorny way did not fail to impress me and Cat continues to blow me away.

Hanalee Denney is the daughter of a white mother, Greta, and an African father, Hank. Her father died in an accident caused by Joe Adder and her mother remarried Clyde Koning, the doctor who treated her father the night he died. When Joe is released from prison, Hanalee pays him a visit with a gun to get her revenge, but instead, she returns home with information that change everything.

This book, a reimagining of Hamlet, is set in a time where the Klu Klux Klan is spreading hate through Oregon. Both Hanalee and Joe have a lot to fear from them, especially when Hanalee finds out that her father wasn't killed by the accident. Joe told her that he did not kill Hank, but that something else is going on and Hanalee is set to find out what truly happened that night. There is also has a LGBTQI subplot, which creates a powerful story with a paranormal touch.

Cat is a master in creating strong heroines and Hanalee is no exception. She is a brave, fierce girl who will not rest until she figures out why her father was killed. I did not feel a lot of connection with Joe, but his subplot added more tension and truly shows the reach and effect of hatred from close-minded people. 

I felt like the supernatural aspect could have been more prominent, but overall it was a perfectly blended into the story. It is also obvious that the author, again, did a lot of research before writing this book and I love that they continued to use old photographs. It definitely sets her books apart from others, together with her signature writing-style. Highly recommended.

Let it go | A mix of different books.

Sarah Strohmeyer – This is my brain on boys.
1.5/5. Contemporary.
eARC from Edelweiss/publisher.

It went from: OH this is really fun and I love Addie! Girls as scientists are my thing! She is such a smart cookie and I love her experiment. To: oh.. This is exactly not good. Addie was a little too serious for my taste. She was a bit like Sheldon in that way and it did not work on the paper for me. Like the scene where someone told her someone 'fell from the face of the earth' and she tells him without blinking that 'the earth does not have a face.'

No shit, Sherlock.

I also did not appreciate how Kris treated his (ex)-girlfriend Kara. He should have stepped it up and simply told her it was over. Instead, he keeps dragging it around and while I did not like the girl at all, I could understood her accusation.

The whole experiment was lots of fun. Addie has this theory that you an make two people who have nothing in common, fall in love when they are in an intense situation. Kris has to make up for something, so now he is part of the experiment (without knowing what is going on) and Addie decides to at some point to make herself a subject too. From the point of view of a scientist, this is something you should NEVER EVER do, because it influences the way you look at the experiment. Being objective is the most important part, so I did not buy this.

I liked Addie's spark with Kris, but things could have been more polished to make this work better for me.

Elizabeth May – The vanishing throne.
4.5/5. Paranormal.
 
I was blown away by The falconer the first time AND second time. May has written a series that ticks off all the elements I look for: a kick-ass heroin, action, fast-paced plot, amazing writing-style and swoonworthy romance. We learn more about Kieran in this book, someone who stayed quite mysterious in The falconer. Aileana is in a pretty messed-up situation and she is such a brave, strong girl. The ending was brutal, just like The falconer, and it makes me want to pick up the sequel right now. It was a brave move from the author, because it could have turned into the worst twist ever, but it worked really well with the story.

V.E Schwab – A gathering of shadows.
ALL THE STARS. 
Fantasy.
 
Schwab is a genius. I don't think I will ever dislike anything she writes, because she is a magician with words. I reread A darker shade of magic and I think I fell in love with it even more. The intriquite world-building, the spectacular characters and the well-crafted villians, I love everything about it. I have lost my heart to Lila, who is now sailing the seas, and Kell, who feels locked up. READ THIS SERIES. I could not find the right words to express my love for this series, so you just have to pick it up and see for yourself.

Let it go | Massive edition.

Let it go is my feature, where I will spotlight all the books I DNF and the ones I've read and just want to talk about. The name is based on the wonderful song from the movie Frozen, hence the the reindeer. This feature is based on several other DNF features.

I want to get rid of all the reviews I have yet to post on my blog before 2016 starts, so I'm going to throw them all together in this post. You can scroll through all the categories and select what you want to read. They go from best rating –> worst rating. There are no spoilers for the books or sequels in the series. Here we go:

Fairytale retelling.

