Title: A Map of Days (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #4)
Author: Ransom Riggs
Initial thoughts: Much anticipated and it did not disappoint. I'm excited to see where it goes.
So, the last book ended well. Like, things were mostly wrapped up, we had a fairly happy ending. We didn't know where things might go from here but everything looked hopeful. Then we get into this book and we have issues with his parents and his relationship with Emma is falling apart and things are going downhill rather quickly and the bright future/happy ending we were picturing for all of them is suddenly a distant light, lost in the fog of their immediate lives. So disappointing to see that fading away, but so much excitement to see where we're going. We get to explore America, we're dealing with racial issues because America's past is bloody and harsh. New Peculiars, new loops, new organizations and governments, clans, even a prophecy apparently. If Noor is one of the ones foretold to emancipate peculiardom, who are the others? Could Jacob be one? Or was his defeat of the Hollows and Wights unrelated, despite that it was potentially the catalyst to allow all this to start going. Though maybe America was so far distant from Europe that anything he did or didn't do over there had little to no effect on what will or won't happen in America. Yeah, he got rid of most of the hollows and wights, but they had been practically done terrorizing America by that point already. Reading throughout the book, I couldn't help but think, Jacob is such an American. While the others may rebel now and then, especially after their taste of freedom in the last few books, they always default back to following their Ymbryne. Jacob, on the other hand, can't accept that. He wants to be an individual, he wants independence and freedom. And he wants that for others as well. He is such an American, refusing to follow the rules or be told what to do. Our country was founded on rebellion; we're raised on the ideas of liberty and justice, built for independence. Red, white, and blue run through our veins and even if it's a monumentally idiotic idea to act out against authority, we're practically programmed to do so. Yep, he's such an American. Some points of this did get me worried, such as his rocky relationship with Emma (they had been doing so well), overall, I'm just really excited to see where Ransom Riggs takes us next.
Rating: 5/5 Nothing more to be said.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
The Mortal Instruments 1-4
Titles: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1), City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2), City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3), City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Initial Thoughts: I loved this series, and then the fourth book happened.
So, I absolutely love the first three books. There's a reason I'm doing them all together in one post and that reason is that I couldn't be bothered to stop long enough between the books to write anything down. That love of the series led me to read the fourth one right away as well, but then I just had to pause. And now I'm here.
Some Characters:
Alec: I'm definitely not a fan in the first three books. He is just so angsty and angry and dude either fess up to your feelings or stop mooning after people you'll never allow yourself to have and get on with your life. If you're not going to admit that you're gay, then I'm sorry but stop taking it out on other people. If you really love someone enough that you want to be with them, then you're going to have to tell your parents. Deal with it. Thank you for finally kissing Magnus in front of them. That took way too long. I'm happy. Alec and Magnus make a cute couple. Alec is definitely better in the fourth book. Less angsty (though Camille does set him back a bit), more sure of himself, more kind and generous and we can see what Magnus fell in love with. High hopes for him for the next couple books.
Simon: Poor Simon. He loved Clary and that wasn't going to happen. He gets dissed for being a mundane, then he gets turned into a vampire and he gets dissed for being a downworlder. I liked him with Maia and I also liked him with Isabelle (though please, not both together, I can't believe you did that, dude). Maia was sweet and appreciated him for him. Izzy...it would be good for Simon to be accepted by the Shadowhunters, but I'm not sure there's much else Simon gets out of that relationship. On the other hand, I think Simon would be good for Izzy, would help show her how to love, that she can be loved, that love isn't a joke or a curse but something great and I think Simon could make her better. Maybe she can help Simon accept who he is and not feel like a worthless downworlder amongst Shadowhunters, but I'm not totally sure yet. She is rather selfish (Slytherin primary - looks our for herself and her own (her family) above all else). I like Simon in the third book where he's gaining confidence as a vampire and is becoming at least a little accepted by Jace and Izzy, maybe even Alec. The fourth book, though, he starts getting all angsty and feeling alone and misunderstood and it gets a bit whiny and annoying. He needs to start figuring out who he is/wants to be and just embrace the love of the people who care about him rather than worrying about the people who don't. I know, harder said than done and we all struggle with these things but I just want him to get it together already.
