MUST-READ | 'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' Book Series
Mysterious. Fantastical. These are the words to describe the New York Times bestseller trilogy, ‘Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children’. Ransom Riggs provides an intense, yet remarkably quaint atmosphere that has readers immediately engrossed and fervently enveloped in his world. Despite it being his debut, Riggs by no means submits an amateur piece of work. Instead, the story earns itself the rightful reputation of being haunting, thrilling, and indeed peculiar piece of children’s literature.
Beginning with ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’, standing as a mere introduction to the extensive world created by Riggs, the series follows the adventures of Jacob – a teenage boy seeking to unravel the mysteries involved with his grandfather's death.
The world of the peculiars was built with extraordinary care and detail, without being overwhelming in its presentation of information. The story itself was very well paced; however, admittedly it can be slow at times, particularly in the lead up to climactic scenes where the tension arguably drags.
In regards to authenticity and cohesion, Riggs has shattered any apprehension held of amateur conduct, particularly with the integration of photographs, which assists in the storytelling throughout the series, providing an unconventional twist.
The second novel, ‘Hollow City’, does not disappoint, nor does it lower the standard initially set by the opening novel; however, moments of sluggish tension once again rears itself as a prominent flaw. Nonetheless, while such flaws may be noted as slightly inconvenient as opposed to destructive, the commonly explored theme of ‘ordinary versus extraordinary’ gives a refreshing, quirky perspective, standing as an interesting mixture of the relatable and ambiguous.
Although there are definite nostalgic elements involved, sparking memories of one’s childlike desire to live in the worlds set in our bedtime stories, daunting realities of peculiarities are visited and exposed, stirring feelings of underlying dread and clearly relating to the prejudice faced by existing ‘peculiars’. The series becomes subtly less fictional and more didactic on the correlation between individuality and discrimination, whilst maintaining a magical atmosphere as well as the audience’s attention.
The closing novel, ‘Library of Souls’, demonstrates Riggs’ full potential as he leaves readers with undecided reactions; although there is an undeniable sense of satisfaction one only gets when concluding a series, there is also an entrenched mourning for the end of an exceptional journey.
In terms of atmosphere, characterisation, plot, and world building, Riggs defeats all doubt surrounding debuting authors such as himself; in its stead, he created something magical and truly special. However, perhaps the most notable yet undistinguished component of this series was its true relatability, in spite of its opposing genre. Although it emerges as fantastical, there is nothing fictional about Riggs’ anecdotes of the relation between peculiarity and social rejection, thus proving itself to be truly didactic in nature.
The series is executed admirably. Combined with the flawless integration of eerie photographs as part of the storytelling, Riggs shares this extraordinary story that is highly deserving of praise for its originality and its ability to enlighten the reader through its eccentricities and exploration of the socially complex.
