Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

A mysterious island. 

An abandoned orphanage. 

A strange collection of very curious photographs. 

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. 

As our story opens, 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.

I read this book with a group of girls at my work as the first story for our book club. Out of the whole three who came, two of us liked it enough to start the next books. I was one of those two.

I thought this book was really good. Riggs takes the concept of time travel to a new level. The loops had me a bit confused for awhile but I finally figured it out.

I loved the main character Jacob. He has such a strong voice in the story. When he is seeking mental health treatments after a family tragedy, he still believes what he saw. He convinces his parents to allow him to visit the place where his grandfather's stories were born.

I also really enjoyed the pictures. Some of them were so strange and to know they were real pictures that were the base for this story was really neat.

One thing I didn't like was the relationship between Jacob and his parents. The entire book they felt like distant characters. There was no personal connection between them and Jacob. It felt like they were just letting him be. Even on the island, the father let him wander all over, all by himself.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I probably won't read again, but I will read the next in the series because this one ended very abruptly.