Book Review: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience.

This is the sequel to Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS ahead for the first story.

Hollow City starts right where Miss Peregrine's leaves off-it even has Miss Peregrine's final photo as it's first. Jacob and the rest of his new friends are leaving the Island through the loop-meaning they will start out from September '3rd, 1940, instead of the present day-to find help for Miss Peregrine, who is stuck in her bird form. Along their travels, they find a loop-within-a-loop full of Peculiar animals, including an Emu-raffe and a talking, pipe-smoking dog. They exit the loop, and while on the road, run into some gypsies, one of whom has a Peculiar son, and are almost captured by Whights while trying to catch a train.
They finally make it to a loop where Miss Peregrine can be saved. This particular loop features peculiars that work in a freak show for a circus. I'm not going to give the ending away, but let me tell you, this one was almost stranger than the first, and that's saying something. It continues the romance from the first book in a way that doesn't dominate the entire story, and the strangeness in this one made me stay up all night to finish it. If you liked the first one, you will not be disappointed with the second installment.