A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer

Reviewed by Lisa W. 
Grade 9

Imagine if there was another version of Earth hidden behind a door in your basement. A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer builds off of that concept and spins it into a story with twists, turns, and talking vegetables.

This book is about a teenage orphan, Jonathan Lambshead, who inherits his grandfather’s mansion following his untimely death. After arriving at the mansion with his two best friends to catalog the many contents of the house, Jonathan realizes that there is more to the house than piles of bird cages and old muskets. While exploring, he stumbles upon three doors in the basement, one of which leads to an alternate Earth known as Aurora. Aurora is led by the supernatural dictator Aleister Crowley whose life goal is to overrule alt-Europe and eventually all of Aurora. Using doll spies, dark magic, and the war-filled mind of Napoleon’s head - yes, the head is very much detached and alive - Crowley threatens to destroy the world. To defeat Crowley and his army of logically impossible things, Jonathan must accept his place as a member of a secret society, follow the clues tucked among the knickknacks in the mansion, and embark on a dangerous quest.

To quote Jeff VanderMeer himself, "The word escaped him, not only escaped him but sat at the edge of his mind making rude gestures at him." I’ve read my share of horrible books, nonetheless I think that this one, somehow, tops the list. The book starts off interesting, making me want to read more, however after the 4th chapter, everything goes downhill. There is absolutely no character development or backstory, just a few sentences here and there about Jonathan’s mother’s disappearance and that he’s an orphan in boarding school, but nothing else. None of the characters have any impact on the development of the plot: they’re just… there. This book is a total of 656 pages, which is perfectly fine, but considering the plot, this book should have only been 300-400 pages long. Prominent contributors to the extra 200 pages are long, confusing paragraphs that derail the reader from the actual scene and “humorous” but useless banter. These are common in VanderMeer’s eccentric style of prose, and therefore are mainly appreciated by fans of his work. Something to consider is that Jeff VanderMeer is a successful author of adult books, one of which became a movie with notable actors such as Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac, and this book is his first attempt at a YA novel; maybe he just doesn’t know what teens enjoy reading?

I would give this book 2 out of 5 stars for a unique plot. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who isn’t familiar with Jeff VanderMeer’s writing style, because it might be confusing and harder to appreciate. This could be an interesting read if you’re looking for  more eccentric prose, but for others, this book is most likely not one you’d enjoy.