I Hated the Photographs

I’m pretty stoked for this movie in the fall. Naturally, I figured I would sate my excitement by reading the book, which seemed like a great plan at the time. And I really, really wanted to like it…unfortunately, I didn’t.

I’ll start with all the things there are to like about this book. It’s a tale about a bunch of peculiar kids with strange abilities who segregate themselves from the rest of the world in a “loop,” a day that repeats indefinitely, so long as the magic that created it holds. It’s told from the perspective of Jacob Portman, whose grandfather lived with Miss Peregrine until he left the loop, tired of being isolated and eager to see the world.

After his grandfather dies under mysterious circumstances that resemble a wild animal attack, Jacob begins to wonder if the extraordinary stories Abraham told him of his youth might be true. He travels to Wales, the site of Miss Peregrine’s home, to uncover the truth behind these tales when he begins to discover that he has the same peculiar ability as his grandfather: he can see the terrifying wights that hunt peculiars.

He suspects that these creatures killed his grandfather, and are now after him. With the help of Miss Peregrine and the other peculiar children, he hopes to destroy the wights and protect the home and family his grandfather loved.

It’s a pretty solid story. That said, it’s obviously a first novel, which isn’t to say that it’s bad, just conventional. The thing that I didn’t like, and which I felt was the book’s biggest detractor, was the inclusion of the photographs that inspired the story.

Read the rest at Shelf Talker!