"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" By: Ransom Riggs Review

Today's review is 

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" 

By: Ransom Riggs

Synopsis from bn.com:

     A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.

     It all waits 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 are 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.

    At the beginning of October, I attended the Missouri Library Association annual meeting. 

    Librarians love a quirky book and I counted at least three librarians carrying this around...so I had to see what it was all about!

My Thoughts:

     This book was one of the most peculiar books I have ever read. :) I liked it but...well I don't know. I think this is one of those books where after you read it, you go...What?? Then you think about it, and think about it...you relect upon it and you still think...What??
     The story starts out with the murder of Jacob's grandfather. As he is bleeding out, dying really, he tells Jacob some cryptic comments about a letter, a grave, and a bird. Jacob has no idea what any of that means but as his grandfather is dying, Jacob glimpses a monster running away in the woods.
     His hunt to find out what his Grandfather meant leads him to a tiny island near Wales. He searches the island, and searches and finally comes upon the house where his grandfather had grown up in as a child. It is degraded and downtrodden...until he finds the "peculiar" children.
     What follows is a wild ride with time travel, monsters, animals, transformations from animals to people, and the adventures of the "peculiar" children. All "peculiar" means in this situation is that the children have special gifts. They can stop time, create fire, create life, be invisible, lift amazing amounts of weight and much, much more. Jacob must protect these peculiar children while saving them from the monsters which hunt them.
     One of the librarians at the conference referred to this book as "an adult novel for young adults" and I would have to agree. It reads very much like an adult fiction story using young adult characters. It's fairly fast paced...with a wide open ending so you know there will be a sequel. Excellent novel that I enjoyed immensely. 4 Stars out of Five. :)