Review - Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Mystery
Size: 352 pages
Publisher: Quirk Books
Release Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1594744761
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in a series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars


This was a book I have wanted to read for a long time. I finally got around to reading it, it was just as fantastically quirky I had hoped. It was a fun and mysterious read, also a little bit creepy at parts.

After the horrific death of Jacob’s grandfather, Jacob slumps into a deep depression. It’s determined that the only way to get Jacob out of this slump is for him to journey to the mysterious island that his grandfather grew up on. Jacob and his father journey to a remote island off of the coast of Wales. There Jacob investigates a peculiar children’s home that his grandfather grew up in. Jacob’s only clues are some mysterious pictures his grandfather left him and a peculiar note.

This was a fun and quirky read. It’s mainly a mystery about a young man trying to solve his grandfather's mysterious past....along the way he discovers children with strange powers, time travel, and evil monsters.

Jacob is an okay lead character. He is mainly characterized by his obsession to find out what really happened to his grandfather. Other than that, he wasn’t a real distinctive character for me.

What really drives this story is the mystery behind Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The mystery unravels deliberately and things get more and more complex as Jacob unravels more and more secrets on this remote Wales island.

I am not going to get a lot more into the story beyond that because I don’t want to spoil anything. Let’s just say that through some quirks in time, all of these peculiar children that Jacob is so fascinated by may still be alive.

Of course a big draw for this book are all of the strange pictures throughout. I really enjoyed their addition to the story, they made the peculiar children all that more real to the reader. The fact that these are all actually real vintage pictures found in old picture collections makes this book even more unique and special.

The book was well written, engaging, and easy to read. What really drives the story is the mystery and what makes it enjoyable are the quirky pictures throughout. The main story is wrapped up pretty well, but there are things left unanswered for future books in the series.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It’s a very creative idea and implemented very well. The mystery is what drives the story and the pictures are fascinating and interesting. Jacob as a character could have used a bit more depth, but that really isn’t what this book is about. I am curious to see what the second book in this series will be about. I recommend this to those who are interested in a YA mystery read with fantasy overtones to it that’s a bit different than anything else out there.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge