6. Apt Pupil

By Stephen King

5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

By Ransom Riggs

It's February 1, 2026 and I'm thinking I'd better write a quick review about this bestselling YA fantasy, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, before I forget too much about it.  I also wanted to place my copy in my daughter's bookshelf for her to read someday as I had enjoyed it.  I'm pretty sure I found this trade paperback for free somewhere.

Despite liking the book, I'd forgotten most of the storyline, so had to refresh my memory via the Wikipedia plot summary.

Some quick thoughts:

Reading Ransom Biggs' 2011 novel reminded me a lot 2020's highly over-rated YA fantasy, The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Both novels share a similar premise—a guardian protecting children with magical abilities on a secluded island. The difference is that Cerulean Sea is a cosy, heartwarming fantasy focused on acceptance and queer romance, while Miss Peregrine is a dark, fantasy thriller filled with horror elements and vintage photos. Still it cemented for me yet again how unoriginal Cerulean Sea is and despite borrowing from many influences, it's still hackneyed tripe. 

Like Klune, Ransom Biggs is an American writer feigning a classic style of British storytelling.  Even though the 16 yo protagonist Jacob Portman is Jewish American, he travels to Cairnholm, Wales where he discovers a secret group of "peculiar children", most of whom are British. But unlike Klune, Ransom Biggs is the better writer and Miss Peregrine the better book.

I liked the background story of how Biggs came to write Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Biggs had an archive of old family photos and was himself a collector of antique and vintage photographs. He originally wanted to write a picture book, but his editor encouraged him to expand on the narrative.  With some help from other collectors, Biggs was able to not only write a story about a boy who follows clues based on his grandfather's old photographs and personal tales, which lead him to Cairnholm, a fictional Welsh island (and a fantastic adventure), he also integrated some of the photographs into the pages to flesh out the narrative.