Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

*This review contains spoilers for Hollow City, the second book in the Peregrine Series*

I finished up my reading for the month of March with the third and final book in Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine series, Library of Souls. This novel picks up immediately after the events of the second book, with Jacob, Emma, and Addison (the dog) facing off against a Hollow in a London train station. The scene is chaotic - they are still reeling from the revelation that the bird they assumed was Miss Peregrine in book two was actually her evil brother Caul, they have just been separated from the rest of their group by a veritable army of wights, and Jacob has discovered that he is able to speak to hollows. After using his newfound ability to force the monster to stand down, the group manages to slip onto a train and escape. From that point on, they embark on a dangerous journey to find the real Miss Peregrine, rescue their friends, and put an end to Caul's disastrous plans for world domination.

Much like Hollow City, this novel takes place over the course of a couple of days. Most of the action is centered in a loop called Devil's Acre, a slum in Victorian England where Caul has set up his headquarters. The setting is suitably ghoulish, with creepy and unscrupulous characters lurking around every corner. Also living in Devil's Acre is the enigmatic Myron Bentham, a man who has spent his life building a machine to allow Peculiars to travel between loops with ease. He both helps and hurts Emma and Jacob throughout the novel, making it difficult for the reader to determine where his loyalties lie. As many of the characters we know from the previous books do not appear in most of the novel, Myron, and a few other new characters, play a large role in the action.

While Library of Souls provided a definitive ending to the series, it ended up being the weakest of the three novels for me. There were long stretches were I was bored and had to force myself to keep reading just to get through it and see how everything ended. The story wasn't exactly bad, but it didn't have my on the edge of my seat either. I was not as engaged in the action as I was with the previous books, and I felt like Riggs was playing a bit fast and loose with the rules of his universe to accommodate an increasingly weird and complex storyline. This book was over 400 pages long and it felt like it.

Riggs' decision to isolate Jacob and Emma throughout most of the novel was an unfortunate one. The other Peculiar children don't appear until page 300 or so, and I keenly felt their absence. As I mentioned in my previous review, I'm not a fan of  Jacob and Emma's romance. Eliminating all of the other characters for most of the book meant that their relationship really took center stage in this novel, and I didn't enjoy that. After getting to know all of the other children more in Hollow City, I felt robbed of getting a chance to see them shine again here. Riggs' cast of supporting characters has always been more interesting than Jacob and Emma. Cutting them out of most of the last book felt wrong.

Despite the fact that I had some issues with Library of Lost Souls, it wasn't a complete disappointment. The ending was a bit odd, and at times it was stretching my suspension of disbelief, but it did provide a satisfying conclusion to the series. The parts of the adventure that were exciting were good enough to get me through the more boring parts. While I wish that this novel had all the mystery and wonder of the first book in the series, I'm not sorry that I saw the story of Miss Peregrine and her children through to the end. This is a solid little young adult series that I know I'll be recommending to my students.

Challenge Tally
Mount TBR: (previously owned) 19/60