Miss Peregrine's spent seventy weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers list for children's chapter books. It reached the number one spot on the list on April 29, 2012, after being on the list for forty-five weeks.[5] It remained there until 20 May, when it dropped to the fourth spot on the list.[6][7][8] The book dropped off the list on September 9, 2012, after sixty-three weeks.[9][10]
According to Deborah Netburn for the Los Angeles Times, the best part of the novel is "a series of black-and-white photos sprinkled throughout the book".[11] Publishers Weekly called the book "an enjoyable, eccentric read distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very creepy monsters."[12]