Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children – A Review of the Book and Movie

12 Feb 2017 50 Comments

by Ritu in Reviews, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: , , , , , ,

Have you read a book, and just been desperate to see the film? Or vice versa?

Well, that happened to me with this book!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #1)

This sort of genre has not really floated my boat to be honest before, but something pulled me to want to download the series to see what the fuss was about. The film looked intriguing so I thought it would be good to read the fiction first!

It was slow moving at first, but once I got my head around the plot, and the characters, and what was happening, I was glued to my Kindle!

The worlds and character types that are created by fantasy fiction authors astound me! I know I like to write, but I could never make these kinds of worlds up, and link things back and forth like they do!

At the end I was thirsty to know what was going to happen next, so was glad that I already had Hollow City, the sequel, ready on my Kindle, to read straight away!

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #2)

I reviewed it simply on Goodreads:

I downloaded this series of books, having heard intriguing things about it. The fact that a movie was coming out was also a catalyst.
It seems I may have been converted to YA fiction!
I found the story a little hard to get into, but once I had read the first couple of chapters, I was hooked.
The peculiar characters, the development of Jacob and his character, were all excellently done.
The introductions of Hollows, Wights and Ymbrynes add further twists and turns to the plot!
I don’t want to ruin any of the story but I was glad of the ending, knowing that there was more to come!
There were a few times where I totally got confused, so had to go back and reread pages, but that may have been more me being tired, rather than the writing!
If you are a YA fan, then I highly recommend the book.
Part way through Hollow City already!

Now to the movie…

Miss Peregrine Film Poster.jpg

I downloaded the movie today to watch with my son. I know it is rated 12, and he is eleven, but he’s pretty good with these kinds of films.

And I’ll start by telling you that he enjoyed it. He was a little freaked at the beginning, but after I explained a little of the back plot, he sat back and got into it!

Now for me… It didn’t take long for me to start getting really agitated with the filmmakers! I know there is that old chestnut called ‘Creative License’ but really? To have actually swapped the ‘gifts’ from one main character to another?

By gifts, I mean that each peculiar child has some gift or another, be it levitation, or invisibility, the power to see into the future, or a strange mouth in the back of her head. These ‘gifts’ make the characters who they are in the book, and from the offset, in the movie, they swap the main Peculiar, Emma’s gift with Olive’s! Enough to get any reader’s hackles rising!

Obviously, a lot was cut and rewritten (Boy was it rewritten! The whole ending fabricated by Tim Burton’s script writers!) so if you watched it as a stand-alone film, with no intention to read the books, then that was fine.

But if like me, you read the book, then I fear you would feel that the film did the book little justice. The book gives huge scope for the sequel, and the next instalment of the story, where I can already say that the characters are fleshed out even more, and the story taken deeper, but the movie puts a full stop at the end, not an ellipse.

If they ever decided to make part two, there would have to be a whole lot more rewriting, and it wouldn’t really be the same story!

So there you have it.

The book great.

The film on it’s own, good.

The film, after reading the book, beyond frustrating!!!!

4 stars for the book! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

3 stars for the movie! ⭐⭐⭐

 

50 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. The Indecisive Eejit
    Apr 19, 2017 @ 23:57:25

    Ahhh now I really want to read the books, but I am worried it will make me care even less for the film than I already did! lol

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Ritu
      Apr 20, 2017 @ 07:00:21

      Lol! The film was ok, but once you read the books, and see what has been changed, you know there was never any intention to make a sequel!

      Like

      Reply

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  4. Judy E Martin
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 18:33:56

    I have not seen or read either, but I find Tim Burton’s films to be a bit too weird and wacky for me!
    Then again, I do not have the vivid imagination to be able to appreciate the fantasy genre fully!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. scskillman
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 16:19:23

    I found this very interesting – have read the book and loved it but haven’t seen the film yet. Have retweeted your reviews and posted on facebook.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Ana
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 14:42:41

    Glad you liked the book, personally I loved it.