So, something I noticed. Throughout the books, Cassandra Clare makes it obvious that, in her opinion, same sex relationships are fine as we watch the kids accepting Alec's preferences, but she admits that it's hard for them and there are challenges, such as the older generation. We get cross-species relationships with Simon and Maia getting close (after she gets over the prejudice of werewolves vs vampires) and with Luke and Jocelyn because we totally want those two to be together. Then we get to the potential incest of Clary and Jace (thank you that that didn't end up being a thing because I was getting seriously annoyed) where it's like, no, this is not right, not at all, not acceptable, but we almost want it to be so that Jace and Clary can be together because they are sickeningly in love with each other but that is the one line we do not cross. I just thought it was interesting. "This is acceptable, and even this is acceptable, but this just isn't ever going to be acceptable. People need to learn to accept that everything else is okay, up to this line. This is where we draw the line and do not cross. As long as it doesn't cross this line, get over it."
The fourth book is definitely starting to annoy me. The third one ended so well, and now the fourth one is just introducing so many problems. Ugh! I just hope the series gets better because the first three were great and I couldn't put them down and now the fourth one is just ruining it all.
Rating: 5/5 (because 1, 2, and 3, weighed against 4 make it great. 4 itself would have just been a 4/5)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Initial Thoughts: I loved this series, and then the fourth book happened.
So, I absolutely love the first three books. There's a reason I'm doing them all together in one post and that reason is that I couldn't be bothered to stop long enough between the books to write anything down. That love of the series led me to read the fourth one right away as well, but then I just had to pause. And now I'm here.
Some Characters:
Alec: I'm definitely not a fan in the first three books. He is just so angsty and angry and dude either fess up to your feelings or stop mooning after people you'll never allow yourself to have and get on with your life. If you're not going to admit that you're gay, then I'm sorry but stop taking it out on other people. If you really love someone enough that you want to be with them, then you're going to have to tell your parents. Deal with it. Thank you for finally kissing Magnus in front of them. That took way too long. I'm happy. Alec and Magnus make a cute couple. Alec is definitely better in the fourth book. Less angsty (though Camille does set him back a bit), more sure of himself, more kind and generous and we can see what Magnus fell in love with. High hopes for him for the next couple books.
Simon: Poor Simon. He loved Clary and that wasn't going to happen. He gets dissed for being a mundane, then he gets turned into a vampire and he gets dissed for being a downworlder. I liked him with Maia and I also liked him with Isabelle (though please, not both together, I can't believe you did that, dude). Maia was sweet and appreciated him for him. Izzy...it would be good for Simon to be accepted by the Shadowhunters, but I'm not sure there's much else Simon gets out of that relationship. On the other hand, I think Simon would be good for Izzy, would help show her how to love, that she can be loved, that love isn't a joke or a curse but something great and I think Simon could make her better. Maybe she can help Simon accept who he is and not feel like a worthless downworlder amongst Shadowhunters, but I'm not totally sure yet. She is rather selfish (Slytherin primary - looks our for herself and her own (her family) above all else). I like Simon in the third book where he's gaining confidence as a vampire and is becoming at least a little accepted by Jace and Izzy, maybe even Alec. The fourth book, though, he starts getting all angsty and feeling alone and misunderstood and it gets a bit whiny and annoying. He needs to start figuring out who he is/wants to be and just embrace the love of the people who care about him rather than worrying about the people who don't. I know, harder said than done and we all struggle with these things but I just want him to get it together already.
So, something I noticed. Throughout the books, Cassandra Clare makes it obvious that, in her opinion, same sex relationships are fine as we watch the kids accepting Alec's preferences, but she admits that it's hard for them and there are challenges, such as the older generation. We get cross-species relationships with Simon and Maia getting close (after she gets over the prejudice of werewolves vs vampires) and with Luke and Jocelyn because we totally want those two to be together. Then we get to the potential incest of Clary and Jace (thank you that that didn't end up being a thing because I was getting seriously annoyed) where it's like, no, this is not right, not at all, not acceptable, but we almost want it to be so that Jace and Clary can be together because they are sickeningly in love with each other but that is the one line we do not cross. I just thought it was interesting. "This is acceptable, and even this is acceptable, but this just isn't ever going to be acceptable. People need to learn to accept that everything else is okay, up to this line. This is where we draw the line and do not cross. As long as it doesn't cross this line, get over it."
The fourth book is definitely starting to annoy me. The third one ended so well, and now the fourth one is just introducing so many problems. Ugh! I just hope the series gets better because the first three were great and I couldn't put them down and now the fourth one is just ruining it all.
