Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Series/Standalone: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children (Book #1)
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 353
Publisher: Quirk Books
Year Published: 2011
Format: Paperback Physical Copy (Own it)
First Line: "I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen."

"A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of peculiar 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 decaying bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine's children were more than just peculiar. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow- impossible though it seems- they may still be alive."

My Rating: 3.5/5

I was recommended this book multiple times either by people I knew well or those who are very big in the YA reading community (whether through booktube, or book blogging) and I'm going to tick a lot of people off with this review and spoiler. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book for what it was. The photographs were chilling and held me captivated in the story when I was really into reading. That being said, it took me 2 weeks to get through this book and it didn't capture my complete attention for most of the time. I want to add that this book just did not live up to the hype for me. The premise was interesting to me, until about half way through the book, when there were many "secrets" being kept from the reader. I felt that I had figured out the secrets that some characters were keeping. I also found the love interest interesting and strangely hard to support for reasons that I don't even understand. I hope to continue on with the series and see how I feel about the next instalment before passing judgement on the series, but I am going into the next book with far lower expectations. 
All in all, I think that Ransom Riggs portrays an interesting story using photographs as well as imaginative descriptions. I would recommend this book to younger readers venturing into YA fantasy/paranormal for the first time.

Thanks for reading,
Sidny

Spoiler: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

To begin, these thoughts are my own opinion and if you're a die-hard fan of this series more power to you.

Based on that opening line, I have a feeling many of you know what I'm about to say. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. It was a solid OK read for me. I think that the format of this novel was very interesting and yes I plan on continuing the story to learn more about the characters and the world. This being said, I didn't fall in love with the writing style or our main characters. I thought that this premise had a lot of promise and after being recommended it several times I had high expectations for this book. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the read for me. It took me a long time to read and I feel that while I'll remember this book, I may mostly remember the format. To continue my thoughts let's get into some character discussion.


Characters:
Jacob: Not my favourite main character, I felt for him in the beginning of the story. Dealing with the feeling that he didn't really belong and then witnessing a horrific scene. But then throughout the book, he was so severally wishy washy that it drove me crazy.  I think that his interest in Emma was questioned for only the briefest of seconds before it was just happening. It made me wonder about how he could make the decision so fast, but during other times just couldn't figure out what the heck to do.

Emma: Again interesting, but I wonder about her relationship with Abe and if she's really over it or if she's just replacing him with Jacob. I know it's been a long period of time, but still. She's been stuck reliving the same time over and over. It makes me wonder.

Miss Peregrine: I also wonder more about her past and her brothers. I think there may have been a name drop near the end of the book, but I'm too lazy to go back and check. I wonder if she'll ever be able to transform again. 

Millard: Probably one of my favourite characters. The way he speaks and just tells everyone how it is (especially after he's been shot). I wonder about his future in the series for sure.

Enoch: Creepy little shit... isn't he? But I like him for that reason especially. He's what I thought this book would be... creepy kids.

Olivia: She's so incredibly young, makes you wonder how mature she is internal.

Bronwyn: I think she's going to grow a lot throughout the series.

Grandpa Portman: How well his story lined up with World War II events was unfortunate because it made his "stories" seem like a cry for help when really he just wanted to share his past with someone so bad. Unfortunate how he met his end, and how no one believed him. To know that you're the only one you can count on.

Golan: Not completely surprised, but slightly creeped out to think about the people I pass every day without taking notice. Could I interact with so many people and not recognise them if they were the same person. Creepy.


Final Line: "We rowed faster."



Thanks for reading,
Sidny