A review by jonwesleyhuff
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
3.0
I read the book because I enjoyed the movie, and I'd heard the book was different. Well, that and I'd been intrigued by the book since it came out, but never got around to reading it. I have to say, this is one of those rare cases where I think I found the movie a more entertaining experience all around. That isn't to say the book is close to bad, but it feels like it's very much the start of a story rather than a complete story in and of itself. I got the hardcover set of all three books, so I do plan to continue on. So it'll be interesting to see if the latter half of the movie (which is very different from the ending here) draws any inspiration from that. This is a bit of an unfair criticism, though, as the movie has the luxury of refining something that has come before it whereas the book was something new.
The basic idea here is very clever and (like the movie) certainly feels quite a bit like a gothic twist on the X-men. I don't hold that against it at all. There's a coarser feel to the book than I expected. I'd say the movie matches the cover of the book more in tone than the book itself, strangely, and I preferred that. That being said, I kind of liked that contrast between the world of the loop and the grubby world of the present day. The use of the photos throughout is more of a mixed bag. It's a fun hook, and the presentation of the book in general is very nicely done. But some of the photos are intriguing and mysterious and some feel kind of shoehorned in.
The basic idea here is very clever and (like the movie) certainly feels quite a bit like a gothic twist on the X-men. I don't hold that against it at all. There's a coarser feel to the book than I expected. I'd say the movie matches the cover of the book more in tone than the book itself, strangely, and I preferred that. That being said, I kind of liked that contrast between the world of the loop and the grubby world of the present day. The use of the photos throughout is more of a mixed bag. It's a fun hook, and the presentation of the book in general is very nicely done. But some of the photos are intriguing and mysterious and some feel kind of shoehorned in.