Ransom Riggs

Mrs. Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children

Read the #1 New York Times best-selling series before it continues in A Map of Days. Bonus features • Q&A with author Ransom Riggs • Eight pages of color stills from the film • Sneak preview of Hollow City, the next novel in the series 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. “A tense, moving, and wondrously strange first novel. The photographs and text work together brilliantly to create an unforgettable story.”—John Green, New York Times best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars “With its X-Men: First Class-meets-time-travel story line, David Lynchian imagery, and rich, eerie detail, it’s no wonder Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children has been snapped up by Twentieth Century Fox. B+”—Entertainment Weekly “‘Peculiar’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. Riggs’ chilling, wondrous novel is already headed to the movies.”—People “You’ll love it if you want a good thriller for the summer. It’s a mystery, and you’ll race to solve it before Jacob figures it out for himself.”—Seventeen

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Betty

"I must apologise," he said. "It seems I've gone and gotten myself shot."

Kaitlyn Kuehn 

"When someone won't let you in, eventualy you stop knocking. now what I mean?"

‘I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss. Yet as we stood loading our boats in the breaking dawn, on a brand new precipice of Before and After, I thought of everything I was about to leave behind—my parents, my town, my once-best-and-only friend—and I realized that leaving wouldn’t be like I had imagined, like casting off a weight. Their memory was something tangible and heavy, and I would carry it with me.       And yet my old life was as impossible to return to as the children’s bombed house. The doors had been blown off our cages.’

I’ve been reading this book since I was about 14 years old. I fell in love with it back then and continued to read it time and time again. Jumping back into this book after a few years feels like going to a family reunion and putting on that one shirt that fits perfectly. 

I’ve always connected so strongly to Ransom Rigg’s writing. He creates a world that feels so real and full of depth, and characters that, even with being peculiar and having special abilities, feel real.

It’s just me and my peculiar friends against the world. Glad to see I still deeply love this book after all these years and reading it probably about ten times!

Jessie!

‘I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss. Yet as we stood loading our boats in the breaking dawn, on a brand new precipice of Before and After, I thought of everything I was about to leave behind—my parents, my town, my once-best-and-only friend—and I realized that leaving wouldn’t be like I had imagined, like casting off a weight. Their memory was something tangible and heavy, and I would carry it with me.       And yet my old life was as impossible to return to as the children’s bombed house. The doors had been blown off our cages.’

I’ve been reading this book since I was about 14 years old. I fell in love with it back then and continued to read it time and time again. Jumping back into this book after a few years feels like going to a family reunion and putting on that one shirt that fits perfectly. 

I’ve always connected so strongly to Ransom Rigg’s writing. He creates a world that feels so real and full of depth, and characters that, even with being peculiar and having special abilities, feel real.

It’s just me and my peculiar friends against the world. Glad to see I still deeply love this book after all these years and reading it probably about ten times!

I love hidden worlds, I love weird art, the photos were fantastic, I Did have a hard time falling asleep last night as I was reading it in my bed, thank you for asking.

August Stone

Really Good!

I love hidden worlds, I love weird art, the photos were fantastic, I Did have a hard time falling asleep last night as I was reading it in my bed, thank you for asking.

3.5* I did enjoy the book but I think that was mostly down to the writing style, which I was completely drawn to. The whole time travel thing isn’t really appealing, due to personal preference, but I was fond of the mixed media representation within the book

Kyla Bourne 

Monicap

Upon first looking at the black-and-white cover of this book, most paranormal fans might assume this book is not for them. Short answer: you’re wrong. 
My brother accused this book of being a rip-off of the X-men, but really, no one can even so much as say the word mutant without being accused of ripping off the X-men, and they didn’t say the word mutant in this book, and hey, no one’s accusing Stephanie Meyer of ripping off Dracula, yet they both wrote about vampires, so I don’t see the fairness in that.
Call me crazy, but I liked this book. 
The plotline where the main character starts off thinking he or she is crazy IS getting a little old, but hey, most sane people would assume they’re crazy if they run into ugly monsters, mutants and other things that paranormal fiction is rife with. 
The main characters love interest IS interesting. It’s a whole new take on the classic love triangle, I’ll give you that. And, I will assure you right now, the love triangle is NOT love-triangle-ish. Well, it is, being that there’s a girl, and there’s one guy, and they *broke up* and then there was another guy, but the first guy is dead, so it’s cool.
Also, for those people like me who will be dying until they figure out who’s on the cover, no it is not the main character, Jacob (duh). Not is it Emma, the main character Jacob’s love interest. The little girl on the cover is Olive, but we don’t meet her til we’re almost halfway through the book.
Good book. Interesting. Lil bit confusing. At times, downright gross.
3.9 stars.

