Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: Review

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

Release Date: June 2011

Published By: Quirk Books

Pages: 352

Goodreads Rating: 3.97 stars

Review: After a horrific family tragedy, sixteen-year-old Jacob set out to a remote island off the coast of Wales to find clues about his grandfather's death. True to his grandfather's stories, he found Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, except there's one thing that had been left out of the tales. The children are more than peculiar. They're dangerous. They were quarantined on the island for a reason. And, impossibly, they're still alive.

This book was physically beautiful. MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN had glossy white pages, a lovely font, and most notably, actual vintage photographs sprinkled throughout that were written seamlessly into the story. All of this heightened the reading experience and made it that much more amazing, and reading this, you can really get a feel for all the work that went into it to make it so gorgeous. The photographs in particular added a lot to the book and made it unique.

Of course, even without the photos, this would still be an original story. The plot-line itself wasn't revolutionary, but it remained intriguing all the same. What did make it stand out was the way it was written. Jacob was a male protagonist, which is hard to find in YA literature, and he provided a fresh voice to the book. While still sounding like a teenager, there was an almost old and elegant quality lent to the writing, which just fit so perfectly with the story.

However, not everything about this book worked for me. One aspect that I really disliked was the romance. The way it was written was fine, but I just couldn't reconcile the fact that Emma turned from dating Jacob's grandfather to dating him. It was hard to read about love with a person who was supposed to be his grandmother without being a little grossed out, and that ruined any swoon-worthiness that it could have had.

Still, MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN remains a delightfully well-crafted read, from the carefully selected vintage photographs to the original and unique story. The plot and tone is deliciously creepy without being terrifying, and although the romance was a bit on the icky side, the characters are well-developed and fascinating to read about. This is a book for those who love the old-fashioned paranormal works.


I received a free copy of this book for review. This is no way affected my review, which is 100% honest.