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azure_blue's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and I'm so in love with its pictures collection! Its story is strange, not very similar to the books that I usually read and because of its pictures, I felt it was REAL! Like the whole thing is not only an imaginary thing. What maddened me the most is the movie... WHY? The book is a thing and the movie is something else! When was Emma supposed to have the peculiarity of flying? It is supposed to be the power of Olive and not her! Emma is the one who's supposed to set things on fire and not Olive! And what about Victor? What happened to him when the bomb fell on the house? Because in the book he was buried and that creepy monster wasn't even IN THE HOUSE when the bomb fell, Jacob and Emma were dealing with him and Jacob killed him! Okay okay, what about Millard following Golan and got shot? Where did Golan's friends show up in the movie from? Wasn't the movie supposed to end when they were all searching for help, in three boats, and for a place that looked like Horace's dream?
kimreadz's review against another edition
2.0
I had heard many good things about this, and the cover was very interesting, but this was a disappointing read for me. I had picked it up earlier, and started it, but put it down fairly quickly. I finally forced myself to read it when we read it as a book club seletion. The truth is, I just found this one a bit boring. The first chapter was actually interesting, but I quickly lost interest after that. There were some similarities to me with Harry Potter; monsters vs. kids with powers. It also reminded me a bit of the Percy Jackson series , but the story just moved very slowly. It did actually get interesting the last couple of chapters, but then...it just ended with an unwritten ‘to be continued’. The sequel, Hollow City, has just recently been released, and while I am a bit curious about what happens next, I am not curious enough to actually read the book.
One thing I did actually enjoy about this book was all of the pictures of the ‘peculiar’ children. These were the type of photos you might find in a family album from an antique store. So while I won’t be reading the sequel, I may pick it up long enough to browse the photos!
Library ebook/
One thing I did actually enjoy about this book was all of the pictures of the ‘peculiar’ children. These were the type of photos you might find in a family album from an antique store. So while I won’t be reading the sequel, I may pick it up long enough to browse the photos!
Library ebook/
mollywallen's review against another edition
4.0
People seem to have very strong opinions on this book. I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked it up out of a free library box on a walk, so I enjoyed myself. Sure, it’s not super creepy or the most complex storyline, but I liked it and look forward to reading the rest of the series.
adamer's review against another edition
I quite enjoyed the first half but the second half just wasn't for me. I think I put off reading this for too long...
blowp0p's review against another edition
3.0
Content warnings: death, heterosexual relationships, psychiatric treatment, mentions of WW2, mentions of bombings, mentions of the holocaust, mentions of abilities bordering on magical, minor gore mentions, kidnapping, attempts to force someone into something they don’t want to do, mentions of body horror (minor mostly), mentions of blood and gore, mentions of mental illnesses, gun violence
Review can be found here at Blow Pop's Book Reviews.
Review can be found here at Blow Pop's Book Reviews.
jackslynn's review against another edition
This was a DNF for me. I have tried to read this book twice and have not been able to get past the first thirty pages. It's just not a genre that I get into.
juulisbad's review against another edition
3.0
The Story of this book wasn't particularly individual or exiting but and here's the great BUT.. I loved how the author combined the vintage photographs with the story. It was just amazing and it gave me the creeps since they were only a little altered but other than that real old photographs. I'm not really keen onto reading the next book but I really just wanna look at the pictures .. Hehe I feel like a kindergarten child
bbckprpl's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure that I "really liked" this book, but I'm giving it four stars for two reasons: 1) It's different than a lot of the other YA that's out there, and in a way that isn't just 'OMG I'm trying so hard to be different!!' - it was authentically imaginative. and 2) Because it seems like there's a lot of places these characters could go, and I hope Ransom Riggs takes them there in future books.
On the negative side, the pictures did start to feel a little gimmicky by the end - as a scrapbooker (something I never thought would be relevant to any review I wrote ever), I can understand the urge to fit in one last awesome shot, but there comes a point when you have to let the story tell itself and some of the ending pictures did feel a bit forced.
The good definitely outweighed the bad, however: Strong characters, great world building, and a plot that doesn't go where you expect it to go are just a few things that would make me recommend this to other YA lovers.
On the negative side, the pictures did start to feel a little gimmicky by the end - as a scrapbooker (something I never thought would be relevant to any review I wrote ever), I can understand the urge to fit in one last awesome shot, but there comes a point when you have to let the story tell itself and some of the ending pictures did feel a bit forced.
