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bonjoery's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
catethegreat03's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
I think this was the best possible ending to this book. I would love, LOVE, Riggs to continue the world in a later series
themandimonster's review against another edition
5.0
What a magnificent ending to a most wonderful series! I was left in tears and so few books pull those kind of intense emotions from me. This series will always be a favorite of mine. Thank you, Ransom Riggs, for a masterpiece of a series with the perfect ending!
ineslts's review
5.0
What is there really to say, except for that this was the most peculiar ending to the most peculiar of series.
Peculiar enemies.
More than peculiar allies.
And a far more peculiar world.
Peculiar enemies.
More than peculiar allies.
And a far more peculiar world.
idonttcareeeee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
wasn't super into it in the beginning tbh. but i slowly started to remember how much i love riggs' writing and all of these characters. i really wanna know what happened w julius too. ...did i miss something? cause there's no way horace wouldve dipped without some spoken explanation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, War, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
the_pink_pharmacist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This series is so sweet, I love it and can’t wait to share it with my grade school children. There are a few scary and dark parts that we will discuss in depth, but looking forward to the conversation.
mlv97's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
maddy707's review
2.0
Pros
- Overall the end was fine. Though, in my opinion, a second trilogy wasn't needed.
- I love we got a scrap of gay representation with Horace, it was a nice touch. (Should've been way more) Horace did feel like a more fleshed out, dynamic character in this book, he was a highlight for me.
Cons
- This book contains some sloppy writing. At one point Emma speaks during a scene she's not even in. Riggs can't remember whose supposed to be in a scene and who isn't.
- Because of the many characters in this series and book, it often feels like certain characters aren't utilised nearly enough. I'll forget a character is in a scene because they haven't done anything for the majority of a chapter. Again, it feels like Riggs forgets characters.
- Hollows are born from egg sacs now? Not from the "accident" Bentham created? Ok, how are they fertilised, how do they develop? They don't expand upon this at all.
To sum up my main issues with this series as whole they are, too many characters, lack of individual character development, and too many plot points that fizzle out after a few pages/lead nowhere. These things exists in every instalment of this series and drags it down heavily. I wouldn't recommend these books and I certainly won't be rereading this series ever.
- Overall the end was fine. Though, in my opinion, a second trilogy wasn't needed.
- I love we got a scrap of gay representation with Horace, it was a nice touch. (Should've been way more) Horace did feel like a more fleshed out, dynamic character in this book, he was a highlight for me.
Cons
- This book contains some sloppy writing. At one point Emma speaks during a scene she's not even in. Riggs can't remember whose supposed to be in a scene and who isn't.
- Because of the many characters in this series and book, it often feels like certain characters aren't utilised nearly enough. I'll forget a character is in a scene because they haven't done anything for the majority of a chapter. Again, it feels like Riggs forgets characters.
- Hollows are born from egg sacs now? Not from the "accident" Bentham created? Ok, how are they fertilised, how do they develop? They don't expand upon this at all.
To sum up my main issues with this series as whole they are, too many characters, lack of individual character development, and too many plot points that fizzle out after a few pages/lead nowhere. These things exists in every instalment of this series and drags it down heavily. I wouldn't recommend these books and I certainly won't be rereading this series ever.
theglossreview's review against another edition
4.0
Let’s see how my predictions held up! First, I’ll copy the hopes I had for the finale of the series after the penultimate volume. Then, I’ll compare that with what actually happened in The Desolation’s of Devil’s Acre.
- A big battle against the bad guy: Yes, that’s how it ended. Very classic, stereotypical showdown against the big bad & his minions.
