Showing posts with label YA-Child Crossover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YA-Child Crossover. Show all posts

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Black Horizon by M.G. Harris - On The Big Book Project

I loved Black Horizon - it get's four stars from me!  If you want to  see my full review, check out The Big Book Project!
“Caroline, Addison, Ben; welcome to Gemini Force One..."
When Ben Carrington's father dies, his mother decides to set up a mountain-rescue team, based in her homeland Austria.  But when disaster strikes again, she joins forces with a rich businessman and together they create the secretive rescue team named the Gemini Force.
All Ben wants to do is be part of the team – to save people.  But being at college, it's a little hard to convince his mother to let him take part…  
He'll just have to prove himself – while observing the heroic rescues carried out by the Gemini Force, of course.

But he has no idea what is waiting for him aboard Gemini Force One...
I remember watching old reruns of The Thunderbirds with my Dad and younger brothers.  I remember loving the action and quirky humour, even if the puppets and special effects were a bit odd for me.  I was so excited when I heard about Gemini Force One – a modern day Thunderbirds team written for teens?  Yeah, I needed to get my hands on that book as soon as poss.  And I must say, even with all the set-up, this book was truly exciting.  I mean, when you open with someone falling from a plane, a second pilot throwing herself from a second plane to catch him and a Countess and her son climbing out on a ledge of one of the highest buildings in the country to rescue the pilots, you know you're in for an adrenaline-pounding ride.  And I just know that the rest of the series are going to be a million times more amazing, now that the Gemini Force has been set up and established....

The Big Book Project

I'm part of a new Tumblr blogging group, made up of book bloggers and vloggers.  If you're interested in a wide variety of genres and reviewing styles, as well as some (soon to come) different kinds of posts, check us out!

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Arsenic For Tea by Robin Stevens

Series: Wells & Wong, Book Two
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Format: Paperback
Published29th January 2015
Number of Pages: 352
Book: Bought
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Murder Mystery, Historical, Suspense, Thriller, Action-Adventure, Middle Grade, YA, YA-Child Crossover
Recommended Age: 9+
Contains: Death, Mild Swearing and Alcohol References
Author's Site: Robin Stevens

WARNING: COULD CONTAIN SPOILERS…  WILL DEFINITELY INCLUDE LOTS OF FANGIRLING.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED…

I looked at Daisy.  Her eyes were glittering and her cheeks were pink.  This was Daisy with a Plan.

Schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Daisy’s home, Fallingford, for the holidays.  Daisy’s glamourous mother is throwing a tea part for her birthday, and the whole family is invited, from eccentric Aunt Saskia to dashing Uncle Felix.  But it soon becomes clear that this party isn’t about Daisy at all.  (Naturally, Daisy is furious.)
Then one of the guests falls seriously, mysteriously, fatally ill – and everything points to poison.
Suddenly, Fallingford feels like a very dangerous place to be.  And when someone close to Daisy looks suspicious, the girls must reveal the truth… no matter the consequences.

