'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' Book Review

So, I decided to try this book review-thing again. 

I thought my last one went pretty well, to be honest. 

Then again, I suppose you can't trust my own opinion concerning what I do.

I am not a very modest person. Unless we're talking about clothes. In that case, modest is hottest, mate.

THE BOOK:

The Title: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

The Author: Ransom Riggs

The Series: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children: Book One

The Genre: Young Adult, Dark Fantasy

The Publish Date: 7 June 2011

The Page Count: 352

The Summary: 'A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.' 

As a boy, young Jacob Portman would listen in awe to his grandfather's stories consisting of a home on a remote island run by a pipe-smoking Bird where peculiar children went to hide from the monsters. Jacob believed them, too; soaked up every single word and looked down at the multiple vintage photographs his grandfather had, displaying a number of children with special powers.

But then he grew up. He didn't believe the stories, anymore; didn't believe in the monsters. It was bound to happen, really.

After a horrific family tragedy, however, Jacob-- at the age of sixteen-- ventures out to find the home and the Bird who ran it, in hopes of finding more information concerning his grandfather. Finding the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children on an island off the coast of Wales, he explores its abandoned bedrooms and halls and finds out that the children living in the home seemed to be far more than peculiar. They may have even been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on the deserted island for good reason. And somehow-- impossible though it may seem-- they may still be alive.

And the monsters may be real.

THE OPINION:

The Plot: Despite the genres, I found this story to be more of an adventure in the beginning: a teenage boy searches for missing links about his grandfather and, eventually, is led to a small island in a different country. I was very impressed with how it played out, and many times I was surprised at the outcome of certain things. 

Many other readers have found the story not as scary as it is originally made out to be. I agree; but unlike other readers and reviewers, I was pleased about that. Horror movies and scary stories aren't really my cup of tea, and I thought I was going to be stepping out on a huge ledge reading this. However, there were only a couple times that I gasped slightly in frightening anticipation, and for that I am grateful. 

Also, this is the first fantasy book I've ever read, that I can recall. I was never really a big fan of fantasy themes and I found it hard to get into them. However, in a portion of the novel, they explain the whimsical elements and how they are possible in a way that seemed more science fiction than fantasy. I love science fiction, and that was a bonus for me. Then again, there are still whimsical themes-- peculiar children with rather peculiar abilities. 

The Characters: There are a number of oddball characters including the memorable peculiar ones. The author did a wonderful job at turning the vintage photographs he had into realistic, fantasy characters, and he added just enough detail to small side characters to make them just as entertaining as the main ones. 

The Setting: The first portion of this story takes place in Florida, but it is quickly transitioned to a small island off the coast of Wales. I found this amusing since my family and I have only just recently discovered that we are, in fact, part Welsh (and, yes. I do love sheep but not in that way). The story also transitions between the modern time era and the World War II era, and the author did a splendid job at describing each.

The Writing Style: The novel was written in first-person point of view and was very easy to read. I prefer something a little more difficult and complex, however, and would've enjoyed it a lot more, I'm sure, if it was written a bit differently.

The story consists of a multitude of peculiar vintage photographs-- which I found to be fascinating, mind you-- but the author seemed to write around the photos. When reading, all I could imagine was Mr Riggs setting out each photograph and writing a story surrounding it. I'm not saying that method is a terrible one, for pictures are a great source of inspiration. I simply wasn't a fan of how obvious it was. I can't possibly imagine reading the story without the photographs embedded between their proper paragraphs, and I feel as though that is a negative. Adding photographs to your story isn't a bad thing, I feel, as long as the story still makes sense without them.

The Heads-Up: The themes of this novel are a bit dark, and, at times, it is scary-- however, not too scary, as I mentioned before. The cursing in this novel was strong-- heavier than a simple darnnit (I'm sure you're aware of the word I'm referring to) every now and then-- and, I must admit, I was a bit uncomfortable about its frequency. 

The Recommendation: If it wasn't for the amount of curse words in this novel, I would recommend it to just about anyone who isn't afraid of a little scare every now and then. However, due to that fact, I would be cautious letting children and young teenagers read it.

The Rating:

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale, although I did find many negatives. If it wasn't for the few I pointed out, I would've given it a much higher rating. The plot was brilliant, which is why I am rating it higher than a one-star.

As mentioned, this is the first book in a series, and I may read the second, due to the fact that the author ended in a cliffhanger. I am also stoked to see the movie based off it coming in September of this year. 

And that's it! I hope you all enjoyed this review.