Marissa Meyer – Winter.
RATING: 4.5 out of 5.
It was fantastic and I read more than 500 pages in one sitting, but the ending still left me with a little disappointed feeling of I want more. It feels like there was still some story left to tell. Perhaps in the novella bind-up with the Epilogue to Winter? I HOPE SO. The main story is wrapped up neatly, so perhaps it's because I'm just not ready to let go of all the characters I fell in love with throughout the series. I could read about them forever and I'm satisfied with all the ships and the overall conclusion of the story. My only problem was the fact I didn't like how villainous Levana was and how I couldn't care about her 'reasons' for all the things she did.

Shannon Hale – Princess Academy.
RATING: 4.5 out of 5.
Miri lives in the valley near the mountain where everyone works to collect linder (stone). The prince is looking for a new bride and she will be picked from the girls in her village. They are all sent to a special Academy to be trained, so they can impress him. Miri is spunky, yet a bit insecure and she has a quick mind. She has a way with words and she is definitely not waiting to be trained for a prince. I loved how her family played a role in the story and how it stays away from the cliche story line. Don't let the promise and the fact that it is middle grade fool you.

Virginia Boecker – The witch hunter.
RATING: 2.5 out of 5.
This book caught my attention when it was pitched as magic from Graceling meets political intrigue from Game of thrones. While I don’t agree with those comparisons, I sort of liked it. Elizabeth is one of the best witch hunters. until she is accused of witch craft herself. She is sentenced to death, but saved by someone who was her biggest enemy: the powerful wizard Nicholas.
Elizabeth was okay. She is by no means a perfect character and I think I will forget about her soon, but being able to look in her head wasn't so bad. She is trust into a confusing time and I liked how she dealt with the situation. She is struck between her old life and the new information. I could understand how hard it was to change her believes, but she switches rather quickly. The writing-style was engaging. I don't know what it was, but it made me keep reading. I also think I ended up liking this book more because of my low expectations. I was left to believe it would be a boring, terrible book, but I don't think it was THAT bad.

Alethea Kontis – Dearest.
RATING: 2.5 out of 5.
Naked guys are sleeping in a room. Friday finds them and falls in love with one of them right away. Because…. Not for that reason ;) but I thought it was rather strange that she is standing there, observing this boy and wondering what color his eyes are. Okay guuurl. I am left disappointed by this series. The first book was stunning. I loved the combinations of fairytales and how it made me guess which stories she included. The second book was already less interesting and I found myself a little bored by this book. The characters in this book were a bit bland, although I did like the approach of Six Swans. I have high hopes for the next one, because I think I will like Princess Thursday much more.

Dakota Chase – Mad about the hatter.
RATING: 1 out of 5.
This book was simply too much. The author tried SO hard to make everything sounds funny and hilarious, that it felt too forced. I understand that she tried to copy the whimsical feeling from Alice in Wonderland, but to me, she failed to deliver it. I loved that the romance is between Hatter and Henry, brother from Alice, but it went incredibly fast. Hatter went from 'what an annoying boy' to 'oh, such luscious lips, I want to kiss them!' The same with Henry, who went from 'I must be crazy, this can't be real' to 'what a delicious man.' The story itself is also pretty much wandering around Wonderland, because Hatter must take Henry to the Queen of Hearts. I liked the addition of the King of Hearts and the talk about abusive relationships.

Review 247. Patrick Ness – The rest of us just live here.

Title: The rest of us just live here.
Author: Patrick Ness.
Pages: 336.
Published: October 6th 2015 by HarperTeen.
Sort: Stand-alone.
Source: eARC from the publisher on Edelweiss.

What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.

Rating:

What a refreshing story! This book is extraordinary despite it’s ordinary nature. This book isn’t about the people with special, hidden talents. This is a story about you and me; the ones on the background while the Hero saves the day.

Review 246. Cat Winters – The uninvited.

Title: The uninvited.
Author: Cat Winters.
Pages: 343.
Published: Published August 11th 2015 by William Morrow.
Sort: Stand-alone.
Source: Edelweiss and publisher, thanks!

