Book & Movie Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1
Publisher: Quirk Books
Published: 2011
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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Goodreads
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.
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.
A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)
FTC Disclaimer: I purchased this book (and movie ticket) myself. I was in no way compensated for this review.
A Bit Late…
This review is pretty late; I read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and watched the movie back in October, and here it is January and I’m finally writing this review. I wrote plenty of notes while reading the book, but unfortunately, I don’t remember quite as much about the movie as I would like, but I still do want to mention it in this review.
Better Than Expected…
First of all, I enjoyed Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children much more than I had expected. That cover always threw me, I’ll admit. I’m not huge on creepy and gory things (or at least not certain types of creepy and gory things, seeing as I LOVE zombies), and I knew that there were more photos inside the book like the one on the cover. Honestly, I never looked too closely at the cover, because it seemed creepy, and I heard the book was creepy. so I just stayed away. I’m weird like that.
But then the book was chosen for my book club, and then we decided to also go see the movie adaptation since it was in theaters at the time, so I figured I should probably read it. And I’m really glad I did! It’s not my favorite book by any means, but I did really enjoy it, and I realized how NON-creepy those photos were! I mean, seriously, I was afraid of nothing. But the book turned out to be a good kind of creepy, you know? One that makes you go, “Ooooh, creepy!” but not sleep with the lights on.
I figured out who the bad guy was pretty early on, and I also felt like the book was pretty slow to begin with. He didn’t even meet any of the titular peculiar children or Miss Peregrine herself until 1/3 of the way in. That seems pretty late for a story that’s mostly about those characters. And then for the second third of the book, it seems like all they did was talk about the different characters and their peculiarities. I found myself getting bored at times. But I did like the back story for the Hollowgast (the bad guys). That was pretty cool. And I did enjoy the writing overall.
A Strange Adaptation…
I enjoyed the book more than I enjoyed the movie. I think the movie was okay, but it seemed to change unnecessary things. I’m not sure why the love interest needed to be changed around, why the ending needed to change, etc. And I will NEVER understand why movies, TV shows, etc. need to include gross eye stuff. WTF is up with that, man? They changed a major aspect of the Hollowgast and made them eat eyes. I have a really bad eye phobia where I can’t deal with eye stuff and I had to close my eyes and kind of hum quietly to myself throughout this part in the movie. Was this really necessary, Tim Burton? I really don’t think so, at all.
Overall, I enjoyed Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children much more than I thought I would. The movie is an okay adaptation, but I doubt I’ll be watching it again. And I’m not sure I’ll continue on with the book series. It was good, but didn’t make me yearn to find out what happens next.
Andrea
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Sheena-kay Graham
January 25, 2017 at 10:35 amI keep planning to read this book. I have heard quite a bit if people saying the movie was underwhelming. Whether or not they read the book. Thanks for the double review. :)