The Conference of the Birds Fails to Take Flight

Dutton Books for Young Readers

I have a complicated relationship with the Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs. I was first introduced to it through the film adaptation, and while I admit that’s a guilty pleasure of mine, I figured the books were far superior, as that is the general consensus among fans of books that get turned into movies. I was surprised to find that the movie had done its best to adapt a very rough, very inconsistent story, but as the series went on the writing and worldbuilding improved, and I found myself loving the world of peculiars. While 2018’s A Map of Days, the fourth installment and the beginning of a second trilogy, was not my favorite, I had high hopes for The Conference of the Birds, the newest book in the series. Sadly, as both a fan and a reviewer, this book was not at all what I was expecting.

Jacob Portman is back with his friends and their headmistress, Miss Peregrine, and the efforts to rebuild European peculiar society are well underway, as is the mission to appease the clans of American peculiars who are on the brink of war. Several of the wights imprisoned in Devil’s Acre have escaped, but their evil schemes are far more nefarious than achieving immortality. It’s up to Jacob and his friends to try and save the peculiar world—again—but with the stakes so high, they may not succeed this time around.

I can’t talk about this book without mentioning how unfocused it is. A Map of Days was lacking in plot and felt padded out, but the characters had clear goals in mind they needed to accomplish. The Conference of the Birds has the problem of too much happening at once: along with stopping the wights and bringing peace to the clans, Jacob is also trying to help Noor, the newest member of their peculiar family, find a woman named V, who may help them prevent a prophesied age of destruction. There are four or five subplots happening simultaneously, and with the book being far shorter than the previous one, most of these subplots are hastily wrapped up with little fanfare. The story tries to bring all of these separate narratives together, but it feels forced and like a waste of potential.

Fans of Jacob’s tumultuous romance with Emma Bloom will be sorely disappointed that she is regulated to little more than a glorified background character, while Noor becomes Jacob’s new love interest. I personally have never liked the main romance depicted in this series, especially because of Emma’s past relationship with Jacob’s grandfather, and their insta-love also didn’t help to endear me to them. While Jacob and Noor are both fairly new to the world of peculiars, they don’t have much in common outside of mutual physical attraction. Jacob rushing into another lustful relationship right on the heels of his breakup with Emma is also callous and out of character—what little character he has, that is. Noor shows promise for being a compelling character, but all of that is sidelined in favor of her title of Jacob’s girlfriend.

The twists that appear in this book range from pleasantly surprising to absolutely ridiculous, and while I can’t divulge too much without spoiling the entire story, I will say it relies on this gimmick too much. Even the one surprise I initially enjoyed lost its impact when I gave it more than two seconds of thought. The photographs that makes this series unique have been hit or miss, depending on the book, and I felt they were underused this time around, included more as an afterthought than a true supplement to the story. The side characters have always been the strongest aspect of this series, and while the other peculiar children get their share of banter and one-liners, this wasn’t enough to make my reading experience enjoyable.

The Conference of the Birds is an enigma, somehow being about too many things and nothing at all at the same time. Unfocused and outlandish, it stretched my suspension of disbelief too far for me to accept many of the fantastical happenings of the peculiar world this time around. One more book is planned to close out this trilogy, and I can’t say I have high hopes for how it will conclude.