Review # 8: "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"

During my trip home to Vernon last weekend, I read Ransom Riggs' first novel, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  I chose this book because 1. I couldn't find a copy of Catching Fire at the library, and 2. Because John Green (YA author and vlogger extraordinaire) had recommended it in a video.  Miss Peregrine's was published in 2011 and has since become a New York Times best-seller, knocking my favourite YA novel The Fault in Our Stars out of the #1 spot.

To begin, I would say that what impressed me most about this book was how deceptive it was.  For example, the first chapter seems straight out one of John Green's earlier novels: 16 year old male misfit with a talent for the language arts living in the southern United States struggles to make/keep friends and deal with family problems.  However, after about 30 pages and a grisly murder, this book descends into something deliciously otherworldly and softly romantic, cleverly illustrated by a series of black and white photographs.    

Without spoiling anything, Miss Peregrine's tells the story of the aforementioned teenager, Jacob Portman, and his journey to a small island off the coast of Wales.  Guided by his grandfather's fantastical bedtime stories and his therapist's advice, Jacob seeks the mysterious children's home that once housed his Jewish grandfather after he was evacuated from Poland in the 1930's.  Although the house itself is in ruins, Jacob slowly begins to realize that it may not be abandoned, and that the 'gifted' children featured in a collection of old photographs owned by his grandfather may not only be alive, but in great danger.

In general, reading this book (for me) was like eating a handful of gourmet jelly beans, where the joy of eating jelly beans is increased by the fun of trying to guess which flavours you're tasting.  That is to say, Miss Peregrine's seems like a mash up of several different books I've read and movies I've seen, and instead of getting upset about Riggs 'copying' another author (because really, who doesn't?), I found it enjoyable to identify which other texts I was reminded of.  For example, to me this novel felt like a cross between the X-Men series, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a John Green novel, and a Tim Burton film.  While the 'haven for magical/unique children' trope is used so often in fiction and film it is almost a cliche, I enjoyed Rigg's personal take on it, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how this novel exceeded my initial expectations.

Of course, this wouldn't be a proper review if I didn't point out the aspects of this novel I feel could use some work: namely, the protagonists.  As I mentioned, from the beginning, Riggs establishes Jacob as a stock character and he doesn't change much from there on.  This is very clear from how little his relationship with his father changes from the beginning to the end of the novel, which annoyed me.  I didn't find Jacob unlikable, just flat, and I felt that the plot of this novel required him to display a little more emotional depth.  Miss Peregrine's is full of really neat ideas and concepts and has much potential, unfortunately, Jacob fails somewhat in carrying all of this information for the reader.  The same goes for Emma, the other protagonist who readers won't meet until halfway through the novel.  For someone that plays such an important role in the story, Emma's character verges on boring, and her actions are predictable.

Despite the weak characters, I really enjoyed reading Miss Peregrine's.  In the time since finishing the book, I have become more critical and objective about the characters, plot, etc. but while I was reading the book, I felt as gripped and compelled as though I was reading a Harry Potter or Percy Jackson novel for the first time. My family can attest how excited I was as I was pulled along by the book's plot twists and beautiful imagery, and I hope that if you too choose to read this book, you will enjoy it just as much.                              

Genre: YA Fiction/Fantasy
Recommended To: Fans of John Green's work, Rick Riordan's YA books, readers 12 years and up
Rating: 8.0/10
Favourite Quote: "Stars, too, were time travellers.  How many of those ancient points of light were the last echoes of suns now dead?  How many had been born but their light not yet come this far? If all the suns but ours collapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take us to realize that we were alone?  I had always known the sky was full of mysteries--but not until now had I realized how full of them the earth was."

Review # 7: "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

WARNING:  A CORNUCOPIA OF SPOILERS LIES AHEAD. 

