Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Reviewer: Rebekah
Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Pages: 352
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: June 7th, 2011
Publisher: Quirk Books
Rating: 4/5

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

Main Idea: Anyone who loves a bit of mystery, sci-fi, imagination, time travel, humor, Wales, and/or "boarding schools," you might want to definitely pick this up. 

I've been wanting to read this one for a while, but I never picked it up because A.) I'm cheap and B.) the library never had it. So when I found it, at no place other than Sam's Club (you can get literally any and everything there), for less than 11 bucks, I was flipping out! So I packed it away and read it in less than two days while turning into a fried chicken nugget on the beach. It was wonderful. 


I figured it would be a bit creepy - I mean look at that LEVITATING girl on the cover.  The check-out lady gave me the WEIRDEST look when I bought it.  


our conversation:


"What is THAT?" - check-out lady
"A book..." - me
"I know that. That creepy girl...is she HOVERING?" - lady
"Uhhh...." - me


That's about it.


Jacob, the main character, is just a regular rich kid with no friends wanting more in life than his easy way up into the family business (reminded me a bit of Looking For Alaska's Miles as the kind of loner type). He wants to believe in the magic his grandfather has always told him about, but he knows it can't be true, especially now that his grandfather has gotten very senile and mixed up about everything. But the trip to the place his grandfather always told him about turns out to be more than he bargained for...

For those of you that have read it, I know it seems a little bit too much like a X-Men revamp, but hey, I LOVE X-MEN! Call me a nerd. I don't care! It has a distinct darkness to it, but it isn't overdone. It's funny too.
I did feel this book was drastically split...but that's kind of how it should be. He even starts out with a spill about how his life is so drastically divided between the then and the now. There's not a whole lot of character development JUST yet...but you get the taste of it. And I'm ready for the next book.


I totally recommend this. It is everything and nothing like what I expected. 



Rebekah