“The second novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children” – as written on the cover of the novel. Written by Ransom Riggs and published by Quirk Books. Copyright 2014 . The copy I have is a paperback of trade size and 396 pages of story followed by Acknowledgements(I don’t read those usually) and a section called A Conversation with Ransom Riggs. The book is rounded out by an excerpt from the third novel in the series.
The first novel of this series was made into a movie, and it was almost as peculiar as the book. I’d like to see this one also made into a movie, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest it will. A great many people don’t enjoy the peculiar. It makes them uncomfortable. I don’t mind as long as the peculiarity is done correctly and not used to simply make a joke. Those types of jokes are horrible to me – my first thought was obscene but upon reflection, I think that word is a bit harsh.
The book itself was wonderful, well written and quite moving at times. The author portrays the reality of war while throwing in the oddness of the children as a way of throwing you off the harshness of the reality. Children do die, people and animals do die in this book but not for nothing. The story moves on, motivates our cast of children, and we go on with them.
This is not a happy story though there are parts that are relatively sweet and lovely. Some scenes touch on the idyllic. Still, this is not a happy story nor is it meant to be. It’s a story of a group of special people trying to survive while another group of people attempt to either imprison them or destroy them. This is a story of survival and at times, it gets a bit grim. Still, it has its merits, and I think it’s a very good read.
I would suggest reading it, especially if you have seen the movie or read the first book – or both. It has a nice twist in it as well as some new peculiar children you didn’t meet in the first novel. I’m looking forward to reading the third book – our young hero, Jacob, is becoming quite an interesting fellow.
Well my friends, I’ll see you on the flipside and don’t forget to bring your towel and sonic screwdriver – things might get a bit….peculiar.
Griffin's Nest 