Unlike all of the other books I have reviewed so far this summer, I am not reading The Hunger Games for the first time.  When I first read the The Hunger Games, it was 2008. I read it on the recommendation of my friend and...  hated it, which was curious, because even at the time, it seemed like the sort of book that I should fall in love with almost immediately.  Obviously, I don’t enjoy every book that I read, even when they appear promising, still, I believe it is my presumed attraction to this series that drew me back to it 4 years later.  That, and my curiosity to see what millions of readers around the world were so excited about. 

Overall, I enjoyed my second reading of Hunger Games much more than my first.  Of course, despite the hype, it is not my favourite book I have ever read, and certainly not the best book I have read from the YA genre.  In general, I found Collins' prose to be rather uninspired, and was annoyed by her perpetual use of short sentences, for example: "She has no idea. The effect she can have," which is broken up in a way that totally ruins the effect of the sentence for me.  However, I have far more to say about the content of the book than its style:

I believe that my initial dislike of the book was due to a flawed understanding of the plot, resulting from reading much too fast.  I distinctly remember thinking that the book focused too much on the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, which I didn’t approve of, and allowed more important aspects of the plot to fall by the wayside (as I have seen happen in some other YA novels).  I understand now that this was because I thought that Peeta and Katniss’ relationship was meant to be separate from all of the politics of the games, and not a strategy to improve their chances and gain sponsors.  I remember disliking Peeta for being so greedy and constantly asking for Katniss to kiss him, etc. and being angry with Katniss for going along with all of this when she didn’t return Peeta’s feelings.

 

Now, I understand (unlike Katniss it seems) that Peeta’s feelings for Katniss were genuine even before the reaping, and that Peeta was just capitalizing on them during the games.  However, I still do not believe that Peeta was unaware that Katniss was doing the exact same thing; giving the audience and Peeta what they wanted by playing into the whole ‘star-crossed lovers’ bit.  Therefore, when Peeta went into a rage at the end of the book when it is revealed that Katniss may have been faking her affections, I was confused—which pretty much sums my feelings in general about Peeta Mellark’s character, who I had a very difficult time understanding and liking.

  

Enough about Peeta though, and on to Katniss.  In this regard, I must really commend Collins for writing such an independent and fierce female protagonist.  During my second reading, I paid a lot more attention to Katniss’ character, considering my interest in feminism, but also the huge influence that this book has made on teenage readers (like another wildly popular series I could mention...).  Although I hope readers never find themselves in the same situations that Katniss does, I think she is a good role model for how to deal with such situations nonetheless. I especially liked that, although Katniss does have completely human moments of weakness during her ordeal and faces truly horrific things, she never sees herself as a victim, but a survivor and a fighter.

    

My second reading also allowed me to think more about the games themselves.  I suppose I was too worried about whether Katniss and Peeta would get together during my first reading to really let the concept of the games sink in, but this time it did, and I was swept by waves of horror the further I read.  Like Gilead in Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale or London in George Orwell’s 1984, the world of Panem is a terrifying mirror of our own world, and I think that the concept of the games is so sickening because it doesn’t seem that far away from reality—especially considering the lengths people will go to on reality television to gain viewers.  In this way, I think that Collins has created a sharp critique of our own world, and a capable heroine aware enough of these problems to help fight against them.        

I am currently trying to get my hands on the second book, which I am genuinely looking forward to reading.  In it, I hope that 1. Collins explains more about the history of Panem and the uprising that led to the Hunger Games, that 2. Katniss continues to be a bad ass and rebel against the Capitol, and that 3. the entire thing isn't dragged down by a somewhat inevitable Twilight-esque love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale.  

Genre: Dystopian YA

Recommended To: Fans of Harry Potter; Young adult readers; fans of the dystopian genre

Rating: 7.5/10

Favourite Quotes:  "Yes, frosting.  The final defense of the dying." 

(Seriously, this was the only line I genuinely liked enough to quote). 

Review # 6: "The Golden Mean" by Annabel Lyon

Last week, I finished my 6th book of the summer, Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean.  The Golden Mean was published in 2009 and has since won several major Canadian fiction awards, in addition to becoming a national best-seller.

