friendship – BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Marshmallow has reviewed the first two books of the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs. (Her review of the first book is here: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, and here is her review of the second one: Hollow City.) Today she reviews the third book published in 2015: Library of Souls.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about magic and friendship, and if you enjoyed the first two books of the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): First off, let me say that the story in this book starts where the second book, Hollow City, ended. And that book was a direct continuation of the first book: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. So you need to have read those two books (or at least read my reviews of them) before reading any further. Once you are ready, please do read on.

Jacob Portman recently discovered that he can not only see the monsters that have been plaguing him and his peculiar friends, but also track, control, and talk to them. These evil monsters (called hollows) consume the souls of peculiar children to transform into wights who look human except that they have all-white eyeballs. Both hollows and wights have been working to steal the souls of peculiar children for a long time, to regain their own humanity which they lost in a failed experiment for immortality. Leading his friends on a quest to save the peculiar people from those trying to destroy them, Jacob must first rescue their caretaker Miss Peregrine.

With the help of his friend / love interest, Emma Bloom, Jacob learns that the monsters are trying to break into the legendary Library of Souls. This supposedly non-existent place was rumored to be where the souls of peculiars went after death. Rather like a library, a peculiar would “check out” a soul when they were born, and give it back when they died. But if someone entered this library, they could potentially take the souls and gain more power.

Clearly the stakes are much higher than they realized. Jacob must rescue his friends and reunite with allies if they wish to defeat these monsters.

Marshmallow is reading Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. — Marshmallow is reading *Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children* by Ransom Riggs.

Marshmallow’s Review: Taking the peculiar world to a new level of weird, Ransom Riggs introduces new nuances in this book. I really liked how much Library of Souls added to the world of peculiardom. With these new details, the world of peculiar children felt much more realistic. The characters also developed more.

This seems to have been written as the final book of a trilogy, though I believe the author has written three more in this same world. I felt a little unsatisfied by the ending and felt that this wasn’t exactly an end. The main storyline resolves well, but in terms of character development, it did not feel completely finished. The relationship between the protagonist and Emma Bloom in particular is not settled, and there is still a need for continuation. So I wouldn’t say that this is a final end to the series, rather the end of a part of the story.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading Library of Souls and look forward to reading the next books in the series.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 96%.

Marshmallow rates Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 96%. — Marshmallow rates *Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children* by Ransom Riggs 96%.

Marshmallow reviews Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A few weeks ago, Marshmallow reviewed Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs and ended her review telling us that she was eager to read the next book in the series. In the following weeks, she indeed found and read the second book, Hollow City, published in 2014, and today she shares her thoughts on it with our readers.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about magic and friendship, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Jacob Portman is peculiar. In Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, the first book of the series, Jacob discovered that the fantastic stories his grandfather told him were all true. Upon his grandfather’s death, he went to the island where the stories were based and discovered a hidden world, one full of children who had been living sheltered in a time loop for decades. These children were hiding from the rest of the world because they all possessed a peculiarity that made life outside dangerous for them. (Some examples of peculiarity include having control over fire and being invisible) These children were protected by women who could turn into birds. Unfortunately, soon after Jacob’s arrival, the children who were living on the island were driven out of their home and their keeper, Miss Peregrine, was forced into her bird form. During his time with these children, Jacob formed a close bond with them, specifically a girl named Emma. When they were forced out, Jacob and his friends ended up in the 1940s and were on the run from monsters who wanted to eat children with magical peculiarities.

This second book starts more or less at the same time where the first one ended. The children are in rowboats, running away. They believe that Miss Peregrine is the only one who can help them, but since she is trapped in her bird form and seemingly cannot change back, Jacob and his friends must find another time loop run by another keeper who can help them. Unfortunately, the monsters who want to eat them are coming after them fast. Besides this serious worry, Jacob also learns that Miss Peregrine has only a few days left before she will be stuck in bird form forever. How long can Jacob and the children go before it’s too late to save Miss Peregrine? How can they find a new home that will keep them safe?

Marshmallow is reading Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. — Marshmallow is reading *Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children* by Ransom Riggs.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think Hollow City is a great followup to Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, the first Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children book. And it definitely did not curb my enthusiasm, and I look forward to reading the next one. That said, I did find this book a little more confusing than the first. I think I have missed certain details during my first read and so had to go back and reread some parts to figure things out.

The plot twist at the end (though I suspected it) led to a great turn of events and made the book much more interesting! I liked how it shook the ending up and made the book lead into the next one. Of course this means that the end of this book is not the end of the series, and there is definitely a cliffhanger, and you know I am not too keen on cliffhangers. But the author introduces several new characters towards the end and they really intrigued me.

This edition of Hollow City is similar to the first book. There are many old-looking photos sprinkled in through the book, and the story connects with them, just like before. Most of the photos are eerie, like the ones from the first book, but maybe they are a tad less scary. Or I might just be getting used to the feel of these images.

Hollow City adds much more to the world of peculiar children. There are many new characters, both human and animal. I enjoyed reading it thoroughly. I should still repeat my warning for the first book however. This is a great book, but it might be too scary or complicated for children younger than 12.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 98%.

Marshmallow rates Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 98%. — Marshmallow rates *Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children* by Ransom Riggs 98%.

