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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I used to get really annoyed when the author of a series would recap - sometimes in great detail - what had happened in previous books, because I slammed down series in quick succession so I KNEW what had just happened, because I'd just binge-read the books in which it did, but now I get it because Ransom Riggs didn't do that at all and I was So Lost.
The romance between Jacob and Emma was also outrageously boring. To be fair, I'm biased against m/f romance in books because there's already so much of it (I'm just saying, if you're going to write a straight romance, at least make it interesting) and the one at the heart of this series definitely does not break the norm in feeling gratuitous and unmotivated by anything other than the feeling of needing to have a romantic element.
The plot moves pretty quickly and it's reasonably interesting, but this series also does that "oh, is it science or is it magic??? somehow it's BOTH" deal in re: peculiarity which annoys me a lot. It's not necessarily an objectively bad thing, but it seems like, if you're going to explain peculiarity as the existence of some kind of second soul, then just fully commit to that, with peculiarity being something ethereal and kind of supernatural and not controlled by A Gene.
Also, the use of photos seemed super contrived in this one - in the first, at least, they were apparently impossible things (an invisible man, a woman lifting many times more than her weight, etc.) but these were just random photographs, and they were fine, but it felt like the whole writing process was one of those exercises they give you when you're a kid who likes writing and you go to like writing camp, and they say, ok look at this pictures and make up a story, but Ransom Riggs is an adult and he forgot to take the pictures out afterwards. They felt completely superfluous.
The romance between Jacob and Emma was also outrageously boring. To be fair, I'm biased against m/f romance in books because there's already so much of it (I'm just saying, if you're going to write a straight romance, at least make it interesting) and the one at the heart of this series definitely does not break the norm in feeling gratuitous and unmotivated by anything other than the feeling of needing to have a romantic element.
The plot moves pretty quickly and it's reasonably interesting, but this series also does that "oh, is it science or is it magic??? somehow it's BOTH" deal in re: peculiarity which annoys me a lot. It's not necessarily an objectively bad thing, but it seems like, if you're going to explain peculiarity as the existence of some kind of second soul, then just fully commit to that, with peculiarity being something ethereal and kind of supernatural and not controlled by A Gene.
Also, the use of photos seemed super contrived in this one - in the first, at least, they were apparently impossible things (an invisible man, a woman lifting many times more than her weight, etc.) but these were just random photographs, and they were fine, but it felt like the whole writing process was one of those exercises they give you when you're a kid who likes writing and you go to like writing camp, and they say, ok look at this pictures and make up a story, but Ransom Riggs is an adult and he forgot to take the pictures out afterwards. They felt completely superfluous.
The first was wonderful, from concept to completion. I felt Hollow City was the author stretching it to make a story with the old pictures.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maldição do segundo livro
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Derek is the only reason I finished this lol
He seems to be really enjoying it and I would have DNF a long time ago.
Audiobook from Libby! Ready to finish the series and move on to something else.
He seems to be really enjoying it and I would have DNF a long time ago.
Audiobook from Libby! Ready to finish the series and move on to something else.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While this did have some slow moments, and the romance still made me feel uncomfortable due to the age disparity, I still enjoyed the story and it kept me captivated enough to continue the series.