Try as I might, my words cannot do justice to this fantastic novel.  Set in ancient Greece, The Golden Mean gives a fictional-historical account of the life of the philosopher Aristotle and his tutelage of the young Prince Alexander of Macedon (later, Alexander the Great).  Out of all of the historical novels I have read, The Golden Mean is the best proof that historical novels can be just as engaging, alive and colourful as a novel with fictional characters and settings.  Here, ancient Greece is not romanticized, but feels rough and visceral, and the characters are set upon a background that is bursting with evidence of Lyon's research.  I learned so much about the culture of ancient Greece from this novel, but without feeling like I was in a classroom, taking notes.

As a character, Aristotle is fascinating.  From all that has been written about him, he seems like a very daunting choice for a main character--especially one that tells the story in first person--but Lyon does a wonderful job of peeling back the layer of mystery that will always proceed Aristotle (and Alexander) and examining the mind behind the name.  Part philosopher, part scientist, Aristotle seems to simultaneously transcend his own time and be entrenched in it.  Like his tutor Plato, he has an imagination that extends beyond the physical realm, but also focuses a lot of his energy on revealing the secrets of physical bodies and minds.  The many depictions of early medicine and surgical practices in this book were particularly interesting to me (though fairly gruesome) as well as discussions of mental illness.  I should note that this novel doesn't focus so much on the work of Aristotle, but rather the mindset and circumstances that may have led to his writings and his influence on the court of Macedonia.  However, it has inspired me to read more historical texts about the lives and achievements of both Aristotle and Alexander the Great.    

Overall, The Golden Mean is a beautiful and haunting novel that is at times poignant and bitterly humorous.  I highly recommend it, and will be on the look out for any upcoming novels from Lyon.

Genre:  Historical Fiction
Recommended to:  Anyone interested in the writings/life of Aristotle or Alexander the Great; ancient history or philosophy students; general audience.
Rating: 10/10
Favourite Quote: "I accept that the greatest happiness comes to those capable of the greatest things.  That's where we leave my brother behind.  That's where you and I walk away from the rest of the world.  You and I can appreciate the glory of things.  We walk to the very edge of things as everyone else knows and understands and experiences them, and then we walk the next step.  We go places no one has ever been.  That's who we are.  That's who you've taught me to be."      
                  

Review # 5: "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick

After waiting for almost a month, I was finally able to secure a copy of The Invention of Hugo Cabret from my local library.  Against my own advice, I watched the film, Hugo, before I read the book, but fortunately the brilliance of the film only made me more eager to read the novel.

For those of you who have not seen the film or read the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is the story of Hugo, an orphaned boy living in a train station in Paris in the 1930's.  Hugo works as the time master, winding all of the station's many clocks, but must do so in secret in order to avoid being picked up by the Station Master and sent to an orphanage.  Up in his apartment, Hugo wiles away the nighttime hours repairing an automaton with the help of his father's notebook.  However, when the old man who runs the toy booth in the station confiscates Hugo's notebook when he finds Hugo stealing, a series of events much bigger than Hugo is set into motion.

I imagine that, for most readers, picking up a physical copy of Hugo Cabret would be intimidating.  Certainly, I did not expect a children's book to be 500+ pages.  However, what is so unique about this novel are its illustrations.  These illustrations are clustered throughout the novel and really add to the text rather than dominating it and don't remove the opportunity for the reader to use his/her own imagination.  I found that the illustrations even added to the book's motifs, creating a cinematic experience similar to those described in the novel itself.

It sounds strange to call a book with 500 pages short, but that's how Hugo Cabret felt.  Overall, it's a short, simple story that seems to only skim the surface of something much larger.  It's quite rare that I prefer films over books, but in this case I think there were some aspects of the book that the film was able to improve.  For example, while reading the book, there were some parts which I wished had deeper explanations and a greater background, such as with the history of film and the work of George Melies, which the film provides visually.  However, I would say that in general the novel has a more melancholy tone to it, while the film is more uplifting--due in part, I think, to ways in which it pads the original plot with sentiment and drama.  This isn't to say that I didn't like the film, because I did.  But I also like the book for different reasons.      