Rating: 5/5 (because 1, 2, and 3, weighed against 4 make it great. 4 itself would have just been a 4/5)
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
Title: Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors (Children of the Red King #4)
Author: Jenny Nimmo
Initial Thoughts: mischief :)
I love mischief. Bringing Olivia into the endowed will bring much mischief. Why are there so many talented pianists who seem to have lost their memories? Lyell Bone, Mr. Pilgrim, Albert Tuccini...Do they do it just to throw Charlie off the trial? Mr. Pilgrim and Lyell are both missing and need to be found by the end of the series. Charlie has a good heart, but he is only 11 so I think it's understandable if he's a little selfish and wants to find his dad. Why do they have to keep picking on his impulsiveness and make his one little semi-selfish act into such a terrible thing? Okay, yes, you should think before you act, but usually impulsive decisions from children don't have such terrible consequences unless they're bad decisions. Charlie lets his heart lead him in the right direction, the problem is that everyone is putting the weight of the world on his shoulders so suddenly his actions have serious consequences for everyone else as well. Usually his decisions are based on helping others. This one decision was to help Billy and to help himself and the one time he tries to do something for himself he ends up screwing things up. People do need to be allowed to be a little selfish sometimes, and this wasn't even totally selfish because it was also for Billy and also to hopefully save his dad, yet they make it into such a bad thing. "No, you're never allowed to do anything for yourself, it always has to be for someone else. If you do anything to make your own life better than it was completely selfish and terrible and everything falls to ruin." Like, no, that is not right. He should be able to do something good for himself once in a while without everything falling apart. Anyway, yet again we find Charlie being the focus of everything. He stands up for Billy. He leaves for a couple days and the balance is lost. He has to be the one to convince Olivia to accept her endowment and restore balance. It's always on him. The only one of them younger than him is Billy so why do we rely on the youngest of the bunch to make all the world-altering decisions? Lysander and Tancred have a falling out and it's on Charlie to fix it. That really shouldn't be his relationship to mend. Ta'veren. Seriously. Things just don't make sense around them. Allons-y! On to other things: we seem to slowly be getting a history of the Red King and his children. Now we want to know exactly what happened with Amoret and her descendants. Why was she referred to as the girl no one could protect? What exactly happened? I'm curious.
Rating: 4.5/5 Fun, but little bits annoyed me (see rant above)
Author: Jenny Nimmo
Initial Thoughts: mischief :)
I love mischief. Bringing Olivia into the endowed will bring much mischief. Why are there so many talented pianists who seem to have lost their memories? Lyell Bone, Mr. Pilgrim, Albert Tuccini...Do they do it just to throw Charlie off the trial? Mr. Pilgrim and Lyell are both missing and need to be found by the end of the series. Charlie has a good heart, but he is only 11 so I think it's understandable if he's a little selfish and wants to find his dad. Why do they have to keep picking on his impulsiveness and make his one little semi-selfish act into such a terrible thing? Okay, yes, you should think before you act, but usually impulsive decisions from children don't have such terrible consequences unless they're bad decisions. Charlie lets his heart lead him in the right direction, the problem is that everyone is putting the weight of the world on his shoulders so suddenly his actions have serious consequences for everyone else as well. Usually his decisions are based on helping others. This one decision was to help Billy and to help himself and the one time he tries to do something for himself he ends up screwing things up. People do need to be allowed to be a little selfish sometimes, and this wasn't even totally selfish because it was also for Billy and also to hopefully save his dad, yet they make it into such a bad thing. "No, you're never allowed to do anything for yourself, it always has to be for someone else. If you do anything to make your own life better than it was completely selfish and terrible and everything falls to ruin." Like, no, that is not right. He should be able to do something good for himself once in a while without everything falling apart. Anyway, yet again we find Charlie being the focus of everything. He stands up for Billy. He leaves for a couple days and the balance is lost. He has to be the one to convince Olivia to accept her endowment and restore balance. It's always on him. The only one of them younger than him is Billy so why do we rely on the youngest of the bunch to make all the world-altering decisions? Lysander and Tancred have a falling out and it's on Charlie to fix it. That really shouldn't be his relationship to mend. Ta'veren. Seriously. Things just don't make sense around them. Allons-y! On to other things: we seem to slowly be getting a history of the Red King and his children. Now we want to know exactly what happened with Amoret and her descendants. Why was she referred to as the girl no one could protect? What exactly happened? I'm curious.
