★★★★☆

(4 out of 5 stars) 

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is the first book in a six-book series:

2) Hollow City 

3) Library of Souls 

4) A Map of Days

5) The Conference of the Birds

6) The Desolation of Devil’s Acre

Summary: Starting in Florida, Jacob Portman has been telling stories about “Peculiar Children” from his grandfather ever since he was a child. Children that could do amazing things — start fires with their hands; one that was invisible; one that could levitate… One day, Jacob’s world turns upside down as these children he thought his grandfather had made up turn out to be real. 

Jacob’s grandfather said he was one of them, and Jacob believed this until he realized that these were just fairy tales. Then one day, everything changed. 

Jacob’s grandfather is discovered dead in the woods behind his home, and the attack is blamed on a pack of feral dogs. Jacob is the one to discover the body — and is left with the mysterious last words his grandfather tells him. When going through his grandfather’s things he finds a letter addressed to his grandfather from someone named Miss Peregrine.

Jacob embarks on a trip to a small island, off of Wales, where the letter supposedly came from. His grandfather claims the home for the peculiars was here. Jacob arrives but realizes this can’t be right. The place is in ruins, and he finds out that the home took a direct hit from a bomb during the war, and everyone inside perished. 

Jacob is left on the island with puzzling questions, and soon discovers the one issue — the inhabitants are not at all what they seem. Jacob soon finds that this island offers more than it seems to people that may be considered “peculiar.” 

Review: My favorite part of the book was probably where Jacob is on the island, and he figures everything out and gets to finally meet Ms. Peregrine whom he had only heard about. However, my least favorite part is probably the ending; it is a bit different than other stories, and it doesn’t quite “wrap up” the way you expect it to. This book is a good mystery book and it is great for anyone looking for a new book to read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and also enjoyed the plot and the characters.