My Book Reviews

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been meaning to read this book for the longest time. -Okay, maybe not exactly as long as you'd think, but I'd wanted to read it since I first found out about it. Then, maybe after a while of not picking it up to read after having it, the excitement died down. I began to doubt if I was even interested in it anymore.
So when I picked it up to read last week, I had 2 expectations: either be sorely disappointed, or completely engrossed.
And I can happily say it was the latter. ;) Even I was shocked at the rate in which I was reading, hah. And for those who hadn't read it yet, let me just say that page 296 brought such an unexpected revelation to me that I actually gasped out loud as I read it.
I can't wait to read the next book, and I have high expectations for it too. I just hope it won't be focused majorly on the history of the peculiars or the loops, because I have a feeling then that it would be quite boring.
Anyhow.. I can't wait to see what happens next, so I think I'll probably start on the next book tonight itself. ;)

The Zahir by Paulo Coelho
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some time ago, I came across this post in the Elephant Journal. Judging from what Tammy Stone wrote, the book was apparently very good and 'woke her up'. I had been meaning to read Paulo Coelho's works for the longest time as well, but I didn't know which book to start on. And since I had been going through some stuff when I came across that article, I decided that that was the first Paulo Coelho book that I was going to read.
Ater asking opinions from friends about the book, they were a bit apprehensive. One of my friends suggested that it may not be everyone's cup of tea, and that I should consider buying a pre-loved version. I did, and then I came on Goodreads to read other people's review and found that the majority hadn't liked it. Good thing I bought a pre-loved one instead then.
I thought it was okay though. It's not exactly the most interesting of books I've read, but it did come with a few good lessons. It was quite an easy read; and I don't mean that as in it was interesting, rather, I couldn't seem to put it down when I read it. I was glad to finish it though.
The ending, I felt, was not too well closed. Also, it could probably be due to personal beliefs and experiences, but I really didn't like the idea that both the writer and Esther were married, but were okay with sleeping around with other people. But I guess, to each their own eh?
There were, I think, also some situations left unanswered. Or maybe Paulo intended it to be open-ended. But I can say this though: I don't think I'd pick up another book of Paulo's. I don't mean that in a bad way or an offense; just that perhaps his books aren't really my cup of tea after all.