Rating: 4.5/5 Fun, but little bits annoyed me (see rant above)
Monday, October 1, 2018
Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy
Title: Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy (Children of the Red King #3)
Author: Jenny Nimmo
Initial Thoughts: that was fun.
So, I totally love Paton. But seriously, how did he never stand up to his sisters before? If he is as powerful as he seems to be, why has he just let them get away with everything? And what is it about Charlie that makes people take action? I forget if it was Tancred or Lysander in the previous book who mentioned it, but they said that when Charlie gets it in his head to do something, they find themselves following along. There's probably a slight protectiveness since they're older and Charlie is younger and they want to look out for him, but I think there's something else as well. Like, Charlie has been around the school for a bit, he knows how things work, he's getting a handle on his endowment, he doesn't need that much protecting anymore. But still, when he decides to do something, the others are inevitably going to drop what they're doing to help him out. He's a natural leader when he knows which direction to go in. Before Bloor's, he didn't need to lead anyone, but now that he's here and there have been things to stand up for, he's gotten a following. Before, he had Benjamin. Now, he has Benjamin, and Fidelio, and Olivia, and Emma, and Billy, and Gabriel, and Lysander, and Tancred, and Paton, and Cook, and Orville all following where he leads. Paton didn't stand up against his sisters until Charlie needed him to. Tancred, Lysander, and Gabriel didn't make waves amongst the endowed until Charlie needed their help. Fidelio kept his nose clean until Charlie came along. To borrow from another series (Wheel of Time), Charlie is Ta'veren. The world shapes itself around him and to his will. He draws others to him and they can't help but follow along. For right now, he is the center of everything that is happening. Even he can't help it. Trouble finds him, not the other way around.
They don't give many ages in the book. We know Manfred is a senior, as is Zelda. Charlie was 10 when we started, I believe. 5th or 6th grade, then. Billy was 7, now he's 8. Tanc, Sander, and Gabriel are older than Charlie, but we don't know by how much. Charlie thought he was about the youngest there until he met Billy, so assumingly Fidelio is a bit older, though not much. Olivia is close to their age, and Emma is right around Charlie's age as well. I don't remember how old Charlie was when his dad disappeared, but Emma was 1, I believe. I really just want to know how old Tanc, Sander, and Gabriel are. The others are close enough to Charlie's age that I'm not going to worry about it.
So, anyway, to the actual plot of the book, it was fun. We're meeting new characters (mostly enemy Yewbeams), and exploring new places such as Yewbeam Castle, Sparkling Castle, and Darkly Wynd. Charlie is learning more about his magical roots and getting the hang of the wand. The night of wind and spirits was rather entertaining. I'm curious what the rest of the normal children think of the endowed. Like, they know they can do these things, and they usually know exactly what most of them can do. They don't seem to mix much with the endowed, but neither do they seem scared of them (except maybe Manfred and his hypnotic gaze). I like that we're getting a bit of the anxiety from the guardians. Poor Amy Bone just listens to Charlie describe these crazy things and has no idea what to do so she just lets him do whatever. Oh, you're going to do something to antagonize these really powerful people but it has to do with your endowment so I don't totally get what's going on though it sounds dangerous but I'm going to trust you to do what you need to do because I can't do anything else to help you and though I'll worry for you I'm not going to stop you because how can I do anything against these people? I worry. Please be safe. Do what you need to do. Or Julia Ingledew who got dragged into this because she decided to do the right and kind thing and adopt her niece. Now she has strange children in and out of her shop all the time, is dealing with invisible boys, has her life put in danger, has fallen for someone who keeps her on her toes and for whom she would need to change her lifestyle a bit (no electric lamps, etc) and like Amy, she's a little confused and befuddled by it all, and she's worried for her child, but she doesn't really know what else to do because the endowed are kind of a world apart and she just does the best she can to support her child and hope everything turns out alright.
We get little teasers about Charlie's dad now and then. I remember the last time I read this series I was convinced that Mr. Pilgrim was Charlie's dad, but then those little bits about someone else being in his aunt's house confuse me because why would Mr. Pilgrim be at their house? I think it turned out that I was wrong, but I don't remember exactly. We'll see as I continue the series. Who is Mr. Pilgrim? Is he Charlie's dad or is he someone else? I think he might have been a friend of Charlie's dad from the cathedral so he kind of recognizes Charlie and he was there that day but he's not actually his dad. I could be wrong, though.
Rating: 5/5 Invisible boys and blue feathered boas (lol) and Billy finally coming to our side (yay!). All in all, it was a fun one.