Marshmallow reviews Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A while ago, Marshmallow and Caramel watched the 2016 movie Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and were quite disturbed by it. Only recently did Marshmallow come across the book which the film was based on: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, written by Ransom Riggs and published in 2011. To her surprise, she found it to be a quite satisfying read and decided to review it for the blog.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about magic and friendship, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): As Jacob was growing up, his grandfather Abraham always told him the most extraordinary stories about a house for peculiar children who each had special powers. This home was special, run by a bird who smoked a pipe. The children in the home were peculiar; some could fly, some were extremely strong, and the rest had other unnatural skills. But there were monsters after the children, and the monsters wanted to eat them. As Jacob grew older, he began to doubt the truth in these stories. That is, until he saw the monsters for himself.

Early in the book, Abraham is killed by the monsters that he used to talk about and suddenly everything changes. Abraham’s last words are “Find the bird. In the loop.” In an effort to make sense of these events and his grandfather’s final words, Jacob visits the children’s home. Unfortunately, the home he finds is not the bright paradise his grandfather described; rather it is a destroyed shell of a house because it was bombed on September 3, 1940. Jacob’s grandfather had uttered that exact date with his last breath. Upon further investigation and some excitement, Jacob is brought as a prisoner to the children’s home by some of the children. There he meets the “bird”, Miss Peregrine, who takes care of the peculiar children. Jacob’s grandfather’s stories were all true. And unfortunately, that means the monsters are real too.

Marshmallow is reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. — Marshmallow is reading Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

Marshmallow’s Review: As mentioned above in the preamble, I had watched the 2016 movie Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children before I read this book, so I had a sense of what to expect. Here is the trailer if you have not seen the movie yet (certain aspects in the movie differed from the original story and book):

I had enjoyed the movie but was a bit disturbed by it. In the end I think that the book is as good as the movie, if not better.

I really enjoyed reading Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children because it has a fascinating premise, and the plot is quite intriguing and original. There is humor and action, all intertwined with a lot of strange, peculiar things going on.

I would say that Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is for readers older than 12 or 13. There are a lot of (unnecessary) bad words, and some of the events may be a little scary for younger bunnies. (That may have been the reason why Caramel and I were so unsettled when we watched the movie version.) There was some amount of kissing too, which may be uninteresting for some people.

The book has a lot of photographs (in black and white) that are all mentioned and talked about in the book. And the photos are all displayed. I found it amazing that the photos fit so perfectly with the story. As far as I understand, the author wrote the story based off these photos he found. I found the photos added nuance as they’re not something you see in a novel everyday. However, a couple of the photos (specifically pg 263) might be disturbing for younger bunnies, yet another reason why this book may be better suited for 13 and above.

All in all, I found Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children a fascinating book to read, and I look forward to reading the next book.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children* by Ransom Riggs 95%.

Marshmallow reviews The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

Marshmallow has already reviewed When You Reach Me (2009) and Goodbye Stranger (2015) by Rebecca Stead. Today she reviews Stead’s newest novel, published in 2020: The List of Things That Will Not Change.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family and you want to read about how different characters tackle change, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): When Bea’s parents tell her that they are getting divorced, they give her a green notebook. In it is a list of things that won’t change, even though almost everything else might:

Mom loves you more than anything, always.
Dad loves you more than anything, always.
Mom and Dad love each other but in a different way.
You will always have a home with each of us.
Your homes will never be far apart.
We are still a family but in a different way.

Her parents’ divorce is amicable; the reason for the divorce is that Bea’s father is gay.

After the divorce, Bea’s life splits in two different parts, sometimes living with her mother and sometimes with her father. Later, her father gets engaged with another man, Jesse. Bea really likes Jesse and looks forward to him becoming a part of the family. Not to mention that Jesse has a daughter Bea’s age named Sonia, and Bea has always wanted a sister.

But Bea has other issues to face. She has eczema which is annoying to her, and she goes to therapy to deal with her stress. Everything is now different, but Bea keeps herself up by talking with her friends and family, who are always there to support her. Bea and her family will struggle to reach their happy ending.

Marshmallow is reading The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead. — Marshmallow is reading *The List of Things That Will Not Change* by Rebecca Stead.

Marshmallow’s Review: I found this a touching book. Bea is very thoughtful, and this book really highlights and goes into her thoughts and feelings. It was sad to see how some of the folks in the book mistreated Bea’s father and his new partner because of their sexual orientation.

The List of Things That Will Not Change was extremely realistic and felt very down to earth when I was reading it. Every character was unique and well thought-out, and the narrative and tone of the book felt very genuine. That said, I don’t quite think the end was one hundred percent fulfilling, but it was definitely satisfactory. However, I did like how all the loose parts were tied up in the end. I also found it interesting how not everything was perfect in the end but it was realistic. (I’m not going to say much more!)

The List of Things That Will Not Change would be appropriate for all ages, presuming that the person would understand the plot, which I felt was easy enough to understand, though it had some extra nuances for an older reader who would see all the threads from beginning to end.

Bea’s relationship with Sonia might remind some readers of a book I reviewed a while ago: To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer. There are indeed some similarities but also a lot of differences. Bea’s health issues reminded me a bit of Guts by Raina Telgemeier, another book I reviewed for the blog. And compared with the other books I have read of Rebecca Stead, the tone and voice of this book was very similar. The setting and tone were more reminiscent of When You Reach Me, but the realism was quite like that of Goodbye Stranger. But The List of Things That Will Not Change has definitely a unique and original story, and I really enjoyed reading it; I think most bunnies would, too.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead 95%. — Marshmallow rates *The List of Things That Will Not Change* by Rebecca Stead 95%.