Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I admit, the cover sold me.  It popped up on Amazon while I was browsing (probably reading book reviews on books I read ten years ago).  It was a new book, marketed as "young adult" fiction, of which I'm always skeptical.  I read the synopsis, avoided all the reviews, and was sold as soon as I found out that the novel was illustrated with quirky vintage photography.

What a surprisingly fun book!  It is well written, almost TOO well-written for the audience to which it is being sold.  But that only made it better for me.  The characters are children in body but adult in mind, and that gives them depth.  There are strange photos aplenty which, rather than detracting from the story, enhance it by bringing the characters to life.  And the story itself was enough to keep me reading, with or without the photos.

This book has everything:  Family dynamics, travel, World War II, circus freaks (or, rather, people with peculiarities), romance, time travel, and photography.  What's not to love?  Nothing!  And supposedly there's a sequel in the works... with more photos.

Hooray for a new addiction!