Guest Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Source: Gifted
Genre: Fiction/Young Adult
Publisher: Quirk Books
 (June 7, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-1594744761

SUMMARY:

A mysterious island.


An abandoned orphanage.


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 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.


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 THOUGHTS:

This is a guest review by SK (my mom).

This was not the typical story that I like to read, but it soon pulled me into it.  The story opens with a family tragedy.  Main character Jacob loses his beloved Grandfather.  Throughout Jacob's life, Grandfather has shared with him stories and unique pictures of children who are doing remarkable feats {read sideshow acts}.  Are they real or not real, Jacob wonders.  When he finds letters from his grandfathers past, he sets out on a mission to find the school and the children on a mysterious island on the coast of Wales.  When he finds the home, he comes to the unsettling conclusion that the children are somehow still alive and had been living there since WW2.  Were they dangerous, quarantined, or simply magical?  What follows is an exciting run through a mystery, a love story, a fairy tale all culminating with sci-fi monster hunt. 

The author has included photographs and has woven a very satisfying story around them.  It will delight readers, young and old, who like adventuring into the shadows.

A very good first novel, I highly encourage all to give it a read.

MY RATING:

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Thank you to SK for the review!