- Finding the other 6 powerful peculiars from the Prophecy of Seven (copied from Rick Riordan? They even have the same task to do): Yes, at some point in the second half we went on a mission to find the other 6 people from the prophecy. At first, they weren’t mentioned at all though - someone literally had to say: Aren’t we forgetting about the prophecy? But a major disappointment was this: I was so excited that the 7 were supposed to come from different countries all over the world. Usually it comes down to the UK and US, probably so they all speak English. I expected a diverse and international team here based on the country list. But Sophie, the girl on the cover of the penultimate book, isn’t one of the 7, nor do we know her ability. Also, we only meet 3 of the 7. Noor, Julius, Sebbie. We never learn if Julius survived and if he became Horace’s boyfriend. Hello??? And Sebbie: No one questioned why a cave-dwelling girl from Slovenia, as well as Julius who lived in Africa and Asia, speak perfect English. Is everyone British??? And what happened to the Americans, Sharon and Addison after the end? Apparently, if you’re not a British peculiar child or their American friend / adopted child, you don’t get an ending written for you.
- I’d bet Jacob (or another peculiar we already know) is also one of the 7, but my money is on Jacob: This didn’t literally happen because all of the 7 were revealed to have the SAME power. But at the end, Jacob was foretold that HAD to support Noor in finishing her job by drinking from a soul jar and temporarily becoming a super-powered hollow. So he was essential to fulfilling the prophecy, as I thought.
- I have my doubts where the interpretation that the 7 will save the world from hell is correct. There should be a twist in which it is revealed that the 7 will free peculiars by destroying / intimidating the normal world. That’s how I saw it immediately when the first sentence was revealed in A Map of Days. WELL THERE WAS A TWIST. It was not my predicted one, but it was brilliant in how anti-climactic it was. Spoiler: It was revealed that only one of the 7 is truly needed for the job of eating Caul’s light/power/soul, and 4 of the 7 were no longer alive anyway. To reach the peak of the anti-climax (which is a paradox!), one of the 7 died on a casual stroll he took a few hours before the heroes arrived because HE GOT BORED. OMG.
- Sharon will have HIS MOMENT (he seemed to the planning something with his political movement since A Map of Days, so I expect BIG TIME DRAMA to make good on all the little hints). Yes, Sharon had his moment! Not with the political movement, but by saving the heroes. He came to their rescue as Horace had instructed him to do while sleep-walking. That was peak comedy. Genius.
- Emma should come back as a main character, not a side character (but I doubt the conventions of story-telling can beat Jacob’s teenage brain): Emma was more present than in the penultimate volume; but not much more.
- I hope the little peculiars will have time to shine (unfortunately Claire and Olive just had a few, very “typical” lines in this story): No, it was exactly the same. They were basically just repeating themselves and the big kids kept them away from the action.
- wishing for some more interesting, mysterious vintage photos than in this book. They were few and far between. Also, they looked quite normal. There was nothing very peculiar about most of the photos. I hope the sixth volume will have images that make you go like: WOW HOW DID THEY TAKE THIS ONE? — Good news, there were many more photographs in the sixth volume than in the fifth! Although some of them looked depressingly dark and realistic. I preferred the beautiful or mysterious ones.
- Last prediction: I hope all of the peculiar abilities and ymbryne abilities will be used in the finale. Give us a big show! — Yes! Of course, the battle-heavy plot gave a easy setting in which the peculiar abilities could be used. In the last few books, only Emma, Bronwyn and Jacob got to shine. Here, Hugh has his bees, Fiona the vines, Enoch did his grisly work and Horace dreamt. Millard was not super present and rather used his cartography and social connections than invisibility. The use of ymbryne abilities was confusing actually: We added new ones and rushed through the old ones. Super confusing!
Now, my personal comment: I’m giving this books 4 stars. It was a worthy finale and very well-written. There were 4 strange things about it that dampened the reading experience for me:
1. It’s not the Jacob Show anymore. This is not explained by character growth – it’s simply a stark shift in the writing style. Usually the writing is taken over by Jacob’s emotions and personal perspective: This only happens in the first and last few chapters. The bulk of the story is told in a detached, observatory style. It’s as if the plot and writing were polished and processed to make this book perfect — but it became somewhat over-processed, unfortunately. The 500 pages are well structured and organised and used, but perhaps too well!? It’s almost inorganic.
