[second book]

Source

This week we have a two-fer! Since both books were easy, quick reads I was able to blaze through both of them in no time. Book number 2 was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (also the first in a series).

Plot

When Abraham Portman dies tragically, he leaves his grandson Jacob with an enigmatic request. In the aftermath of the death, Jacob and his father follow Abraham's clues all the way to a small island in Wales where Abraham lived prior to coming to the United States. Desperate to uncover what it was his grandfather was talking about, Jacob travels to the orphanage Abraham lived in briefly. While in the orphanage, Jacob stumbles across a trunk full of rather peculiar photographs and unwittingly opens the door to secrets about his grandfather and himself. 

Review

When you pick up this book, it comes across like a spooky story. The picture on the front is haunting, and the description seems to feed into that idea.  What you get is quite different. Sure there are supernatural elements (apparently I'm in a supernatural mood these days). But instead of being a spooky story, Miss Peregrine's is instead a coming of age story about a teenager who never quite fit into the "normal" world but instead finds his place in a supernatural one. Along the way, he has to make tough choice between the world he knew and the world he's entering. There's romance and fighting, bad guys and children with peculiar talents. Don't get me wrong, Miss Peregrine's is a good book; I did finish it in about a day and a half after all. It just wasn't what I expected. I was in the mood for a scary story, not a touching coming of age one with some supernatural elements thrown in. There is something else that makes this story unique though. Riggs incorporated a series of vintage photographs he found into the book. While the story would read just as well without the photos, they do add a little bit more of the spooky element I was looking for when I picked up the book.  I'm definitely not rushing to read the sequel although I don't regret reading the first in the series.