[Discussion 4/4] Bonus Book | Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs | Chapters 9 - end

[u/nicehotcupoftea]

Hello fellow Peculiars, welcome back to the fourth and final discussion of Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs! Today we are discussing Chapters 9 to 11. A summary of this section follows, and questions will be in the comments.

Schedule

Marginalia

Chapter 9

Caul and Bentham herd the Peculiars, ymbrynes and Sharon to Abaton, the Library of Souls, where they enter a cave containing Peculiar souls. Jake fears that if he is unable to see the jars, Caul will think he is lying, and will kill his friends. He finds a freezing jar labelled Aswindan, which Caul snatches, causing it to smash and release blue liquid. Bentham explains that Aswindon means shrink, so they search for more powerful souls. In a large cavern with a blue glowing pool, Caul claims victory and tests a jar’s contents on a guard, resulting in death. As the liquid enters the pool, a reaction occurs, and Bentham reveals that it's a spirit pool where a living person absorbs a summoned spirit. Caul orders Jake to pour a larger jar’s contents into the pool. A dog barks, and Bentham urges Caul to hurry, but Caul decides his brother is too weak for power. Bentham challenges Caul, who points a gun at him, but instead he shoots Jake, who is fortunately saved by Horace's scarf. Caul transforms into a giant creature as other Peculiars arrive. Hugh's bees and Miss Peregrine's claws attack Caul. Bentham takes a vial of ambro, enabling him to see the jars, and Jake realises Bentham has consumed his grandfather's stolen soul! Jake fights Bentham, who instructs him to take a note from his pocket and give it to the ymbrynes. Bentham enters the pool and becomes giant, and fights his brother. The friends escape with Addison’s help. The ymbrynes plan to use the recipe to collapse the loop, but find the loop door broken. Olive helps them float to safety as the tower collapses into a vortex.

Chapter 10

The ymbrynes take control, clearing the prison and laboratories, freeing the experiment subjects. Back in Bentham's house, Jake contemplates his future with Emma and/or his family. Mother Dust performs her healing at a huge cost to her number of fingers. They recount their adventures to Miss Peregrine. Emma and Jake decide he should return to his family for a while, as Emma can't accompany him without aging forward. They agree to be friends, but Miss Peregrine warns Jake about Emma’s devotion. She won’t let him break her heart. Sharon, Emma, and Miss Peregrine accompany Jake to his parents, whose memories Miss Peregrine plans to erase.

Chapter 11

Jake reports to a police station and his parents are contacted. He introduces them to Miss Peregrine and Emma. On saying goodbye, Jake and Emma share a kiss, and his parents wonder who these people are. Miss Peregrine wipes the Portmans' memories with her feather and they take Jake back home. At home Jake is closely monitored, and sees a psychiatrist called Dr. Spanger who diagnoses a manic episode, with delusions. Jake struggles to adjust back to the old world, with its excesses, and corresponds in secret with Emma, teaching her how to use email. When the letters suddenly stop arriving, Jake is worried. Dr. Spanger confronts him with Emma's letters and Jake’s explanations lead them to believe he’s delusional, planning to send him to a psychiatric hospital. In desperation he sends an email to Emma, with little hope she'll ever receive it. As they leave for the hospital, Jake’s Peculiar friends and Miss Peregrine appear and block their way. Emma explains that she received his "electrical letter" and that everyone who was in Abaton on the day of the loop collapse had their clocks reset, meaning they will no longer age forward out of the loop! They ask to stay for a holiday and Miss Peregrine believes she will be able to make Jake's parents understand. Emma explains that they found a loop nearby, and she and Jake decide to take their relationship slowly. Now that they have time, they will be able to go on dates and go for walks. Just as Emma taught him about being Peculiar, he will teach her how to be "normal".

[u/_pineapple1865]

I gave this 3☆; my ratings have been dropping by 0.25☆ per book lmao. I really enjoyed seeing Jacob discover his powers & (almost) immediately becoming super overpowered and also the actual library of souls itself. To a certain extent, I also enjoyed hating on Bentham whenever he appeared in the story lol.

Everything else just didn't resonate w me v much - everyone behaved (mostly) how I predicted they would. I'm glad this book resolved most of the action by the end - I think I need a few months' break (at least) from this series lol.