Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar ChildrenAuthor: Ransom Riggs
Rating: 3/5
Blurb (taken from Goodreads):
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, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.
Review:
I never wanted to read this book, but I put in a request at my local library after seeing the trailer for the upcoming movie. It was bright and colourful, it was mysterious, it was peculiar, and it definit ely piqued my interest. It took me the full loan period to read the book, however, because it did not meet my expectations.
In a nutshell, this book was flat. There were little twists through the book that had me read on excitedly, but for the most parts, I picked it up only because I had to return it sooner than later. I couldn’t bring myself to care about any secondary character. The plot didn’t wow me as much as I anticipated. The world building, however, was very cool and made the book worth it.
Also, it’s not a frightening book, as the cover may suggest. It’s a good mix of mystery and action that will entertain many people, but it’s not scary. Perhaps I would also say it’s a bit more gory than I’d expect from a child’s book.
I didn’t hate it, so I will definitely pick up the sequel and go see the movie — because boy, does it have potential as a movie. Everything that I found flat will most likely be heightened (sensationalized?) by Hollywood, and for once, I am actually very excited about that!
Please note that people should reconsider buying this as an ebook, unless they have an ereader that allows them to zoom in, or that has a great screen quality. Some letters are “hand written” and I couldn’t make out the text on my iPhone.