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A review by musingswithmiranda
A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer
3.0
Jeff VanderMeer is one of my favorite authors. I really enjoy how creative and weird his works are, and this is no exception.
A Peculiar Peril is the first book in VanderMeer’s new young adult duology. With his mother missing and his grandfather dead, Jonathan Lambshead inherits his grandfather’s mansion. He is tasked with cataloging its contents, so he enlists the help of his friends, Rack and Danny. However, Jonathan finds three doors that lead to other worlds. One leads to an alternate version of Earth called Aurora, which is filled with magic, talking animals, and a dictator named Aleister Crowley who is on a rampage. Soon Jonathan learns that he has a role to play in The Order, a secretive group that seeks to monitor and control doors and portals, to help save Aurora and protect Earth.
If you have read a book by Jeff VanderMeer then you must understand how it can be difficult to make sense of them or find the words to describe what is going on. The ones I have read so far are definitely a mix of weird and nonsense, including A Peculiar Peril.
I really enjoyed most of the characters in this book. The story jumps around between location and perspective, but I loved the main cast of characters - Jonathan, Rack, and Danny. At first, I really struggled with getting into this because of the chapters that followed Crowley. They were just so boring for me because I could not connect to them. As the story developed, I appreciated these perspectives more.
Aurora seems mind boggling but very cool at the same time. I loved the whole alternate world aspect as this is something I enjoy in a lot other books too. Aurora is even more unique because I never knew what to expect. I really liked the talking animals though.
The plot of this book was really mixed for me. Sometimes it was very eventful and engaging, but I lost interest in certain parts. When it picked up, it was really enjoyable though. My advice would be to not take it too seriously and just go with the flow.
A Peculiar Peril is a wild ride. I appreciate VanderMeer’s voice and creativity, but I expected a little more in terms of plot and character development. Certain things felt slow or unnecessary, so I wish the story really stuck with the great parts more. While this was not a perfect read for me, I am still very interested in checking out the second book.
A Peculiar Peril is the first book in VanderMeer’s new young adult duology. With his mother missing and his grandfather dead, Jonathan Lambshead inherits his grandfather’s mansion. He is tasked with cataloging its contents, so he enlists the help of his friends, Rack and Danny. However, Jonathan finds three doors that lead to other worlds. One leads to an alternate version of Earth called Aurora, which is filled with magic, talking animals, and a dictator named Aleister Crowley who is on a rampage. Soon Jonathan learns that he has a role to play in The Order, a secretive group that seeks to monitor and control doors and portals, to help save Aurora and protect Earth.
If you have read a book by Jeff VanderMeer then you must understand how it can be difficult to make sense of them or find the words to describe what is going on. The ones I have read so far are definitely a mix of weird and nonsense, including A Peculiar Peril.
I really enjoyed most of the characters in this book. The story jumps around between location and perspective, but I loved the main cast of characters - Jonathan, Rack, and Danny. At first, I really struggled with getting into this because of the chapters that followed Crowley. They were just so boring for me because I could not connect to them. As the story developed, I appreciated these perspectives more.
Aurora seems mind boggling but very cool at the same time. I loved the whole alternate world aspect as this is something I enjoy in a lot other books too. Aurora is even more unique because I never knew what to expect. I really liked the talking animals though.
The plot of this book was really mixed for me. Sometimes it was very eventful and engaging, but I lost interest in certain parts. When it picked up, it was really enjoyable though. My advice would be to not take it too seriously and just go with the flow.
A Peculiar Peril is a wild ride. I appreciate VanderMeer’s voice and creativity, but I expected a little more in terms of plot and character development. Certain things felt slow or unnecessary, so I wish the story really stuck with the great parts more. While this was not a perfect read for me, I am still very interested in checking out the second book.