Steph Reviews Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children By Ransom Riggs

Publisher: Quirk Books
Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1
Format Read: E-book
Source: Purchased
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
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Blurb from goodreads:

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.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Steph's Thoughts:

I purchased this book around Christmas time because we went to the theater to see Star Wars and there was a preview for this movie. However, the preview was just a clock doing something weird and I didn't understand the meaning behind it. Since the preview kept bugging me, I went and bought the book and proceeded to read it in one sitting.

Needless to say, I really liked this book. There is mystery, sadness and sweetness about it. I didn't find it "spine tingling" but I'm not 12 or so. I thought it was a lot of fun and fast paced. It kept me interested on a work night and kept me up far too late, which is always good in a book.

Jacob is a pretty good hero for a young adult novel. He is brave and adventurous. All his life he has listened to his grandfather's stories. When he was little, he believed them without a doubt and as he got older, he looked at them as fantasy. They were quite outlandish. When his grandfather dies, Jacob is tossed in a world of confusion and mystery. He travels to Wales to figure things out and finds himself in a most peculiar situation and the truth behind his grandfather's stories.

I don't want to give too much away of the plot because that is half the fun of this book. I did figure out the whole clock thing from the movie preview and that was pretty cool. I did like Jacob and most of the characters (except the bad guys of course). I am hoping in the next two books that they do some character building with the children. The book does end in a cliffhanger but it isn't the type that I hate where they stop practically mid-sentence. Meaning that while the book ends, I didn't want to throw the kindle against the wall in frustration. I do plan on reading the next two installments in this series. I have the second already sitting on my book shelf and I can not wait to see the movie. It should be pretty fun.