Review: The Conference of the Birds

The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hard to believe that five years ago, the year began with me looking forward to what I was expecting to be the final book of the Miss Peregrine series. But of course Ransom Riggs had more adventures in store. Picking up from the terrifying cliffhanger of A Map of Days, Riggs brings us back into the peculiar world in fine, fine form as always - a much shorter book than its predecessor, but no less powerful or high-stakes for it.


Though Riggs takes the title of this book from a Persian poem (a nice tip of the cap to Tahereh Mafi's culture, no?), the ymbryne meeting to which it refers largely takes place off-screen, as it were, thanks to our focus on Jacob and Noor and their ongoing mission - find the mysterious V, possibly the last of Abe's associates still alive, who may be peculiardom's last hope at staving off a dreadful prophecy. Easier said than done when the only clues to V's location are as cryptic as it gets, the prophecy is only partially decoded, and there's certain personal problems among Jake and his friends - mostly, of course, revolving around Jacob and Emma's failed relationship, plus the fact that he's starting to develop feelings for Noor as the book goes on. And I don't blame him, not one bit. As cool as Emma is, Noor really does feel like a much better fit to Jake, more his opposite in the right ways.

While this book is a pretty short one - really only a tad bit above 300 pages - Riggs doesn't let the action flag even for a second. For me, that's a huge improvement, because if A Map of Days had any flaws, it was that it was a little too long and suffered from some slow pacing. But now, Riggs is ramping up the action and urgency we've long since come to expect from his work, and it all builds up to his most diabolical cliffhanger since Hollow City. Like...DAMN. I have no idea how long it'll take for us to get the sixth (and final?) book, but that wait is going to be one of the longest in YA history for sure, no matter how much time it actually takes.

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