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A review by timinbc
Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
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 - and to his credit, Riggs provided a solid explanation for what happened. Also, I never really felt that
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
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 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.
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
Spoiler
unless you realize that the main POV character isn't going to die in very many booksSpoiler
Miss 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,Anyway. All said, that was a respectably good set of stories.