Author: Jenny Nimmo
Initial Thoughts: that was fun.
So, I totally love Paton. But seriously, how did he never stand up to his sisters before? If he is as powerful as he seems to be, why has he just let them get away with everything? And what is it about Charlie that makes people take action? I forget if it was Tancred or Lysander in the previous book who mentioned it, but they said that when Charlie gets it in his head to do something, they find themselves following along. There's probably a slight protectiveness since they're older and Charlie is younger and they want to look out for him, but I think there's something else as well. Like, Charlie has been around the school for a bit, he knows how things work, he's getting a handle on his endowment, he doesn't need that much protecting anymore. But still, when he decides to do something, the others are inevitably going to drop what they're doing to help him out. He's a natural leader when he knows which direction to go in. Before Bloor's, he didn't need to lead anyone, but now that he's here and there have been things to stand up for, he's gotten a following. Before, he had Benjamin. Now, he has Benjamin, and Fidelio, and Olivia, and Emma, and Billy, and Gabriel, and Lysander, and Tancred, and Paton, and Cook, and Orville all following where he leads. Paton didn't stand up against his sisters until Charlie needed him to. Tancred, Lysander, and Gabriel didn't make waves amongst the endowed until Charlie needed their help. Fidelio kept his nose clean until Charlie came along. To borrow from another series (Wheel of Time), Charlie is Ta'veren. The world shapes itself around him and to his will. He draws others to him and they can't help but follow along. For right now, he is the center of everything that is happening. Even he can't help it. Trouble finds him, not the other way around.
They don't give many ages in the book. We know Manfred is a senior, as is Zelda. Charlie was 10 when we started, I believe. 5th or 6th grade, then. Billy was 7, now he's 8. Tanc, Sander, and Gabriel are older than Charlie, but we don't know by how much. Charlie thought he was about the youngest there until he met Billy, so assumingly Fidelio is a bit older, though not much. Olivia is close to their age, and Emma is right around Charlie's age as well. I don't remember how old Charlie was when his dad disappeared, but Emma was 1, I believe. I really just want to know how old Tanc, Sander, and Gabriel are. The others are close enough to Charlie's age that I'm not going to worry about it.
So, anyway, to the actual plot of the book, it was fun. We're meeting new characters (mostly enemy Yewbeams), and exploring new places such as Yewbeam Castle, Sparkling Castle, and Darkly Wynd. Charlie is learning more about his magical roots and getting the hang of the wand. The night of wind and spirits was rather entertaining. I'm curious what the rest of the normal children think of the endowed. Like, they know they can do these things, and they usually know exactly what most of them can do. They don't seem to mix much with the endowed, but neither do they seem scared of them (except maybe Manfred and his hypnotic gaze). I like that we're getting a bit of the anxiety from the guardians. Poor Amy Bone just listens to Charlie describe these crazy things and has no idea what to do so she just lets him do whatever. Oh, you're going to do something to antagonize these really powerful people but it has to do with your endowment so I don't totally get what's going on though it sounds dangerous but I'm going to trust you to do what you need to do because I can't do anything else to help you and though I'll worry for you I'm not going to stop you because how can I do anything against these people? I worry. Please be safe. Do what you need to do. Or Julia Ingledew who got dragged into this because she decided to do the right and kind thing and adopt her niece. Now she has strange children in and out of her shop all the time, is dealing with invisible boys, has her life put in danger, has fallen for someone who keeps her on her toes and for whom she would need to change her lifestyle a bit (no electric lamps, etc) and like Amy, she's a little confused and befuddled by it all, and she's worried for her child, but she doesn't really know what else to do because the endowed are kind of a world apart and she just does the best she can to support her child and hope everything turns out alright.
We get little teasers about Charlie's dad now and then. I remember the last time I read this series I was convinced that Mr. Pilgrim was Charlie's dad, but then those little bits about someone else being in his aunt's house confuse me because why would Mr. Pilgrim be at their house? I think it turned out that I was wrong, but I don't remember exactly. We'll see as I continue the series. Who is Mr. Pilgrim? Is he Charlie's dad or is he someone else? I think he might have been a friend of Charlie's dad from the cathedral so he kind of recognizes Charlie and he was there that day but he's not actually his dad. I could be wrong, though.
Rating: 5/5 Invisible boys and blue feathered boas (lol) and Billy finally coming to our side (yay!). All in all, it was a fun one.
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