As a standalone novel, Hugo Cabret is a beautiful tale that made me nostalgic for the days when all of the books I read had illustrations.  It's special in that it crosses a lot of boundaries, between novel, picture book and film, and between children' book, young adult novel and general fiction, and could be read in regard to any of these categories, with varying levels of appreciation and understanding.  I believe that this multiplicity is why so many people have been drawn to it.

Genre: Children's Lit, YA Lit
Recommended To:  Fans of the film, anyone interested in the origins of film in general, and/or readers of all ages.
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Quote: "I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and types of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason, too."

Review # 4: "Goods Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

To begin, I must say that I was really excited to begin reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.  It came highly recommended to me by friends and from Tumblr, so needless to say I held some pretty high expectations as I opened the book for the first time.  Now, I have finished the book (after an embarrassingly long period of time) and though I wouldn't say that I am disappointed, my  thoughts and feelings about this novel are a lot more conflicted than I thought they would be.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, tells the story of Armageddon, that is, the final battle between good and evil in which the Earth is destroyed, as told in Revelations in The Bible.  Unfortunately for me, I have not read Revelations and was only vaguely familiar with the vast number of scriptural references and parodies which form the backbone of the novel.  As a result, the overwhelming impression that Good Omens gave me was it was all one big inside joke--that is, I could tell something really funny and clever was happening, but couldn't understand it.  This, of course, is all my own doing and I do not hold it against the authors in any way; I simply need to find myself a bible and then find time for a reread.

In spite of my pitiful lack of knowledge of Christian mythology, I quite enjoyed Good Omens.  On the back cover, a review from The New York Times calls it "a direct descendant of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," and I totally agree.  Just like Hitchhiker's, Omens uses the absurd to and the otherworldly to reveal some aspect of humanity.  I particularly liked the characterization of Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, an angel "who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards," who show that the border between 'good' and 'evil' is more ambiguous than scripture would lead us to believe.  In general, I was completely fascinated by Aziraphale and Crowley and just wanted to read more about their 6,000 year friendship and less about the lives of the book's many, colourfully-named minor characters.

On top of having a really great theme and interesting main characters, Good Omens is just a really hilarious book.  In general, the narrative moves very quickly, and it's imperative to pay attention in order to keep up with the web of subplots built around the large cast of minor characters, however, I can assure you that the authors find enough time to fit in enough brilliant jokes to keep you giggling the whole way.  Like Hitchhiker's, Omens is a chance to take a look at humanity from a different angle and to have a good laugh at ourselves.

So, in conclusion, I really look forward to re-reading this book and, in the mean time, I need to brush up on my Christian mythology and find out whether the rumors of a possible BBC mini-series based on the book are true (I sincerely hope so!)

Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Recommended To: Fans of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and John Milton's Paradise Lost or anyone looking for an amusing summer book that isn't pure fluff.
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Quotes: "He couldn't see why people made such a fuss about people eating their silly old fruit anyway, but life would be a lot less fun if they didn't.  And there was never an apple, in Adam's opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it."

Apologies

I apologize for the delay in posting.  On the bright side, look how many fabulous books I have the pleasure of reading this summer!  I'm so excited!

Review # 3: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

I don't believe in fate or a higher power, but it seems to me like certain books come to us at just the perfect time.  Perhaps you have experienced this phenomenon before, and if not, I hope you will someday.  You pick up a new book, and it perfectly describes an emotion you've been feeling or an experience you've had.  Or you find a book you've read dozens of times and suddenly it seems brand new, as though someone has gone back and changed the words to match your life.

I experienced something similar while reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, an absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching novel.  Although the book was published 13 years ago, and most people I've talked to read it in high school, I was only inspired to borrow this book at the end of my second year university.  On the back cover of my edition, Perks is described as "the story of what it's like to grow up in high school" and while I may be a little removed from high school, and from the 15 year old male narrator, it's the experiences that have occurred to me since being 15 that made my reading now so poignant.  

