This book is a new favorite!
I must admit that when I first saw Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I didn’t think much of it. The cover looked peculiar for sure, but it didn’t immediately make me want to read it.
And then I kept seeing the book more and more (mostly as a recommendation on Amazon, but also emails from other bookstores), so I read the description…. and it still didn’t connect with me, though I was slightly more intrigued.
And then I saw a video on Amazon on the book’s page. Did you know that they make movie-like trailers for books now? You can check it out HERE.
That trailer just shows you the very edge of this amazing story, and shows the main character Jacob when he is young. The book jumps quickly from that boy in the prologue to a 15 year old Jacob, convinced that his grandfather just told him fairy tales. Jacob is thrust into a situation where he is convinced that the stories are much more than fairy tales.
The really cool thing about this book is that it is supported with vintage photography of the peculiar children from the stories. You can see one on the cover of the levitating girl. These photos are real photos gathered from vintage photography collections, and I’m sure, like Jacob, you will see them and think they are trick photography. But as the book continues, you’re begin to see them as very real.
In tone, I am am reminded a little bit of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief with a little more fantasy and whimsy, but the darkness is definitely there in the undercurrent.
The story and characters are engaging and the plot takes several twists and turns. Some of those twists I’m sure you’ll guess, but some may surprise you, and the whole book is well written. It’s one of those books that you want to stay up reading all night.
The book ends with a cliffhanger, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the continuation. In the meantime, you should pick it up and give this one a read!
Random Acts of Coffee 