[Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs]

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"
Author: Ransom Riggs
Series: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #1
Pages: 356
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Date Published: June 7th, 2011
Publisher: Quirk
Format Read: Purchased paperback

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Summary:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

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. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children,

You are one of those rare books that leave me wondering what will happen next. One of those books that mixes all the things that I adore together in a giant black hole and somehow ends up turning out rather wonderfully, instead of like a train wreck. I do have to say that I didn't find you very spine chilling, you had a few moments, but I thought you ended up being more of an adventure story. Don't get me wrong I still liked you, even if you didn't scare the pants off of me.

-The White Unicorn

I'm not sure why I waited so long to read this book. I've had my eye on it for awhile, but I just kept picking other things to read instead. Well, I'm glad that I finally got around to it. Riggs has a way with words that is unique. It's this weird blend of straight forward and mysterious that makes you wonder what is going to happen next, while also lining up the events perfectly. 

The story itself is creepy, though I can't say that I was personally creeped out. Monsters and weird things have a huge role to play in the book, and sometimes it's hard to know which is which. I liked that we as readers found things out at the same time as Jacob, and that Riggs chooses to keep his readers in the dark for as long as possible. It ups the intensity of the novel. It's true that I can say that I wasn't freaked out this book, but I did find it to be one of those "on the edge of my seat" type reads. 

I was also surprised at all the World War II history filling the pages. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that Peculiar Children is a bit of a time travel novel, and there in lays the WWII stuff. It also has a bit about The Jews during the time, as Jacob's grandfather was a Jew who escaped the Nazi regime. That bit of history made you wonder if there was really something so mysterious going on or if a bunch a scared kids had made up fanciful stories to make sense of things. It was a clever story telling tool and one that I enjoyed a lot.

Jacob was a wonderful main character and I've been wanted to read more male leads, so I was glad that I liked him so much. He handles the things that get thrown at him like a champ and the way he blends in with the strangeness of the things around him was a lot of fun to watch. 

I can't really tell you a lot about the children themselves without giving away huge chunks of the plot. So for the 5 of you that haven't read this book yet, I'll keep my mouth shut. I will say that I love how Riggs brought them to life. 

Also, if you're wanting to read this one, try to snag yourself a hard copy! The book is full of vintage pictures that Riggs uses to tell the story and I think the have a profound effect on how you read the novel!

My Rating:

 4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!