Love this book! If I'm being COMPLETELY honest, the story itself is probably only worth 3 stars, but the pictures and the idea of using them to illustrate the story brings it up to 5 for me. The story isn't as creepy as it is advertised, but that's okay. Some of the old photos are so incredibly cool, they really add depth to the story. I can't wait for the sequel!

Sixteen year old Jacob Portman just wanted to be fired from his job at the pharmacy. He hated it that his uncles had other plans; they intended for him to work in the family empire, not caring what Jacob wanted to do. What he wanted was to spend more time with his grandfather. He would reflect back on the magical stories he used to tell him when he was young. A floating girl, and invisible boy, and many other impossibilities. It was easy to believe these when he was little, but now, an older and wiser Jacob knew better. That didn't stop him from adoring Grandpa Abe. One day at work, Jacob received a frantic call from his grandfather telling him that the monsters were coming for him. Jacob rushed to his side, but he was too late. Abe laying dying, torn open by what the police later confirmed was a wild animal attack. With his final breaths, he told Jacob to find the bird and mumbled some other cryptic details. Even with the help of counselling, Jacob was not able to let go of his grandfather's horrific death. Finally, he convinced his parents that he needed to travel to the remote Welsh island where his grandfather had lived in a children's home for war orphans. There he hoped to find some clue to Abe's final message. I listened to the audio book version of this twice in the past few months. The second time I enjoyed it so much better than the first. This second time I was able to enjoy the wealth of detail, while the first time I was so busy trying to follow the story and time lines. This was read by Jesse Bernstein. 9 hours 42 minutes. From Books on Tape. The descriptions were so vivid and the voices so well done, that I was able to visualize each of the children and photographs that Jacob looked at periodically throughout the story. It was only later that I learned that the paper version shows the discussed photos and even images of the 'letters' which Jacob reads. In this novel, we find that it's not easy being a teenager no matter the time period. Jacob has to deal with bullying at school, yet his grandfather had to deal with a war and with the monsters he keeps talking about. Then there are the other children at the home, they have to deal with the isolation from their families as well as from a normal relationship with the rest of the population of the island. Spoiler Alert: There is only one tiny thing that bothered me in this book, and it is not something that the target audience of 14+ would notice. Emma leads Jacob down into a sunk boat. They are at least twelve feet underwater, and Emma picks up a hose, clears the water from it with a little puff of air and starts breathing. Then she hands the hose to Jacob and he breaths from it. As a trained scuba diver, this isn't going to work. As I said, this is a small thing, and I wasn't going to let it stop me from fully enjoying this book. End of Spoiler Alert On his website, Ransom Riggs indicated that he is working on a follow up to this book which he plans to have ready at some point in 2013.

Jacob grew up listening to his grandfather Abe's stories of fantastical and harrowing adventures, most stemming from the orphanage he grew up in - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. How peculiar exactly are these children? Just judging from the photos on the covers - things get really weird. I had seen this book at the bookstore several times, and I was always creeped out by the photos and the premise doesn't give much away. It wasn't until I actually bought the book and really looked at it that I noticed the girl on the cover is levitating, it just made me all that more excited to find out what was going on. Our main character Jacob loved his grandfather Abe and his stories about the war, and the unique children he befriended at the orphanage he grew up in with their unusual abilities. But like any child, he got older and became increasingly skeptical about how real these stories could be. It's incredible how we rationalize everything, even when there's real physical photographic proof in front of us and Jacob is no different. But when his grandfather dies in a horrific accident, Jacob starts to question his sanity while plagued with nightmares and his grandfather's last request. Piecing the fragments of his grandfather's life together, Jacob ends up on a remote isle off the coast of Wales to search for answers - but he soon gets sucked into a world full of wonders and dangers he couldn't even begin to imagine. Grandfather Abe completely reminds me of Grandpa Abe from The Simpsons. He tells war stories, and each time the version changes a little bit and it gets wilder and couldn't possibly be true. Soon relatives start brushing him off and thinking he's not that mentally stable anymore. But boy are you in for a surprise when the truth about Abe's life is uncovered and how hard he tried to the very end to fend off the things that go bump in the night. This book is definitely a work of art; from the eerie photos to the end papers, to the in between chapter papers and the handwritten letters - it's all gorgeous and makes this an enveloping and engaging read. Although I don't think I'll ever be able to look at the photos for more than a few seconds - it feels like their unblinking eyes are just boring into your soul, even after we get to know some of these peculiar children. The story immediately draws you in with the photos, and Abe's unfortunate end, but then it lulls a bit as Jacob struggles to figure things out. But Riggs does an excellent job contrasting Jacob's life before and after these life altering events so that when he does find the orphanage he easily fits in and it just feels right that he's there. However, for me this is where the story shifted gears completely. It was no longer a creepy mystery and I just didn't feel as invested in the story as I did before. It turns into a superheroes unite to save the world kind of situation and while I still wanted to know what happens, the last half of the story ends up as a predictable set up for the sequel and left a lot of questions unanswered. This story definitely has a unique and intriguing plot bolstered by old fashioned photos (and apparently they're all real?) and I generally enjoyed it. I had expected a lot of suspense and horror, but I never really got apprehensive at any point. It was like listening to your grandfather tell you a story and just watching it all unfold safely from a distance.