    I could not agree more about the movie, much too much was changed…

    If you’re curious you can find my book review here and the movie one here.

    I already have book #2 and pre-ordered #3 but I am almost afraid to start reading because sequels never seem to be able to live up to the first book…

    Anyway, thanks for your review, I enjoyed reading it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Don Massenzio
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 14:18:24

    I saw the movie with my daughter. I’ll have to go back and read the book. Thanks for the reviews.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Erika Kind
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 08:05:44

    Wow, that book must really be great. I am always astounded when words can write a bigger story than words and pictures (movies)!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. robbiesinspiration
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 05:49:33

    Wow, Ritu, you are on a roll with book reviews. My son has read all three of these books and he loved the first two. He didn’t rate the third book as highly.

    Like

    Reply

  10. Julz.......artist, blogger, photographer, graphic designer
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 03:56:27

    I loved the movie, have not read the books as yet. I find the trick is to not read and see too close together, as they always change things. I found it so with Harry Potter and lots of other. LOTR was OK by me for the most part as it had been so long since I had read it, I can’t remember what was changed and what wasn’t. I found the Hibbt frustrating because I had read it recently. I adored the Shanara Chronicles, possible because I had not read that in years as well. I might wait awhile and then think about readers this series. Although I currently have my eye on the new Lemony Snickets TV Series……….haven’t read those books either

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Sherina Harris
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 02:54:40

    I loved the books but haven’t watched the movie yet! I had no clue they had switched the gifts… I’m glad I know now, so I’m not shocked when I get around to watching the movie! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. Sue Vincent
    Feb 13, 2017 @ 00:10:22

    I love reading and I love watching films. I do try not to go into comparison mode, but with a well-loved book it is hard not to notice the changes and they can then interfere with the flow and enjoyment of the film.

    I completely understand why a film may have to rewrite elements of the story to get them to make sense in the alloted time. I absolutely understand that some elements of a book may be cut, left out, or rearranged to work with the constraints of film.

    I have never understood, though, the apparently arbitrary changes that are often made that would not have affected the story on film at all. Why couldn’t the hobbits have simply been stealing Farmer Maggot’s mushrooms instead of the stuff they filmed? That kind of thing does irritate me as a reader.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Sacha Black
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 23:47:15

    So typical. Don’t think I know of a film that’s managed to do a book justice. But I am intrigued and will have to watch it if only because I read the book

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Ritu
      Feb 12, 2017 @ 23:50:43

      That was why I had to watch it!
      This happened with the Book Thief too… I read the book, then found out that there was a film. Watching it, I thought it was beautiful but so many key elements from the book were missing!!!

      Like

      Reply

  14. Don Royster
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 23:33:10

    I haven’t read the books. But I did see the movie. I enjoyed it. But then I really didn’t have the book to compare it to. I was just wandering if I saw a movie before I read the book, would I be unhappy that the movie didn’t follow the book. I have pretty well come to the conclusion that neither book nor film should be judged by the other. As they say, they are two different media and the restraints of one are not the restraints of the other. It’s almost like you have to judge the book by other books and the movie by other movies. If I do that, then I probably will enjoy both.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Ritu
      Feb 12, 2017 @ 23:49:10

      This is true Don. It is very hard to fit all from a book, into a film, and seldom does a movie really encapsulate all that the original book was about. As a stand alone it was fine, but if you have read the book, then it was almost a disappointment!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. fattymccupcakes
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 23:33:01

    I was a bit disappointed by the film. Once I saw Samuel L. Jackson, I couldn’t take it seriously anymore. Not that I have anything against him as an actor, but he’s usually in movies that aren’t meant to be taken as serious art. I LOVE Eva Green, but she wasn’t in it enough for my taste. I’ve never read the book (s?), but I’ve wanted to. It’s not really my genre either, but I like the concept.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. willowdot21
    Feb 12, 2017 @ 23:26:26

    I shall have to look these up !

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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