Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Book #1 in the Miss Peregrine trilogy)

I read the book last year when it was close to Halloween and BOY, did it creep me out!

The plot is about a boy named Jacob Portman, who is raised by his grandfather. Said grandfather tells him all sorts of stories about special beings-ranging from invisible boys to girls with super strength. But Jacob grows older, he stops believing in such tall tales, like how children stop believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. When Jacob turns 15, his grandfather starts to rant and rave about monsters coming to attack him. These strange occurrences are dismissed as symptoms of dementia. However, when Jacob goes to check on his grandpa one fine day, he discovers the monster that killed him. Since no one other than Jacob can see those freaky creatures, he slips into depression.

Jacob's psychiatrist, Dr. Golan, suggests he and his father take a trip to where his grandpa was raised, and maybe get some clues on his grandpa's recent behaviour. While Jacob is in Cairnholm Island (in Wales,) he realises the stories of said special beings, a.k.a. the peculiar children, have been true all along...

I could probably talk and gush about this (like I was going to do with SGE) but since there's an invisible barrier on how much I can talk, I won't. But still, it deserves my praise. The elements of time-travel, fantasy, and horror have blended together to create this masterpiece. I loved the main setting, which was World War 2 era Europe, but set in stone.  The children and Miss Peregrine live in a time loop which repeats itself right as the day ends.

And the characters - I really loved all of them. Especially Jacob Portman. He was the one who went through quite the development - from being a strong-willed teen who refuses to believe all that hogwash about monsters and strange kids, to actually caring for the strange kids and Miss Peregrine. Jacob is a Peculiar—but not the typical kind. He's gifted with the ability to see the monsters that want to hunt down every single one of the Peculiars (the creatures are called the Hollowgast), and so he uses it to protect everyone from danger.

Miss Alma Peregrine herself is pretty awesome and kick-ass, even in her bird form (which, by the way, is a peregrine falcon—hence the name.) She's part of a group of Ymbrynes who can create and maintain time loops. And she will stop at nothing to prevent the Hollowgast from attacking her loop or her charges. She is very much like a mother to all the Peculiar children, although she can be strict with them at times. But in the end, it's all for the children's own good.

Every child in the orphanage has their own unique abilities or features, with some I haven't even heard of yet! Take Claire for example: she has an extra mouth with sharp teeth hidden in her hair at the back of her head. I absolutely adore Ransom's creativity in building his world, and introducing characters that stay with me, even after I close the book.

The Hollowgast and wights left me on edge from the moment they were introduced. In the story, the Hollowgast are the villainous Peculiars trying to attain immortality, but failing in the process. They hire the wights to help them find the children and Miss Peregrine. The wights are beings who have eyes without pupils, but can disguise as a regular human, making them more lethal than the Hollowgast. (All white eyes? Definitely something that can be on par with the 'black-eyed kids.')

Another factor adding to the creepiness is the photographs scattered throughout the book (well, some of them.) Especially the wight disguised as Santa, and the twins with fabric wrapped around their faces.

The romance between Jacob and Emma, although sugary sweet, became a little strange once I found out she used to be Jacob's grandpa's girlfriend. (This part reminded me of Back To The Future, when Marty's mom tries to date Marty. I know. A little screwed up, am I right?)

For horror lovers who don't want too big of a scare, or readers who like books set in historical locations, this is for you.

MY RATING: 4/5 ⭐