Book Thoughts: Asylum

Title: Asylum
Author: Madeleine Roux

Dan Crawford is super excited for his pre-college summer program, but he's a little wary of their dorm: it's a renovated building that used to be Brookline Asylum, home of several criminally insane patients. Dan and his new friends Abby and Jordan go exploring, and discover that the old asylum may not be quite as gone as they might have hoped...

From an escapist, fun-Halloween-read point of view, I enjoyed ASYLUM. It's a creepy story with a lot of twists and turns that you don't necessarily see coming. It was a fun, relatively light read, and one that's creepy in a way that's not going to give you nightmares.

Is it the greatest-ever work of literature? No. Dan and Abby's relationship fell a bit flat, and I was really disappointed in the ending because I felt like we never really got any resolution. Some of the explanation we did get didn't make a whole lot of sense. But on the whole, it was a fun ride. I really just wanted more explanation at the end!

I did enjoy the incorporation of pictures, and props to Roux for a gay character whose story arc is not entirely centered on his homosexuality. He's a person who is gay, not a Gay Person, which is awesome. Not really having a lot of strong feelings either way about this book -- I liked it, but I'm not going to be jumping around trying to shove it into people's hands, either.

Book Thoughts: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Series: Miss Peregrine #1

Ahh, where to start with Miss Peregrine... Was it strange? Yes. Was it spooky? Yes. Did I love it? Most definitely yes.

Jacob grew up on his grandfather's stories of monsters and an orphanage full of peculiar children who could do strange things (like levitate or turn invisible). Eventually, he realizes that the tales have to be make-believe... until the day his grandfather dies and he sees one of the monsters his grandfather has always described.

Naturally, everyone thinks Jacob is crazy: monsters don't exist. So Jacob sets off on a crazy quest to Wales to visit the orphanage and settle his nightmares... and finds so much more than he bargained for.

I just love this book. One of my favorites that I read over the summer and one that I am eagerly awaiting the sequel to. The characters are so much fun, the writing is great and blended seamlessly with a series of strange photographs described in the novel, and the story kept me eagerly turning pages to find out what would happen next.

A bit of a spooky read (perfect for Halloween season!), definitely a strange one, but one that I absolutely and wholeheartedly recommend.

Book Thoughts: Every You, Every Me

Title: Every You, Every Me
Author: David Levithan

I read this one around New Years, so it's been several months, and the impression that it has on me is still incredible. I'm a bit hazy on the details, but I remember it being emotionally very intense.

Evan's going crazy missing his best friend Ariel. And he might actually be going crazy: he keeps finding photographs aimed at him. The photos are actually in the book, which is really cool -- it's neat being able to see what it is that Evan's seeing.

Stylistically, David Levithan has created an interesting novel. Not just with the pictures, but with the text. Evan strikes through the words he changes his mind about saying, which gives readers an unusual (and powerful) view of what's actually going on in Evan's head versus what he's trying to make himself believe.

The other thing that really struck me about EYEM was the emotion. Evan's struggling with his own emotional and social difficulties, but he's also pressuring himself to manage Ariel's increasingly unstable tendencies. It was really intense seeing the way his emotions related to Ariel's. There's really no other way that I can describe it: emotionally intense. I had to put it down a couple of times just to come back to myself before I got lost in it entirely.

But wow, guys. Definitely read this one if you get the chance.