Book Review of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Entry One of the Blog: The Novel Notion
With a story surrounding unexplainable photographs of children floating mid-air or holding fire in their hands, like everyone else, I was immediately drawn to this book series written by Ransom Riggs. “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” (such a mouthful, so I’ll be calling it MPHFPC) definitely lives up to this promise and transports readers on a journey that brews a mixture of adventure with a hint of peculiarity that can transform anyone’s afternoon.
I initially discovered this book series as a child when I was leafing through books in a bookstore many years ago. Being a child with a low attention span, I was immediately intrigued by the cover of this book and the plethora of photographs in between words. This book series soon became a favorite of mine and defined my childhood, filling my imagination with adventures of the peculiars — people with unusual traits or super abilities, such as the ability to understand any language or a mouth on the back of one’s head. I simply could not put down the book, and I still could not when I recently decided to reread it upon learning that Ransom Riggs is a Pine View graduate.
Without further ado, let’s delve into book one of this series, spoiler-free.
MPHFPC follows 16-year-old Jacob Portman whose life is thrown into shambles due to a horrific family tragedy. This tragedy eventually leads him to travel to a remote island off the coast of Wales called Cairnholm, where many secrets of the past are unearthed. While wandering throughout this island, Portman discovers the ruins of an abandoned orphanage (as so it seems at first), and soon finds himself immersed in a world of peculiars with the strangest of abilities. Eventually, Portman, along with those he befriends from the orphanage, is forced to face deathly monsters of the past and brave the unexplainable.
Personally, what stuck me most while reading this book was Riggs’ incredible writing style and the way his words brought the world to life. His writing style was quite descriptive and heavy, bringing the scenes to the reader and placing them inside the book — almost so well that it can become too much at some points. This vivid imagery especially shined whenever he described the horrific monsters that roamed in between the pages, guaranteeing nightmares for the readers for days without end.
“My nightmare. It stopped there, hairless and naked, mottled gray-black skin hanging off its frame in loose folds, its eyes collared in dripping putrefaction, legs bowed and feet clubbed and hands gnarled into useless claws — every part looking withered and wasted like the body of an impossibly old man — save one. Its outsized jaws were its main feature, a bulging enclosure of teeth as tall and sharp as little steak knives that the flesh of its mouth was hopeless to contain, so that its lips were perpetually drawn back in a deranged smile,” Riggs wrote.
As a child, the way Riggs described the monsters sent shivers down my spine, scaring me out of my wits; even now, as a 16-year-old, I still feel fear bubbling up inside of me when reading these scenes. I just cannot get enough of this vivid imagery that inserts the reader inside the book, making you feel as though you are seeing these creatures for yourself. Although I adore detailed descriptions, they are not for everyone, so if you choose to pursue this book, be warned, because there is a ton of imagery.
Despite the lovely writing style, this book series has some elements that are highly questionable, and throughout the plot, this book walks on a thin line between ethical and unethical. In order to describe the questionability of these elements to the fullest length, there will be huge spoilers ahead (if you’re trying to avoid spoilers, skip to the last two paragraphs).
After meeting and befriending the peculiars at the orphanage of Miss Peregrine, a peculiar caretaker who can manipulate time and turn into a bird, Portman begins to fall in love with a beautiful teenage girl named Emma Bloom. With the ability to manipulate fire at her side, Bloom is quite strong and has a fierce personality — she is often unafraid of others and speaks her mind. However, Bloom is actually around 90-years-old and hasn’t aged a single day physically after 16 due to the time loop Miss Peregrine keeps over the orphanage in order to protect the peculiars.
This is only the tip of the iceberg — trust me, it gets even worse.
She was so alluring and lovely in fact that Portman’s deceased grandfather, who used to be a peculiar that lived in Miss Peregrine’s orphanage before leaving to fight in World War II, dated her for many years. So, basically, Portman, a 16-year-old boy, is dating the 90-year-old ex-girlfriend of his deceased grandfather. This does not just blur the line between unethical and ethical, it completely oversteps that boundary.
Despite the extremely questionable ethics behind some aspects of the book, the other elements of the book make up for it. Riggs’ world, which he illustrates through vivid imagery is fascinating and draws you in, making you unable to put the book down. In between his descriptive words, he includes intriguing photographs that not only help the reader visualize any scenes in particular but also make the readers truly wonder about the universe of MPHFPC. For any reader wishing to embark on a journey through the peculiar and past, I heavily recommend reading this book.
I would rate this book and the book series as 4/5 torches as it definitely loses a torch due to the questionable elements mentioned prior. However, these elements do not overshadow the incredible world-building and writing style of Ransom Riggs that can simply transform any reader’s afternoon.
4/5 Torches
READ MORE: “Book written by Pine View alumnus being made into major motion picture” by Katie Green