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Jun 06, 2019
A family tragedy sends teenage Jacob to an island in Wales where he discovers the decaying ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, bombed during the Second World War. Strangely enough, the children may still be alive. Stranger still, Jacob might be one of them. I was expecting Miss Peregrine’s to have a “Series of Unfortunate Events” vibe, gathered from the cover and the description, but was pleasantly surprised to find it closer to “Percy Jackson” in nature. This multi-media book incorporates found photographs and writing to tell its surreal story. I was delighted to find that it includes enough fantasy mixed with character development and plot to be able to tell a well-developed story. Usually, in fantasy novels the writer will be forced to sacrifice one of either setting, plot or character in favour of the other two, but Miss Peregrine’s was very well balanced. Personally, I loved (and hated) the anti-hero character of Jacob who I found identifiable with and interesting. He may not be the nicest person but is very entertaining. My one complaint would be that the love story was a bit static, inorganic and unneeded. However, Emma plays an important role later in the series so with perspective it becomes necessary. One way to improve the book would be to keep the pacing more even. The beginning was very slow and the ending much more hurried, making it seem as though the author was running out of time. 4/5 Stars. @viedelabibliothèque of the Hamilton Public Library Teen Review Board!