To be honest, I find most of this book's charm in its beginning.
Since he was young, 16-year-old Jacob Portman has listened to his grandfather's stories of strange children with powers who all lived together on an island. Jacob's grandfather told tall tales of escaping the Holocaust, and the world war, and coming to the beautiful salvation that was an island in Wales.
Of course, as Jacob got older, he put less and less stock in these stories, eventually realizing that, rather than tell factual tales of horror and escape, Grandpa Portman had concocted his own version of what happened.
Until one fateful night, when Jacob was called to deal with one of Granpa Portman's fits, where he believed he was back on the island, or facing his fabled monsters.
As it turned out, this time it was real. Jacob witnessed his grandfather die before his very eyes, and he saw the thing that did it.
Monstrous. A true creature of tale. Only, they're not tales anymore.
Jacob travels to the island where his grandfather took refuge, under the guise of finding closure, and that is where he finds Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. And he realizes his grandfather's paradise is real.
Now, this is where I lost a little intrest. At first, I thought Miss Peregrine's Home was partially a figment of the grandfather's imagination; this captivated me. The beginning, where we didn't know whether or not the Home was real, where it was all mixed up in the war and the Holocaust, that is what intrigued me. When I realized it was all true, I lost a little intrest. So beware: this is a real-life fairytale and fantasy story.
To continue:
There are many more mysteries surronding the Home than Jacob can even recognize. And it is all wrapped up with his grandfather: truths he never had a clue about. And there is a strange man on the tiny island who Jacob just has a... feeling about.
This truly is a good book, though I have to say the ending disappointed me. It seemed too easy, and unrealistic.
However, just because I focused on the bad things doesn't mean this is a bad book! I found it enjoyable and enlightening.
If you like scary, magical realism (I think that has an actual genre), go for this book!
Since he was young, 16-year-old Jacob Portman has listened to his grandfather's stories of strange children with powers who all lived together on an island. Jacob's grandfather told tall tales of escaping the Holocaust, and the world war, and coming to the beautiful salvation that was an island in Wales.
Of course, as Jacob got older, he put less and less stock in these stories, eventually realizing that, rather than tell factual tales of horror and escape, Grandpa Portman had concocted his own version of what happened.
Until one fateful night, when Jacob was called to deal with one of Granpa Portman's fits, where he believed he was back on the island, or facing his fabled monsters.
As it turned out, this time it was real. Jacob witnessed his grandfather die before his very eyes, and he saw the thing that did it.
Monstrous. A true creature of tale. Only, they're not tales anymore.
Jacob travels to the island where his grandfather took refuge, under the guise of finding closure, and that is where he finds Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. And he realizes his grandfather's paradise is real.
Now, this is where I lost a little intrest. At first, I thought Miss Peregrine's Home was partially a figment of the grandfather's imagination; this captivated me. The beginning, where we didn't know whether or not the Home was real, where it was all mixed up in the war and the Holocaust, that is what intrigued me. When I realized it was all true, I lost a little intrest. So beware: this is a real-life fairytale and fantasy story.
To continue:
There are many more mysteries surronding the Home than Jacob can even recognize. And it is all wrapped up with his grandfather: truths he never had a clue about. And there is a strange man on the tiny island who Jacob just has a... feeling about.
This truly is a good book, though I have to say the ending disappointed me. It seemed too easy, and unrealistic.
However, just because I focused on the bad things doesn't mean this is a bad book! I found it enjoyable and enlightening.
If you like scary, magical realism (I think that has an actual genre), go for this book!
-Olivia
