The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

yalitreader

Oct 28

Summary: Jacob Portman's life has never been the same ever since discovering the world of the peculiars, and that isn't changing anytime soon. Alongside his old friends, he must figure out how to keep his new friend, Noor, safe with transporting her to a secret operative, only known as V. He has to evade gangsters, dangerous peculiars, and, of course, hollowghasts.

Review: YAY! They're back! I always love getting immersed back into the world of the Peculiars. I could read an endless supply of these novels, but alas, this series is finite, and it's coming to an end.

A lot of this book featured the peculiars traveling through a bunch of American loops in search of V. It was fun, but it wasn't as exciting as it was in the previous book since that was basically the entire premise of book four. I mean, it was still cool and all, but I would've enjoyed something different added in. The other parts of the story were fun, though, with the group hunting for the kidnapped American Peculiar (and Fiona). It added more fun to the story, so I appreciated that. Even the search for V (Noor's "mom") was interesting, and that specific plotline led to a very exciting conclusion to the story that led a good cliffhanger leading into book six.

With all of the adventures the kids were going on here, I was so glad to see that Miss Peregrine finally got over herself and LET the kids help in the fight. It was clearly a futile battle to try and stop them, yet it took her four novels to realize this and to give in. It was nice to not have to endure that same plot line again.

I was also really pleased to see that the romance between Emma and Jacob took more of a backseat. I haven't been a huge fan of their duo. The chemistry was just not there. Also, the whole thing about Emma being in love with Jacob's grandfather was… strange. Now, in this book, Noor and Jacob have taken the spotlight. They don't have a full-fledged relationship yet, but the chemistry between them is SO much stronger, and I connect so much more with their relationship than the one between him and Emma.

Okay. Big exciting moment: FIONA WAS FOUND! FINALLY! I have been a big Fiona fan. Maybe fan isn't the right word… I've been anxiously awaiting her being found. I've been waiting for it in every book since she was lost, and it was FINALLY resolved! I was so excited, I think I literally squealed with excitement. It was long overdue. However, I'm glad that her absence was very well-explained. She had been held hostage by the wights and mind-controlled, which explained her absence incredibly well. I really loved this part.

This book wasn't all perfection to me, though. I really didnt LOVE that the big bad villain from the original trilogy is returning. It makes book three (and by result, four) feel almost pointless now. It definitely always felt like the second trilogy was an afterthought by Riggs anyways, so it makes sense that he did this, but it just seems as though he's undoing all of his original ending. Unleashing Caul makes me nervous that book six will be a repeat of three.

One of my biggest issues in this series is that I really don't know what wights and hollowgasts actually are. However, I don't think that's Riggs's fault… I think that's mine.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Recommended reader: Anyone who likes:

Fantasy
Elements of romance
Superpowers
Stories about friendship
Adventures
Time travel

Reviews of Previous Books:

Discussion Questions:

How has Miss Peregrine begun to change her attitudes towards the children? What has caused her to have this change of mindset?
What objects did the wights need in order to release Caul? Which of those objects, in your opinion, was hardest to retrieve? Why? Which was easiest? Why?
How did the addition of Noor in the group change Jacob? How did it change the rest of the group? What about Fiona? How did her reunion change the group?

Specifics of the book: