Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

 
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42%
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Overall rating
 
4.4
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4.5(19)
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Good but not Amazing
Overall rating
 
3.7
Plot
 
3.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
This review can also be found at http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogspot.ca/2016/11/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar.html


Jacob's grandfather has always told him stories about the people in the strange photographs he owns, and after a while, Jacob realizes that these stories are only fairy tales and that his grandfather's condition may be getting worse. One day, he gets a panicked call and later finds his grandfather dead, after seeing a horrifying creature that his friend claims wasn't there. He and his therapist come to the conclusion that the creature isn't real, that Jacob is just dealing with a lot of stress, and that it would be a good idea to go to the island where his grandfather sought refuge in the war.

He travels with his father, hoping to find out more about his grandfather's past. When he comes across a ruined house and a small, rather unlikable village, he soon learns that things are not as they seem, and that the strange people in his grandfather's photographs may still be alive after all these years.

I couldn't resist buying this book when I found it at the thrift shop. With the film coming out and seemingly everybody talking about it, I had to know if it lived up to the hype. I can't say that I share the same enthusiasm as many fans of the series, but it was very enjoyable, to say the least.

This book didn't blow me away, it didn't amaze me and it didn't seem entirely original. However, the mix of time travel, supernatural or paranormal powers and some sort of evil monster coming after the characters made this book an intriguing read.

There were several smaller twists throughout the book, however my favourite one took place near the end and I definitely did not see it coming! Those are my favourite kind of twists, and I was very satisfied with it.

However, I feel that the pacing of the events was a bit uneven and disappointing. The start of the book seemed to fly by very quickly, then the middle dragged on for a bit, and finally the ending flew by just as the start had. It took me quite a while to get through the middle portion, and at times I felt bored.

I honestly think that the best part of this book is the photographs. They're weird and creepy! They added a lot to the story, and I liked how they were integrated into the book and writing itself. They weren't just random photos, they tied into the story. I spent a lot of time looking them over, sometimes wondering if clues were hidden within the photos. I wish there had been more photos!

While this book was enjoyable, I don't think that it lived up to the hype. I liked the story and the pictures were a fun addition, but I'm not sure if I will read the sequel.

I recommend this to those who like time travel stories and YA books with creatures and people with strange powers.
Good Points
The photographs were very creepy and interesting!
I liked the twist at the end
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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Overall rating
 
3.7
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
3.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is told from the point-of-view of sixteen-year-old Jacob Portman.

As a child Jacob’s grandfather Abe, a World War II veteran and Jewish refugee, would tell him stories from his own childhood featuring flesh eating monsters and children with the most peculiar abilities.

Jacob as he grows older becomes sceptical of his grandfather’s childhood tales. Even though Abe shows his grandson a cigar box fill of old photographs as proof Jacob challenges Abe that his stories are fiction. Abe chooses never to mention the stories again.

After Jacob finds his grandfather dying with chest wounds from a mysterious attack, Abe tells Jacob ‘Find the bird. In the loop. On the other side of the old man’s grave. September third, 1940’. What does this mysterious message mean? Even more did Jacob really just glimpse one of the monsters from his grandfather’s stories in the moonlight?

Following his grandfather’s death Jacob finds a letter postmarked from Cairnholm Island addressed to his grandfather from Ms Alma LeFay Peregrine.

Jacob tries to convince his parents to let him go to Cairnholm Island, off the coast of Wales, for the summer. Jacob’s psychiatrist Dr. Golan approves of the idea, so Jacob and his father set off. While there Jacob explores the island and searches for answers about his grandfather’s past.

Riggs initially envisioned his debut novel as a picture book. He was encouraged by his editor to use the photographs to guide the narrative and it really works. Each picture is perfectly selected and adds to the story.

The vintage black and white photographs are quirky photos the author collected and from the collection of other collectors.

The novel has been followed by two sequels Hollow City (2014) and Library of Souls (2015).

A film version directed by Tim Burton opened last month. It includes a stellar cast including Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O’Dowd, Alison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson.
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Still Reeling!
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
This books was full of so many twists and turns I thought I was going to get motion sickness--but in a super good way. In fact, I loved it so much that I lent my borrowed copy to my mom, who promptly dropped it in the bathtub so I had to pay the library for the cost and I DIDN'T EVEN CARE because now I get it to keep it (swollen pages and all).
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not my jam
Overall rating
 
2.3
Plot
 
2.0
Characters
 
2.0
Writing Style
 
3.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
"The last act was to infect me with nightmares and paranoid delusions that would take years of therapy and metabolism-wrecking medications to rout out."

I did really want to like this book. I love creepy pictures and most of all I love when the creepiness is coupled with a Victorian style. Thinking back about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar children I would have loved to enjoy it even more now that I know that Tim Burton is working on a movie about it. If there's something I love more than Victorian eerie pictures that something is undoubtedly Tim Burton. Still I prefer that I didn't know this at the time I read the book. I would have probably been biased. Needless to say I haven't enjoyed this book as much as I hoped to.

