That title is just too long for a blog title.
3 out of 5 stars
Peculiar is an accurate description of this novel. It was also a lot darker than I was expecting when I picked it up. Which is a bonus, because if you don’t know by know, I enjoy dark things.
Jacob is a seemingly normal, angsty, rich boy. His grandfather is a little out-there. But as a boy Jacob liked to believe in all the tall-tales his grandfather would tell him, until he became a cynical teenager as every person does during puberty. Then, he simply humored the old man. (Goddamn teenagers think they know everything.)
So when Granpappy (I just really wanted to use that in a review) kicks the bucket in a violent and unusual way, among monstrous creatures that Jacob sees for himself, Jacob realizes that maybe Grandpa wasn’t crazy OR maybe Jacob is crazy too.
It’s quite the debacle. Crazy people don’t know they’re crazy after all. Naturally, the only option is to seek out these extraordinary people his grandfather used to talk about and find out for himself what is real and what is not.
Thus begins the adventure of seeking out peculiar people. I’m not ruining anything because it’s the title of the book, when I tell you that, they do exist.
I enjoyed myself while reading this book but I will never say that I loved it. It was fun, interesting, peculiar (it did make me love that word), and the photos scattered throughout gave it some extra panache. Would I be devastated if I didn’t read the next book in the series? No. Would I enjoy myself if I did read the next book? Yes.
So there you go, flip a coin. You can’t be wrong in your decision to-read, or not-to-read.
cupcakesandmachetes 
I enjoyed this book greatly until the end, which I felt was a bit weak. It kind of fizzled out in my opinion. He also didn’t really develop the so named “peculiars” all that well, and there was one aspect that I found creepy, but not in a good way (I don’t want to be spoilery hehe). I have The Hollow City on my list since I’m kind of interested, but I’m not in a particular rush to read it.
Yeah, I still can’t get over the romance aspect of it. I’m assuming that’s what you’re talking about lol. Definitely less interesting towards the end.
Yeaaaaah looking back it’s super creepy, also she kind of annoyed me lol.
Yes, she wasn’t actually a very developed/good character. I agree with you when you said the peculiar children weren’t very developed.
It’s a shame because the book started out really strong. You wanted to know what the hell was going on, but it fizzled a bit once the peculiars popped up. Oh well. I’m curious about The Hollow City and will probably pick it up when I go to the bookstore next.
I may pick up Hollow City from the library if I have nothing I’m more excited about.
That’s kind of how I feel about it. I need to remember that I can just go to the library lol. It’s like right down the street from me, too.
I was bad and brought home 4 library books today. :3 (None of which was Hollow City.)
It’s better than buying four books from the bookstore! Free reading whoohoo!
You just can’t beat it! Especially when the only thing you spend money on besides bills is usually books. 😛