Tales of the Peculiar (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #0.5) by Ransom Riggs
Release: October 31st 2017
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Books
Source: Amazon
Synopsis:
A companion to the New York Times bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, now a major motion picture directed by Tim Burton.
Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales.
Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar–the collection of fairy tales known to hide information about the peculiar world, including clues to the locations of time loops–first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.
Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories in this deluxe volume of Tales of the Peculiar, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar. Featuring stunning illustrations from world-renowned woodcut artist Andrew Davidson this compelling and truly peculiar anthology is the perfect gift for not only fans, but for all booklovers.
A perfect gift, reminiscent of classic bookmaking, this beautifully packaged volume features full-page woodcut illustrations, gold foil stamping, a ribbon, and removable back sticker.
“[These tales] embody gentle, empowering messages: accept yourself and others; celebrate difference and oddity; never lose your sense of wonder.” —Financial Times
“With a Victorian style for writing and a capacity for subtle humor, the tales read as cautionary fables, rich with peril and phantasy, and will be enjoyed by teens and adults alike.” –GeekDad.com
Tales of the Peculiar Review:
I was lucky enough to meet the author during the Texas Book Festival, and received an autographed signed copy of this beautiful book! “Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children” is one of my favorite series, and I loved reading these wonderful, eccentric tales mentioned. Moreover, this is a special edition of the book that has an additional story in the end, which I was very excited about!
The author has done a wonderful job in the stories. All of them have a surreal, fairy-tale feeling with Peculiar characters having extraordinary traits. The tales range from light-hearted, emotional, to downright bone-chilling and scary. Also, the illustrations by Andrew Davidson are jaw-dropping and breathtaking. You will definitely be staring at the intricate illustrations more than the story at times, because they are so gorgeous! Now on to the stories.
The Splendid Cannibals – A great start to the book highlights the effects of greediness and how you should not get addicted to money and power. I really enjoyed reading this and felt bad for the Peculiars in the village.
The Fork Tongued Princess – One of my favorites. I always love a story with a strong heroine who has a setback. The Princess only wants acceptance from others and is sweet and noble, even if nobody treats her that way.
The First Ymbryne – Although this is not one of my favorites, I thought this was beautifully written and stood apart from the other stories. Ymeene is a strong protagonist, but the story dragged for a while. However, I really liked how she alters time to repeat in a loop and thought it was a very unique concept.
The Woman Who Befriended Ghosts – This was a fun, romantic tale about a girl to wants to make friends. This story nice and lighthearted, but a bit weak and flimsy compared to the others.
Cocobolo – Beautiful story of a father and son relationship. This is one of my favorites and I got emotional when Zheng reunites with his father.
The Pigeons of Saint Paul’s – In my opinion, this was probably the weakest story of them all. It was short and all right, but nothing that I could really take out of.
The Girl Who Could Tame nightmares – The most gruesome tale in the book. The villain in the book is terrifying and I got a real nightmare after reading this story (while taking a nap). Also, I loved Lavinia as the main character. This is definitely one of the highlights of the book.
The Locust – Another sweet story about a boy who wants his father’s acceptance and love, and fights for it. This was a very nice feel good tale and I enjoyed reading it.
The Boy Who Could Hold Back the Sea – This story was average. It felt as though a lot of random things happen to Fergus that don’t hold any meaning. Moreover, the story suddenly shifts focus towards the climax to give it a happy ending, which was unnecessary.
The Tale of Cuthbert – A short story but another one of my favorites. Personally, I liked how the ‘editor’ alternates the ending to make it such a memorable one.
The Man Who Bottled the Sun (Bonus) – This is very similar to “The Boy Who Could Hold Back the Sea” hence probably why the publishers did not include it in the other version. I thought this was all right, but nothing great. I really did not like Jon as the main character.
Overall, this is a wonderful book and I am so proud to display it in my bookshelf.
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