What’s it all about?:
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was the surprise best seller of 2011—an unprecedented mix of YA fantasy and vintage photography that enthralled readers and critics alike. Publishers Weekly called it “an enjoyable, eccentric read, distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very creepy monsters.”
This second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine’s island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises.
Complete with dozens of newly discovered (and thoroughly mesmerizing) vintage photographs, this new adventure will delight readers of all ages.
What did I think?:
Surely everyone has heard of the Miss Peregrine’s series by now? If not, I highly recommend it. The first book, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is the story of a young boy whom after looking at his late grandfather’s photographs is thrust into an unexpected adventure to an old house on a remote island with some very “peculiar” inhabitants. Like the first novel, Hollow City is filled with an array of weird and wonderful vintage photographs that the author Ransom Riggs came across from specialist collectors and he uses the photographs (and often the people within the pictures) to tell his story. I completely fell in love with this idea when I first heard about it and when flicking through them and seeing some of the oddest images I’ve ever come across, I instantly knew I was invested in the series.
Hollow City follows on where Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children left off but I don’t want to say too much about the plot for anyone who hasn’t read the first book in the series yet. Our teenage protagonist, Jacob Portman has left the orphanage on the island in very harrowing circumstances with a band of peculiar children and poor Miss Peregrine, who is in quite a different form, shall we say than how we expect her to be? Helped by their book and go-to guide Tales For The Peculiar, they enter a time loop and find themselves back in war-time London. Teaming up with a group of gypsies they must now travel to unknown places to find someone who can help Miss Peregrine whilst avoid being eaten by hollowgasts and ambushed by the vicious Wights.
The Miss Peregrine books is a series that just keeps getting better, in my opinion. It’s true, the eerie photographs do add a certain magic to the text – I mean, the girl on the front cover has a hole through her body, who wouldn’t be intrigued? However, the photographs are merely decorations to a gripping plot, some dastardly villains and some of the most compelling characters and creatures I’ve ever had the pleasure to read about. It’s filled with everything a great young adult novel should have i.e. action, drama, suspense, fantasy, darkness and above all, a beautiful quirkiness about it that really makes it stand out well above other books in the genre. When I’m reading a book, one thing I’m always looking for is for it to be memorable and for it to continue playing on my mind long after I’ve finished it. This series fulfils that brief and has gone far beyond the high expectations I already had for it.
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):