For those that have not read it (and please do before you see the film!), Perks is composed of the letters of 15 year old Charlie, a shy outsider, as he navigates a year in public high school.  The letters are all addressed to an anonymous 'Friend', and are very intimate.  I think this is what makes Perks so powerful.  Almost immediately, I was drawn into Charlie's inner thoughts, entrusted with them, like something very precious and fragile.  As a reader, I felt responsible for what happens to him and the emotional connection that I felt was astounding.

In describing his life, Charlie assumes that his reader is older than he is, and can therefore comprehend his experiences more thoroughly.  While I may have understood some of Charlie's high school experiences to a certain extent as a 15 year old myself, I think I would have missed many of the novel's beautiful subtleties and also the horrors.  As someone experiencing depression for the first time, Charlie explains things in terms of his own feelings, rather than the textbook descriptions someone who is older may use.  Therefore, there are some blanks which can only be filled in once someone (aka the reader) has had such experiences themselves.  This created an interesting tension of objectivity and subjectivity: I was trusted to observe Charlie's actions as an experienced outsider, but also couldn't help but remember being in his same place, feeling the same emotions he describes.

In conclusion, I can only hope that the film is able to capture all of this on screen, although I doubt it.  I also wonder about the focus of the film.  For those of you that haven't read Perks, I would warn you that this is not your average high school romance novel--there are many serious issues (eg; violence, rape, drug abuse, suicide, abortion) dealt with in the novel, and while these things certainly aren't new focuses for literature, I am unsure whether such a mainstream film will be able to discuss them in full.    

Genre:  YA Fiction
Recommended To:  Everyone.  No matter what age you are, please read this book.
Rating:  10/10 
Favourite Quotes: "I would die for you.  But I won't live for you" and "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."    

Link to the film's IMBD Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659337/                           

Review # 2: "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner

Last week I read The Maze Runner by James Dashner which was a New York Times Best Seller published in 2009.

The Maze Runner is a strange book; to be honest, I've never really read anything like it.  The story begins with Thomas, a 16 year old boy who wakes up in an elevator with absolutely no memory of how he got there.  This elevator brings him up to a compound, the 'Glade,' home to 50 other young boys in the same situation, one arriving every month.  For two years, the 'Gladers' have been attempting to escape the Glade by exploring the ever-changing maze which surrounds the compound and fighting the half-animal, half-machine beasts (called 'The Grievers') which terrorize them.  Despite his attempts Thomas is never really accepted into this society, and it soon becomes clear that his arrival is just the first of a series of strange events in the Glade, including the appearance of the first girl, and the first real possibility of escape.

In writing a cast of characters which have no prior memory of their lives, Dashner sets himself a formidable task as an author.  Essentially, Dashner is attempting to create personalities for characters out of nothing, and, in my (totally unauthorized) opinion, fails.  For example, while Thomas' narrative focuses on only a few named Gladers (Alby, Newt, and Minho, for example), take away their names and they could easily be one person.  For the most part, the Gladers are very flat characters, displaying the same mix of pent up rage, fear, bossiness and malice so much so that even with names it was difficult to distinguish one boy from the next, and I felt a little overwhelmed by the bravado.  

Yet, even when Dashner attempts to grant certain characters unique qualities, it is far from subtle.  For example, Thomas' compulsion to sacrifice himself for others.  While such sacrifices move the plot forward, they occurred so often that I was annoyed and quite unimpressed.  Perhaps this tendency of Thomas' is explained more in the series' other books, but here in The Maze Runner, it seems out of place, as though Thomas is simply too extraordinary for his own situation.  Also, Thomas' personality doesn't change in the slightest throughout the course of novel, nor do the personalities of his friends.  Of all the characters, meek Chuck is the only one to show some growth, and even that is cliched and entirely predictable.

Well, now that I have ranted about all of this, I should say that there were some things I enjoyed about the novel.  For example, I thought that the society of the Gladers was well planned out and fairly realistic, with all of the different jobs explained in satisfactory detail. Also, I was glad that 'The Girl' does not turn out to be a damsel-in-distress archetype and can stand up for herself--although she is in some sort of passive state for about 3/4 of the plot.

