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 