The story follows Jacob, a boy who's spent his early years idolizing his grandfather, a man full of stories to tell about his past, stories about wars, an orphanage and peculiar children who could turn invisible or who had an outworldly physical force. When Jacob is 15 he witnesses his grandfather's murder and the man's last words refer to some kind of monster who had been chasing him for ever. When Jacob starts experiencing panic attacks he is adviced by his psychiatrist to take a trip to Wales, the place in which his granpa had lived during his youth and from which all of his stories came from. This is supposed to be a way to give sense to his relative's last words. Now, Jacob, he is the usual uninteresting boy with the uninteresting life, he's got few friends and no life plans. Later on he discovers he's got da powah.

"I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was."

I'm not that bothered with tropes when they're part of a greater story but once in Wales the story seems not to go anywhere. Jacob meets the peculiars that could have been far more insteresting if they had been given a backstory and if they hadn't just been an amusing background. The romance was just cringeworthy. Miss Peregrine was the biggest disappointment of them all. They cast Eva Green to portray her in the movie and that was actually what I had in mind for her character (she also looked, in my head, just like Aunt Josephine from a Series of Unfortunate Events!). I thought she was going to be cool, tough, smart and mysterious, a female Dumbledore (don't ask, my mind does connections that not even I can explain!) but, in the end she had no peculiar traits and was just another character added to the pile. The story had all the elements to become a new favourite of mine but eventually just fell flat.

I will probably keep reading the series but I'll do it solely because of the upcoming movie. If it hadn't been a thing I probably would have given up with these books which is a shame, I've seen the author in few videos on Youtube and he seems such a nice and funny guy but this book just wasn't my jam.
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Best book Ive ever read!
Overall rating
 
5.0
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
This isnt something I would have normally picked out. Normally I would have labeled this as "a boy book' but I have grown to love horror and vintage-y style books. The pictures are beyond amazing! if they are photoshopped they are greatly done!
Good Points
great plot,and interesting characters.
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Interesting.
Overall rating
 
4.0
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
3.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
I'm not sure what I can say that hasn't already been said.

It's original.
If you aren't comparing it to X-Men.

I love supernatural books! I was excited to read it just because it had that very element of weird.

Now, the strange pictures, (that weren't actually creepy, just weird as shit. The story didn't really need them to accomplish this mysterious thing it was going for.

It's interesting.
It got slow at times, but I cant say I didn't enjoy the story.

Overall, a good read. Something a bit different.(
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WOW
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Miss Peregrine's Home for peculiar children is amazing with a lot of surprises and great and believable characters. The fact the in contains creepy and weird vintage photographs makes the story way better and makes you want to read it all as quickly as possible( which I Did). Warning Don't Judge the book by it cover. It looked creepy and scary but it turned out to be a great surprise. I really enjoy this odd but cool story.
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Amazing, creepy book
Overall rating
 
5.0
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
For me, what really made the book were the totally creepy photos that were placed throughout the book. It added a visual image and made it extra "peculiar". Things like a floating girl, an invisible boy, a boy with a face on the back of his head... do I need to go on to explain how this was a creepy book?

I was actually reading this late at night, in bed (it was close to midnight because I had started it that evening and could not put it down). Yeah, you might say that wasn't the best idea. Those wrights certainly were scary, with their white eyes *shudder*.

I was totally on the edge of my seat (well actually I was in bed but you know what I mean) for the whole book and actually jumped whenever a scary thing happened. This is a completely amazing, original horror story.

I loved how the pictures worked perfectly with the story and added just another mysterious, creepy factor to this book.

Everyone must read this book. It is creepy and mysterious. AMAZING! I cannot wait for the second book, because, I mean at the end they were (*SPOILER*) being chased by evil people, their home was blown up, they might dissolve into dust at some point, and their guardian was currently a falcon. (*END OF SPOILER*)

Talk about making you want to find out what happened! EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!!
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A different story told with words and pictures
Overall rating
 
5.0
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
This book does live up with its name, it is peculiar. Not only told with words, but this book contains creepy photos, a girl floating, a boy lifting a boulder and an invisible boy. These photos truly bought the story alive, and it shaped what is an amazing story.

This book reflects its cover, a creepy sort of style that follows the storyline the whole way through. I must say I was a bit frightened when Jacob was exploring the wreck of the house, I thought something deadly would jump out and bite him. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire story, and this book is truly unlike any horror books that I have read. It is a true original.

I don't think that the story should of been written in past tense, because it automatically gave you the idea that Jacob survives. It would of been more tensional if it was in present tense. The author must of taken ages to locate all these amazing photos, and even longer to incorporate it in the story. This book took effort, and it truly paid off.

I reckon that everyone must read this book. It has that creep factor, mysteries, the creatures out of nightmares and some seriously awesome powers. This book is way up there on the 'best-books-ever' list, and it surely will be on yours if you give this book a chance. It will blow your mind.
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One of the Best Books Ever
Overall rating
 
5.0
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
I thought the cover looked creepy(I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover)and decided that I should try to read it. After the first chapter, I was hooked. It seemed so real. The pictures were amazing! I told all my friends to read it. While some were too freaked out about the pictures, at least one of them did. She loved it, even though it wasn't really her style. This book is perfect for anyone who likes things a little out of the ordinary.
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