I finished reading 'Go Set a Watchman' in September. We are now approaching the end of October and I have only just willed myself to begin writing my review. This book didn't excite me. I knew, when I first began reading, that it wouldn't be nearly as good as 'To Kill a Mockingbird' yet I was still intrigued to read what else Harper Lee had written.

'Go Set a Watchman' was written before 'To Kill a Mockingbird', and is essentially its first draft. Scout, now 26 and living in New York, returns to Maycomb in Alabama to visit her elderly father, where she discovers disturbing truths about her family regarding their views on African Americans. This particular time period also happened to correspond perfectly with my current History A Level topic of 'U.S. Civil Rights for African Americans' so I really enjoyed the contextual aspect of the book.

Scout - or Jean Louise as she was known in this book - had grown up to be exactly who I always thought she would be. Scout's character development, from what we saw of the stubborn, self-willed child in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', to the outspoken, plucky feminist in 'Go Set a Watchman' was seamless.

The book certainly had its charming moments, namely in the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, such as young Scout's confusion as to whether she was pregnant or not. Although this was amusing, it did also reflect the attitudes to women and such taboo subjects, and how little was known about such issues at the time. Despite enjoying this particular flashback I found most of them quite unnecessary. Other than giving the reader some insight into Scout's childhood - which we already had having read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' - these stories did not advance the plot at all. It almost felt as if Lee was struggling for things to write and really preferred writing about the young Jean Louise.

In addition to this, it took an extremely long time for anything to really get going in the book.In fact not a huge amount did happen until the final few pages which were a lot more dramatic than the entire novel. This only made the book feel even more dated, and I couldn't help but think that, if it had to be released at all
, it should have been published years ago.

Recently I went to see the movie adaptation of 'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children'. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the film but, considering it was directed by Tim Burton, I had reasonably high expectations.

I'll begin with the first part of the film. I absolutely loved the opening title sequence and getting to see Tim Burton's interpretation of the pictures that really make the book what it is. We don't often see long opening title sequences in film anymore so this was an interesting, unique addition that gave it an old-fashioned feel. I loved the huge dramatic build up to what turned out to be simply a sunny Florida beach. The film was full of little comedic moments such as that which I really enjoyed. Plus I can't go without mentioning baby Jacob who was absolutely adorable. I will say however that I wasn't one hundred percent sure about the acting during the first few minutes. Whether that was the fault of the script, the actors, or the directions they were given, I wasn't convinced by Jacob and his granddad's "close" relationship.

The cinematography was haunting and very Tim Burton-esque, and the locations were perfect. The Welsh pub Jacob stays at with his father was exactly as I had imagined when reading the book. Even Miss Peregrine's school was almost identical to the picture I had in my head. Tim Burton's style and aesthetic perfectly fitted the story.

The children were also wonderful. Of course I could be completely wrong and they all happened to connect incredibly quickly on set, but it felt as though Tim Burton had made sure the Peculiars bonded pre-filming to really get across the fact that they had been living together for a hundred odd years. The friendship between them was clear on screen, and little details such as Enoch holding Claire's hand were both adorable and added to this.

I know a lot of people were angered by a few of the changes from the book, one being the choice to swap Olive and Emma's peculiarities. Personally I didn't find this swap at all detracted from the film so didn't make a huge difference to me. However neither did this change benefit the plot which made it all the more unnecessary. I will also say that I wasn't such a fan of Emma's personality in the film. She was such a fiery character in the book, and she didn't come across nearly as headstrong. Of course I can't go without mentioning the most obvious and bizarre change: the ending. Even if I could have separated the book from the film I'm still not sure if I would have enjoyed this "battle" scene. I was all right with this alteration, as it didn't hugely impact the overall plot, until the final few minutes. So much was changed for no particular reason: Abe ending up alive, Jacob going through various time periods to get back to Emma, and Miss Peregrine being revealed in her human form. The latter particularly frustrated me as it completely destroyed any possibility of making 'Hollow City' and 'Library of Souls' since the plots so heavily rely on Miss Peregrine being stuck in her bird form. Perhaps they chose to leave it as one film but at least they could have allowed themselves the chance to make the next two if they wanted. Then again, who am I to tell Tim Burton what to do with his movie?

All in all I did really enjoy this film, and had fun watching it which is arguably the most important aspect. The cast were brilliant and surprisingly mainstream (Judi Dench, Chris O'Dowd, Samuel L Jackson and Rupert Everett all made appearances); the cinematography was haunting; and the children were perfectly cast. My only real issue with the film was the ending and the fact that, should they choose to adapt the next two books, the plot will have to be entirely different.

4/5