Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk
Pages: 348
Format: Paperback
Series: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #1
Source: Personal purchase
Definition:
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 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.
My thoughts:
The fact that the word "peculiar" is in the title and the cover photo ic as creepy as it is made me want to read this book right away. It was a very, very exciting start for me, but then it didn't blow my mind like I expected it to. Do I regret reading it, though? Absolutely not.
Shatter Me author Tahereh Mafi's husband Random Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is the story of Jacob, who discovers that all the weird stories his grandfather told hiö growing up are real. Due to curiosity and regret for not believing his grandfather when he was alive, Jacob finds himself on the island he heard so much about. When he finds the orphanage (as in, the home for peculiar children), he meets the peculiar children, finds out how and why they're peculiar and also finds out that he himself is one of them.
I must admit, however, that if it weren't for the photographs the author collected over the years, I'd just say "oh, well" and move on from this series. The photos really do add a lot to the story, which made me think of the differences between written word and visual imagery, how they differ in making you go through different emotions. Almost all the photos that are in the book are first described by Jacob, yet when I turned the page and saw the actual photographs, they were a lot more different than what I had pictured in my head.
P.S. Turns out Tim Burton really liked the book, and he's making it into a movie (with Johnny Depp, of course), which will come out in 2015, if IMDB is telling the truth.
