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A review by abby_ace_of_books
The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs
3.5
You could literally just substitute the last 20 pages of this book to the end of book 3 and nothing would change.
I did it. I've finally finished the Miss Peregrine's series with The Desolations of Devil's Acre, and my guesses were correct...this second trilogy was just a money grab. Save your time and money; just pretend book 3 ended how you wanted it to end and move on with your life. If you liked the first three books and want to spend more time with the characters, the second half of the series is decent, it's just not worth it if you didn't love the first three (and when I say love, I mean actually really enjoyed).
I thought given the ending of the last book that this one would be more interesting, but it was quite lengthy compared to the previous one and I felt like it didn't move as quickly as I expected or wanted it to. There were some fun action scenes throughout, and I think the ending was better suited to the series than the ending of book three. However, my main issue is that a certain plot point is introduced that would've been really interesting...should it have ever been touched on again. The author could've branched out in so many interesting ways, but he chose to follow the same formula he's been abiding by since book one, and overall, this book just felt anticlimactic for what was supposed to be book six in a series.
Also, I feel like none of the characters (besides Jacob and Emma) have really been developed. If you're going to present a cast of characters with intriguing powers and backstories, you literally have a million possibilities of what you can do with their arcs...and you choose to let them stagnate. Jacob in this book is the same as he's been since day one: anxiety-ridden, has a hero complex, and loyal to a fault. As much as I didn't love his relationship with Emma, I preferred it to his budding romance with Noor, which feels more convenient and inserted just to eliminate the weirdness between Emma, Jacob, and Abe. Noor was fine, but she adjusted far too easily to the world of the story and I just wish there was more conflict between the characters.
Again, if you didn't absolutely adore the first three books, I wouldn't recommend finishing the series. On its own, The Desolations of Devil's Acre isn't too bad, it's not worth five other books of reading to get to it.
3.5/5
I did it. I've finally finished the Miss Peregrine's series with The Desolations of Devil's Acre, and my guesses were correct...this second trilogy was just a money grab. Save your time and money; just pretend book 3 ended how you wanted it to end and move on with your life. If you liked the first three books and want to spend more time with the characters, the second half of the series is decent, it's just not worth it if you didn't love the first three (and when I say love, I mean actually really enjoyed).
I thought given the ending of the last book that this one would be more interesting, but it was quite lengthy compared to the previous one and I felt like it didn't move as quickly as I expected or wanted it to. There were some fun action scenes throughout, and I think the ending was better suited to the series than the ending of book three. However, my main issue is that a certain plot point is introduced that would've been really interesting...should it have ever been touched on again. The author could've branched out in so many interesting ways, but he chose to follow the same formula he's been abiding by since book one, and overall, this book just felt anticlimactic for what was supposed to be book six in a series.
Also, I feel like none of the characters (besides Jacob and Emma) have really been developed. If you're going to present a cast of characters with intriguing powers and backstories, you literally have a million possibilities of what you can do with their arcs...and you choose to let them stagnate. Jacob in this book is the same as he's been since day one: anxiety-ridden, has a hero complex, and loyal to a fault. As much as I didn't love his relationship with Emma, I preferred it to his budding romance with Noor, which feels more convenient and inserted just to eliminate the weirdness between Emma, Jacob, and Abe. Noor was fine, but she adjusted far too easily to the world of the story and I just wish there was more conflict between the characters.
Again, if you didn't absolutely adore the first three books, I wouldn't recommend finishing the series. On its own, The Desolations of Devil's Acre isn't too bad, it's not worth five other books of reading to get to it.
3.5/5