Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Hollow City and Library of Souls

This series of books started out really well. I read the first book in a couple of days. It was not the best book I ever read, but it was entertaining and the whole setting was promising. But from there it went downhill.

The story is about children with special powers, a bit like the X-Men. What makes especially the first book interesting are the old photos, which the author used to tell his story. The pictures are all real. The author found them at flee markets. The hero of the story, Jacob, discovers this strange world of these peculiar children with their powers and of course also discovers that he has some power himself. Nothing new, but in the first book it was all nice and well. It differs from other books with a similar story that it is not action-packed and the main story is set in the past.

The second book was okay. There were more peculiar children, but most of them only played a minor part in the story. What was interesting was to learn a bit more about the world the author created. But for my taste it was a bit dragging. And somehow the problems were solved too easily. It took me far longer to read the second book, but it was okay.

But the third book was downright boring and uninteresting. It took me ages to read and I just was not hooked. Somehow it did not bother me, what would become of the characters. Jacob was annoying with the development of his super-powers. And the worst was the end. Why was he not forced to make a decision? As with the second book, whenever there was a problem, there would come a rescue from nowhere. The characters did not really have to fight.

I read these books because of the upcoming movie and because of the good reviews I had really high hopes. Of course these are YA-novels, but that does not excuse the lack of character development. I was not attached to most characters and worse the third book left me cold. Not even the main villain was interesting. To be honest I can not recommend these books. And after I saw the trailer for the movie I fear even worse for this (despite director Tim Burton).

Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space

I finally got my hands on this great children's book. The German version was sold out for quite some time, but is now available again. And it is amazing.

The illustrations by Ben Newman have a nice retro vibe. They give the book a very unique feeling. The text was written by Dominic Walliman and I think, it is perfect. It is detailed enough to really teach children something new, but not overwhelming. The book discusses the planets of our solar system and research about space in the past and present.

Professor Astro Cat is a really charming book for children about space. There will be another book out next week (the topic this time is physics) and there is also an activity book. We also have the Ipad app, which is designed like the book and does not offer too much new (but it is quite entertaining and well made).

Read: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

So I admit it, up until now there was only one novel by Miss Austen that I liked, Pride and Prejudice (but to make things better it is one of my all-time favorites). I tried Emma (my first Austen in English) and Sense and Sensibility and found both so utterly boring, that I stopped reading Austen novels (except of course for P and P).

But since I have my kindle I was tempted with free books and decided to give Miss Austen another try. So October last year I started Northanger Abbey. It took me quite a while to finish it (thank you Goodreads that you remind me how slow I read nowadays), but surprisingly I really liked it. There were not too many characters to remember and I could follow the story quite well (despite reading it in English again, yes I was ambitious or stupid or both). I really liked the main character. And I liked the love story. That they get to know each other before they decide to marry and that they complement each other so well. I really don't know why this novel is not more popular. Maybe because it is not so exciting and quieter. No big misunderstandings and quarrels. I admit it is also not so funny like P and P, but even Jane Austen thought P and P was her best novel. I can't argue with that!

So if you like some old-fashioned entertainment, maybe you should try Northanger Abbey. I really enjoyed it.