Review- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk Publishing
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all awaits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience.  As our story opens, 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. 

My thoughts: 

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is such a unique and beautifully written book.  Unique in not only the pictures but the story line as well and beautiful in the writing style and the photographs that were chosen.  Even though many of the photographs are very creepy and could easily keep me up at night, they were used wisely and fit very well with the story.

When I first heard about this book, I wanted to read it right away! But then I went to a Ransom Riggs event where he signed books and told about how he came up with the story, I wanted to start reading it the next day.  One of the main reasons I love going to author events is because I always gain a deeper appreciation for the stories and the characters they have written.  Authors always speak about them with such passion and conviction.

I learned from Ransom Riggs that he was originally just collecting old photographs when he realized that he could put them together and create a story.  I especially love how he talked about a particular photo of a girl with her back turned to the camera.  Since it was an old photo, it seems strange that they would pay all that money for her picture to be taken and then just have her back turned.  Instances like that make the photos even creepier!

Even the story itself was creepy and I kept wondering if the peculiar children were real or if Jacob's grandfather was just crazy.  I was so happy when he figured out they were real which meant the creature that was hunting them was most likely real and Jacob was not crazy either for seeing it.  I could just go on and on and on about all the elements that are so unique in this book like the time loop, how there are other loops all throughout time hiding other children, the whole aspect of World War II (I'm a history geek!), the keepers of the loops turning into birds and the fact that the children only age mentally and not physically! This book was so crazy; I loved it!  I love books with old houses that creep me out!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is one of the most unique books that I have ever read with some of the creepiest photographs that I have ever seen! I completely recommend that you read it as soon as you can!