Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children by Ransom Riggs

book: Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children
written by: Ransom Riggs
series: nope
genres: historical, fantasy, young adult
pages: 352
own / library /  borrowed
publication date: June 7th, 2011
publisher: Quirk books


first thoughts:
Ohmygosh finally! I had been waiting for months to read this book, and then a friend of mine walked around with this book in her bag. Seriously, I almost robbed her *no, just kidding, I'd never do that (A)* She let me borrow it if I finished it over the weekend, and so I did. Actually, I finished the first 80% on friday :D This book is looks so good and it didn't disappoint me at all. And the cover is so beautiful!

the book: 
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.

my review:

Oh my gosh. That's what I repeated a zillion times after I had finished this book. Still repeating it now, as you might have noticed in my blog post :s

I could think of dozens of words to describe this book, but I think peculiar is the best. Because this book was nothing like anything I have ever read. It was filled with vintage pictures, that went pretty well with the story, and they made the story more realistic. And that's an amazing thing, to make a fantasy novel seem realistic!

The children in this book terrified me in the beginning. 80-year-olds trapped in children's bodies? That must be horrible for them. But then I started looking at their behaviour, and I figured that their appearance matched the way they behaved, and only the things they knew didn't match their bodies. Wouldn't their brains have outgrown their bodies? :)

The story in this book was sometimes hard to follow, becaurse there was so much happening. If this book was twice as thick, I think there still would be happening a lot. Even when you didn't read 1 or 2 lines, the story would make no sense at all. I had to re-read an entire chapter after I put the book down, just to remember everything important that had happened. The author really put lots of information in a relatively short story.

There was a lot of character development, which is great. I don't like a book when the characters don't develop at all. The developing of a character makes the character seem human, and not just a few drops of ink.

The story told in this book intrigued me a lot. I held my breath reading it and finished it as soon as I could. I wanted to know how it ended so badly! Luckily, I didn't make the mistake I made while reading the last Harry Potter book *MASSIVE SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HP7* . I *accidentely* read the final 2 words: "Harry said." And well, that spoiled the entire book... 

There was a little romance in this book, but not much, just enough.

A very original book for both teens and adult that freaked me out, made me swoon and every other emotion in between. Definitely a must for all fantasy-lovers!

rating: 

4.5 stars

xo Mar