Book Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Hey Guys!

It’s time for another book review. This week it is the turn of a book that I have been putting off reading for a very long time. Yes, I am talking about ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children’ by Ransom Riggs.

I will be honest, the only thing that made me read this now is because I saw a trailer for the film adaptation of this book and thought it looked fucking epic so I decided to read it. I have also recently read several reviews for this book, all of which say that it is this is an incredible story that is really beautifully written, so I decided to give it a go. And honestly? I cannot make up my mind about this book.

Don’t get me wrong, it is beautifully written. It is stunning at times. But, I just don’t get what all the fuss is about. The storylines are interesting, but not jaw dropping-ly (think I just invented a word lol) awe inspiring. I don’t get why people are so obsessed with this book. It is good, but not brilliant. it is nowhere near as epic as people say it is. I really struggled to get though it at times. I also managed to guess like all the big plot twists really easily. The massive twist, I figured out about half way through the book. I cannot be the only one that did this. I just wasn’t at all surprised by any plot twists. It was very disappointing.

All that being said, I did like the characters. Jacob is very relatable. He was just very real and that helped sort of anchor the story. A book like this can easily lose touch with reality and be, I don’t know, detached from life, but Jacob stopped that. He held everything down and made it all feel relatable and lifelike. He was really needed. I also loved some of the secondary characters like Emma and Millard, Fiona and Enoch. Just all of the children. They were so full of life and fun. I loved the idea that around each other they didn’t have to hide. It was just very nice. And I also loved that none of them felt different, if that makes sense. None of them really saw their peculiarity as a limitation or a negative thing; they all had just embraced who they are. That was very refreshing.

I really don’t know how I feel about this book. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I am pretty neutral about it really. At times I really enjoyed it at others I really didn’t. It took me a really long time to actually get through this book. I don’t think I got into it at all the whole time I was reading it. I just didn’t love it. I honestly don’t know if I want to read the rest of these books or not. I’m not sure; in any case I am not itching to pick up another one anytime soon.

4 out of 5 (begrudgingly)

I don’t know why I didn’t love this book. I love the idea of it, just not it….if that makes sense. I actually think the film is going to be better than the book, which is kinda depressing. I think part of what ruined this for me is the hype around it. Because so many people claim it is epic, I went into it expecting it to be, but when it wasn’t, it was very disappointing. I want to know if I was the only one who was disappointed. Let me know in the comments below, and I will see you all again soon.