Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel follows the same story of the book of the same name. You can read my full review of the novel here but in short, it was a book that was lifted by its creative use of photography. So when I heard a graphic novel was on the way, I knew I had to have it.

Jacob was brought up on his grandfather’s stories of a peculiar group of children he claimed to have spent his childhood with. Jacobs stops believing him until the day his grandfather is attacked by a monster. No one believes Jacob of course and a large chunk of the novel is given over to his therapy sessions, however these are skimmed over in this version. I liked the concise nature of the graphic novel; it’s a story about childhood monsters and make-believe being reality after all. Somehow, with less padding, Jacob seems older, more like the teenager boy he is supposed to be.

The artist is Cassandre Jean who does wonderful things with colour to highlight the differences between Jacob’s rather grey world and the Narnia-like quality of the loop. Not helped by the black and white photography in the novel, the world came across a little grey and depressing and is brought to life in this version. I did think the house was out of character for the location and period (it looked more suited to America than Wales) but that’s a minor quibble in an otherwise excellently illustrated book.

It’s not full of photographs. There are glimpses of them within the drawings but they are not the same feature element at in the novel. We don’t really need them to bring the world alive though, and the peculiar children become a bit more consistent. Plus there’s loads of comic “sound effects” which made me smile. I’d recommend this as a lovely stocking filler for fans of the original.

One more thing, this edition contains an illustrated preview of the second novel, Hollow City. I feel a bit spoiled now and want illustrated previews instead of extracts for every book now, it is such a lovely idea. It also gives a slightly better ending, something that a lot of people disliked in the original. It says “there is more to come” rather than a gentle riding off into the sunset approach. This ending makes you want to read on.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel is published by Headline in the UK and is now available in a glossy hardback edition. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement. My reviews are my honest opinion and are not biased for the purpose of personal gain.