Book review: Library of Souls

I was ecstatic when I found that the final installment of the “Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children” series was out late last year. The previous book left readers off with a cliffhanger as the children were in the midst of a great escape plan, where protagonist Jason Portman just discovered he had a new powerful power.

It was wonderful that the “Library of Souls” dived right in from where it last ended, and managed to live up to my expectations to deliver a solid ending to the trilogy. This is particularly so given that the earlier two books have set a remarkably high bar.

In the third book, I relished in the author’s continued use of actual vintage photographs that he had personally collected throughout the years to enmesh them within the fictional story plot. For me, this is exactly what elevates this series from good to excellent for I love how it breathes new life to these old images that have been repurposed for a new use. This picture in particular stood out for me:

Book review: Hollow City

Warning: If you have not read the first book “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” DO NOT start on “Hollow City” because this sequel dives straight from where the plot last left off so you will be lost without reading the earlier book.

For this second title, author Ransom Riggs has in my opinion outdone his debut work, which is quite a feat because the latter was a solidly written piece that was well-received in the literary world. “Hollow City” on the other hand turned out to be such a page-turner I found myself devouring the whole novel in just one sitting.

What I absolutely adore about both titles is the vintage photographs that Riggs personally collects. These black and white pictures, as Riggs wrote in a disclaimer at the end of his novels, are authentic found photographs, mostly unaltered with a few exceptions that have been digitally post-processed.