Rating: ★★★ (3 stars)
Source: Uckfield Library
Summary:
After witnessing the horrific death of his grandfather, 16-year-old Jacob sets of to a remote Welsh island to unravel an old family mystery and discover the truth about the crumbling ruin of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
My thoughts:
As I am sure was the case for a lot of other readers, I was initially drawn to this book by the spooky cover and intriguing title. However, having stumbled across a few not-so-stunning reviews, I'll confess I went into it with low expectations... And was pleasantly surprised! True, it was not without its flaws, but overall I found Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children to a very enjoyable, strange little book.
I've seen a few reviewers criticise the story for solving the main mystery too quickly, saying they found they lost interest in the plot after that. For me, however, the opposite was the case. I found this to be simply the start of a weird and wonderful tale I grew more and more engrossed in as the book progressed.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is wonderful mix of mystery, fantasy, sci-fi and horror, all crafted around a series of creepy vintage photographs. It has a fantastic, unique mythology, which for me is one of the best things about the book. It's magical and creative and really drew me in. I also really enjoyed the use of time-travel in this story. Time travel! (I could just write "Nuff said" here, but then I would have to poke myself in the eye with sharp stick, so I won't.) Time-travel is central to the plot and I felt it was used in a very inventive way. Added this, the story also contains some seriously creepy bad guys (the kind that could very well turn up in your nightmares), who had their own history, inextricably linked to that of the "peculiar children".
All this put together made for a very engaging read. I also really warmed to Jacob and found the peculiar children to be fascinating characters (and fascinating creepy). The local people from the island were very entertaining, if somewhat caricatured. One reviewer on Goodreads described them as "League of Gentleman- esque" :)
As I said above, this book does have its flaws, and there were two in particular that bothered me. Firstly, the photographs, while interesting, felt gimmicky. They could easily have been removed (or used less) without taking anything away from the story. Some seemed like they were there just for the sake of including yet another creepy picture, while others got in the way of the imagination and creating my own mental image of the characters. Secondly, I saw a twist at the end coming a mile off - the foreshadowing felt very clumsy. While this didn't spoil the ending for me (it was still exciting, nail-biting stuff!), it did lack a certain element of surprise.
I wouldn't let the book's bad points put me off recommending it, however. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is great if you're looking for quick, unusual book to read. It's utterly absorbing and charms you despite its faults. It's fantastic, creepy fun and I am very much looking forward to reading the next book and finding out what's in store for Jacob and the peculiar children.
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