Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

 

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

  Author: Ransom Riggs

Format: Hardcover, 352 pp
Publisher: Quirk Publishing

Release date: 06.07.11

Age Range: Young Adult 

From the publisher: 

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.

 This is one of those books that immediately grabs your attention when you see it sitting there on the shelf. It just asks to be open and explored. Once you do open it, your interest is piqued even more. Flipping through its pages, you find many old-looking, curious photographs like the one on the cover. The book boards and end sheets are what looks like an old wallpaper print. The book itself is a work of art. 

  I wish I could say the same about the story. Yes, it is original in concept, but you need more than a concept to write a great novel. I never felt involved in the story. It was almost as if so much energy was used to develop the design that there was no more left for the actual writing. The characters lacked depth. The romantic aspect (which is minor) was sort of creepy. There are many inconsistencies throughout the book (which I cannot mention without giving away a big part of the story).  I have to say the last 50-75 pages of the book were, by far, the best, so I do have hope for the sequel (which is most obviously planned).
  I wanted to love this book, I was disappointed that I just didn't. 

Book: 2.5/5   Cover/Design: 4.5/5