*Book Club* Questions Pt.3

Madisonpenny

1- The peculiar children.  Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why?

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people?

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging?

dramaqueen91087

1- The peculiar children.  Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why? This is a hard one, I'd have to say the girl with the back mouth. I say this because she would have the hardest life. I mean she could more easily blend in society, yet not really since she couldn't eat around normal people. And she clearly feels uncomfortable even around other peculiars. The life she must lead is very interesting to me.

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people?
Oh I definitly see classic quest elements in the book. Jacob goes from an ordinary, if not depressed, boy to a boy with a very important, life altering purpose. However, I don't think his quest is over.
3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging? I loved the ending but I wish there was more! I actually double checked that I hadn't skipped pages in my nook! I did like that they tied up some loose ends, like Jacobs father, and the boy they burried, but I want to know what happens next!

Madisonpenny

1- The peculiar children.  Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why?     It was a tie for me. I was really intrigued by Emma Bloom and her talent with fire.  I’ve always be fascinated by fire and drawn to it.  I think she is a romantic but she has a hard time trusting others, both things I relate to.  I was also very intrigued with Miss Peregrine, although she’s not a children I really liked that she was a animorph or as the book called her, a ymbrynes, specifically a human who turns into a bird and is able to alter time.

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people?    Simply put, Jacob (the young hero) is directed by his grandfather to find the bird, find the loop, and find the grave (the quest).  In his quest he will need to solve the riddle and in doing so he will become a changed person.  In every quest there are always at least 2 options the hero can take and depending on the option they choose the outcome will be different.  I would compare this to Lord of The Rings.  In that story 4 young people (actually they’re hobbits) set out to destroy the ring in order to save Middle-earth and essentially all the races that live there.  In Miss Peregrines… the hero must decide on staying and helping the peculiar children save Miss Peregrine and leave his family forever or living with the guilt of letting those he once knew die but is with his family.

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging?      I think the author did a good job tying up loose ends.  He explained how Jacob could leave his father without worry.  I like that the author gave the book an ending that could either be for a single book or to open up as a series he chose to do this.

NikkiF731

1- The peculiar children.  Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why? I was, like Madison, fascinated by Emma and her talent with fire. The  most interesting part about it to me was that Emma is such an intense and emotional character and her peculiarity was to control fire which is intense and volatile as an element.

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people? The book can be seen as a classic quest story because Jacob must conquer obstacles (disapproval from his family, getting to Wales, getting to the house once he's in Wales, and convincing the children and Miss Peregrine to fully trust him).  He has to also get confidant enough in himself to take on the Hallows and the Wights and to convince the children to leave the loop with him. (the transformation aspect). The closest parallel I can see (somewhat) is to Herculese since the different things Jacob has to handle to get to the house etc. can be seen as somewhat similar to the labors.

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging?

NikkiF731

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging?
I liked the ending since it left me in suspense. I feel like the loose ends are left hanging but that it's done deliberately to set the stage for the sequal.

avsfan33

1- The peculiar children.  Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why?
I found the child (name escapes me, my books 3 hours away lol) who could bring things back to life intriguing. Things like that creep me out and I often wonder what people would think if they were revived after dying.

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people?
Pretty much any. I don't find the book to be unique in this sense because it follows the same pattern as many other books like this. He's faced with life altering event (grandfather's death), sent on a quest (find the loop), is met with a difficult decision and the need to grow up and leave the nest (abandons his family) and is sent on a large adventure. It could be something like Treasure Island (it's been awhile since I read this book) but it's what came to mind.

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging?
I'm going to have the unpopular opinion here. I didn't like the ending. It seemed like a lot of build up for essentially nothing. I don't really know why, but when I finished reading it I just said "ugh". I don't think it needed to become a series. Though I can see many people wanting it to be and I would be interested in reading the next one.

It is getting a sequel to those that are interested in knowing.

butterflyjumper1

1- The peculiar children.  Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why?
Emma was one of my absolute favorite characters.  I didn't necessarily care about her fire talent; it was her relationship with Abe that really intrigued me.  How could you stay in the loop while the love of your life is out living a new life and getting old, while every day of your life remains exactly the same?  I also kept wondering what it must have felt like for her when Jacob wandered into her life.  It must have been the best day of her life to realize that she might have a second chance at love!  

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people?
It is definitely a quest story.  A young boy sent on a journey to "find himself", figure out who he is, where he came from, and what he is supposed to do to make things better.  Kind of like Harry Potter, haha.

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging?
I actually agree with Avsfam here.  I didn't love the ending.  It felt like, to me, the author was just trying to set things up for a sequel.  I am definitely interested in reading the sequel...I just wanted more. 

bells24412

1- The peculiar children. Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why? I found the kid who put hearts into the plastic army guys to be intriguing because people found him to be weird but ended up helping them in the end for them to get answers.

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people? I think it is a quest book, it goes through a childs life from the death of someone he was really close to, the onto him being the hero because of his grandfather in a way. I have to agree with K888 it is a little like Harry Potter where he is out to discover himself after a tragedy.

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging? No I hated the ending. I agree with avsfan, they built up the ending so much that it was such a let down when the book was over. It didn't answer all the questions I had like what was going to happen after.

Elinetrouwt

1- The peculiar children.  Which of their oddities and personalities do you find most intriguing? Why?

I guess I was kind of fascinated by the boy with the bees. Stingy. And I agree with bells, the boy who put the hearts in the toy soldiers: he was creepy and he had definitely a sadistic side. Unlike many of the others here, I wasn't wild about Emma, she just didn't seem very... friendly.

2- In what way can this book be seen as a classic quest story- a young hero undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process? Do you see parallels with other fantasy stories involving young people?

It reminded me in a way of the Philip Pullman trilogy, the Golden Compass and such. Those books also mix reality and magic in an interesting way, with nudges toward fascism. It is also about young children needing to adress larger than life questions, and are in a way uncomfortably creepy. I highly enjoyed those books (so far much better than this one).

3- Did you enjoy the ending? Why or why not? Are loose ends tied up or left hanging?

I was disappointed. It seemed like suddenly the author had been in a hurry to answer the questions, and make up a new storyline about their quests. The loose ends are tied up, but suddenly there has to be this lead to a sequel... not pretty.

Madisonpenny

I also really like Horace's talent of being able to dream the future.