Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: My Review

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was written by Ransom Riggs and published in 2011. It is the first book in a trilogy. And it will soon be a movie, you can already check out the trailer on YouTube!

Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Time-travel(ish)
Rating: ★★★★★

The story:

Jacob always thought he was a normal boy with an unextraordinary life. As a child, his grandfather would tell him stories of his own childhood with peculiar children and monsters. But as he grew up and kept believing in those stories, people started making fun of him and he stopped. Until his grandfather died in his arms under mysterious circumstances, and he started having nightmares featuring the monsters of his grandfather’s stories…

And I won’t tell you more because I don’t want to give spoilers, but there is much more to this book!

My opinion:

I first started reading this amazing book in 2013, but I had to return it to my friend. Now the movie is getting released soon so I really wanted to read it and here we go! I have to admit, at first I thought it would be overhyped, but oh boy, it was worth all the praise! Oh boy, this book was so good!

First, it is a really original blend between paranormal/urban fantasy and bits of time-travel and occasional references to mental illness. Like really. How could it be any better? It just has all my favourite things!

Then, the writing is absolutely fantastic. It’s clever, witty, interesting. And wait, because it gets even better! This books include old vintage pictures as part of the story/illustrations, and that just sets the mood perfectly. Amazing writing + incredibly original and vintage illustrations… Again, how could it be any better? It probably could not and that is why I loved this book so much!

A word about the main character, now. Jacob is a smart boy, and doesn’t have many friends at school. He comes from a rich family, and is an only child, and he pretty much has his life all planned out thank to his parents even if he doesn’t like it that much. I found he was really an endearing character. He is the narrator of the story and he gives it a really interesting touch.

What else can I say? For some reason I find it harder and harder to write reviews this days. But this book is definitely getting on my Top 10 favourite books I read in 2016 list!

This books had a lot of amazing surprises and awesome secondary (or not so secondary) characters. I found it really interesting, amazing and unique. And oh boy, I want more now! I just can’t wait to get my hands on the other books. I wish I had money. I just need a box set of the trilogy and binge read all of it. And I need the movie too!

It has such an amazing concept. I don’t want to go too in depth with it if you haven’t read it because it might get spoilery. But if you haven’t read it, just go check it out! And if you have, you will probably know what I’m talking about. This book is brilliant, and I loved it! I would love to discuss it in the comments if you’d like!

Recommended for:

If you like paranormal stories, and if you’re looking for something different and unique!

The Ruler of Books Tag

Hi guys! Today I’m here with a tag! I was tagged some time ago by Faebulousbooks to do the Ruler of Books Tag, here is her article if you’d like to check it out!

Since it was originally a Booktube tag, I decided to make a video out of it, but since I was tagged on my blog, of course I am sharing it here as well!

Here is my video:

I thought I would tag a few bloggers as well since it’s a really fun tag so here we go if you want to do it, I’m tagging Jen @ Jen’s Bookish Journey, Reg @ Shelatitude and Diana @ Diana Prince Reviews ! And you if you want to do it!

Have a nice day lovelies ♥

Vicious: My Review

Vicious is one of V.E. (or Victoria) Schwab’s most known novel, and it was first published in 2013.

Genre: Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy
My rating: ★★★★☆

The story:

Victor and Eli are college students and roomates. Smart, both at the top of the class, they don’t entirely feel like they belong. When it’s time to choose what they want to do on their thesis, they start getting interested in EOs -ExtraOrdinary humans- and get entangled in a loop of near-death experiences which will change them forever.

Ten years later, Victor is coming out of prison, and their friendship is long gone. While Victor tries to find Eli, he stumbles across a young girl with an incredible power. In the meantime, Eli eradicates every single EO he comes across, except for his partner, who apparently convinced him to keep her alive.

Vicious is a heart-gripping tale of heroes and villains, where it is hard to see who is making the right choices. One thing is sure, not everyone will come out of it alive. But who is the hero, and who is the villain? Maybe there are no good guys… (Yes, that’s a quote from The 100, which is extremely fitting in this situation.)

My opinion:

Wow. This book is incredible. I have to say, it is a hell of a ride. It’s really intense, I had to put it down every so often to just catch up mentally with the story. This book is incredible, it’s dangerous and scary, and yet you can’t help wanting to find out what will happen next.

What did I think about this book, really? Well, overall, it left me quite speechless with a lot of feelings fighting inside of me. As a urban fantasy, it didn’t fail to leave me that feeling of what if it was real…

Victor and Eli seem to be impossible to like, and yet it’s easy to get attached, especially to Victor. They both feel so human (well, superhuman actually, but you see what I mean), and even though I know I don’t agree with most of their opinions/things they do, I often found that I would understand them. This book just gets you right in the feels…

The thing I liked the most was how all the characters were incredible, especially the “side characters” like Mitch and Sidney. They too, had their weaknesses and their wrong decisions, but they were also really endearing in my opinion, and it was somehow easy to get attached to them…

I find it really hard to review this book because 90% of the time I was like what the hell is going on or boy this is awful. And the rest of the time I had put the book down to breeathe.

