Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

“When someone won’t let you in, eventually you stop knocking. Know what I mean?”

Following his grandfather’s strange and sudden death, Jacob goes on a quest to learn more about the old man’s mysterious childhood. He travels to a strange island off the coast of Wales and discovers an abandoned orphanage. As Jacob explores the place, it turns out that the not-so-abandoned orphanage was actually expecting his arrival.

The concept behind this novel was so A+. The first chapter immediately drew me in. The mixture of a creepy grandfather death and spooky old photos really did the trick. I don’t usually read fantasy or YA, so I was pleasantly surprised with how this novel took off.

Unfortunately, the execution of this A+ idea was not so great. I was bored half-way through the novel. I felt like there were so many plot additions piling up with no resolutions in sight. Despite this, I am glad that I finished the novel. The ending was definitely not a final one–a good set up for the sequel.

Idea: Great. Characters: Great. Plot: Meh.

I don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel, but then again, fantasy YA is not usually my genre of choice.