Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

[ink_impressions]

By: Ransom Riggs
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children(#1)
Summary: 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.



Review: This is the second time I have read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It didn’t appeal to me the first time I read it. According to my colleague, it gets better in later books. As much as I can, I push through it this time. I’m determined to finish the book and see if my colleague is right. I’m hoping that giving it another chance will pay off.

Unfortunately, my opinion has not changed. The story is nothing more than a few creepy pictures and some weird characters. There is too much emphasis placed on the telling of the stories rather than developing their plot. As a result, the story let me down. Despite what it claims to be, it was nowhere near as creepy or strange as it seems.

Character development is lacking. In the book, it portrayed the children in a manner similar to a circus freak. Despite their eccentricities, they have a little personality of their own. Their portrayal is no better than a circus freak, and the reader does not feel empathic towards them, and they are sidelined.It is slow. It focuses too much on its own meta-ness that I lost interest. As the book progressed, I became bored and the later parts were a real drag.

Despite having some good ideas, and the gimmick with the photos would have been nice, the book’s ideas aren’t fully developed. This book could have been better with more editing and reinforcement of the concept.

Unfortunately, this is a messy book. It lacks structure and clarity, making it difficult to follow. The ideas could have been better presented if the book had been professionally edited. I won’t continue this series.