Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Fantasy
Year Published: 2011
Hello! I became interested in reading Miss Peregrine's because my school librarian wrote an article in the school newspaper recommending it. Besides the overall positive reviews I've came across on GoodReads regarding this novel, the cover itself is enticing. Creepy little girl levitating, the black and white, the font used for the titling... I had high expectations. I was anticipating a chilling read that'd keep me engrossed from start to finish, especially because of the unnerving vintage photos Riggs includes within his pages. I'd like to share some of these photos that I found particularly haunting:
There are many more, I assure you. They're really interesting to look at and all BUT (caps on that BUT) there is a catch. The actual story...to put it lightly...was pretty stinky. Miss Peregrine's involves sixteen-year-old Jacob who has always been taken by his grandfather's fantastical stories of his childhood. Jacob's grandfather explains how he grew up at an orphanage in Wales along with children that had superpowers. When Jacob's grandfather is mysteriously killed, Jacob's therapist Dr. Golan persuades his father, a bird watcher, to visit the orphanage. At this point the story is slow and dragging but the pictures are cool! After what seems like forever, Jacob discovers the orphanage is nothing but a pile of rubble. It was bombed by the Germans in World War II. But the suspense doesn't end there! Now, Jacob is magically trapped in a time loop and stuck in the year 1940! I'll admit, this concept seemed quite cool at first. However, as the story progresses, it just gets downright lame and confusing. It turns out that Jacob's grandfather really was telling the truth about the whole kids-with-superpowers thing and Jacob himself is super-ish! He can time-travel! Oh and also, his grandfather was killed by monsters. The monsters now wish to eat Jacob. Um...
Yeah... at this point I could my head cocked to the side and my jaw went askew and I might have drooled a little... it was definitely a "wait what?!" moment. Just when things were beginning to get interesting, you had to totally mess with my mind Sir Ransom. This book had a lot of potential. My theory: the author was inflicted with a serious case of Writer's Block about three quarters of the way in, and just tossed together a cruddy, nonsensical resolution. Plus, there were so many flaws throughout the text. Who edited this?! Honestly, it's so messy that it should be taken off shelves around the world and be fixed up. I have read that the novel is being adapted into a feature-length film possibly directed by TIM BURTON. This must be a discrepancy, because I don't believe it for one minute. Nope, nope, nope. I mean, Tim Burton can turn ANYTHING into gold. I just don't understand why he would even bother taking on the project of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children because guess what? NOTHING and I repeat NOTHING even remotely scary occurs in this book. NO THING. Not even a little creepy! The photos lie. The cover lies. The reviews lie. Hardcore horror fans like myself, don't waste your time. Try Coraline, The Exorcist, or Rosemary's Baby.
It is that time once again my fellow bookworms... let's end this conflict here and now!
Stay in school, be a Potterhead, soar like a Mockingjay, respect the nature, and above all... be your magickal self!
~The Black Rose Librarian
aka Sam ^_^
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