Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I read this book over a period of about 2 weeks, which is an uncommonly long time for me. I don't know why, but I haven't been in much of a reading mood lately. Pair that with the fact that this book, especially at the beginning, is fabulously creeptastic, and you've got the makings of an interesting novel.

The book I'm talking about is this:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

A horrific family tragedy sends Jacob, 16, to a remote island off Wales, to the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, where he finds unusual old photographs.The children, one his grandfather, were more than peculiar, perhaps dangerous, quarantined for good reason - and maybe still alive.

I think what makes this novel so unique (and scary!) is the pairing of the written words with the pictures that are found throughout the novel. If it were just the words and my imagination, it wouldn't seem so real, but the pictures really just up the "realness" factor about 5 notches. Let me give you a couple examples, outside of the floating girl on the cover:

A little too flexible, no?

Ahhh! The reflection, my friends! The reflection!

Even still, I suspended some belief because I get royally goosebump-y and nervous with horror-ish things and didn't want to think about the possibility that the pictures hadn't been doctored. The craziest thing is that they hadn't been touched! These were pictures from private collectors, everyone, and that seriously freaks me out.

Outside of that part of the book, I thought the writing was great, and the story was interesting, even if it took me so long to get through it. All of us have felt like Jacob at one point, where we feel like our lives really have no point or meaning. Unfortunately for Jacob, through awful experiences, he realizes that his life will never be the same and that he was always extraordinary, if not in the ways he thought he could be. And the peculiar children had pretty awesome "peculiarities" that I loved reading about, like conjuring fire in your hands, being invisible, and having super-strength. (I know, at this point, it sounds like X-Men, but it's really not like that!)

Cleanness: It's been a week since I finished, so I don't remember much. There were probably a couple swear words, but if there were, it was at the beginning before all the action happened. If you read it, please let me know about the language. There were no inappropriate scenes, but there were allusions to an idea of someone cheating in marriage and also some innocent kissing.

Stars: I give this book 3 1/2 - 4 out of 5 stars. I know I complained about how creepy it was, but I have a really low tolerance for anything that can scare me! Haha. Go me. Anyway, it was a pretty darn good book and the first in a series (the next book is scheduled to come out sometime next year), though I'm not sure I could handle the ensuing jumpiness I would have if I read the next one... we shall see.