Reviewed: “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs

I don’t know why I hesitate before I start YA series. I’m not a YA, as much as it pains me to admit that, but I haven’t really met a YA series I didn’t at least like. I’ve even ended up in the “fandom” of a series or two. Some I just read, appreciate, and read again. There are so many series, though, that seem like they’re all cut from the same cloth. It makes me nervous about buying them.

I am proud to say that I bought Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children on a complete impulse and am even more proud to say how much I liked it. The cover, with the flapper style girl, caught my eye right away and the fact there were a lot of the old school and, literally, old photos in the book hooked me immediately. It was nice to see something YA that wasn’t a dystopian love triangle. It was nicer still to see the historical, World War II twist to the story. The history lover in me will always appreciate that.

I feel sort of like Riggs’ creation is Stephen King-like in nature, only written for younger and/or less ambitious readers who don’t want to tackle 1000+ pages to get the supernatural story fix they need. And I wonder if King has read about Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children.

That isn’t to say, of course, that Riggs’ world isn’t unique and stand-alone. It is.

I was as fascinated by the real photos as I was by the characters that Riggs wrote for the photos. I wanted to know more about each of the children. I wanted to know where Jacob fits in to the world, what his purpose in it all is. I care about these people.

That’s what’s most important in a book, if you ask me.

And I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.