Twenty-five year old Ivy Rowan rises from her bed after being struck by the flu, only to discover the world has been torn apart in just a few short days. But Ivy’s life-long gift—or curse—remains. For she sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked, unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918 she sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death of Ivy’s older brother Billy in the Great War. Horrified, she leaves home, to discover the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for the day, because they could be stricken by nightfall. But as her ‘uninvited guests’ begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once more, but Ivy has no inkling of the other-worldly revelations about to unfold.

Rating:

Cat Winters has been on my favorite list ever since I read In the shadow of blackbirds. She followed up with the fantastic The cure for dreaming and she has settled her place with The uninvited. Every single one of her books have been successful and I absolutely adore her writing and the strong heroines she creates.

The setting takes places in the last days of World War I, in 1918, during the Spanish Flu pandemic. The world is in panic and Ivy has to deal with the fact her father and brother killed a German out of retaliation for her brother’s death in the war with Germany. Shocked, she flees home and is swept away in a world of jazz. She doesn’t know how to deal with her feelings of guilt and decides to visit Daniel. He is a German who has to deal with a lot of prejudice and he suffers from the loss of his brother at the hands of Ivy’s family. The two of them start an unique relation.

Review 240. Libba Bray – Lair of dreams.

Title: Lair of dreams.
Author: Libba Bray.
Pages: 624.
Published: August 25th 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Sort: Part 2 of The Diviners.
Review part 1. The Diviners.
Source: Netgalley and publisher, thanks!

The longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams. After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people’s secrets, she’s become a media darling, earning the title “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” Everyone’s in love with the city’s newest It Girl…everyone except the other Diviners. Piano-playing Henry DuBois and Chinatown resident Ling Chan are two Diviners struggling to keep their powers a secret—for they can walk in dreams. And while Evie is living the high life, victims of a mysterious sleeping sickness are turning up across New York City. As Henry searches for a lost love and Ling strives to succeed in a world that shuns her, a malevolent force infects their dreams. And at the edges of it all lurks a man in a stovepipe hat who has plans that extend farther than anyone can guess…As the sickness spreads, can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld to save the city?

Rating:

Dream with me..

Appendectomy-scar good (as Evie would say)! We had to wait a long time for the release of Lair of dreams, but it’s just as good as The Diviners. Libba Bray managed to create story with a subtle creepiness that seeps into the story of a diverse cast. Libba knows how to write and how to handle different point of views. The book never gets overwhelming and she choose the right moments to showcast another character.

Let it go | All the books I read in Spain part 2.

Mackenzie Lee – This monstrous thing. 2.5/5.
This is a retelling of Frankenstein. Alasdair brings his brother Oliver back to life because he feels guilty. I liked how this book gives a different look on bringing someone back. It’s not solely about a crazy professor and Frankenstein didn’t turn out to be the monster we know. The steampunk feeling was nicely done. The rating is based on the fact that it’s not a memorable story and overall, it wasn’t that spectacular.

Nova Ren Suma – 17 & gone. 3.5/5.
Books with unreliable narrations can be so intriguing. I liked The walls around us and I was curious about this book. Lauren has visions of 17-year-old girls who disappeared and she has a feeling they want to tell her something. Lauren believes one of the girls, Abby, is still alive and she is the one to save her. I had a feeling at the beginning of the book that there was something wrong and Nova didn’t let me down. It’s a haunting story and I flew through the pages.

Kelly Barnhill – Iron-hearted Violet. 4/5.
Gorgeous book! It is filled with artwork that really added something to the story. Violet is smart, witty and loved by her people, but she is described as downright ugly. This is starting to become a problem when she wakes the Nybbass, who fills her head with lies. He makes her believe that true princesses are beautiful and he can help her with that problem. I liked the friendship between Violet and Demetrius. I also loved the presence of the dragon and the message in this book.

Gail Carson Levine – Ella Enchanted. 3/5.
I love the movie, so I thought it was time to finally read the book. And I was surprised, because this story is NOTHING like the movie. It’s like they only took the concept and created something entirely new; and definitely more enjoyable. The chemistry between Ella and Charles is much better on screen than in the book – and they made the story much more fast-paced. It’s still a good book, but this is one of those moments where I prefer the movie. (And if you don’t know the story; Ella got a ‘gift’ from a fairy at her birth. Obedience. This brings her in some difficult situations)

Review 226. Heather Dixon – Illusionarium.

