I couldn't wait to turn the page to learn what happens next.

What attracted me to this book was its creative premise - author Ransom Riggs has built a fascinating story around a collection of unusual vintage photographs loaned to him by hobbyists who "spend countless hours hunting through giant bins of unsorted snapshots at flea markets and antiques malls". The plot is a little like a dark version of "Big Fish" - protagonist Jacob Portman has been raised on his grandfather's bizarre stories of a childhood spent at an orphanage in Wales - an unusual orphanage filled with peculiar children. At sixteen years of age, Jacob has come to reject his grandfather's tall tales - that is, until a terrible event occurs and Jacob sets out on a quest to discover the truth about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. This novel has all kinds of elements to keep a reader intrigued: time travel, historical trivia, monsters. It's classified as teen fiction but can definitely be enjoyed by adult readers (an adult friend recommended it to me) - I blazed through the book in one day. Overall, I was impressed at how seamlessly the author was able to weave the photographs into the story; it served to make the tired old narrative of "eccentric British orphans who go on an adventure" very fresh and exciting. I am intrigued to see that the book is listed in some places as #1 in a series - its ending was definitely not fully "closed" and I look forward to reading Ransom Riggs' next work!

The addition of vintage photos make this book stand out from the rest, but I can't say I felt better for having read it. There's nothing wrong with it, per se... It's just that once you get past the vintage patina, it's a coming-of-age story about a boy who has low self-esteem, makes friends with kids who have superpowers (which makes him feel even more insecure) but then finds out he has superpowers that are even more amazing than everyone else's, saves the day, and gets the girl at the end. Joseph Campbell nods in agreement.

What a great story! I really enjoyed the magical children and the world they lived in. Poor Jacob! prepared and unprepared to make the discovery of the children and their world. The photos in the book just add to the oddness and mystery. I need to buy this book- it's a keeper! I am hoping for a sequel.

The library also has this as an ebook which you can find by going to Overdrive. However! Don't get that copy - there's a graphic of a letter that you can't make bigger so you can't read it :( B/c I couldn't read it, there was no point continuing the e version b/c it was pretty integral to the plot.

I found this to be a quick, fun read. The old photos were interesting and the story kept me interested. I did find that near the end it was like the author felt he needed to wrap it up so things happened very quickly. Still a good read!

AMAZING BOOK!!!!!!!!

So much hype for something that wasn't worth the read. The pictures that I actually wanted explained to me were left unexplained...

Some original ideas and the use of the old photos was extremely creative. I found the main character sometimes too wise for his years and sometimes juvenile. It was inconsistent. Also the style was uneven, either bare-bones narrative or poetic description. Somewhat derivative of Harry Potter, but the overall tone was rather eerie. It was interesting, but I was not entranced by it.

This was a wonderfully imaginative work of fiction. The characters are 'peculiar' but endearing. I'm now curious to know if a second book is planned?