Reviews

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

jgurniak's review against another edition

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5.0

This series is so unique! The world can be a bit confusing at times, so I understand why some people hate it. But I think this is a great series with a very interesting concept and characters.

belle2022's review

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5.0

Finally got around to finishing the book and it was good. I do wish there was much more suspense towards the end. But the action and peculiars and the setting it was perfect!

literary_kel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

timinbc's review

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3.0

Meh.
A satisfactory ending to the series, but a bit less compelling than #2, which in turn was less compelling than #1.

I have to judge it by what it's trying to be, and with its aim at a somewhat younger audience we can give it a bit fo slack for through explanations and moral crises. I also have to be careful because I've also been reading another book that is quite badly written, and mustn't confuse the two.

So, this one has some new ideas, enough that it should have been more engaging. Perhaps the pictures spoiled the momentum, because as others have noted, they seemed forced this time, as if he had to use them and just simply inserted them in the plot wherever he could, with a few words of linkage. They added nothing.

I never felt that Jacob was in danger, even when he obviously was. Even when a certain thing happened that should have been alarming
Spoilerunless you realize that the main POV character isn't going to die in very many books
- and to his credit, Riggs provided a solid explanation for what happened. Also, I never really felt that
SpoilerMiss Peregrine was in any danger.


It was also clear that the book was going to plod along with all kinds of description and minor crises until the Big Showdown at the end.

Emma, hmm, interesting, but puzzling when the author finally starts to write her as
Spoiler someone who is many decades older than Jacob. If she's that, why does she react to him until then as if her apparent age were her actual age?


But still, all of the above could have been addressed, but we would have ended up with a grimmer, more adult book, and that would not necessarily have been good.

As it is, we have a quite tidy ending that wraps things up neatly, and lets us nod as we close the book for the last time.

Finally, I suppose Riggs handled it adequately, Jacob faces a very small dilemma in deciding whether it's OK to kill wights and hollows. He thinks about it a bit, and seems to conclude that at first it isn't, but when they start trying to kill you the rules change. A little later, he's
Spoiler sacrificing the ones on his side in battle like a World War I infantry commander,
and doesn't seem to regret that. My concern here is not limited to this book. Tolkien slaughtered orcs by the battalion, most space operas do something similar, a few get into blowing up planets, and a high percentage of readers have played shooter games involving just blowing away anything that moves. It's the old story of once you convince yourself that the enemy is a thing, not a person, ...

Anyway. All said, that was a respectably good set of stories.

rynnys's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

congressbaby143's review

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3.0

This is my least favorite of the three installments. It felt like everything was all over the place, does that make sense? That everything was in such a disarray.

I felt bad for the hollows for a while. It made me uncomfortable how Jacob sort of possessed them off their faculties and just controlled them. It says so much about how we look at creatures who are perceived to be less intelligent than humans... Like to an extent, the way we treat animals. The way they were manipulated and then discarded off the plot at the end didn't sit well with me.

The epilogue or the last chapter spiked my anxiety! Trigger warnings should have been posted for this one. I laud the writing because it made me so anxious, you could only ever achieve that if you could properly execute that kind of terror. I felt tingly. But I'm glad the peculiars rescued Jacob in the end. Plus the fountain of youth.

(Shifts to addressing the author) Well, still, the world for this series was amazing and soooooo thanks, Ransom Riggs, for a good story!

mezzoir's review against another edition

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4.0

Very satisfying conclusion to this trilogy.....

stephreadsalot1's review

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4.0

First of all, what an AWESOME premise for a fantasy/ya series. I really love that these books were made up around a bunch of photos that the author salvaged from thrift stores and flea markets. I really loved the first two books, and I couldn't wait to read the conclusion of this series. It did not disappoint. This book did seem different from the first two, there seemed to be a lot of social commentary that was left out from the first two books. Either way this is a great series.

sallysocker's review against another edition

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3.0

The books are dull and to long, they are interesting at parts but I don’t like how everything goes so bad all the time and then for the end to just be a miraculous happy ending.

m00plays's review

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5.0

What a brilliant end to this series. I loved how these books just melt into one another and pick up where the last one left off. I can't say enough about the images too because they are amazing and add so much to this story.
I think this is such an imaginative book with so many little twists and turns and jargon to do with the World.
I LOVE IT!