Title: Illusionarium.
Author: Heather Dixon.
Pages: 368.
Published: May 19th 2015 by Greenwillow
Sort: Stand-alone.
Source: Edelweiss & Publisher.

A brilliantly conceived adventure through an alternate London. 
Jonathan is perfectly ordinary. But then—as every good adventure begins—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he's a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, Jonathan is knocked off his path.

Rating:

I wanted to love this. I really did. Heather Dixon is the author from Entwined and that turned out to be one of my favorite retellings from that particular fairytale (The twelve dancing princesses). I was so stoked when I saw the announcement of her new book, but it wasn't what I expected. At all. The whole concept of illusions, aerial cities and parallel words sounded amazing, but it was confusing to me. I still don't get how the illusions work and there is something about it that doesn't feel right.

Review 219. Nova Ren Suma – The walls around us.

Title: The walls around us.
Author: Nova Ren Suma.
Pages: 336.
Published: March 24th 2015 by Algonquin Young Readers
Sort: Stand-alone.
Source: Netgalley & Publisher.

The Walls Around Us is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices—one still living and one long dead. On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of a girls’ juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom. Tying these two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries. We hear Amber’s story and Violet’s, and through them Orianna’s, first from one angle, then from another, until gradually we begin to get the whole picture—which is not necessarily the one that either Amber or Violet wants us to see.

 (Quote from the blurb)
“Ori’s dead because of what happened out behind the theater, in the tunnel made out of trees. She’s dead because she got sent to that place upstate, locked up with those monsters. And she got sent there because of me.”

The moment I started this book, I knew I was up to something good. This was one of the best beginnings I’ve read in a long time. The writing-style is gorgeous and I was immediately curious about the mystery around the juvenile detention center and Orianna. This is a story about guilt, lies and dealing with a situation that’s not in your control. Through the eyes of two girls, Amber and Violet, we get to know the story behind Ori’s conviction.

Review 211. Samantha Shannon – The mime order.

Title: The mime order.
Author: Samantha Shannon.
Pages: 528.
Published: January 27th 2015 by Bloomsbury
Sort: The bone season #2.
TBS #1. The bone season.
Source: I borrowed an ARC copy from sweet Debby. Thank you!

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal penal colony of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the fugitives are still missing and she is the most wanted person in London. As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city’s gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take center stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Will Paige know who to trust? The hunt for the dreamwalker is on.

Rating:

I enjoyed this book much more than the previous book. The bone season felt a bit overwhelming with the information-dumps in the beginning, but I had no problems with The mime order. The details are spread throughout the story and instead of being lost, I felt wrapped inside this world and its characters. Spoiler-free if you haven't read both books.

Review 306. Laini Taylor - Daughter of smoke and bone series.

Information:

Title: Daughter of smoke and bone.
Author: Laini Taylor.
Pages: 418.
Published: September 27th 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton.
RATING: 4.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that colour. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out. When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Title: Days of blood and starlight.
Author: Laini Taylor.
Pages: 513.
Published: November 8th 2012 by Hodder & Stoughton
RATING: 5.

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil held a wishbone between them. And its snap split the world in two. Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living – one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying. Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel – a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness. This was not that world.

Title: Dreams of Gods and Monsters.
Author: Laini Taylor.
Pages: 613.
Published: April 17th 2014 by Hodder & Stoughton
RATING: 4.5.

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz. When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love. But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world. What power can bruise the sky? 

This is the second time I'm reviewing a series in one post. I'm still not sure what is the best way to review sequels in a series, so could you let me know if you like this format? The review is spoiler-free for all the books.

Review 296. Ransom Riggs – Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children.

Title: Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children.
Author: Ransom Riggs.
Pages: 352.
Published: June 4th 2013 by Quirk Books.
Sort: Part #1. Miss Peregrine’s peculiar children.
Source: I received a finished copy for review purpose from the publisher.

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.