2. Addison. Just like Emma, he became a very small side character, and the claim that he wasn’t in the Library of Souls is plain wrong. The other heroes followed his nose to lead them to Jacob in volume 3.
3. Loopology. The science of loops and ymbryne abilities. Please. It really needed to be explained, especially if we’re going to leap-frog and quilt and time-expulsatate. Yes, there were at least THREE new magical processes introduced and not fully explained in the final book, which was so confusing.
4. JACOB’S PARENTS. I nominate this as a the worst handled child-parent situation in YA fantasy. Usually, the parents are present, left behind or deceased. Jacob went back and forth between leaving and returning to his parents in books 2,3 AND 4. I thought it was because he loved them and they loved him. Else, why was he so torn? But the relationship worsened until it’s TERRIBLE. In volume 6, they have 2 brief mentions: a) they call the cops because the peculiars are constantly using a loop in their back yard. The parents are correct (!!!) in doing that but everyone finds that stupidly annoying, especially Jacob. b) they get mind-wiped near the point of brain-damage (which Jacob is perfectly fine and perversely casual with) and then Jacob simply decides that a one minute goodbye is all he needs before he goes to live on the island of peculiar children forever, after over three books of conflict. Where did that conflict go? Clearly, he never loved or respected them even a little bit, not even as fellow human beings.
Conclusion: I love the peculiar children, especially Emma, and the incomparable Miss Peregrine, and VEGAN, BOOK-LOVING Sharon. Noor is a badass (although the old-timey, formal way of speaking got into her and Jacob’s speech far too often – they’re the only ones who are NOT eighty years old). Jacob needs to get his issues sorted. Especially his legendary granddaddy issues. I hope he finds his peculiar therapist. Goodbye, peculiar children.
- A big battle against the bad guy: Yes, that’s how it ended. Very classic, stereotypical showdown against the big bad & his minions.
- Finding the other 6 powerful peculiars from the Prophecy of Seven (copied from Rick Riordan? They even have the same task to do): Yes, at some point in the second half we went on a mission to find the other 6 people from the prophecy. At first, they weren’t mentioned at all though - someone literally had to say: Aren’t we forgetting about the prophecy? But a major disappointment was this: I was so excited that the 7 were supposed to come from different countries all over the world. Usually it comes down to the UK and US, probably so they all speak English. I expected a diverse and international team here based on the country list. But Sophie, the girl on the cover of the penultimate book, isn’t one of the 7, nor do we know her ability. Also, we only meet 3 of the 7. Noor, Julius, Sebbie. We never learn if Julius survived and if he became Horace’s boyfriend. Hello??? And Sebbie: No one questioned why a cave-dwelling girl from Slovenia, as well as Julius who lived in Africa and Asia, speak perfect English. Is everyone British??? And what happened to the Americans, Sharon and Addison after the end? Apparently, if you’re not a British peculiar child or their American friend / adopted child, you don’t get an ending written for you.
- I’d bet Jacob (or another peculiar we already know) is also one of the 7, but my money is on Jacob: This didn’t literally happen because all of the 7 were revealed to have the SAME power. But at the end, Jacob was foretold that HAD to support Noor in finishing her job by drinking from a soul jar and temporarily becoming a super-powered hollow. So he was essential to fulfilling the prophecy, as I thought.
- I have my doubts where the interpretation that the 7 will save the world from hell is correct. There should be a twist in which it is revealed that the 7 will free peculiars by destroying / intimidating the normal world. That’s how I saw it immediately when the first sentence was revealed in A Map of Days. WELL THERE WAS A TWIST. It was not my predicted one, but it was brilliant in how anti-climactic it was. Spoiler: It was revealed that only one of the 7 is truly needed for the job of eating Caul’s light/power/soul, and 4 of the 7 were no longer alive anyway. To reach the peak of the anti-climax (which is a paradox!), one of the 7 died on a casual stroll he took a few hours before the heroes arrived because HE GOT BORED. OMG.
