Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

By: Ransom Riggs

Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that makes for a thrilling listening experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets 16-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow - impossible though it seems - they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2011 Ransom Riggs (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

“It's an enjoyable, eccentric read, distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very creepy monsters.” (Publishers Weekly)

"A haunting and out-of-the-ordinary read, debut author Ransom Rigg’s first-person narration is convincing and absorbing, and every detail he draws our eye to is deftly woven into an unforgettable whole.... Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a truly atmospheric novel with plot twists, turns, and surprises that will delight readers of any age." (Amazon Best Books of the Month, June 2011)

It might be better to actually read this.

I really enjoyed the story and characters, and Jesse Bernstein does a fantastic job as the main character. Unfortunately his accents and voices for other characters were pretty terrible. Until the very end, when I was so absorbed by the story I didn't care, I dreaded every time Emma or Miss Peregrine needed to speak.

Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins As Narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The story is good, with a slow start. It becomes interesting once the main character ends up in the UK, and that's when the trouble with the narration starts. The narrator does just fine as an entitled East-Coast American kid. He gets into deep water and never surfaces once the story moves location, though.

The narrator seems to have had a British accent described to him by someone who heard one once. Everybody is cockney, sort of, except for the ones who might be cockney Jamaican or the ones who roll their "r" in a way that would be good if they were speaking cockney Spanish. I wish they'd sprung the money on having a second narrator who was actually British. Or who had ever met a British person. Or had ever left Williamsburg.

What other book might you compare Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children to and why?

From the gist of the story, maybe a teenage version of Lev Grossman's The Magicians. From the narrator's performance, Walt Disney's Mary Poppins.

What didn’t you like about Jesse Bernstein’s performance?

The problem with audiobooks is that if you get a bad narrator, you end up not really paying attention to the story, or at least I don't.Dick Van Dyke's accent is terrible in Mary Poppins because he was taught it by a vindictive Irishman, I read once. I don't think the narrator of this book has the same excuse.

Did Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children inspire you to do anything?

Yes, it's inspired me to avoid Jesse Bernstein.

It had the potential to be good.

The peculiar children and the nature of the home they lived in were intriguing. However, the book does not flow well, going into too little detail in some areas and too much in others. There was surprisingly little about the details of the children's lives and actions scenes that dragged seemingly endlessly. I kept thinking that I should be rivited, but I had difficulty paying attention.

The reading was similarly inconsistant. American accents were done well and fantastically performed. However the accents of non-Americans were so bad that they were a jarring distraction. Attempts at regional dialects were ridiculous, as if he was just randomly guessing at how accents from certain regions sounded without actually having ever heard them. He apparently thinks that pretty much every single 'a' is pronounced 'ah' by people in the UK.

I'm disappointed because this had the potential to be a wonderful, well read story but it falls short.

What a terrible English accent sounds like

This is what it sounds like when a person lies on their resume and claims they can do an English accent while I’m pretty the only English accent they’ve ever practiced is after watching monty python.

Great book. Re-record it with a different actor.

I absolutely loved it!

I started reading this novel one Saturday afternoon during Christmas break. I had no work and no school to worry about, so I finally had time to sit down and read a good book. This was that book! I started this book that Saturday afternoon and finished it the following morning after forcing myself to go to sleep. I did not want to stop! I wanted to keep going. This story is amazing; the pictures in the novel bring the story to life in a creepy but fascinating way; and the story is so action packed that one can’t help but keep reading.

This story is so different and unique to anything I read the previous weeks, that I was so into it. I extremely enjoyed every bit of it. I will admit that at one point I tried to pull myself away from the story due to its “unrealistic” nature, but it is that “unrealistic” and unique element that kept me intrigued. I wanted to know more about Riggs’ Peculiar Children and how their existence is portrayed. In the end, I wanted to know more. I wanted more of their journey and am glad there is a continuation of this novel published and ready for me to read.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a novel that reminded me of Marie Lu’s The Young Elites. I read one novel after the next, and they seem to be two series that should be read one after anther. If you enjoy either series but have not read the other, I recommend you do so. Their dark, eerie nature make both series stand out and captivate its readers by their innovative nature.

Audible Review

Bernstein’s narration at 1.25 speed is the slowest I will go with this novel. His narration at 1.0 speed is too slow and seems slowed down and as if it were in slow motion. However, his narration portrays the character effectively and helps the listener follow along and be drawn into the story. Overall, Bernstein does an excellent job captivating the story for listeners, I extremely enjoyed reading along. For those of us who like to multitask and listen on the go, I recommend listening at a 1.5 speed, so one does not miss anything. For those who are listening while reading the book, I found 2.5 to be the best speeds. 3.0 was fast but understandable enough to follow along while reading. If you are looking to get through it quickly 3.0 is the speed I recommend while reading along. 3.5 speed was too fast, and I could not understand part of what was being said.

Good Story Terrible Narrator

Would you listen to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children again? Why?

No, the narrator was awful, but I would read it again.

What did you like best about this story?

Great characters, well crafted action.

How could the performance have been better?

Why hire someone to read a book with mostly British characters if the voice actor can't do a British accent?!? His accent was very distracting because it was so bad.

Good, not great

I was so looking forward to listening to this book yet my family (12 year old and spouse) were a little disappointed. A very original storyline, great descriptions, and quality narrator yet just liked it instead of loved it.

love this

love it finished in a day and a half I can wait to listen to the rest of the series

fantastic book and narrator. I totally enjoyed it

fantastic book.. very interesting book read by a great narrator. my car journeys now more enjoyable..

Interesting Tale

I truly enjoyed this book. Fantasy is something I rarely read, but I saw the preview for the movie and decided I'd give it a try. It was a take unlike any other, yet quite imaginative and enjoyable. I usually gripe about voices the narrators use, but it was necessary and done quite well in this reading. I'm not a prude, but there was some language I could've done without, especially since it's meant for teens and above. I don't think it's necessary to encourage swearing. I've had kids, they pick it up on their own quite nicely. Although, I guess that part of my review should be reserved for the book, not Audible.