Sarah Sammis

Basically Bleach in Wales:

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2017/comm...

Fantastic start to a wonderful series, the movie does no justice to the books

Karter

i genuinely almost threw up at some of the imagery holy shit best YA book i’ve read in quite a while cannot wait to keep going with the series

Zack Winiecki

Annika Arguemore

Let's see... It's pretty sinister, creepy and strange. It reminds me a lot of Edgar Allan Poe. Reminds me a little of American Horror Story and a pinch of The Series of Unfortunate Events too. And add a little of The Wrinkle In Time in there as well. Just my kind of book. I loved how the author just knew when the waves would ebb and when it would roar. Honestly, this book exceeded my expectations. I was expecting something else. But what appeared in front of my doorstep was far better than what I thought the author had in store for me. The photos at the end of every chapter send me reeling for more as the scenes get more intense and intriguing. The concepts were all astounding although generally they've all been heard before. The way of writing was beautifully dark, i loved it. I don't know what else to say. I just... I oved everything about this book.

julia

I thought this story was pretty good. It was kind of confusing and Jacob is super annoying. The fact that Emma was the love interest as also a little weird, seeing as she was with Jacob's grandfather. The pictures were really creepy and I felt the beginning of the story was also good.

When Jacob Portman was a boy, his grandfather regaled him with stories of his fantastic life at Miss Peregrine's home during the Second World War, even sharing photos of the remarkable children with whom he resided. As Jacob grew up, though, he decided that these photos were obvious fakes, simple forgeries designed to stir up his youthful imagination. Or were they...? Following his grandfather's death - a scene Jacob literally couldn't believe with his own eyes - the sixteen-year-old boy embarks on a mission to disentangle fact from fiction in his grandfather's tall tales. But even his grandfather's elaborate yarns couldn't prepare Jacob for the eccentricities he will discover at Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel

Super fun read! Loved the dark illustrations and I was compelled by the world the author created. 

cedar winslow

Jaden Nelson

In short, I really enjoyed this book. It surprised me and I enjoyed its uniqueness. However, it just isn't an absolute favorite of mine. Read in for a more in depth review.




This book is very good. It has some great ideas, but something is lacking in it that could have made it an amazing book. I can't quite tell what it is lacking, or doing that I don't really like, but nevertheless, it was good. By the way this book took me a total of around 3 days, not over a month like it says it did. I started reading it while waiting for a book I ordered, and then put it down when the book came. Maybe not a book I would reread anytime soon, but I am going to read the other 2 books in the series now. I would recommend reading it, because you may find it to be your new favorite book.

Melissa Palmer

Book #81 Read in 2017
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This is the first book in a fantasy trilogy. The first half was slow for me but overall, I liked it. The peculiars all have a certain talent....similar to those in a sideshow at a circus. Photographs are throughout the book and add to the creepy atmosphere. Eventually, I will read the other two books.

Possibly my favorite book thus far. Perfect blend of intrigue and use of old found photographs. Delightfully creepy.

Lara Engle

This book started with five-star promise. There's mystery, family drama, and teenage angst. The conflation of mythical monsters, human monsters, and straight up drooling, taloned monster monsters creates intrigue. However, somewhere in the middle it gets, dare I say, a little boring. Then it just gets messy. It reminds me of almost any season of American Horror Story or a J.J. Abrams tv show. It starts out so cool and interesting, then falls apart as the writer(s) strain to keep up the initial tension. In the end, it just doesn't work. I'm still glad I read this, but I don't think I'll read the sequels.

Lisa Sepulveda

This world that Ransom Riggs has created Has been enthralling from the loops and time travel to the bird and the children I was in love 100% with the adventure that He has sent Jacob on and I look forward to continuing on with the trilogy to see when and where in the world Jacob Portman ends up.

Briar's Reviews

This book is perfection. I picked this book up after my sister gave me rave reviews. I had heard it was also becoming a movie from a random source, so I wanted to pick it up before it came out.

I found the novel slow to start out with a bit confusing, but once I got about one quarter into the book it was a pleasant surprise and I was hooked! I didn't want to put the book down and I adored it. The pictures hidden without the book gave a little extra boost to the story and made it easier to picture the characters. The pictures even made the characters seem somewhat real.

I don't have many bad things to say about the novel other than a few aspects that I found couldn't be seen as "real" in the fictional universe - such as Jacob's father not seeming to care to much about his disappearing for long amounts of time. 

Overall, it was a good book and I can't wait to grab the next one!

Five out of five stars!

