Mini-Reviews: Miss Peregrine's Home, True Colors, and Between Shades of Gray

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Amazon Synopsis: A mysterious island.

 An abandoned orphanage.

 A strange collection of very curious photographs.

 As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive. 



This book had way more fantasy aspects than I believed it would and I loved every minute of reading it. The pictures of the children from the island really creeped me out. When I was reading the notes by the author, I realized that the pictures were real ones that he found. I am sure that all the tricks in the pictures were just that . . . tricks. But that doesn't stop them from being creepy. I was so engrossed in Jacob's story. The synopsis indicates that the children could be alive. I was thinking ghosts or a haunting of some kind. I won't give away any spoilers, but the way Jacob was able to communicate with them was quite a surprise. I need to read the next one in the series! Buy/Borrow/Skip: buy it!

True Colors by Kristin Hannah

Amazon Synopsis: The Grey sisters have always been close. After their mother's death, the girls banded together, becoming best friends. Their stern, disapproving father cares less about his children than about his reputation. To Henry Grey, appearances are everything, and years later, he still demands that his daughters reflect his standing in the community. In a matter of moments, everything will change. The Grey sisters will be pitted against one another in ways that none could have imagined. Loyalties will be tested and secrets revealed, and a terrible, shocking crime will shatter both their family and their beloved town.

If I had based my review on the characters alone, especially for the first quarter of the book, I would have hated it. There was a love triangle . . . or actually a love square and a whole lot of insta love. Winona hated her sister for dating a guy (Luke) that she was in love with, despite the fact that neither Vivi Ann, nor Luke, even knew about Winona's feelings. Vivi Ann agrees to marry Luke even though she doesn't love him and of course she begins cheating on him with the new ranch hand, Dallas. Ugh. I hate cheating. But Kristin Hannah does know how to write family drama. It ended up being a great story about sisters and redemption. I loved that the main point throughout the story wasn't even about the men; it was about family and being there for them when they need you. There were bumpy roads, but Hannah manages to give us the predictably happy ending I wanted. I felt like the ending was almost wrapped up too neatly and some of it was unrealtistic, but I still enjoyed the story. Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy it, especially if you are a fan of Kristin Hannah's work.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Amazon Synopsis: Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions. Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously-and at great risk-documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive.

I am not sure why, but this story just didn't grab me. It is a very important book on a very important subject matter, but it just wasn't that great of a book. Maybe it was the writing, but I just wasn't able to connect with Lina and her family. The author would add flashbacks to Lina's old life in unusual spots. I know the author was trying to illustrate what Lina had lost, but it distracted from the main narrative and did not add anything to the plot. I can forgive some of Lina's impulsive actions and her tendency to jump to conclusions because of her age. I saw a lot of character development and maturity with Lina over the course of the book. I wasn't a fan of the ending because it left too many questions about what happened with most of the characters. It doesn't even say whether Lina and her brother ever connected with their father again. The epilogue also took place fifty-four years after the last chapter and it wasn't even in Lina's POV. That is just another example of the author causing a disconnect between me and the characters. Buy/Borrow/Skip: Borrow it. It is an important book, but it was not as compelling as it could have been.