![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
2014 Book Review #81: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Spec fic that thinks it's literary
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: After the death of his tall tale-telling grandfather, Jacob discovers that the stories about a home for strangely gifted children were true. Illustrated by a bizarre-yet-intriguing collection of actual vintage photographs.
Thoughts: The premise of this book--discovering that your grandfather grew up in essentially a home for mutants--is classic fantasy/superhero. It's odd, though--you can tell when an author considers themselves a speculative fiction author and is familiar with the tropes of the genre, and when an author thinks they're writing something groundbreaking and artsy.
The gimmick here is that Riggs first went around collecting extremely odd vintage photographs and then constructed a story using them as prompts. If this book were a neighborhood, it would be Williamsburg. It's such an unbearably hipster thing to do. But it works rather well, and Riggs turns out a compelling, entertaining story full of rather indelible imagery. (Although he never explains the clown children to my satisfaction.)
It's clever, although there's a preening "aren't I clever" archness that never quite goes away. Fortunately, it does not overwhelm the actual appeal of the book.
The actual story is brisk and engrossing. There are a number of genuinely clever twists, from what Jacob's grandfather was actually doing on his travels to how his relationship with his therapist ultimately plays out. The overall situation is incredibly poignant, and a number of the scenes are rather brilliant nightmare fuel. The truth--and lies--told by photographs are a persistent theme.
The ending leaves much unresolved--another crop of thrifted photos will have to explain the rest in the sequel.
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Spec fic that thinks it's literary
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: After the death of his tall tale-telling grandfather, Jacob discovers that the stories about a home for strangely gifted children were true. Illustrated by a bizarre-yet-intriguing collection of actual vintage photographs.
Thoughts: The premise of this book--discovering that your grandfather grew up in essentially a home for mutants--is classic fantasy/superhero. It's odd, though--you can tell when an author considers themselves a speculative fiction author and is familiar with the tropes of the genre, and when an author thinks they're writing something groundbreaking and artsy.
The gimmick here is that Riggs first went around collecting extremely odd vintage photographs and then constructed a story using them as prompts. If this book were a neighborhood, it would be Williamsburg. It's such an unbearably hipster thing to do. But it works rather well, and Riggs turns out a compelling, entertaining story full of rather indelible imagery. (Although he never explains the clown children to my satisfaction.)
It's clever, although there's a preening "aren't I clever" archness that never quite goes away. Fortunately, it does not overwhelm the actual appeal of the book.
The actual story is brisk and engrossing. There are a number of genuinely clever twists, from what Jacob's grandfather was actually doing on his travels to how his relationship with his therapist ultimately plays out. The overall situation is incredibly poignant, and a number of the scenes are rather brilliant nightmare fuel. The truth--and lies--told by photographs are a persistent theme.
The ending leaves much unresolved--another crop of thrifted photos will have to explain the rest in the sequel.