I came across Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children in
June of 2011, a month before Borders announced they were closing down for good.
There was that odd, creepy cover with the floating girl, and then those weird
and freaky vintage photos inside made me want to read the book. But I didn’t
buy it and by the time the stores closing sales began, other books began
occupying my mind (I hid a lot of books, which was fun, because the people
running the closing –and my stick-in-the-mud GM- where on the look-out for employees
stashing books). The thing with me and books is the real interesting ones, the
more off-beat ones, have a tendency to stay with me. And this one did.
But Miss Peregrine’s was to stay in hardcover for two years,
only to finally see a paper edition this month. So I bought it at Target,
excited to see it and read it. Now that I’ve completed, I’ve got say while the
book is far from original, it’s still fun.
Jacob's grandfather likes to tell these stories about how
when he was a child he was sent away from home to an orphanage on a Welsh
island, he was accompanied by other "peculiar" children and
supposedly kept safe from "monsters". As Jacob grows from wondrous
child to petulant teen he realizes that his grandfather's tales are probably
just tall tales. Then his grandfather is horrifically killed in an
"accident" and Jacob heads off to Wales to visit his grandfather's
old home as a form of closure. But it soon becomes apparent that his
grandfather was telling the truth all this time.
While the novel is just like many other YA novels of the
supernatural that have come out since the Harry Potter series –it does follow
the basic color wheel of plotting –Riggs does develop the characters well and
creates some really bad monsters. The use of odd vintage photos enhances the
story as well.
Plus, it has time travel, and heaven knows, I love time
travel stories.
Overall, a nice start to a series; book two is scheduled for
January.
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