Jacob has grown up with his grandfather Abe’s outlandish stories and had become more and more skeptical as he got older. When Abe dies in a bizarre circumstance, Jacob tries to piece together his grandfather’s life and have some closure with the traumatic event by travelling to the island that Abe had grown up on. The most striking thing about this book is that the story is written from actual bizarre black & white photographs. The origins and circumstances behind these pictures may be known or not, but Riggs has concocted an amazingly fluid narrative that ties these together. It was amazing to think that these photos actually already existed and weren’t taken for the purposes of the book. I actually had no idea what to expect with this book prior to picking it up. The cover looked creepy, and I was intrigued. The story that develops between the covers is so well thought out and so much more than just a collection of “bizarre photos”. I felt it a bit reminiscent of Big Fish, where one may think another’s stories have been so embellished through the years that the truth of it has been lost. That journey to find the origin of those outlandish stories is what Miss Peregrine’s reminded me of. The cast of personalities that Riggs has created are so vivacious and full of character that they really fit with the images. You felt like you were actually seeing photos of the people he was describing. While the plot does take an unexpected turn, a twist that’s even stranger than the photos, it does leave it open for a future installment, which is tentatively slated for June 2013. This, and other reviews can be found on JustALilLost.com

Ransom Riggs is what i like to refer to as my 'soul author'. When he describes a scent, however putrid or rank, it wafts up my nostrils. When he describes the creaking of the stairs or the run-down nature of a structure, i see it, feel it give, and worry myself above the potential cave in. He is pure unaltered, awesome. This story is both enchanting and completely bizarre, though at the same time inspiring. I recommend. I truly do. 17 stars. It was a joy ride.

I apologize in advance for any jumbled up words. I am rather in a conflicted state of mind. I'm in love with how the book is set upped and I am feeling rather guilty for giving it 4 stars. My reasoning is down below... I've been looking for a great supernatural read that didn't involve the typical Big Four: vampires, werewolves, faeries and angels. So when I saw this book on Goodreads, I knew i had high hopes it. Peculiar. Oh how this reminds me of the GONE series by Michael Grant. It's paranormal fiction without those over-done Big Four. Every one of the peculiar children grew on me and made me care for them. It's like visiting a museum when I look at their pictures. I picture what was going on in their heads? What had been said and done before the pictures were taken? Like with almost every other book I have read, the main character was not my favourite and yet he was tolerable and I even connected with him at times. So I give a high five to the author for that! :) I loved the pictures that were partnered up with the story. As mentioned above, it brought into a state where I had to study every single one and take in every single detail. I loved the way it made me felt. This book dealt with the pass, during the Second World War. I've always loved stories which have taken in that era and this one pulled me right in. And when it was in the present day, I thought the book did very well to illustrate a foreign country for me. I felt equally mystified by the present setting as I did for the past. The reason this book lost one star for me was because I felt at times I could not stay entertained. I was looking forward to learning more about every one of the peculiars and yet it never came. I guess I was sort of hoping for a deeper incite to the past lives of all of the peculiars and it wasn't the route the author took. I felt my interest grow at parts and sank at others, so would have to give this book 4 stars. P.S.: THE ENDING WAS VERY TOUCHING AND YOU ALL KNOW HOW I LOVE 'EM PECULIARS. I felt that at the very end, I got to know all of them a bit better an it made me appreciate this book.

I found the beginning choppy, a little sluggish. Not sure if that's the best way to describe it. In the end I really got caught up in the story and wanted to see what would happen. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't believe there is a follow up to this book and thinking back, I think its the best thing to do for these characters. It's not my usual type of book, but I enjoyed the imagery and would recommend it if someone asked about it... Not the first book that would come to mind if someone asked "what should I read"

The hole story is pretty hard to read, I mean , when you look at the pictures it's like a bit crazy in a way of mental illness(not talking about the author) and for some people, it's hard to read about these type of things. The biggining made me wonder what wil happen next, but after getting on the island, things took the down road. Every single page made me want to put the book down, there was no action for so long and when action came, it didn't make up for all the other chapters that left me yawning. On the bright side, the pictures really fit in with the whole scenario. The book would be better off made out of pictures.

I originally borrowed this book from a friend, I got a quarter ways through and stopped. The book scared me a little but I kept wondering about the ending, and what would happen. I eventually bought the book and i'm very glad that I did. It is incredibly well written and I'd recommend it to nearly anyone. Read it slowly and make sure to enjoy it!!(:

I loved this book! It left me wanting more like any good book should!