~ No book 5 spoilers are in the following review ~
“3.0 Stars out of 5.0 Stars!
The Conference of the Birds isn’t Riggs best Miss Peregrine Book in the series, however, continuing alongside characters such as Jacob, Hugh, and Bronwyn, with the addition of Noor, was an intriguing adventure!”
The Conference of the Birds is the fifth book in Ransom Riggs YA fantasy series, Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children. I fell in love with this unique and mystic world without hesitation and felt for the characters as if they were my own brothers and sisters. However, I feel that book five may have been a stretch too far.
But first!
Here’s what I enjoyed about The Conference of the Birds:
1. The reunion of Peculiars! Seeing everyone together again was heart warming and lovely. As always, Miss Peregrine’s children work best when they are with one another. They are a powerful team full of kindness, strength, and courage!
2. The adventure kept moving forward in a literal sense as the characters travelled from state to state or through multiple loops to fulfill their goals. This was helpful in creating some sort of urgency and accomplishment that was much needed as I explain in one of my critiques below.
3. Noor and Jacob’s building relationship! I won’t say what kind of relationship it is (to avoid spoilers), but I enjoyed watching them grow together and am excited to see where they goes next!
Unfortunately, I also struggled with a few things in this novel. None of these things ruined the book as a whole but they definitely lowered my expectations for the next installment that is guaranteed to come.
First of all, the plot felt scattered. The main plot wasn’t a single narrative, rather, it was a jumble of subplots for which each had its own center character involved. Though Jacob is the protagonist leading both the story and his crew of Peculiars, Hugh, Noor, and Miss Peregrine all had their own pressing challenges to face as well. In addition to this, I could argue that Noor had two subplots to resolve. By the end of the novel, I felt unsure of how I was supposed to be feeling.
Secondly, the fierce and fiery Emma was quieted. Having been a strong secondary character throughout the series, a.k.a Jacob’s right hand women, I was startled by the fact that being romantically disentangled from Jacob also meant that she would be pushed back into the shadows with less fleshed out characters such as Claire and Olive. I understood that she was grappling with her broken relationship with Jacob, however, I wish she had been more present, especially with the introduction of Noor (would be a spoiler if I said more).
Thirdly, the importance of Noor’s character felt dumbed down. The whole reason Jacob left his friends behind, and how H ended up as he did (would be a spoiler if I said more), was to find this mysterious and special Peculiar. Noor was left behind conducting research for half of the book, causing her to be behind the scenes. Though this research is crucial, so is Noor’s part in the prophecy. I felt that Noor’s purpose was watered down by this, and that I lost the urgency of wanting to know more about her adventure.
I have more I could say, and feel free to message me if you’re interested, but to keep this short:
I still recommend giving this book a go if you this far into the series anyway! Despite my negative feedback, I enjoyed the book a lot and found it to be an easy read.
“3.0 Stars out of 5.0 Stars!
The Conference of the Birds isn’t Riggs best Miss Peregrine Book in the series, however, continuing alongside characters such as Jacob, Hugh, and Bronwyn with the addition of Noor, was an intriguing adventure!”