This is actually the third book in the series, as I mention at the beginning of the review.  I don’t have an actual review of the entire series, but if I were to give this series a rating, it would be 4 out of 5 stars.  I didn’t enjoy the second book as much as the first and third.

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know why I waited so long to complete this trilogy. I had read the other two books when they came out, but for some reason, I didn’t pick this one up until this year. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the end of this trilogy.
The author, Ransom Riggs, wrote this story based on old photographs that he had collected over the years. It’s a story about a group of people named Peculiars, each having a special power like super strength, or the ability to create fire from their hands or be invisible. Within the story, these peculiars tend to hide from the public (or normals) in these time loops created by ymbrynes, women who can turn into birds and are the caretakers for peculiars. The trilogy follows the main character, Jacob, as he discovers this world, discovers his place in it, and ends up going on an adventure to save not only peculiars but the world in general.
The writing is well done as the stories incorporate various photographs sprinkled throughout the book. Although, by this third book, I was less interested in the pictures as I was the story. Compared to the other two books, I felt that this final book was very plot driven, very action driven. The story moved very quickly, which I think was easily done since the other books were more descriptive and world building.
The character development was very transparent in the final book. Jacob even starts to refer to himself as two different Jacobs, the old one that was unsure and indecisive, versus the new Jacob who was more confident and brave. The relationship between him and Emma also evolves throughout this last book, and I really liked the way it ended for them as well.

I don’t remember there being any significant use of profanity. Also, the sexual content was very mild – there were a few kisses and a moment when two characters fell asleep together (but all they did was sleep). I think the time period that the peculiars came from affected their behavior in that department.
There was a lot of violence, as this was the final showdown between the good and bad guys. There were some details on experiments done of peculiars, drug addiction (although it was a drug called ambrosia), and lots of blood, broken bones, and cuts. But even so, it was handled pretty well and was pretty mild.

I definitely recommend the series. It was a fun read. I know that the first book was made into a movie, but it is not very much like the movie at all. The relationships are all different in the book and movie. And I don’t see how they could have continued making those into film especially with this last book. But this is a definitely a favorite series of mine!