- Sharon will have HIS MOMENT (he seemed to the planning something with his political movement since A Map of Days, so I expect BIG TIME DRAMA to make good on all the little hints). Yes, Sharon had his moment! Not with the political movement, but by saving the heroes. He came to their rescue as Horace had instructed him to do while sleep-walking. That was peak comedy. Genius.
- Emma should come back as a main character, not a side character (but I doubt the conventions of story-telling can beat Jacob’s teenage brain): Emma was more present than in the penultimate volume; but not much more.
- I hope the little peculiars will have time to shine (unfortunately Claire and Olive just had a few, very “typical” lines in this story): No, it was exactly the same. They were basically just repeating themselves and the big kids kept them away from the action.
- wishing for some more interesting, mysterious vintage photos than in this book. They were few and far between. Also, they looked quite normal. There was nothing very peculiar about most of the photos. I hope the sixth volume will have images that make you go like: WOW HOW DID THEY TAKE THIS ONE? — Good news, there were many more photographs in the sixth volume than in the fifth! Although some of them looked depressingly dark and realistic. I preferred the beautiful or mysterious ones.
- Last prediction: I hope all of the peculiar abilities and ymbryne abilities will be used in the finale. Give us a big show! — Yes! Of course, the battle-heavy plot gave a easy setting in which the peculiar abilities could be used. In the last few books, only Emma, Bronwyn and Jacob got to shine. Here, Hugh has his bees, Fiona the vines, Enoch did his grisly work and Horace dreamt. Millard was not super present and rather used his cartography and social connections than invisibility. The use of ymbryne abilities was confusing actually: We added new ones and rushed through the old ones. Super confusing!
Now, my personal comment: I’m giving this books 4 stars. It was a worthy finale and very well-written. There were 4 strange things about it that dampened the reading experience for me:
1. It’s not the Jacob Show anymore. This is not explained by character growth – it’s simply a stark shift in the writing style. Usually the writing is taken over by Jacob’s emotions and personal perspective: This only happens in the first and last few chapters. The bulk of the story is told in a detached, observatory style. It’s as if the plot and writing were polished and processed to make this book perfect — but it became somewhat over-processed, unfortunately. The 500 pages are well structured and organised and used, but perhaps too well!? It’s almost inorganic.
2. Addison. Just like Emma, he became a very small side character, and the claim that he wasn’t in the Library of Souls is plain wrong. The other heroes followed his nose to lead them to Jacob in volume 3.
3. Loopology. The science of loops and ymbryne abilities. Please. It really needed to be explained, especially if we’re going to leap-frog and quilt and time-expulsatate. Yes, there were at least THREE new magical processes introduced and not fully explained in the final book, which was so confusing.
4. JACOB’S PARENTS. I nominate this as a the worst handled child-parent situation in YA fantasy. Usually, the parents are present, left behind or deceased. Jacob went back and forth between leaving and returning to his parents in books 2,3 AND 4. I thought it was because he loved them and they loved him. Else, why was he so torn? But the relationship worsened until it’s TERRIBLE. In volume 6, they have 2 brief mentions: a) they call the cops because the peculiars are constantly using a loop in their back yard. The parents are correct (!!!) in doing that but everyone finds that stupidly annoying, especially Jacob. b) they get mind-wiped near the point of brain-damage (which Jacob is perfectly fine and perversely casual with) and then Jacob simply decides that a one minute goodbye is all he needs before he goes to live on the island of peculiar children forever, after over three books of conflict. Where did that conflict go? Clearly, he never loved or respected them even a little bit, not even as fellow human beings.
Conclusion: I love the peculiar children, especially Emma, and the incomparable Miss Peregrine, and VEGAN, BOOK-LOVING Sharon. Noor is a badass (although the old-timey, formal way of speaking got into her and Jacob’s speech far too often – they’re the only ones who are NOT eighty years old). Jacob needs to get his issues sorted. Especially his legendary granddaddy issues. I hope he finds his peculiar therapist. Goodbye, peculiar children.