Updated on January 27th, 2025
In my What To Do When You Don’t Like a Book post, I shared that I did not like Library of Souls, but I was looking forward to reading A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs since I wanted to know where the story would go next. Was the series able to redeem itself?
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A Map of Days is the 4th book in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, but it is the first book of the new story arc. A Map of Days picks up where Library of Souls ended and Jacob is back in Florida with his peculiar friends. While Jacob is trying to help his friends fit in the modern world, they end up discovering Jacob’s grandfather’s secret bunker and finding clues about his double life as a peculiar operative. Jacob and his friends are then flung into the peculiar world of America where adventure and danger await.
I found the plot of A Map of Days to be more-action packed than Library of Souls, but the beginning is a bit slow since it deals with the aftermath of Library of Souls in the Devil’s Acre time loop. The book does pick up and follows Jacob and his friends on a road trip adventure in America. Since the previous 3 books of the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series were mainly set in England and Wales, I enjoyed seeing the peculiar world in America where instead of time loops with ymbrynes, there are gangs and loop keepers.
Like with the previous books, the story is told from Jacob’s point of view, and I found him likable since he is just trying to figure out where he fits in – the peculiar world or the modern world. A Map of Days also follows the same peculiar children from the first book Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children including Emma, Bronwyn, and Millard who are now aging one day at a time in the modern world after living in a time loop. Miss Peregrine is also a prominent figure in the book, but we are introduced to new characters in peculiar America as well as new time loops. We also learn much more about Jacob’s grandfather who died in the first book of the series.
The ending of this book was a huge cliffhanger, but it sets up the 5th book, The Conference of the Birds nicely. I listened to the audiobook of A Map of Days on Libby, and it was narrated by Kirby Heyborne who is the same voice actor from the Library of Souls audiobook. It was nice that Jacob had the same voice from the previous book, and Kirby also changed his voice to match each character. However, since I listened to the audiobook, I did not have access to the vintage photos that are a big part of the story along with the rest of the series. If you do decide to read this book, I definitely recommend the paperback or hardback version since the photos do add another element to the story. So did A Map of Days redeem the series? I would say so!
Overall, A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs is a fun novel exploring the peculiar world of America, but the beginning of the book is a bit slow.
Available at Bookshop
Rate: 8/10
If you would like to read my reviews of all the books in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, you can see them here:
- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Book Review (the first book in the series)
- Hollow City Book Review (the second book in the series)
- Library of Souls Book Review (the third book in the series)
- The Conference of the Birds (the fifth book in the series)
- The Desolations of Devil’s Acre (the final book in the series)
I haven’t read one yet. Nice to know that it will be good as the previous books. Going to has to re-read the series. I’m intrigue to read about the peculiar in America.
I definitely recommend it! It was a nice change from the previous arc that’s mainly set in England
Great review, Karalee! I personally adored every single book so far. I cannot wait for the next one! I’m not sure if you knew this already but, the ebooks also include the vintage photos in them. 🙂
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed all the books & I can’t wait for the next one either!
Yes but to view the photos with the audiobook you have to download some program on your computer to be able to see them which defeats the purpose of the audiobook.
However I did find the hardcover of A Map of Days at a used book store for like $7 so I’ll have to reread it one day!
What a steal!!
My younger sister was really into the first book in the series, and she used to show me the pictures inside. I remember thinking what a good idea it was to build a story around a unique photo series. I never did end up reading the book, but I did watch the movie, and it wasn’t that interesting to me. Still, I never knew that there were sequels, and I think it’s cool that the author is able to continue to build this larger world from his initial concept.
Sounds like this is one that picks up, but that you just have to stay with it to get past the beginning? Glad you enjoyed it overall.
Yes it is! But I didn’t have to force myself to read it since like I mentioned it was the beginning of a new story arc so I had no idea what was going to happen.
Yes, I just recently read the book on paper, and you should definitely get the book because it has all the vintage photographs, I also did a review on my blog too and we share the same sentiments. The beginning was so slow and only at the final quater when they found Noor, did I start to just read fervently! I wished the movies followed the book rather than creating their own one-off thing! It would be so fun to see all these stories come to life! What a great and concise post! 😘
I will have to look into getting the paperback or hardback because I did miss seeing the photos while reading. I’ll have to check out your review & I do agree I wish the movie followed the books! I would love it if there was a second movie, but everything was just wrapped up in the first one. They could still make a movie for this book though since it is a new story arc.
Right! And yes since this is a whole new arc, they could totally change the formula!