Technically, this is a "kindle single" but I read it so I'm going to mention it.
It begins with Pete, a young kid looking to have a little adventure and to show his big brother that he's not as lame as his friends think. He decides to go check out the closed-down rest stop, where all the bigger kids sometimes hang out, and see what he can see. While there, he finds a bottle of vodka, proceeds to get drunk on two sips, and passes out. While asleep, a mysterious car with no driver coasts up to the rest stop and proceeds to eat people.
The story than switches to the point of view of the subsequent victims, and I like the little peek into their lives even though their lives soon end. I like how King gives even the smallest characters a story.
He only let me down with the car itself. We know these great little details about everyone else, but all we know about this car is that it's not a car, and it's not of this world. I would LOVE it if he just threw in a tiny detail that I could tie into his other works.
But, that aside, it's a great little story, I enjoyed it.
Also, I'd like to endorse the shit out of amazon right now--I ordered this online and had it sent immediately to my phone and OH MY GOD I LOVE TECHNOLOGY WE LIVE IN A GREAT WORLD, YOU GUYS.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
Linky link!!! First of all, author used a bunch of "found" images to illustrate the book, and that was a fantastic choice! It added a bit of fun to it, and it needed that bit of fun, because otherwise it was a tad weak. Seriously. I tried really hard to make this my new Harry Potter, or Hunger Games, but no dice. It's not a bad book, it's just not the greatest young adult book ever written.
Here's a bit about it:
Main character: Jacob. Jacob's grandfather used to tell him these fantastic stories about his life in an orphanage/children's home, with all these special children who could do extraordinary things. As Jacob grew up, he believed these stories less. Then, grandfather dies. Jacob sees the thing that killed him, and decides he needs to unravel the mystery of his grandfather's life if he's going to ever be able to cope with his death. He travels all the way to Wales, to a tiny little island, searching for the Home. Spoilers!
He finds it. And through some time travel made possible by a woman who can turn into a bird, he finds the children--all of them still children. They're in hiding, you see. Some of their kind are evil (which is what killed the grandpa) and so they hide in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again. The REALLY bad guys can't go through time loops. Then, they're attacked by a really bad guy and a slightly lesser evil guy, and they have to flee the island and search out more of their kind, get help for their birdwoman, and warn the others. Jacob decides to stay with them, leaving his family without notice. Honestly, the way they're written, they deserve it. But, it still feels like a really shitty thing to do. I guess because I have a much better relationship with my parents than Jacob. Also, I'm starting to notice this more and more in young adult books, this willingness to leave normalcy, and family, to go on adventures. Maybe it's not a new thing, but maybe I'm just noticing it because I'm an adult and the idea of all these kids virtually on their own frightens me. I worry about their safety now! I am a responsible adult! Whereas I saw nothing wrong with it as a teenager.
Also, hey, guess what? Amazon has these Kindle Singles and you can buy short stories for like 3 dollars. And, also, awesomely, I can go on Amazon, buy it, send it to my phone, and then IMMEDIATELY I AM READING A SHORT STORY BY STEPHEN KING THAT I JUST FOUND OUT EXISTED.
I am kind of excited about this.
Here's a bit about it:
Main character: Jacob. Jacob's grandfather used to tell him these fantastic stories about his life in an orphanage/children's home, with all these special children who could do extraordinary things. As Jacob grew up, he believed these stories less. Then, grandfather dies. Jacob sees the thing that killed him, and decides he needs to unravel the mystery of his grandfather's life if he's going to ever be able to cope with his death. He travels all the way to Wales, to a tiny little island, searching for the Home. Spoilers!
He finds it. And through some time travel made possible by a woman who can turn into a bird, he finds the children--all of them still children. They're in hiding, you see. Some of their kind are evil (which is what killed the grandpa) and so they hide in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again. The REALLY bad guys can't go through time loops. Then, they're attacked by a really bad guy and a slightly lesser evil guy, and they have to flee the island and search out more of their kind, get help for their birdwoman, and warn the others. Jacob decides to stay with them, leaving his family without notice. Honestly, the way they're written, they deserve it. But, it still feels like a really shitty thing to do. I guess because I have a much better relationship with my parents than Jacob. Also, I'm starting to notice this more and more in young adult books, this willingness to leave normalcy, and family, to go on adventures. Maybe it's not a new thing, but maybe I'm just noticing it because I'm an adult and the idea of all these kids virtually on their own frightens me. I worry about their safety now! I am a responsible adult! Whereas I saw nothing wrong with it as a teenager.
Also, hey, guess what? Amazon has these Kindle Singles and you can buy short stories for like 3 dollars. And, also, awesomely, I can go on Amazon, buy it, send it to my phone, and then IMMEDIATELY I AM READING A SHORT STORY BY STEPHEN KING THAT I JUST FOUND OUT EXISTED.
I am kind of excited about this.
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