Hollow City by Ransom Riggs is the second book in the series Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children. When the book opens up, the children have escaped the island and the wight who tried to kill them. They are in two rowboats, heading toward the Welsh mainland, but their teacher and ymbryne Miss Peregrine is permanently in her bird form. Their goal is to find another loop (a place where the same day is repeated over and over) and get its ymbryne to return Miss Peregrine to her human form. Having left their own loop, they find themselves traveling across World War II Britain – first stop, London. Along the way, they meet other peculiars, as well as wights and other monsters.
Hollow City is a fast-moving adventure, where the children, led by Jacob from the present, learn many things about their peculiar world while on their quest. Above all, Jacob must constantly wrestle with the question of whether to stay with the peculiar children or return to his own world.
As in Riggs’ first book, there are many antique photographs used throughout the book, some from the original and some “new”. These add to the eeriness of the story. The first book was about Jacob, how he discovered the peculiar children, and decided to stay with them. Hollow City is about how he helps them in their quest for safety from the wights, but ultimately about his own decision.
An excellent book, Hollow City should be read at night by a roaring fire. And a talisman to keep the wights away.