Rating: 4/5 Stars (Book) | 3.5/5 Stars (Film) The Story (No Spoilers) The story follows Jacob Portman , a teenage boy who grew up listening to his grandfather’s fantastical stories about a mysterious orphanage in Wales, filled with children who had extraordinary abilities—levitation, invisibility, super-strength, and more. Jacob dismisses these as fairy tales until his grandfather is mysteriously killed by a monstrous creature only Jacob can see.