 Rating:

This book was perfect for this month, where I decided to pick up some books to get in the Halloween mood. It started out very creepy and those pictures completed the book. I'm really starting to fangirl about books where they include pictures, like In the shadow of blackbirds and The cure for dreaming.

Review 295. Natalie Parker – Beware the wild.

Title: Beware the wild.
Author: Natalie C. Parker.
Pages: 336.
Published: October 21st 2014 by HarperTeen.
Sort: Stand-alone.

It's an oppressively hot and sticky morning in June when Sterling and her brother, Phin, have an argument that compels him to run into the town swamp -- the one that strikes fear in all the residents of Sticks, Louisiana. Phin doesn't return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out, and now Sterling is the only person in Sticks who remembers her brother ever existed. Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp's done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance -- and loner boy Heath Durham might be the only one who can help her.

Rating:

I’m not sure what to think about this book.  The beginning was great. I liked the set-up and the direction from the story, but it made a strange turn that came out of nowhere.. Which was interesting, but also a little disappointing.

Review 293. Bethany Griffin – The fall.

Title: The fall.
Author: Bethany Griffin.
Pages: 400.
Published: October 7th 2014 by Greenwillow.
Sort: Stand-alone.
Source: Edelweiss & Publisher.

Madeline Usher is doomed. She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin. Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house. In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down?

Rating:

“I am the one the house speaks to, the one the house flirted with, the one the house won’t let go.”

Madeline Usher is cursed, just like everyone before her in the family. Her twin brother was send away by their mother in the hope to break free from the curse. Both of their parents die and Madeline is locked in the house together with her doctors. They are monitoring everything and take daily blood samples. The house is a nightmare. It changes and shifts. It talks to Madeline and threatens her, but also protects her in a certain way. It’s a very strange sort of relationship to read about.

Then the time comes where Madeline gets her fits. It’s the first sign of the madness that slowly creeps into the heirs from the house. It’s an illness that slowly takes over and always ends in an early death. Madeline sees only one way to escape before it claims her life: she must destroy the house, but that’s not an easy task. The house is alive and not ready to let her go.

The book started out all right. I liked the setting and the overall creepiness of the story. The idea of a living house that changes around you and seeps into your body was scary. Madeline sees how it takes her parents away from her and now she is waiting, because she is next in line. Doctors are fascinated by it and she gets daily tests to follow her progress. The thing is; with a setting that takes place in one location, things do get a little boring. This book would have benefited from less middle part and a better, longer ending. It was a bit abrupt and left me unsatisfied and confused at first. It took me a couple of minutes to realize what happened.

The thing that gave me mixed feelings were the chapters. They switch between different points in Madeline's life. Every chapter tackled another age and sometimes even a diary entry written by a woman called Liz. It was sometimes confusing to follow the ‘now’ story and I could have done with a little less hopping around. It made me feel disconnected from Madeline and what was going on in the present story line.

After finishing the book I hunted down a free (legal!) copy of the original story, Edgar Allan Poe - The fall of the house of Usher and I must applaud Bethany for the way she created her own story. It's influenced by Edgar's version, but it has it's own voice and that was nicely done. I only wish she had handled the jumps in timeline a little better.

Review 291. Cat Winters - The cure for dreaming.

Title: The cure for dreaming.
Author: Cat Winters.
Pages: 368.
Expected publication: October 14th 2014 by Amulet Books
Sort: Stand-alone.
Cat Winters – In the shadow of blackbirds.
Source: ARC copy from the publisher, thanks!

Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent girl—a suffragist—in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing young man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift instead: she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women.

Rating:

I had high expectations for The cure for dreaming, because I fell in love with In the shadow of blackbirds. I love how her work is combined with pictures to make the atmosphere complete. The art and photographs match with the story. There is something haunting about the things she writes and Cat has found the perfect way to create an interesting setting.

Review 282. Libba Bray – The diviners.

Title: The Diviners.
Author: Libba Bray.
Pages: 578.
Published: September 18th by Little, Brown books for Young readers.
Sort: The Diviners #1.

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

Rating:

First of: this book is creepy! Don’t let the thickness of this book stop you from reading this one, because it’s a great story with interesting characters. I’m happy we decided to pick this book up for our book club, otherwise I wouldn’t have read this one any time soon.