Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - Review

Instead of lullabies, Jacob grew up with his grandfather’s stories of monsters and an orphanage on an island off the Welsh coast that saved him. As he a child, he believed it all. Later he saw it as a way for his grandfather to keep him entertained. But when his grandfather dies Jacob thinks he sees a monster in the woods. His father explains that his grandfather was a Jew in Poland under Nazi rule so the monsters were simply metaphors. But his grandfather’s dying words were to find the bird, in the loop, get to the island, tell them what happened, and there he would be safe. And the psychiatrist his parents insist he sees thinks it would be good for Jacob to go and find the orphanage and put it all to rest. But it turns out a bomb hit the orphanage in 1940 and all that remains is a shell, decaying and scary. So how did his grandfather have a letter from them sent 15 years ago? Is it possible that they survived? Jacob, of course, has to know and thus his path of self-discovery and adventure begins.

I can’t tell you much more without giving too much away. I loved this book – it kept me up having to know what would happen. It’s a haunting, creepy, thoroughly disturbing read that is also poignant and achingly beautiful. It reminded me, in some ways, of the movie Big Fish. And the unforgettable vintage photos work with the text, making this book stand out in a sea of look-alikes. This is one of the best I’ve read this year.

AND (drum roll please)
Ransom Riggs will be at Kepler's TONIGHT at 7.00
Don't miss this opportunity to meet him
I have so many questions...