Ransom Riggs
My daughter, age 12, just finished the third book in this series. She loves the books, and looks forward to the movie, which is due out in September. When movies are based on books, I always prefer to read the book before seeing the movie, so I decided I needed to read it before the movie comes out. I admit I love thrillers and horror, and enjoy good fantasy and dystopian novels. A little "weirdness" has never scared me away. Even so, I have to admit it took me a little while to feel comfortable in this "peculiar" world. After working through the quirks and oddities, I found a delightful story.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children follows teen Jacob Portman as he tries to process his grandfather's death and its circumstances. Jacob feels the need to go back to the home where it all began; the orphanage where his grandfather, Abe, lived after losing his family to Nazi persecution in World War II. Abe told many unbelievable stories about the home, and Jacob felt it would provide him with the answers he needed to understand how Abe died. Upon his arrival, he found more than he bargained for, and became entangled in their world.
The world created by Riggs is truly magical, but unbelievable at times. I enjoy imaginative fantasy (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, ghost stories, etc.), but I feel what makes good fantasy is that even if only for the time it takes me to read the story, the characters and setting are convincing. There were times I felt this book missed in that endeavor. Many unbelievable characters were woven together to make a storyline appear plausible. I have to admit it was hard for me to believe this was the author's first book, however. His writing style, visual imagery, and imagination are all masterful. I found it incredible how he wove an entire novel around vintage photographs, and created a story for each of the characters that fits with the photographs. Although I'm not quite as infatuated with this book as many of its readers appear to be, I agree it is quite distinctive, and I will probably read the others in the series just to see where the author takes this adventure.
Bottom Line: A delightful book, despite its peculiarities, which is well-suited young teen readers.
Rating: 80
The world created by Riggs is truly magical, but unbelievable at times. I enjoy imaginative fantasy (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, ghost stories, etc.), but I feel what makes good fantasy is that even if only for the time it takes me to read the story, the characters and setting are convincing. There were times I felt this book missed in that endeavor. Many unbelievable characters were woven together to make a storyline appear plausible. I have to admit it was hard for me to believe this was the author's first book, however. His writing style, visual imagery, and imagination are all masterful. I found it incredible how he wove an entire novel around vintage photographs, and created a story for each of the characters that fits with the photographs. Although I'm not quite as infatuated with this book as many of its readers appear to be, I agree it is quite distinctive, and I will probably read the others in the series just to see where the author takes this adventure.
Bottom Line: A delightful book, despite its peculiarities, which is well-suited young teen readers.
Rating: 80