Good points:
incredible story
really original
amazing characters
short chapters
good storytelling

And I loved how the story moved smoothly between past and present!

Less good points:

Some part of me was still irking at all the violence and evilness at some points. And in a way, I guess this book was a bit overhyped for me. I just heard so many good things about it that it set incredible expectations for me, and when I read it, it was not entirely what I had expected. But I guess that’s my fault…

But overall, I really liked it, and would definitely recommend it, because I found it different and unique!

SPOILERS

I guess it’s better to put a warning before!

Stop reading right now if you don’t wait to be spoiled…

I really liked how the book turned out at the very end. Victor’s plan was just amazing, he found the right way to get Eli punished, and I just love the very last sentences, it just gave me a lot of feels!

END OF SPOILERS

Recommended for:

Paranormal lovers, and people who like dark stories of revenge and anti-heroes.

Teaser Tuesday #27

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by MizB from Books and a Beat.

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am currently listening to the Audiobook version of Room by Emma Donoghue, and I absolutely love it. It is a fantastic and brilliant book!

Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary

My quote:

“Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.”

Goodreads

Middle Grade Book Club: Harry Potter Update #3

At the beginning of the year, I had planned with a bunch of bookstagrammers to reread the entire Harry Potter series from January to July. This now seems to fit even more perfectly since The Cursed Child will be released at the end of the month. However, as time went by, July came and I had only reread The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets.

Of course, I decided that it didn’t matter, but I still want to reread all the Harry Potter books before moving on to the new release. The only problem being that I only own those pictured above…

But I can still say that I made some progress this month! Earlier this month I rewatched both parts of the Deathly Hallows with my little brother who had never seen them. And I have to say, since I never mentioned them here on the blog, these movies are brillant. And it made me want to reread the books even more.

And over the weekend, I finally reread The Prisoner of Azkaban.

WARNING: SPOILERS

If you had asked me last year, I would have said that the third book in the series was my favourite. However now I’m not so sure. I know that I totally loved the first two books. And people usually say that the series gets darker with The Goblet of Fire. But since it was the third (or fourth?) time I read it, I noticed more things in The Prisoner of Azkaban that foreshadow the darkness that will come into the rest of the series.

First, we have the apparition of the Dementors. They are probably the most horrible thing in the entire Harry Potter universe. Like, really. They represent depression after all, and it is something I can relate to. I feel like this time, I understood better all the depth of these creatures, and it is really rather disturbing.

Then we have the whole oh-my-god-siruis-black-is-a-dangerous-crimminal plot that goes throughout this volume. Now I know by heart everything that happens, but really, bad stuff happens into this volume. A supposed escaped convict enters Hogwarts and the Gryffindor dormitories. A magical creature is unfairly sentenced to death (which raises my hatred towards the Malfoy family). The Prisoner of Azkaban definitely has its dark corners which are not to be underestimated.

Anyway, as ever, I really enjoyed this book. I have to say, I really love the ending, with what of the time turner, and the Marauders, and the Patronus, and Harry learning more about his parents, and finding family with Sirius. What I will keep in mind after this reread is the depth you can still find in the Harry Potter series with the rereads. And I changed my mind, it is not getting dark with The Goblet of Fire, but with The Prisoner of Azkaban, and that for two reasons: the Dementors, and the fact that Harry has now officially lost his innocence. Because for God’s sake, he wanted to kill Sirius when he thought he was the reason his parents had dies. (And I shed a tear when they had to say goodbye…) So yeah, big up for the great character development I don’t think I had noticed before! And I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one which is one of my favourite! (Okay, they are all one of my favourites, you got me…) (And since I’m going to be a camp councellor in August I will earn some money and buy a few books without feeling bad about it…)

That’s it for today, I hope you enjoyed, please feel free to share your opinion on the Harry Potter series in the comments!

Oh and if you want to check it out there is a Bookstagram House Cup thing going on on Instagram, you can check it out and participate, it’s a lot of fun! (Use hashtages #BookstagramHouseCup + the first letter of your Hogwarts House, like for example, I use #BookstagramHouseCupH because I’m a Hufflepuff!)

And PS I posted a new video on my Booktube Channel!

If you like… Then you will like… [Book Edition]

Hello and welcome to a special edition of my Sunday Recommendations! This week I have decided to give recommendations based on books you may have enjoyed, so without further ado, let’s get started!

