Book Review: MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

by Ransom Riggs

Series: Miss Peregrine

Published: May 20, 2012

Publisher: Quirk Books

Page Count: 352 pages

Book blurb:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious 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 abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather— were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate 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.

MY REVIEW

I haven't heard about this book until I went to Tahereh Mafi's book signing event for Shatter Me and Unravel Me. Ransom was with her that time, and offered to sign his books on that day too (His actual book signing event would be the day after) if anyone carried his book with them. So without hesitation, I bought a copy and had it signed. I don't even know what the story is all about. I just wanted to have a signed book at that time... but then I discovered spooky pictures inside, wondering what the story is all about.

Upon reading and discovering how Ransom related all the pictures to the story, I was like:

I wondered how he did it, considering the photos were owned by different photographers. But somehow, they did a great job in bringing me "inside" Jacob's body, as if I were really him while I was reading the book. I almost believed that the photos and the story were "really" connected. It was quite spooky, which I liked, until I found out it was a time travel story! It made me love the book more! I was intrigued by the peculiarity of each child plus having the knowledge about their age!

“Because we weren’t like other people. We were peculiar.”
“Peculiar how?”
“Oh, all sorts of ways,” he said. “There was a girl who could fly, a boy who had bees living inside him, a brother and sister who could lift boulders over their heads.”

It's not really that scary, but eerie in a way that's enough to give you some wild imagination, especially about ghosts and stuff. You just have to look at the cover! Hehe. I also pity Jacob, especially the time that the only man who could understand him's gone, and he has no choice but to stay with the children. Only that I find it a bit weird to be related to a girl who your grandfather once dated (Oops! It's a spoiler!)

“I didn’t know what to call it, what was happening between us, but I liked it. It felt silly and fragile and good.”

The writing style of the author is excellent. I loved this book. I can imagine how we travel between time, the description is good, the pictures, the way how the curiosity of the children was shown, it was all worth it. I'm definitely reading the next book which will be released January 2014. I definitely recommend this for readers who has a thing for eerie-ness and loves to travel through time with the characters.

My Rating:

(Rating System)

“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss.”