Sunday 1 January 2012

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Hardback, 352 pages

Published June 7th 2011 by Quirk Publishing

My shelves:
 books-i-own, cover-appeal, fantasy, horror, read-in-2012, really-good, sci-fi, supernatural, title-appeal, ww2, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Description via Goodreads


A mysterious island.An abandoned orphanage.A strange collection of very curious photographs.
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. 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. 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,Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.


My Review


This is one book that you can judge by its cover. The cover and dust jacket of this book are stunning, as is, most importantly, the contents. As well as gorgeous white pages and patterned chapter beginnings, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is scattered with genuine, eccentric and very distinctive vintage photographs. These are the real base for the story and it's interesting to see how Riggs managed to link them all together - I can imagine that this would've been a very fun plot to create. A couple of the photographs did feel as though they were forcibly stuck into the story, but I enjoyed looking at them all the same. 


I think that the chosen word for this book, peculiar, is very apt in all aspects. It is a very quirky and quite a unique book but although it is all so very strange, it feels natural to the story and there is no feeling that the author is trying too hard. There was some slight over description at points, but I never once got bored. I enjoyed sitting back and reading the descriptions of the Welsh island setting and also of all of the characters that Jacob, our protagonist, met. Riggs has a way with making everything feel eerie. There is a sort of fairytale like feeling to the story, but it is twisted and dark. As aforementioned, I never got bored of reading this book - there are enough twists and the action increased as the book progressed. There was not a whole lot of action during the first half of the story but I actually somewhat preferred the discovery of things rather than the fast paced events that took place near the end.


I liked Jacob as a protagonist. He was imperfect and he felt real and as rational as anyone could be under his circumstances. We learned a few things about him, personality wise, as he tried to make sense of unanswered questions left to him by his grandfather who was killed. I particularly enjoyed reading about Jacob's relationship with Emma, his grandfather's old flame, but I thought it should've been more complex - Jacob only seemed to doubt the morality of it once. The children were also interesting, creepy and charming. I'm still left wanting to know more about all of the characters though, there is still a lot of room for development.


I was a little disappointed with the ending, but if there is a sequel (which there is certainly place for) then I'd feel a lot more positive about it. I'd love to learn more and follow Jacob and the children on their 'mission'. This is an unusual, unique read and it is something that I'd definitely recommend for teens and adults alike. 

22 comments:

  1. Your review is totally bang on! Exactly what I felt about the book. And I was really weirded out by Jacob's relationship with Emma too. Oh, and I read from Ransom Riggs' blog that there's definitely a sequel coming, and that Summit (I think, can't quite remember) bought movie rights for Miss Peregrine's, so there may be a movie!

    Following you now too! :) Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  2. I've wanted to read this book ever since I discovered it. So happy you enjoyed it! Now I want to read it even more ^^

    Wdebo :)

    P.S. I really like your blog! It's so cute ^^ Do you want to do a follower/Link exchange? :)

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  3. I've been curious about this book. It sounds like something to read when you just want to read something totally different from all the other stuff that's out there. Great review!

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  4. Sounds creepy! I have this book on my shelf and I'm scared to read it. Great review!

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  5. I totally love the cover for this, too. I did have some issues with reading it myself, but you wrote a great review! I'm glad you liked it! :)

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  6. I've been seeing this book around a lot lately. The illustrations/cover art really does a good job of setting the eerie mood! What I did wonder is what the plot is actually like. All the summary mentions is him visiting an abandoned orphanage, so it's good to hear that there's action and plot twists :)

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  7. I've been eyeing this one...the concept is totally awesome, but I've heard a few whispers that the execution isn't all that. I love the idea of putting the old photographs in, and that might just trump everything else. Enjoyed your review-it made me put the book on hold at the library!

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  8. New follower.
    Good review. I just read like the first two chapters and then got sidetracked.
    Will finish reading it though. :)

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  9. Even though I love the creepiness of the cover for this one, I'm pretty sure this is the first review I've read for it. It sounds so good, and that's awesome how the author ties pictures into the story! I'll definitely have to check it out sometime soon. Great review! :)

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  10. I've been putting off reading this one because as much as I love the premise and it looks completely interesting, the cover scares the heck out of me. Your review is fantastic though and almost makes me want to pick it up! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Am following you in return :)

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  11. Great review! I actually share many of your thoughts about the book. It was engaging, and I think quirky does best describe it. The photos added a nice touch. The book did break out of a lot of YA molds.

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  12. I've been wanting to read this for awhile. :) I love how the book includes photos, that's just so different from all the other typical books I've read. Not to mention that this looks really creepy, and I love to scare myself (even though it ends up keeping me up at night). Great review!

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  13. Somehow this book just doesn't call to me.
    It's kind of sad.

    But still, I do like the cover and i'm glad you liked it over all.

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  14. I've wanted to read this book so YAY for reviews! it is on Kindle but I think this is going to be one that you have to buy the book and the ebook version just doesn't cut it! :-)

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  15. I've been very back and forth on whether to read this one, but your review has prompted me to go and at least pick it up and examine it in the flesh. Thanks for a very realistic and honest description.

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  16. Thanks for following me and for your kind words. I have read about this book too. I will definitely check it out.

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  17. I've been super curious about this one. Most have really enjoyed it.

    Thanks for stopping by today.

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  18. I'm pretty sure there is a sequel for this one, so at least there's that. I've heard good things about this book, and I think I might check it out. I avoided it at first because I am a huge wimp and some of those pictures are SO creepy!!

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  19. I've been thinking about reading this, but the synopsis and the cover just creeps me out! :/ I always though it's just way too scary, but maybe I have to check it out :)

    Thanks for stopping by, I'm a new follower! :)

    Monaliz @ Mind Reading?

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  20. I've heard a lot of rave reviews about this book and I've seen it in the book store. It DOES look surreal and I've added it to my TBR list!

    Thanks for the review. It certainly encouraged me more to go out there and pick it up. It's also the author's debut novel, too, I think. What a great job!

    Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez
    zgarcia(dot)alvarez(at)gmail(dot)com
    On Twitter: @ZaraAlexis
    My Blog: The Bibliotaphe's Closet - http://zaraalexis.wordpress.com

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  21. This one was a lot of fun, I loved it! I can't wait for the next in this series. :)

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  22. Another one that I've been dying to read! :-)

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