Yay, I managed to meet my “probably in April” deadline! For a
review that’s seven months past relevance (when the film adaptation hit
theaters). Actually, no. Miss Peregrine’s
Home for Peculiar Children will have relevance well after people have
forgotten the Tim Burton version, banished to the same memory cupboard as Dark Shadows and Alice Through the Looking Glass. The novel itself is five years
older than its film counterpart, but thanks to its two sequels, there’s more
meat to eventually dive into. So, where does this grand adventure populated by
remarkable and somewhat frightening children begin?
Florida.
Well, if you need to start in a non-magical place full of its
own peculiarities, might as well be Florida.
In truth, Ransom Riggs’ opening falls in line with the
impulse of many fantasy writers setting up ordinary heroes before entering the
extraordinary world. That is, his version of Florida is, for the most part,
benignly mundane. Sort of a shame. I mean, where are all the alligators? Instead,
we get right to Jake Portman, the teenage protagonist. He’s going about a
typical day at a job he doesn’t want, living with a family that doesn’t
appreciate or understand him. A familiar beginning, but let’s proceed.
