Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs {Review}

Publisher: Quirk

Publish Date: June 7, 2011

Source: Library

Goodreads

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of some 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 there -- 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 a reason. And somehow -- impossible though it seems -- they may still be alive.

Is it in bad taste to say that I found Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children peculiar? I suppose it is, but it had to be done :P

I rather enjoyed the idea of a story that was assisted by the use of pictures. In reality, though, it ended up being a hit and miss for me. All the pictures themselves were great, but sometimes they didn’t quite work with the story. Sometimes the pictures were a nice addition to the story and sometimes it felt like the story was working just a little too hard to incorporate them.

The story itself, on the other hand, was fantastic. I loved the originality of the storyline. Riggs has some serious craziness up his sleeve. Going in I was just thinking there might just be some peculiar and creepy ghosts of children, but boy was I wrong. This story has some serious depth.

The Nutshell: Looking at the cover and reading the description you can imagine that Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children has the creep factor going for it, but there’s a lot more between the covers as well. There’s a crazy fantastical story, a little mystery, a smidge of romance, and lurking-in-the-shadows nightmares. If you’re looking for a strange, slightly spooky original story then Miss Peregrine’s is worth looking into.

Pages: 352

Series: Miss Peregrine #1

Rating: Hit