Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Mumu The Tricked digs into what makes the Library of Souls work, in the finale of Ransom Riggs’ Peculiar Children trilogy.

TITLE: Library Of Souls

AUTHOR: Ransom Riggs

GENRE: Dark Fantasy

PAGES: 461

FORMAT: Paperback Book

PRICE: US $11.99/ CAN $12.99

The final book of the series of Peculiar Children, Library of Souls. Got to admit, I was not expecting the twists and turns this book provided. The focus is on Miss Peregrine’s family dynamic: her two brothers, Caul- who was envious and jealous of his sister’s abilities; and Bentham- a turncoat who turns on everyone, whether it be Caul or Miss Peregrine.

Caul was jealous of his sister, Alma Peregrine. Her abilities outshined his own; he would pinch her to make her cry when she was a baby; when she practiced turning into her bird form, he would pluck her feathers out one by one. I don’t blame her for distancing herself from her cruel brother. He began to detest and hate the Ymbrynes, even leading a revolution to the exiled peculiar with speeches and posters. Many peculiars followed him, agreeing that the Ymbrynes rulings of them being exiled is unjust.

Bentham ignored Caul’s cruelty until he tried to talk to him about it, begging him to stop. He was tortured and thrown into a cell, nearly starving to death. He fabricated the story of the Library of Souls to escape; one of Caul’s close followers passed it off as his idea and Bentham thought it would kill them or at least get rid of them. Instead, the ritual that he detailed created the first Hollows. It caused the peculiars to stay within their time loops as Hollows couldn’t cross over the portals. However, Caul has feasted on peculiar souls, becoming the first wight- and he targeted Bentham for causing this transformation; torturing him until he did his bidding.

Caul is a deeply flawed character that has no redemption. Even in the end, he died as he lived, trying to feed off of peculiar souls to thrive. Bentham kept switching sides for his own benefits; he would help the children until he could use his machine to get to the Library of Souls- he betrayed them and Miss Peregrine back to Caul to save his own life. He tried to apologize for it all, even going so far as to say he never meant this to happen, but if he was truly sorry, he would have never put those children in his brother’s grasp. He knew of Caul’s cruelty at that point, being a victim of it himself for a time; he would subject those poor children to his cruelty to make sure he could survive. But I will say this- by taking Ambrosia, he fought his brother one final time while a time loop collapse was being orchestrated, ensuring his demise alongside Caul’s; it’s not a full repent, but he stopped the evil before it could hurt anyone else.

I don’t believe that Caul ever had a moral backbone-he only cared about himself and increasing his power by any means necessary out of jealousy of his sister.  He even went so far as to create Ambrosia- an elixir made of crushed peculiar souls. It can grant a peculiar being a boost in their powers, but at a cost to develop a dependence on the Ambrosia, turning them into wights- with a consistent need to feed on peculiar souls.  When absolute power corrupts absolutely, morality dies in the crossfire.     

Mumu the Tricked loves to read and write. It’s easier to sit still and work with their eyes and hands than move around some days. They are hoping to become a successful author and book reviews are quite fun, too. Thank you!

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.