“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs

Meh.

Goodreads overview:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of 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 bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine’s 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. 

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Guest Post: Miri Castor

With this post, I’m introducing a new feature: Guest Posts! I think this will be a great way to broaden the scope of my blog, introduce bloggers and authors, and discuss things I’m not well versed on or do not usually mention on here.

The first person to be featured is Miri Castor, author of the young-adult fantasy series Opal Charm, who will share what it took to write the first novel in the series, The Path to Dawn.

“Scarlet” by Marissa Meyer

After Cinder, I was gung-ho for all things Lunar Chronicles. I was so absorbed in that book that I immediately sought to acquire the second in the series and quickly read it. Unfortunately, reading Scarlet wasn’t as great as Cinder.

Goodreads overview:

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her.

As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

“Cinder” by Marissa Meyer

I’ve heard and read many positive reviews about Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicle series since last year when I started watching booktube and reading more blogs. The reviews made me curious so when I saw a copy of Cinder at the library back in June, I decided to plunge into this hyped series.

Quick overview:

From Goodreads:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

“Akata Witch” by Nnedi Okorafor

I love the cover!

Every once in a while I get frustrated with all the middle-grade and young-adult fantasy books I read that have a cast of all White kids. When that happens, I start searching for stories that have a character of color in the lead, especially a Black protagonist. Last year sometime I got lucky and found Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch. Here’s what I thought of it.

Quick summary:

Akata Witch is middle-grade, fantasy novel about an albino Nigerian-American girl, Sunny, who discovers that she is part of a secret, magical world — the Leopard People.

The story is set in Nigeria and is infused with Nigerian culture and bits of its folklore. Magic is referred to as juju and its side-effects can be dire. Sunny is introduced to this secret magic society by her friends Orlu and Chichi. She soon starts taking night classes to improve her magical abilities and meets Sasha, an American boy, there who joins their group. The four are trained together to combat the evil Black Hat Otokoto, who has been kidnapping children for his nefarious means.

Exploring My Bookshelves: Fan Fiction

Exploring My Bookshelves is a weekly meme created by Victoria at Addlepates and Book Nerds and co-hosted with Shannon at For the Love of Words. Visit either blog for the list of topics.

This week’s topic:

A book you wrote/want to write fan fiction about

“Shadow and Bone” by Leigh Bardugo

This has been on my TBR list for a while, so I’m glad that I finally read it. Since I read this for the Bout of Books read-a-thon and was on vacation at the time, I got through it very quickly, in two days actually. I think that’s the fastest I’ve read a book this year. This was possible because Shadow and Bone is a quick read. It is fast-paced and there’s hardly a dull moment.

Quick summary:

Genre: young-adult fantasy

From Goodreads:

Alina Starkov doesn’t expect much from life. Orphaned by the Border Wars, she is sure of only one thing: her best friend, Mal — and her inconvenient crush on him. Until the day their army regiment enters the Fold, a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. When their convoy is attacked and Mal is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power not even she knew existed.