In conclusion, I can't help but be intrigued to read the next book in the series, The Scorch Trials, if only out of the hope that the problems which I have identified above will be resolved in the sequel.

Genre:  YA Dystopian Fiction
Recommended to:  Fans of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games
Rating: 6.0/10
Favourite Quote: "Such a display of death-- how could it be considered a victory?"

     


 

Review # 1: "I am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

For my first review of the summer, I read I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, author of the best selling 2006 novel The Book Thief.  Published in 2002 and winner of various young adult fiction awards, I Am the Messenger is the story of Ed Kennedy, a 19 year old cab driver from Australia.  Residing in an apartment with his perpetually stinky dog (brilliantly named 'The Doorman'), Ed spends his free time playing cards with his friends, running errands for his recently widowed mother, or else falling even more hopelessly in love with his best friend Audrey.  However, Ed's apathetic, boring life is interrupted by the arrival of a playing card, an ace of diamonds, with the addresses of three houses.  With the help of a mysterious stranger, Ed must confront his greatest fears in order to make a difference in the lives of complete strangers, and learns that even someone as ordinary as he is can become extraordinary if only given a little push in the right direction.

After reading The Book Thief last year, I had high expectations for I Am the Messenger and was not disappointed.  From the very first page, Zusak's prose reaches out and pulls you into a fast-paced and engaging first person narrative.  Throughout the book, Ed's narration is direct and conversational, but without seeming too informal, and reminded me strongly of both JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and John Green's Looking for Alaska*  

Compared to Book Thief, I was surprised how light and funny the first few chapters of Messenger were.  However, with the arrival of the first ace card, Ed is forced to deal with some very serious issues and the book begins to display the emotional depth I expected from Zusak.  For a novel of only ~300 pages, Zusak manages to discuss an impressive array of topical issues, including the death of a family member, sexual violence, ageism, apathy, sex vs. love, immigration, and religion, among others.  I felt that the author dealt with all of these issues with care and sensitivity, yet without losing the narrator's original sense of humor or seeming overly didactic.

My only critique of this novel would be the ending.  I won't spoil it, still, I felt that it was a bit rushed, and I would have appreciated a few more pages to let Ed's final revelation sink in a little.  I appreciated the ambiguity of the ending, but found it to be a little unbelievable due to the length.  If you read it, you will understand.    

In conclusion, I would recommend this book to all readers.  Even if you haven't read The Book Thief, I Am Messenger is a delight.  With equal parts light and dark, this book is an emotionally engaging read that will keep you interested whether at the beach or on a rainy day indoors and will show you that you don't have to be a 'hero' to be heroic.

Rating:  9/10
Genre:  Young Adult/Teen Fiction
Favourite Quote: "Believe it or not--it takes a lot of love to hate you like this."
        
-AA Spence


*Sadly, I won't be writing reviews of either of these novels, but if you haven't read them (in the words of a certain beloved English Honours professor), "Rush out!"

The Challenge

Before I begin my first review, I think I should say a few words.

First, hello, and welcome to my blog.  If I know you in real life, I thank you for your patience with all of my various internet endeavors.  

Second, you should know that this blog constitutes my first attempts at writing reviews and recommendations for the book I read.  This is a learning experience, so please be patient with me and I hope that I will improve over these next four months.

Third, the books I read and review will come from a variety of genres.  Although I tend to read a lot of YA (Young Adult) fiction, look for reviews on classical novels and contemporary fiction as well.  

Fourth, although I will try my best to make all of my reviews spoiler-free, some aspects of the plot may be revealed for the sake of clarity.  Any major spoiler will be preceded by an obnoxiously obvious  *SPOILER ALERT* tag.

Finally, if you have any suggestions on books for me to read, please email me at amy.a.spence@hotmail.com

Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you stick with me throughout the summer as I attempt to complete this challenge!  

-A.A. Spence