The good definitely outweighed the bad, however: Strong characters, great world building, and a plot that doesn't go where you expect it to go are just a few things that would make me recommend this to other YA lovers.
graciegrace1178's review against another edition
4.0
4.4 stars.
This was?? Way better than I thought it was gonna be? And way DIFFERENT than I expected. Many thanks to the friend who recommended it!
PT: fantasy, young male protags, OTPs, Reading around the world/location-based (Florida and Wales!)
OT: supernatural, photograph inspired works, Emerson appreciation
WIL
1) tone. Not too often is see a Riordan-like tone in series. Thank god. Thank g o d.
2) OTPPPP. MCMWKFHWID
3) Hero's Journey to a T. (Partitioning the hero's journey main points as foci of later books! //Riordan) (AKA structure choices)
4) creative inspiration (pictures). Ransom’s idea to use pictures as inspiration is SO unique! Love that! What a creative idea! I always forget that people can draw inspiration from *anything,* and this was a nice reminder.
5) Recommended by friend. Thanks, Maximus! You know my taste in books too well.
6) decent pacing. Not too fast. Not too slow. Events were weighted appropriately (in contrast with my other recent read: Genius by Leopoldo Gout).
7) Face-claims. Extension of 4. Even beyond the pictures just being plain creative, they were also decently helpful in establishing character appearances and Vibes TM. I always struggle with envisioning character appearances. Was a nice addition for my imagination.
8) Emma. I’m partial to characters named Emma.
WIDL
1) Drag? maybe it's all the caffeine in my blood, but I had trouble getting into this/focusing on parts of this book.
2) less grounded in environment than I hoped. I kinda hoped that the book might cover more of the Welsh environment. That’s just me tho. I know why Riggs didn’t go into much detail on it, and it’s fair. Just personal preference.
3) pictures. 4/7 extension. The pictures are helpful BUT they’re also a bit detracting. Because they’re there, I didn’t have quite the same chance to envision the world for myself. There’s a bit of a restriction on meme states there.
Neutral Ground
1) Vibes. This book reminded me of a TON of others. I've broken down the similarities by category/parallels to other books:
The adventures: Percy Jackson.
The themes: Robert Cormier.
The monsters: Supernatural (wendigo) and Stranger Things.
Other book parallels that I have yet to articulate into categories: The Magicians, Ready Player One
This was?? Way better than I thought it was gonna be? And way DIFFERENT than I expected. Many thanks to the friend who recommended it!
PT: fantasy, young male protags, OTPs, Reading around the world/location-based (Florida and Wales!)
OT: supernatural, photograph inspired works, Emerson appreciation
WIL
1) tone. Not too often is see a Riordan-like tone in series. Thank god. Thank g o d.
2) OTPPPP. MCMWKFHWID
3) Hero's Journey to a T. (Partitioning the hero's journey main points as foci of later books! //Riordan) (AKA structure choices)
4) creative inspiration (pictures). Ransom’s idea to use pictures as inspiration is SO unique! Love that! What a creative idea! I always forget that people can draw inspiration from *anything,* and this was a nice reminder.
5) Recommended by friend. Thanks, Maximus! You know my taste in books too well.
6) decent pacing. Not too fast. Not too slow. Events were weighted appropriately (in contrast with my other recent read: Genius by Leopoldo Gout).
7) Face-claims. Extension of 4. Even beyond the pictures just being plain creative, they were also decently helpful in establishing character appearances and Vibes TM. I always struggle with envisioning character appearances. Was a nice addition for my imagination.
8) Emma. I’m partial to characters named Emma.
WIDL
1) Drag? maybe it's all the caffeine in my blood, but I had trouble getting into this/focusing on parts of this book.
2) less grounded in environment than I hoped. I kinda hoped that the book might cover more of the Welsh environment. That’s just me tho. I know why Riggs didn’t go into much detail on it, and it’s fair. Just personal preference.
3) pictures. 4/7 extension. The pictures are helpful BUT they’re also a bit detracting. Because they’re there, I didn’t have quite the same chance to envision the world for myself. There’s a bit of a restriction on meme states there.
Neutral Ground
1) Vibes. This book reminded me of a TON of others. I've broken down the similarities by category/parallels to other books:
The adventures: Percy Jackson.
The themes: Robert Cormier.
The monsters: Supernatural (wendigo) and Stranger Things.
Other book parallels that I have yet to articulate into categories: The Magicians, Ready Player One