Redd Reviews: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

Genre: Young- Adult/ Dark Fantasy/ Horror Fiction

Stand Alone or Series: Series, Book # 1

Reviewer: Redd Reader

Blurb:

"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."

Thoughts:

- The pictures are really interesting… and creepy, but, don't let that fool you into thinking this is a story that will keep you up at night. I avoided this book for years because I had it in my mind that it was going to be too scary for me to handle. I have a vivid imagination and can't handle graphic descriptions of unsavory acts. I'll admit, the first time a hollow showed up, I was a bit freaked out, but, that’s as bad as it gets folks. If I, the girl who lives on the island of unicorns and rainbows, can handle this, you can too!

- The story begins with an excellent hook. The description and the premise of the peculiar children is interesting and the WWII Veteran/Polish/ Jewish/ possibly peculiar grandfather and his mysterious past all make for an intriguing plot. Overall, I enjoyed the story Riggs wove, however, it was not quite as intricate or paced quite how I hoped it would be. The middle of the book (around the time the home is found on the island) seems to fall a bit flat. The places where I thought tension was building and surely something life threatening was about to happen…. never really occurred. This is also where the most awkward romance of all time begin. So, yeah, there's that too. However, there was a moment of revelation with a particular wight that had me completely caught off guard. I can honestly say I did not see that one coming. Still very entertained.

- The writing combines first person POV and cinematic style scenes. To be honest, reading this novel is kind of like watching a movie. I think the addition of the pictures makes it even more so than most novels. This was both a good and bad thing for me. Sometimes, the pictures conflicted with mental image I was forming or contrasted a bit too much from the character's description. The use of pictures also seemed to deter from heavily descripted scenes which left me feeling a bit in the dark visually during some parts of the book. I actually enjoy a good bit of prose when done correctly, this just isn't a wordy book. Although interesting and different, it's not a style I'd be able to read in all the time.

- I found most of the characters lacking development, however, Jacob (our protagonist) has quite a few moments of dialogue which made me laugh, so, it almost makes up for it. The characters do not change or grow much from beginning to end. Since this is a series, I'm going to save final judgments on character development until I have read all of the books. So far, I have not detected any profound developments so, everyone still feels a bit flat and unreliable.

- There is a bit of romance BUT…too weird of a concept for me. Sorry, just no. I never thought I'd think that about any book with a romance but there's a first time for everything I suppose. I was just thankful the romance is not what the story truly centered around and there was an interesting main plot line pushing forward.

- The end left me with many unanswered questions so, I'm glad there are additional books to hopefully provide further explanation. I'm going to find out. I know many of you know already. Be nice and don't spoil me, ok? :)

Worth a Read? 

Yep, I'd day so. I did enjoy it overall, was entertained, and really liked the suspense and unique use of the antique pictures. Did I pick this up because there's a movie coming out in September? Maybe. I was curious and was not disappointed. If you've been on the fence about this book, go ahead and give it a read. It's entertaining. Note that I did not say profound, life altering, or terribly original. It entertains, which is a hefty job for any form of media so, thank you Mr. Riggs.

Other News

In other news, I recently filmed a hair tutorial on how to achieve hair like Eretria's from the Shannara Chronicles so be sure to check it out if you're a fan of the show! I really enjoyed it and thought the hair, makeup, and costume designers did an excellent job!

Check it out here:

My goal is to upload two videos a week on my YouTube Channel and a blog post once a week. We'll see how it goes friends.