*****

If you like the Harry Potter series, then you will like the Tara Duncan series!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders by Sophie Audoin-Mamikonian

     

Some say Tara Duncan is the French equivalient of Hrary Potter. Maybe it is not as well written as its British counterpart, but if you love the Harry Potter universe, and are also looking for something new, I would definitely recommend this one!

If you like the Hunger Games trilogy, then you will like the New World trilogy!

The Hunger Games by Sunzanne Collins
New World: Rising by Jennifer Wilson

     

Both series are set in a futuristic, dystopian world, and share a badass heroine as well as a revolution.

If you like the Mindjack Trilogy, then you will like the Liberty Box trilogy!

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn
The Liberty Box by C.A. Gray

     

Again, a pair of dystopias. Yet these are different from the previous ones, as they both feature a world were the power of the mind is extremely important. In the first one, through telepathic contact between the people (those who cannot achieve it are outcasts) and in the second one, the people are controlled through their brain waves. Overall, I found that they gave off the same vibe, so if you liked either of those, then you should probably check the other one!

If you like the Lunar Chronicles, then you will like Stitching Snow!

Cinderi by Marissa Meyer
Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

     

Both are fairytale retellings featuring badass heroines in a futuristic world! If you finished the Lunar Chronicles and were left wanting for more, then you should definitely get your hands on Stitching Snow!

If you like the Selection series, then you will like the Red Queen series!

The Selection by Kiera Cass
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

     

The thing that did strike me is that both of these series are set at court with a heroine who never even thought she might end up there. Both are also dystopias and feature rebels and a fight for justice. If you haven’t heard of those anyway, where on Earth do you live?

If you like Alice in Wonderland, then you will like Dorothy must die!

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

     

This comparison may seem surprising to you, but as both of these stories are set in magical worlds, I found they had many things in common. Both also feature a heroine who comes from another world, a bloody ruler, and people who will try to help the main character fight for justice, and go home.

If you like Narnia, you will like The Weaver’s Riddle!

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Weaver’s Riddle: Mist & Whispers by C.M. Lucas

     

Both stories feature human characters traveling magically through realms, and a clear distinction between good and evil. I highly recommend both of those as they are among my favourite books!

If you like the Anna & the French Kiss series, then you will like Fangirl!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

     

And for my last recommendation this week I have chosen YA contemporaries! Both heroines are relatable and more or less nerdy, and both these stories are sweet and cute love stories which can be a nice summer read if you’d like!

*****

And that’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave more recommendations in the comments!

Ps: I am now on YouTube!

City of Bones: Book Talk

Drumroll… Yes I finally read the first book in The Mortal Instruments! This was long due since practically the entire book community has read it AND I have watched both the movie and the TV show…

Need I really mention what this is about? I don’t think so.

This is not really goint to be a book review because its popularity is too overwhelming for me to write a review, but I still wanted to talk about it, so here we go, here are my random thoughts on City of Bones!

First thing I wanted to share is that the more I delve into The Mortal Instruments, the more I like Simon! He is such a great character, he kind of reminds me of Stiles from Teen Wolf for now, and I really enjoyed all the scenes where he was present!

I really liked this book, but the fact that I had watched both movie and TV show took the suspense away from me, so it wasn’t that much of an incredible read for me because all of the big surprises and plot twists were not surprises anymore. But don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it! I just think (and hope!) that I will enjoy the others more since I don’t know what happens. I’ll just have to keep away from spoilers (and I’m really bad at doing this, sadly…)

Overall, I gave the book 4 stars. I really like the characters, and I find Clary rather relatable (except that I don’t actually find Jace boyfriend material). I really like Izzy and Alec, as well as Simon as I mentioned before.

I also thought that Valentine was extremely good villain material, even more than in the TV show. He’s just mad, he’s evil, and that obviously makes him a great villain.

I find the story quite unique. I heard that at first, it was meant as a Harry Potter fanfiction, so I tried hard to find some parallels, but Cassandra Clare really worked on her first draft, and I could only make guess and notice faint similarities.

The world of the Shadowhunters is a really interesting one. Of course, there is the question of Good and Evil which was raised by the Circle. There is the question of purity, and I believe many parallels can be drawn with the real world we see today, with issues of racism and what not. As a matter of fact, I believe that if the Circle had won when it was at its peak instead of being destroyed, the world of the Shadowhunters would be a kind of dystopia, with one ruler and no freedom. There are those who want the Downworlders dead, and those who believe differences make her stronger, and we can see similar aspects today with some people who are intolerant, etc. But the lesson is, I believe, that the deeds of one person do not represent the deeds of a community.

I can’t wait to return to the Shadow World to see what will happen to the Cup, Clary and the rest of the characters!

