Library Of Souls by Ransom RiggsAuthor Website Amazon (UK) Amazon.com Quirk Books (ebook), 2015
400 Pages
What It's About
The adventure that began with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and continued with Hollow City comes to a thrilling conclusion with Library of Souls.
As the story opens, sixteen-year-old Jacob discovers a powerful new ability, and soon he's diving through history to rescue his peculiar companions from a heavily guarded fortress. Accompanying Jacob on his journey are Emma Bloom, a girl with fire at her fingertips, and Addison MacHenry, a dog with a nose for sniffing out lost children.
They'll travel from modern-day London to the labyrinthine alleys of Devil's Acre, the most wretched slum in all of Victorian England. It's a place where the fate of peculiar children everywhere will be decided once and for all.
Like its predecessors, Library of Souls blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography.
Opening Paragraph
The monster stood not a tongue's length away, eyes fixed on our throats, shrivelled brain crowded with fantasies of murder. Its hunger for us charged the air. Hollows are born lusting after the souls of peculiars, and here we were arrayed before it like a buffet: bite-sized Addison bravely standing his ground at my feet, tail at attention; Emma moored against me for support, still too dazed from the impact to make more than a match flame; our backs laddered against the wrecked phone booth. Beyond our grim circle, the underground station looked like the aftermath of a nightclub bombing. Steam from burst pipes shrieked forth in ghostly curtains. Splintered monitors swung broken-necked from the ceiling. A sea of shattered glass spread all the way to the tracks, flashing in the hysterical strobe of red emergency lights like an acre-wide disco ball. We were boxed in, a wall hard to one side and glass shin-deep on the other, two strides from a creature whose only natural instinct was to disassemble us - and yet it made no move to close the gap. It seemed rooted to the floor, swaying on its heels like a drunk or a sleepwalker, death's head drooping, its tongues a nest of snakes I'd charmed to sleep.
What I Thought
I loved Library of Souls, a fantastic conclusion to a great series. I feel a little sad because I've loved these books and didn't even know this would be the last book. I could read about the peculiar children forever.
All of the loose ends created in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City are brought to a close. I liked the way everything plays out. I really enjoyed it when Jacob and the others go to Devil's Acre. The prison loop is not quite I expected but sinister all the same and sort of sad.
I enjoyed the way Jacob's ability to control hollows is developed. This skill was revealed at the end of Hollow City and Jacob's grandfather had it as well. I liked the way this develops across Library of Souls. I did find it a bit far-fetched when Jacob can suddenly control a dozen hollows when he finds it so hard to control one at the start of the novel. There are some great battle scenes though and the peculiar children kick ass.
Library of Souls has everything you'd expect from the end of a series; thrilling battles, murder, mayhem, chaos, loss, betrayal and a happy ending that manages not to twee or nauseating.
I loved L ibrary of Souls. I'd highly recommend it. I hope Ransom Riggs continues to write because I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
