The Book Cookies

Warning: Only a minor spoiler in the romance section of this review.

1. The Photos

Our protagonist, Jacob, is shown a collection of peculiar photographs by his grandfather. A lot of them feature children who, according to Jacob's grandfather, have supernatural abilities. The other photos don't feature the children, but they contribute a bit more to the story. 

I was originally a bit hesitant to pick up this book because of the creepy photos (being timid when it comes to horror visuals), but they turned out to be more interesting than creepy. Admittedly, this story wouldn't have been as enjoyable without the photos-the story alone wouldn't have made this stand out. This was a fairly entertaining read, but the plot seemed to rely a bit too much on the pictures. 

2. The Romance

Honestly, I was not a fan at all of the romance between Jacob and Emma; not only was it rushed, with the "I hated you for a few pages, but now I love you" situation, but the history surrounding it left me feeling disturbed every time they were intimate with each other. My final problem with the romance is that at times it was a bit eye-roll cheesy and they were kissing every time they were together, which only made me like them together even less.

3. Character Development

There was a lack of character development in a lot of the peculiar children; excluding Jacob, Emma, Jacob's dad, and Miss Peregrine, I didn't feel like I knew a great portion of these characters. The only thing I knew about most of these peculiars was their powers and general personalities; these personalities stayed the same, rendering them as flat characters that don't have any depth whatsoever. 

4. Action and Abilities

My favorite parts of this novel involved the abilities of the peculiars and the fighting scenes with the monsters (also known as hollowgasts). 

5. The Writing

Though the author didn't do it a lot, he ignored the Show-Don't-Tell rule quite often. Other than that, the writing style was a 5.5/10 at best. 

Rating: 2.85/5 stars