"A continuation of the story of Jacob Portman and his quest to learn more about his peculiar talent, his grandfather's increasingly complex past and the world of Peculiardom in general." 2 Stars
Pros: Same characters that we're used to/A few funny moments when the peculiar children try to blend in with the modern world/A thickening of the plot when we learn that Jacob's Grandfather was doing work contacting peculiar children on his own
Cons: Jacobs inability to listen and do as he's told, his head-strong ways get real old, real fast/Emma's moping about Abraham and how it strains she and Jacob's relationship/The twist at the end that leaves it wide open for another novel when in all honesty, the peculiar and their world are getting a little tedious and tiresome.
Full Review
Starting right where Library of Souls left off, Jacob has all his peculiar friends here to visit him in his house in Florida. They've conveniently found a loop hole that makes it so they can now live in the modern day without the threat of "aging forward" and being confined to a loop so that they never grow older etc.
Their arrival is, of course, cause for hysterics on Jacob's parents parts and that issue is dealt with by Miss Peregrine's ability to wipe their minds and make them forget all that's happened. It's a little too convenient and contrived if you ask me.
With his parents no longer being an issue, Jacob is free to imagine the idea of his peculiar friends living in the modern world with him. What at first seems to be an exciting new adventure soon turns serious. While helping with the rebuilding of the Peculiar World, under the direction of the Ymbrynes, the Peculiar children are all assigned to tasks to keep them occupied throughout the day but of course they all hate their assignments are looking for something exciting to do.
They find it when they go to pay their respects at Abraham's old house. While there, they discover an underground bunker and a log book of "missions" that Abe went on to contact peculiar children who were in danger and bring them into safety in nearby loops. Jacob and his friends decide to pick up where Abe left off and after meeting an old associate of Abe's, they set off on their first mission to find a peculiar child who's in danger.
It all turns into one adventure/catastrophe after another. During their many blunders, they come into contact with numerous other Peculiars across America who are separated into gangs. America Peculiardom is not controlled and monitored by the Ymbrynes as they are in Europe, thus leaving them lawless and cruel.
The end leaves off at an obvious cliffhanger and I'm sure there will be another novel to explain the straight twist about a "prophecy" that was foretold. It's all rather contrived and predictable and of course in the aftermath of their spectacular failure that was their mission, Jacob is estranged from his friends and Miss Peregrine, so the next novel will most likely be him going off on his own with a new Peculiar, Noor and their adventure to find a mysterious compatriot of Abe's known only as V.
What was once a good way to give atmosphere and interest to the books, the photos used by Riggs, now seem unnecessary and overdone. They're just a way for Riggs to add more characters into a world that's fit to bursting with so many that it's almost impossible to keep them all straight. And now with this new "prophecy" I foresee Riggs playing this serious out for all its worth and squeezing every last penny from it that he can
Don't get me wrong, the first few books were entertaining and unique, but now it's all turned into a predictable story of unrequited love, teenagers not listening and being headstrong and getting into bad situations because of it; it's just turning into the same old stuff. I read this book quickly because yes, it was exciting and I was eager to see where it would go but now that I've had time to stop and think on it, perhaps I read it so quickly because it was predictable and I wanted to get it over with.
I'd recommend it to anyone who's already read the rest of the series, just to see what happens next, but other than that, I'm glad I borrowed this book from the Library cause I wouldn't have wanted to spend money on what was an overall disappointment.
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