published by: Quirk books in 2011.
genre: contemporary fantasy novel
pages: 352
good reads rating: 3.92
my rating:
Before I read this book, I had actually watched the movie when I was much younger. I vividly remember watching and thinking, wow! That was such an entertaining movie! Although I was vaguely disturbed by the imagery of monsters I loved it so much I used to rewatched it over and over again. So, when I got my hands on the book I was ecstatic and excited to read it.
So here is my honest book review of Miss Peregrine’s home for perculiar children, written by Ransom Riggs and published by Quirk books.
The summary
The book starts with the 16 year old year old main character called Jacob who lives a relatively normal life in a wealthy family until he witnesses the freak accident that takes his grandfather’s life. Jacob begins to search for answers in the small island known as Cairnholm, in the coast of Wales. Explorng the ruins of what was once the children’s home that his father grew up in, Jacob begins to uncover secrets, not only about his deceased grandfather but also about the children who resided, or still reside in the home.
My review
The book has an amazing start when it follows the main character as a young as he listens to his grandfather’s stories that captures the reader and the main character with its imaginative descriptions of what may or may not be fictional. The beginning of the book immediately dragged me into it and I honestly hated having to put the book down with how immersive it was for me.
Quickly we as the readers are forced to make our own conclusions, as we’re faced with the starting conflict that shapes the entire plot. The readers are left alone with Jacob as he tries to make sense of the accident that takes his grandfather’s life.
During his search for answers, he decides to go back to the place his grandfather grew up in, a tiny island on the coast of Wales. When he gets there, the author does a great job at entertaining us with eccentric characters to keep us patient as he slowly takes us towards the heart of the novel. The pace of storyline between the main character finding the fantasy of the novel is quite slow, but Ransom Riggs does a good job at making up for as he introduces us to eccentric characters who end up entertaining us while he slowly spoon feeds us with the world building of the novel.
The build up to the climax of the novel wasn’t exactly as good as I’d hope for. There were some foreshadowing that I enjoyed but between the ‘good times’ and the ‘bad times’ there wasn’t a really well written slow descent into the problems. It felt more like a “yesterday was an amazing day” to an all of a sudden “today is a horrible day”. I guess what I mean to say was the]at the lead up to the climax wasn’t really a climax, it was more of a high jump over a short wall of happiness.
The author writes the villains quite well and creepy. The disturbance I felt as I read the plot twist made my heart drop to my stomache. It wasn’t exactly the best plot twist I have ever read but with how well the author was able to describe it, I was at the edge of my seat.
What I didn’t enjoy…
The romance
Like I said, this is a really enjoyable book but why did the romance have to be so disturbing. Through out the entire book the romance of the character named Emma and the main character named Jacob seems to start off well and cute. It was easy to digest and I did find myself cheering them on until, the gigantic age gap and an obstacle was made apparent. If you try to ignore the obvious disturbing fact, the author made a good job at constantly remind you.
What I did enjoy!
The humor
Although the book had slightly dark themes, there were ocassional humorous scenes that had me cackling out loud. The young characters of the book constantly had me smiling at their antics from Millard and Enoch.
The characters
having a band of children work together is always a chaotic scene which is well adapted into the book. Every teenager or child in the book were somehow able to capture my heart in some sort of unique and silly way.
Favourite Quotes
“When someone won’t let you in, eventually you stop knocking,”
-Franklin (Jacob’s dad)
“At times, young man, you tread a precariously thin line between charmingly headstrong and insufferably pig”
-Miss Peregrine
My recommendation
With all the pros and cons weighed together, I would definitely recommend this book to any young adult or preteen, due to how well its written and how immersive it is. Although I know little to nothing about the creepy pasta community, I feel that anyone that is a part of that community should take a look into reading it. Overall, I just love the book and would love to read the rest of the books if I can.
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