Kate DiCamillo: The Tale of Despereaux (2004)

    Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea (Goodreads).

     It might be charming, but beyond that, The Tale of Despereaux is extremely underwhelming. It's hard to root for the protagonists, not because one of them is named after a vegetable, though that doesn't help, but, to be honest, they don't really do much. Light is good and dark is bad, and sometimes, the imagery going along with that in the book is pretty well-executed, but the entire plot is mostly forgettable. It's also kind of annoying being constantly reminded of what just happened a few seconds ago by random interjections from the author. Luckily, the author writes well enough, with a calm, clear diction, that these interruptions are bearable. Imagery is done well, and the author describes things with an endearing, intelligent voice, and the vocabulary is pretty well done, but a bland plot, characters, and dialogue make for a fairly 'meh' read. 6.5/10

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Return of the King (1955)

    The armies of the Dark Lord are massing as his evil shadow spreads even wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite forces to do battle against the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring (Goodreads).

    Although it is the third installment in his fantasy epic, Tolkien's world building expertise shines again as he introduces new places, people, and history that makes one feel as if they have been immersed for much longer than they actually have. As the suspense builds towards the climax, readers are torn between wanting to stay surrounded by Tolkien's beautiful, borderline verbose, diction and discovering the penultimate ending. The author switches between different points of view seamlessly, and the many layers of plots and subplots add to an incredible experience. Having Frodo and Sam's journey as a completely separate section of the book has its pros and cons, a pro being able to stay involved with each character more thoroughly, a con being repeated reminders of what is taking place at which time. Nevertheless, Tolkien's fantastic, and by now legendary storytelling abilities more than make up for it, stupendously finishing the saga. 8.8/10

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)

    Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society (Goodreads).

    A brilliant portrayal of humanity at its most raw, Oscar Wilde uses his trademark wit and thought-provoking philosophy to weave a grand tale that begins as a bold venture into human morality and sin, and finishes as a chilling yarn of horrific proportions. Countless quotable lines are peppered throughout, as Wilde showcases his talent at both dialogue and overall narration. Characterization is also done splendidly, as Basil, Lord Henry, and Dorian Gray himself all shine in their own specific way. The title character in particular stands out, as his transformation from innocent young man into cold-blooded killer paints (heh) an eerie picture of humanity at its worst. Wilde wraps it up with a grim (although, to be fair, somewhat predictable) ending, yet the novel itself leaves readers thinking about its contents for a long time afterwards. 8.7/10

Patrick Ness: The Knife of Never Letting Go (2008)

    Imagine you can hear everything the town of men say about you. And they can hear everything you think. Imagine you don't fit into their plans. Todd Hewitt is just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man. But his town has been keeping secrets from him. Secrets that are going to force him to run (Goodreads).

    Yeah, it's a little hard to get into, a little difficult to adjust to the narrating voice, but at the same time, the simplistic diction strikes hard into the heart of the reader, and the repetitive way that Ness writes is only repetitive in the sense that his writing strikes an emotional blow every time. This repetition seems to bleed into the story structure, however, and some scenes feel a bit too much like earlier ones. In addition to the writing, Ness also develops wonderful characters, with the conflicted Todd and the intelligent Viola. His world building is also executed decently, although the setting itself isn't incredibly unique. The history and lore of the world, however, is perfectly written, complete with a sadistic cast of villains that relentlessly pursue our heroes, leading to a seemingly hopeless main story, which, with Ness' short, poignant style, leads readers to also long for relief with the protagonists. The main intense scenes are written with such an enthralling simplicity that readers are left with an unfamiliar sense of "hold up, did that just happen?" that they wouldn't have gotten with a scene that is extremely detailed. It's a bold approach, but Ness pulls it off. And that's without mentioning the cool, overwhelming font changes with the Noise. Some heartbreaking... erm... departures add to the overpowering sense of hopelessness woven throughout the tale, and the recurring themes of truth and coming-of-age are also developed well. Wrap it up with one heck of a cliffhanger, and we're left with an incredible series opener. 8.6/10

Ransom Riggs: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2011)

    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 (Goodreads).

    A very unique concept with found photography is fleshed out beautifully in this introductory novel to Riggs' trilogy. The first half of the novel is particularly excellent in establishing characters and conflict, and although the protagonist is a bit of a brat at times, his multidimensional character gives wonderful substance to the plot around him. The supporting cast has its moments, but are slightly flat at times (other than the protagonist's father, who has great depth, and almost needed more plot dedicated to his internal conflict). After the first half, the book slips slightly into the YA novel trap of typical good versus evil tropes and a weak romance. The main villains aren't too interesting, but Riggs' use of descriptive language and red herrings overwhelms the novel's few shortcomings, most of which are hopefully redeemed in the last two parts of the trilogy. All in all, a great world-building novel that combines intriguing images with an equally compelling story. 8.0/10

Marcus Sedgwick: The Ghosts of Heaven (2014)

    A cleverly interlinked novel written in four parts by PRINTZ AWARD-winning author, Marcus Sedgwick, about survival and discovery, and about the effect of the spiral, a symbol that has no end, on all our lives (Goodreads).

    Sedgwick creates a cool concept, with the four unique stories and compelling characters, but for all the anticipation of a mind-blowing novel, it doesn't really live up to the hype. Sure, it's mildly thought-provoking, but more like a nice collection of short stories slightly tied together, similar to Bradbury's Illustrated Man. In addition to stretching its connectivity, the possibility of reading the stories in different order is somewhat useless and doesn't really add anything (there is also the matter of there being an obvious conclusion in the final installment, tying the four together, rendering this concept of reading in any order somewhat useless). Other than the wasted potential, Sedgwick successfully builds great suspense in each story, and the use of verse in the opening is also a creative way to narrate, and what is very impressive about that is the way it stays compelling. The third tale is also quite intriguing and original, but the second and fourth, while still interesting, aren't quite up to par with the originality of the others, even though the last two are wonderfully emotional and profound. 6.9/10

Kevin Sands: The Assassin's Curse (2017)

    Wherever Christopher Rowe goes, adventure—and murder—follows. Even a chance to meet King Charles ends in a brush with an assassin. All that’s recovered from the killer is a coded message with an ominous sign-off: more attempts are coming (Goodreads).

     It was going to be difficult to follow up on the fantastic second book, but this third novel in Sands' historical mystery is really quite satisfying on many levels. A new setting is given to readers, this time exploring Paris instead of London, and the winding streets and secrets of the city give a good backdrop for the story. Christopher is, once again, very compelling, as are his two sidekicks, although it's becoming a bit Golden Trio, if you know what I mean. Tom especially branches out in this one, and provides good comic relief throughout. Sally, too, is fleshed out a bit more as well, which is great considering her character was a bit bland in the second book. Sands once again has readers on their toes throughout, giving several candidates for the main antagonist, but still giving a surprising twist at the end. The villains are adequately, well, villainous, but they are not developed quite as much as would be ideal, although the ending message could prove otherwise in the future. 8.1/10