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

by Ransom Riggs

The #1 New York Times best-selling series
 
An abandoned orphanage on a mysterious island holds the key to supernatural secrets in this unusual and original first book in the one-of-a-kind Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series 

A captivating blend of horror, dark fantasy, paranormal mystery, and time travel brought to life with more than 50 haunting vintage photographs

When a devastating family tragedy propels sixteen-year-old Jacob on a journey to a remote island off the coast of Wales, he stumbles upon the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he explores the abandoned rooms, he uncovers a chilling truth—these children were not just peculiar, they were potentially dangerous, and they may have been quarantined for a reason. Trapped on this desolate island, their supernatural abilities and the mysteries surrounding them deepen. Impossibly, they may still be alive, their existence defying the laws of time and nature. 

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with a strange collection of historical photographs, this unforgettable novel will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

“A tense, moving, and wondrously strange first novel. The photographs and text work together brilliantly to create an unforgettable story.”—John Green, New York Times best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars

“Riggs deftly moves between fantasy and reality, prose and photography to create an enchanting and at times positively terrifying story.”—Associated Press

“You’ll love it if you want a good thriller for the summer. It’s a mystery, and you’ll race to solve it before Jacob figures it out for himself.”—Seventeen

“One of the coolest, creepiest YA books.”—PopSugar

• ISBN10: 1594746036
• ISBN13: 9781594746031
• Publish Date: 4 June 2013 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Quirk Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781594746031

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

Made it two hundred pages and got bored with it. Couldn't make myself care enough to finish it. Nice pictures though.

[CrowNoYami]

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the romance aspect which given the history of MC's love interest kinda rubs me the wrong way. Otherwise, I'm excited to see what happens in the next book of the series! There's magic, mutant-like children, and an enemy that lurks in the dark. This novel captures your imagination and makes the world seem not only magical but real. Very well written.

[bonchcronch]

I hate time shenanigans.

[nora]

Listening to this audiobook felt like a punishment, and I don't know why I felt like I had to finish it. This guy should never be allowed to do accents again.

[writehollydavis]

This was a slower build for me, for this was obviously setting up the story for future books in the series. Still, the characters and story grew on me and reeled me in with a quiet, haunting adventure. I haven't read too much magical realism/urban fantasy lately which this is more of what the story seemed like, which was refreshing! Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading more adventures in the next book!

[mitabird]

2.5 stars

[Linda]

Miss Peregrine has been on my shelves for ages. It wasn't until a few days ago, when my youngest started listening to the audiobook that I finally picked it up so we can discuss it.
And oh my goodness, what a peculiar trip this story was.
Monsters, time travel, a paramore, death, fights, survival... Well written, and quite a bit spooky, I loved it!

[Pigpen.Reads]

I dnf'ed this book. I don't plan on picking it up again...ever.

Honestly, I only picked up this book since so many people recommended it. It became so popular.

I could not get into it. Nothing really caught my attention.

I think maybe the pictures creeped me out too much.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Initial Thoughts: I am able to rate this book so highly only because I was warned it is not at all actually creepy or peculiar, as its title and cover design suggest. I expected generic fantasy, and that's what I got, and it was enjoyable. The pictures are interesting but also over-hyped. Some work with the story and some the author really worked to force in. For instance, pictures of clearly different people are said to be the same person. Or the narrative must make excuses for why the photo doesn't really look like the character.

[inlibrisveritas]

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is on that I looked forward to reading. I loved that the author used old odd photographs for the inspiration behind characters and plot points, and really wanted to see how it would play out. Unfortunately, this one turned out to be one that I didn’t enjoy all that much.

The story centers on Jacob as he discovered the Home for Peculiar Children after his listening to his grandfather’s many stories about such a place and monsters. I really wanted to like the story. It had so much going for it and I wanted to be richer in details than it truly was. I liked the idea of having people gifted with odd abilities and them having to fight against the odd monster (hello X-Men….) but this just sort of fell flat. While the parts were interesting, as a whole it just didn’t rise to the occasion. At times I found myself incredibly bored and I came to hate the usage of the photographs. After a certain point, the photos started to feel more like a crutch than an added detail, as the plot was noticeably forced to include those photos’ scenes. I can’t say I liked Jacob either. In fact, I can’t say much about him because he just sorts of fades into the back of my mind and is lost, he’s sadly a really forgettable character. Thankfully the ‘peculiar children’ were a much more interesting lot with a wide variety of abilities ranging from really amazing to incredibly creepy. They were really the only reason I kept reading despite my general disinterest.

In some ways, this book felt like a broken promise. It seemed to be unique and include a part of the author’s process of inspiration, but instead, it just felt kind of overused and gimmicky even though I haven’t seen anything like this before.

It’s a shame really, but I just don’t see myself continuing this series at all.