Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very peculiar photographs.

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 Miss Peregrine's children were more than just peculiar. They may have been ddangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow - impossibly though it seems - they may still be alive.

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In a Nutshell: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is an awesome book with a mysterious storyline, some very eerie photographs, and you guessed it, a lot of peculiar children.

Putdownability Factor: Make sure you start this book when you have a lot of free time because you will probably have a hard time putting it down!

Cover Love: I love this cover. At first glance it seems normal enough, but when you look closely you notice that THE GIRL IS FLOATING!!! Yeah, I didn't notice it at first either. :P Just like this cover, the book the has more to it than meets the eye.

Why did I pick this up? Because the cover looks freaking awesome! Not to mention the summary is pretty enticing too. A big thanks to Quirk books for sending me a copy for review!

My Thoughts

When I first decided to review this book I didn't really know what to expect from it. Was it a paranormal? Was it a horror? A type of contemporary adventure story? And how did the "peculiar" photographs fit in with the story? Well I shouldn't have worried, because this book turned out to be pure awesome.

I have never read anything like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children before. Its definitely one of the most inventive books I've read in a long time. Ransom Rigg's created his own mythology for this book and it was brilliant.

My favorite part of this book was the photographs hands down. The way Ransom Riggs incorporated them into the story was pure genius. It added just the right touch of visual imagery to make the story come alive, not to mention the fact that the photographs were just plain cool.

While none of the characters really jumped out at me, they were definitely all unique (they have to be right? They are "peculiar" children!) and enjoyable to read about. There were a few times when I would get confused and have to flip back to figure out which character they were referring to but that wasn't too often.

Overall Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is an amazing debut. Its odd, and eerie, and sure to surprise you. I give it 4 and a half out of 5 ice cream cones!

Who would I recommend this to? Anyone who enjoys books that are a bit unconventional, have paranormal elements, or who just like really amazing stories.

Oh and be sure to check out the book trailer. Its one of the best I've seen! 



Julia :)