In the end I can say that this book is really hyped, and it deserves it. I don’t know what else to say, I feel like everything has been said. If you have read this book – which you probably have – please give me your opinion in the comments! And please no spoilers for the rest of the series as I haven’t read them!

The Versatile Blogger Award

I was nominated by Diana from Diana Prince Reviews to do the Versatile Blogger Award! You can check out her article here and give her a follow!

This is my second time answering this award, you can read my original post here.

Here are the rules:

• Show the award on your blog
• Thank the person that has nominated you
• Share 7 different facts about yourself
• Nominate 15 blogs of your choice
• Link your nominees and let them know of your nomination

7 facts about me:

1- I’m moving to Berlin in October.
2- I recently started a Youtube channel if you want to watch me being awkward, here’s the link!
3- I finally started reading The Mortal Instruments, and I really enjoy it.
4- I collect bookmarks and perfume bottles.
5- I own 3 typewriters, they are my pride and the apple of my eyes.
6- I wanted to get a job for the summer, and sent tons of applications. The only answered I got was for a camp in August, and of course I’m going to do it, but I wanted to work at a bookshop more than anything…
7- I’m really bad at finding things about myself like that, and I also feel they can be uninteresting, or I have already said them or whatever, so I don’t know what to say now… Well, there’s one thing  I can say. I have been posting on this blog for almost a year now, and I never thought I would achieve what I have now, so thank you all so much for being there!

I will only nominate two people because I am a lazy person, and they are Reg @She Latitude and Ally @Reading In The Rain ♥

Teaser Tuesday #26

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by MizB from Books and a Beat.

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I didn’t share a Teaser Tuesday last week because I had my release day post for Inherited by Freedom Matthews but I am definitely not giving up on this bookish meme because I really love it! I just decided to pressure myself less with the blog, so I skipped it last week, but here we go for today. I am currently reading several books, and I selected Vicious by V.E. Schwab for this feature.

Genre: Adult Fiction, Science Fiction

My quote:

“The drink dangled precariously from Victor’s freshly bandaged hand as he paced. No matter how many times he made it from one wall of the hotel room to the other and back, the restlessness refused to ebb.” – p.63

Goodreads

The Liberty Box: My Review

I received an ARC copy for this book in exchange for a honest review.

Genre: New Adult, Dystopia
Released in October, 2015
Written by C.A. Gray
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Book 1 in The Liberty Box Trilogy. Book 2 is getting released today! In honour of this I will be co-hosting a giveaway, I will share the information later on my Instagram @Clemireads, so stay tuned!

The story:

Set in a future where the United States have lost money and power, The Liberty Box is a dystopia where the entire population of the country is brainwashed to believe they are prosperious, properly fed and happy. Which they are not.

Kate has everything. She is beautiful, and is a famous news anchor on national TV. That is, until she finds out her former roommate has been declared Enemy of the State and killed by fire squad. Flashbacks from her childhood come back, and she realises there is more to the Republic of America than she thought there was. Soon she has to go on the run.

Jackson lives in Iceland with his uncle and aunt, and is coming back to America for his mother’s funeral. His grandfather has taught him mind control, and as soon as he sets foot in the country, he realises something is off. Withing two hours, he is taken by the government and put in the “Liberty Box” to get hold of his brain waves. But he won’t have it that way.

My opinion:

I really liked the fact that this book managed to surprise me. It is in many ways a typical dystopian story, but the main characters, Kate and Jackson, are different from other typical dystopian heroes, and I really appreciated that. This book managed to be not too predictable, and even had a crazy cliffhanger at the end which I totally did not expect!

I think the concept for this book was extremely interesting. On the one hand, we have a desease inoculated to the entire population, and technology that control their brain waves and makes them believe that they are prosperous. And on the other hand, we have Jackson who can control his own mind with his willpower. Both aspects I found extremely interesting, however it often felt that something was missing in the overall world building. I was not entirely pulled into the story, as much as I wanted to.

I enjoyed reading that book, and meeting new refugees through the story. The good thing is that the more we read, the more we learnt about this crazy dystopia and how it worked, and the more things happened… And now I’m dying to read book 2 because there are so many things I want to have answered, and also I want to see how the characters will deal with this whole situation, so I have to day, that ending got me really curious.

Overall, I gave the book 3 stars on Goodreads, but my actual rating is more like 3.5 stars, for a book that managed to grab my attention with an interesting world building that got me really curious. As for the plot itself, it really got more intense towards the ening, so now I have to dive into book two!

Recommended for:

First of all, obviously to dystopian lovers. And it also reminded me in some ways of Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn. Maybe it’s because of all the mind things and futuristic aspects of both stories. But anyway, if you liked that one then I would definitely recommend The Liberty Box!

And finally, I made a little video on my booktube channel in honour of the release day of the sequel, The Eden Conspiracy!