When the full moon comes out, the pumpkin lattes are served, and black cats begin to prowl the neighborhoods, there’s nothing better than curling up inside to bask in the season of spookiness!
As I usually turn to books to indulge in the“vibes” of the season, for lack of a better word, I decided to seek out a series I hadn’t previously read but definitely has a chilling and mysterious aesthetic with a couple of monsters mixed in: Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children. When these books hit peak popularity, I never got around to reading them. Though I can’t say why– perhaps younger me was trying to be different and not follow the crowd– I am glad I chose to read them now!
I chose to experience them through audiobooks during a week when I was on the go and I just couldn’t put them down! I’ve made it through Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: Hollow City so far and have just downloaded Library of Souls, the third installment. The benefit of this medium is that I don’t have to stop reading when I get into the car or step into the gym, but the perk of picking up the physical book is that there are added old photographs to go along with the story. The author, Ransom Riggs, actually came up with the concept after collecting a set of interesting images and using them to guide his plot!
The books themselves follow a boy named Jacob whose grandfather’s eccentric stories suddenly become too real and left him no choice but to seek out the origin of the supposedly strange family history. He finds answers on the island of Cairnholm, but he also discovers evidence of some peculiar folk with dangerous threats on their tails. Could his grandfather have been right all along? And is Jacob destined to become a part of those old stories? You’ll have to read to find out…
The books incorporate history, reference urban legend, and let your imagination run wild. I found them to be surprising and fun with a cast of unique characters I would be happy to read spin-off stories about, if not to appreciate the way they fit into today’s world then to gain more sympathy for their personal motivations. It’s another take on the main-character-finds-out-something’s-different-about-them-and-enters-a-brand-new-world setup, and I can’t help but be a sucker for that trope. The part of my brain that’s still childlike enjoys placing myself in the book and wondering about what I would do if I were Jacob or a rather peculiar character.
So if you’re like me and enjoy a new world, some slightly spooky adventures, and something to get you in the mood for Halloween, then look no further than Ransom Riggs’s series Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
I hope your visit to Cairnholm is nothing short of… peculiar.