I read this book years ago, but I remember not being able to put it down! The book is full of mystery and action; allowing you to visualize the scene and characters. Worth the read and personally think it’s easy to get through! 

Keona

This is the first book in the series, therefore its a little slow as it's doing all the world building and information needed for the following books. It does pick up pace as the book goes on, ending with all the thrill you expect with the book. It also ends in a really good place for the second to continue from. 

Julia

The book is one I've read before, but the illustrations are quite amazing! Still a fantastic read!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Colleen

3.5 Stars but I'm rounding up to 4 Stars

When I first heard of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I was left with the impression that it was some sort of coffee table book featuring old, creepy photographs of children. It was not until several months later that I read the description more thoroughly and realized that it was a full story accompanied by some old photographs. I have a partiality to old photographs, to old things in general. My grandmother was an antique dealer, and the house was just as stuffed with antiques as the shop was. I loved looking at them all and wondering what strange journeys on which they had been. I tell this story in particular because the upstairs bathroom had a wall that was full of vintage photographs of children. They were slightly creepy (particularly if you had to use the bathroom in the wee hours of the night), but I was fascinated with them. I would gaze at their frozen faces and wonder what became of them. My imagination was fueled even more because my family would play "Who is your ancestor?" in which everyone would complete to come up with the most elaborate story behind various portraits throughout the house (bonus points if you could convince guests that they were true stories!). All that to say that coming across a book built around old photographs touched a sentimental cord in me.

From the author's interview in the back of the book, it seems that the book grew out of his collection of vintage photographs. While this was a very interesting concept, sometimes it felt like a creative writing exercise. I had a few of those assignments in class where I had to write a story about a picture. Some of the pictures used in this book blended well with the story, but others did not fit as well. At times Riggs seemed to be trying too hard to stretch the story to fit the pictures rather than letting them feel genuine and organic to the story. There were also multiple pictures that were supposed to be of Emma that didn't look anything like each other. That took some of the fun out of it. However, overall it was interesting. And I'm always glad for a fantasy that does not involve vampires, werewolves, or witches. (I don't hate any of those things per-say, but they are vastly overdone!)

Something in the first few pages grabbed me. Although I could not pin point it, this did not have that standard YA feel. So many YA books sound like they were written by the same person and are formulaic to the point of monotony. There was just something in the tone and writing that delighted me. The hero is a bratty, privileged white upper class boy, yet somehow this was not off putting. Despite advantages, Jacob is kind of a loser, the sort of underdog that is fun to root for.
 
(view spoiler)[One detail that did annoy me was the description of the Wights. Riggs repeatedly describes them as having white pupils. He specifically mentions their pupils being white. Never once did I see mention of the irises of their eyes. Because at other times he does describe their eyes as completely white, once must conclude that their irises are also white. However, pupils and irises are NOT the same thing! You can not just mention one and presume your description covers the other as well. If this had just been mentioned once or twice, it would not have bothered me as much. However, it was mentioned several times with the same description each time. This probably would not bother most people, but I'm a stickler for details (hide spoiler)]

In the latter part of the book, the plot picks up. But while I was interested in the plot, some of that shine and uniqueness from the first half of the story fell by the wayside as the narrative sped up and focused on the plot. It lost the atmosphere that I loved from the beginning. The first few chapters were at least Four Star worthy maybe even Five Stars, but towards the end, the story felt somewhat sloppier and less compelling. Part of it was the rush to set up for book number two: a problem that many series suffer from. Here's to hoping that the second book can revive some of the charm from the beginning of this one. It is the author's debut work, so hopefully he will grow from here.

Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars		
Originality: 4 Stars
Consistency: 3 Stars
Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars

Ariel

** spoiler alert **
           Fast paced adventure. Yes yes and yes I loved Riggs writing style. 
However it was extremely unfortunate that i almost DNFed this book again due to the slow middle chunk of the book which led me to skimming some pages, so i am a little blurry on how Jacob in able to meet the peculiars even tho they ae livin in the past and him in the present. Furthermore, i dont understand the whole Jacob and Emma romance, isn't she his grandpa's lover?!?!! I-I don't understand-kind of insta-love-ish in my opinion.

 On the other hand, the book definitely picked up in the second half and i was speeding through it (in a good way). Do i regret reading it? Not really. Did i enjoy reading it? Kind of, but the plot and characters other than grandpa portman did not hook me in enough for me to continue with the series.

Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children

Megan O’Connod

My last book of 2016 and I finished on a good one!

Happy new year Goodreads!

Audrey Lord

This book is so beautifully written. I love the concept and I love how ideas for stories are made, photographs are always an amazing way to tell stories.

Mrs. Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children

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