Mini-Reviews {5}

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel

Author: Ransom Riggs

Release Date: October 29th 2013

Publisher: Yen Press

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Bought

Goodreads

When Jacob Portman was a boy, his grandfather regaled him with stories of his fantastic life at Miss Peregrine's home during the Second World War, even sharing photos of the remarkable children with whom he resided. As Jacob grew up, though, he decided that these photos were obvious fakes, simple forgeries designed to stir his youthful imagination. Or were they...?

Following his grandfather's death - a scene Jacob literally couldn't believe with his own eyes - the sixteen-year-old boy embarks on a mission to disentangle fact from fiction in his grandfather's tall tales. But even his grandfather's elaborate yarns couldn't prepare Jacob for the eccentricities he will discover at Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children!

Graphic novels are even worse than hardcovers: they're beautiful and I want to pet them and read them but they're so damn expensive! That's the reason why this one's the only graphic novel I currently own. I was actually talking myself out of buying it but I just had to get one signed by Ransom Riggs when he visited my country years back. (Because yes, I read this back in *looks at Goodreads* 2014?! o.o)

Anyway, as this is the only graphic novel I own, this is also the only one I've read. I knew it would be a quick read but I didn't anticipate that I could read it in less than an hour. Wow. I seriously felt like I threw my money away but who cares because books are worth it! Also, the illustrations are really beautiful, just what I expected from Cassandra Jean whom I've been following on Tumblr for a long time now. 

What I appreciated most about this graphic novel is how I could revisit the first novel in half the time, especially since Miss Peregrine's felt too dragged out for me. I remember reading this before Hollow City, and now I can't wait to get my hands on the graphic novel for that second book so I can read it before I pick up Library of Souls!

RATING:

Title: The Beginning of Everything
Author: Robyn Schneider
Release Date: August 27th 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought
Goodreads

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life. 

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures. 

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

I'd probably get hate for what I'm about to say, but I'm going to say it anyway: I am in the opinion that this book is overhyped. I read this less than a year ago but I can't even remember much of what happens in the book, only that it reminded me so much of a John Green novel, particularly Looking for Alaska (which is my favorite JG novel, by the way). Even Cassidy Thorpe's first appearance was so much like Alaska Young's, the cool, smart, hipster dream girl with a long list of secrets.

According to my notes, though, I did like how Ezra coped with the accident. He was hopeless, often dreary, but he kept it to himself instead of running around moping and screaming how unfair life is. Ezra and Cassidy's love story is also very similar to 500 Days of Summer, with Ezra thinking of Cassidy as his savior and heroine and her being somewhat strangled because of his expectations.

Just because I think this book is overhyped doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, because I did. In fact, I plan to read it again, give it another chance. I had a worse tragedy in mind for the ending but when everything was revealed, it all clicked into place. It's not what most people would ask for, but I believe it did the characters justice, and for me that's what's most important.

MY FAVORITE PART was the overnight debate tournament. Now that is how nerds have fun.

RATING:

Title: An Abundance of Katherines

Author: John Green

Release Date: September 21st 2006

Publisher: Dutton Books
Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Bought

Goodreads

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. 

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. 

Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

At first I was only interested in reading this book because I loved Looking for Alaska, but then the cover got a redesign and I just had to own it in hardcover and naturally, I had to read it. I remember feeling up to something quirky when I picked this up, and boy, quirky was exactly what I got. 

Math is my biggest enemy. Like, I obviously love English (I love reading, duh), and Science is not so bad, but Math? Integral Calculus is what got me kicked out of two engineering programs, and although I totally - and finally - kicked the crap out of it last year, I still hate it. So to read a book that was filled with Math? My mind ran around in circles a few times while reading this.

Still, I really enjoyed it because it has John Green's signature wit, humor, and sarcasm that I will always love. No matter how inane their problems may be, his characters are always a redeeming factor in his books, and they sure are hilarious. This book made me want to go on a road trip, and I'm really looking forward to reading Paper Towns soon!

RATING:

Book Review: Looking for Alaska - John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

Release Date: The edition I have was published on December 28th 2006

Publisher: Speak

Pages: 221 (paperback)

Source: Bought

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. 

After. Nothing is ever the same.

Oscar Wilde said "If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all", and while I beg to differ - because there is always use in reading - only a few are worth re-reading. Looking for Alaska is one of them.

Miles Halter, having lived a life of constancy, finally decided to live by one of his beloved famous last words: "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." He left the comfort of his old life for Culver Creek, the boarding school where his dad had also gone before. Boarding school might've been an unideal place to find a Great Perhaps, but this one didn't disappoint. Surrounded by smart, new friends in an unpredictable setting, Miles was on his way to finding what he came for. And more.

I love stories set in boarding school because the seclusion actually offers a lot of possibilities and fun. But, man, was I more than entertained by Culver Creek! The constant prank battle between Miles' group of friends and the Weekday Warriors - the rich kids - was hilarious and made me frown while reminiscing my dull high school days.

And then there were the varying characters who lived and breathed in and through the pages. I've always loved smart, sarcastic characters, and Looking for Alaska had an abundance of them. The famous last words that Miles loved added humor to the story, and his new friends provided the intelligent mischief that gave me a lot of laughs. My personal favorite was the Colonel - a boy who'd grown up in a trailer home with his mom but used his poverty as an inspiration to get them out of there. Such an admirable guy.

Still, nothing is perfect. I felt like Miles and Alaska's friendship was one-way; he was a friend to her, yes, but her nature didn't let her become a friend to him - she was just the girl he fancied. I did love that until the end, Green didn't let us fully understand Alaska; she'll always be an unsolved mystery.

Before I read this, I'd already known something was coming. I'd actually guessed what it was, but the how surprised me. When I got to the darkened page that said "after", I just had to take a deep breath to prepare myself before turning it. With a beautifully-written and poignant plot, Looking for Alaska is definitely a modern classic. And to think this was John Green's first novel. Wow. If you haven't read this, well, why haven't you? Go pick it up now!

MY FAVORITE PART was the Colonel's basketball game taunting. I really lol-ed when I read it the first time. And the second time. Oh and of course, the immortal quote:

So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.

MY RATING:

(photo and summary from Goodreads.com)