Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #1)

Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk

Genre: Young Adult, Supernatural, Fantasy, Adventure

Publication: June 07, 2011

My Rating: 4/5

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

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.

I've had this book on my TBR list for ages! And, since the movie is coming out soon, I decided it was finally time to read it.

So, first of all, this book is not what I thought it would be like. When I read blurb, I actually thought it was about a boy investigating his grandfather's past and his adventures with these peculiar children, but turns out that it's about the boy having his own adventures with them, which makes it even cooler! Because seriously, how are these children still alive? And how come that they're still children after all these years?

I have to admit that the beginning was a bit slow for me, and it took me several days to read it, because I found it to be a little boring. But I guess it's understandable, since it's about the time when Jacob doesn't know what his grandfather's been through all this time, or what his past was like, everyone pretty much thought he was insane and that he believed a little bit too much in fairy tales.

But soon Jacob is on his way to the island where his grandfather grew up, aaand it's when we finally get to the good stuff :)

I'm really happy to say that this didn't feel like it was just a bunch of children with superpowers, what with all the superhero stuff out there nowadays. This felt very fresh and the children's "peculiarities" were very original. I also loved how they were all under the care of Miss Peregrine, who has a few tricks of her own as well.

Oh and the pictures this book includes are just amazing!! It's very cool that they're actually real.

And that's all for the non-spoilery part, if you haven't read this I really recommend it. It's a very original story, and I hadn't read anything like this before.

Spoilers ahead.

Well, this part is just going to be me freaking out about some of the stuff that happened haha...

This loop thing... How cool is it!! Especially the way it happens, since it's when the Nazis are attacking the place. Although I guess it must get pretty boring to live there after so long. Being stuck in the same place, at the same time, with the same people... I'd be going crazy! But staying a kid forever does sound very appealing, I must say.

And am I the only one who found it kind of weird that Jacob was falling in love with his grandpa's ex? I'm pretty sure I'm not... But oh well, after a while I guess I just stopped thinking about it and didn't care.

I also had a lot of questions popping into my head while reading this, but the author did a great job at answering them all. Although I still don't understand the leapfrogging part, I guess I'll have to read the next book to see how it works.

Oh and one of the best parts in this book is definitely when we find out about Dr. Golan's secret... Wow. That was really well done. Freaking Dr. Golan was everywhere!! His whole life!!!

And now that Jacob left his father there alone, I wonder what's going to happen when his mom finds out. Yeah, I know, it's kind of silly of me to bring this up, but there's no way his mom's going to believe all that, right? Are they getting a divorce now??

Finally, I do wish to have a moment of silence for all the poor sheep in this book (especially the one crying in the rain oh my God the poor thing) and for Enoch's creations.

End of spoilers.

I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel, since the way this first book ends just leaves you wanting to know!

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Thank you for reading! ♥