EvilEva Reviews... Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

EvilEva reviews...... Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

 

When Jacob was little, his grandfather would tell him fantastical stories of some very peculiar children. Children that could lift boulders over their heads, make fire using only their hands and float effortlessly through the air, among other unbelievable talents.  These children lived in a large house on a tiny island with an odd headmistress named Miss Peregrine.
As a child, Jacob believed his grandfather's tall tales and loved looking through his strange collection of photographs.
Now a teenager, Jacob is afraid his grandfather is losing his mind and that all those stories of his past were nothing but lies.
Then his grandfather is brutally murdered. And with his dying breath he tells Jacob to go to the island to find the truth. So Jacob journeys to the mysterious island in search of Miss Peregrine and the answers to his grandfather's greatest secrets.
He finds that not only were the peculiar children real but they're still alive and they need his help. Because something dark and sinister is after them. And only Jacob can see it.

I am completely cover slutty over this book! I mean, just look at it! It's creepy, yet intriguing. There's an old timey gal levitating, for God's sake! And it's not the only creeptastic pic, the book is littered with them. Normally I wouldn't like that kind of thing as it strikes me as being too gimmicky but for this book it worked. The pictures help tell the story.

I gotta say, I had kind of a mixed bag o' feelings for this book. The beginning I liked. I thought the imagery was solid and the descriptions were beautifully written. Around the middle i felt like the story started lagging a little. Like we were headed somewhere, we took one wrong turn and suddenly it's like "Wait. Where the fuck are we? What the fuck is a loop? Who are all these ymbrynes? What is a ymbryne? Aaaaah get me outta here!" But towards the end we got back on the right path, the story sorted itself out and it felt less disjointed.

I liked that the subject matter was a little different for YA. I think the peculiar children are a refreshing change from all the vampires, werewolves, angels, zombies and other assorted supernatural peeps that have invaded the shelves for the past few years.
The baddies in this book are truly terrifying. Bonus points to Mr. Ransom for giving some nightmare-inducing descriptions.
The characters were great too. Some were stronger than others. Jacob, Emma, Bronwyn, Enoch, and Millard were standouts. A few of the characters weren't as fleshed out as the others. I would've liked to read more of Olive, the amazing levitating girl. I felt like the author created too many characters to keep up with. So some got lost in the shuffle.

So. I liked this book but I feel like I could have loved it.
But this is only Ransom Riggs' first novel and I think that he has what it takes to make an even better sequel. There's room for Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children to grow. And the ending of this book could very easily set up his next.

The Scale of Judgment says...... 3 and a half.