The Peculiars Review

TITLE: The Peculiars
AUTHOR: Maureen Doyle McQuerry
RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2012
PAGES: 368 (ePub format)
PUBLISHER: Amulet Books
READ: February 23 - 26, 2012
BUY THIS BOOK AT: Amazon / Chapters.Indigo

SYNOPSIS This dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance.

On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena's father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.

This book had everything that I look for in a good book. It had mystery, it had a great adventure and it had awesome characters.  I really enjoyed the story of this book, I did, but that being said I had such a hard time getting into it because of the writing. I also feel I should note that it felt very slow, although that could have been due to my inability to get into the flow of the writing.  I'm not a huge fan of books written in the 3rd person and this one was also written in old speak (takes place in 1888).  The thing that kept me going on this one was the mysterious land of Scree.  I had to know what awaited in that peculiar place, otherwise I would have put this book down in the first 50 pages.  

I was also drawn to out MC Lena.  She had a longing about her, she had so many questions and she was willing to go to any length (and sometimes make terrible decisions with horrific consequences) to get her answers.  I connected with her sense of displacement, she didn't feel that she belonged anywhere, she wasn't quite normal but she wasn't quite peculiar either.  Jimson was also a great character, I loved his zest for life and he was a nice contrast, at times, to the serious undertones of the story.  The character I loved the most was Mr. Beasley, he had such a great heart!  The mystery that surrounded him for most of the novel was just as intriguing as the mystery surrounding the land of Scree.

I would definitely reccomend this book due to it's great story, but definitely warn of the style of writing and how it was difficult for me to adjust too.

Starters Review

TITLE: Starters
AUTHOR: Lissa Price
PAGES: 350 (eBook)
RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2012
PUBLISHER: Random House Children's Books
READ: February 14, 2012 - February 16, 2012
BUY THIS BOOK AT: Amazon / Chapters.Indigo 

SYNOPSIS Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

I was very excited for this novel, the premise intrigued me and the cover is absolutely stunning.  As they say, never judge a book by its cover!  It started out with promise,  Lissa Price did a great job of showing the tough, gritty life that Callie and her loved ones were facing everyday post war.  But then the flaws just started flowing, heavily! My first question was why are there all of these "unclaimed minors"? Sure, following the spore wars everyone between the ages of 20-60 died due to limited vaccines and the government prioritising the most at-risk (people under 20 and over 60) but why weren't any of these kids claimed?  The author created a world where only rich grandparents cared about their grandchildren and all the middle-lower class kids were abandoned and left to become bottom feeding alley dwellers.  Seriously, think about it? How many people don't have someone in their family over 60? I would say not too many.  

The relationships were also heavily flawed.  The connection between Blake & Callie held no merit from the very beginning, which is kind of explained in the end, but it was never believable to begin with.  The character of Micheal was never explored enough for us to build a connection to what he and Callie could possibly have between them. I feel like that was a big overstep because he clearly cared about her and her little brother, so there could have been real emotion there.  

In the end, there was a few twists that did take me by surprise.  No one was as they seemed, but it just wasn't enough to leave me asking for more.  This is a book that I will not be recommending to anyone looking for a good read.

***Synopsis & book covers are taken from GoodReads***