                                                                   Review:
“Daisy and I will both need to think like detectives again.  You see, just now we overheard something quite awful; something that proves that what happened to Mr Curtis was not simply an accident, or a sudden illness.  Someone did this to him, and that can only mean one thing: the Detective Society has a brand-new case to investigate…”
Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong's Detective Society have already solved one huge mystery – the Murder of Miss Bell.  Now, on holiday from school at Daisy's home, they plan to attend the tea party Daisy's mother is throwing for Daisy and eat cake and deal with the extended Wells family.
Of course, this isn't what they end up doing, not when a guest mysteriously and suddenly becomes ill – the deadly kind of ill...
When Daisy and Hazel discover that his death wasn't accidental but was, in fact, murder – poison, to be precise – they of course have to investigate.
With everyone present turning from guests to suspects, Daisy's home Fallingford seems deadly dangerous...
It seems the Detective Society has a new case – one a little too close to home...
I absolutely adored Murder Most Unladylike, so of course I had to pick up a copy of Arsenic For Tea the moment I laid eyes on it in WHSmith.  I began reading the book in Costa, as you do, and was a hundred pages in before I could came up for air.  Oh, how I love this series!  It's the most fun, exciting and brilliant thing to read – I would happily read both Wells & Wong books back to back, over and over for a whole year.  And speaking of this year, a third book is coming out later in 2015!  I knew this was going to be the best year ever! 
Hazel has become a lot stronger since the events of MMU – and a much better detective too.  She's still the calm to Daisy's crazy, the emotion to Daisy's logic and the one who narrates the Detective Society's exploits.  I love Hazel!
I really don't know how Daisy kept it together for so long in Arsenic For Tea!  Poor girl.  But she was her smart, sneaky, cunning, witty, bossy self – and I loved it.  I also loved seeing more emotion from her, seeing her vulnerable side.   
This time Kitty and Beanie were allowed to join in with the detecting, something that added new depths to Hazel and Daisy's little partnership.  It showed just how brilliant the President and Vice President of the Detective Society are – and added extra mayhem to the mystery!  Kitty was funny and Beanie was sweet – and it was nice to get to know them better.
Now, I really don't want to say too much about the other characters – can't give away any spoilers! – but I will say they were a varied, bizarre and intriguing bunch!  Some were hilarious (Lord Hastings), some were curious (Miss Alston) and some were irritating (Lady Hastings).  But I felt each and every one of them were unpredictable, mysterious and intriguing.  I also had no freaking clue who the murderer was – like, no clue.  It's embarrassing... 
Oh, and it's cool – the Inspector had the same name as the author of An Inspector Calls – Priestley.  Great play – great inspector.  Although this isn't really anything to do with Arsenic For Tea.  Just noting it...  
Moving on from that, I absolutely adore Stevens' writing – it's so 1930s, so addictive and so brilliant.  I love Hazel's voice, the suspense, the humour and the heart.  It’s so brilliant!
Now, because the death in Arsenic For Tea happened in Daisy's own home, the plot was a lot more complicated than in Murder Most Unladylike, because the majority of the suspects were related to Daisy.  This, obviously, made the detecting feel much more urgent.  Letting Kitty and Beanie in on the secret on top of the personal angle made for an infinitely intriguing and exciting plot, one that kept me hooked and guessing from the first page to the very last.  Robin Stevens truly is a master of the whodunnit – and at making me scratch my head!  Bravo!  And I also like how the plots aren't as open-shut as they first seem.  The motives behind the murders are real – believable.  Like in this one... I kind of totally got it.
How I adore the Wells & Wong series!  It is just so much fun!  It makes me feel younger, smarter and more interesting – and I just have so, so much fun reading it!  I literally love everything about it and cannot wait for First Class Murder!  It can't come quickly enough!  I can't be without my two favourite detectives for too long!  I'll lose my detective-ing edge!
If you've deduced by the end of this review that I absolutely, totally and completely adore the Wells & Wong series, bravo!  Brilliant detective-ing!  If you've listened to the facts and done the smart thing, you will decide to go out right now and buy both Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic For Tea and read them on the floor in the bookshop.  Which is a brilliant idea – one I wholly support and one you won't regret!  
But I've talked your ear off, haven't I?  I apologise – I just loved Arsenic For Tea so much!  Before I go (and because Hazel is so fond of lists), I feel I should end this review with a little list of why EVERYONE EVERYWHERE must read the Wells & Wong series ASAP!  Here we go...
  • Murder mysteries have been proven to be good for the brain – especially murder mysteries set in the '30s in England following two brilliant school-girl detectives.
  • The girls are hilarious – mischievous, devious, sneaky, brilliant, clever, a little bonkers.  Basically, they are all such bricks!  (Read Wells & Wong to find out what brick means.)  You'll love the girls and will hold your breath as they sneak around, finding clues and questioning suspects without them even realising!
  • Arsenic For Tea is marvellously gripping!  It will suck you in, hold you tight and not let you go 'til the very end.  It is more addictive than bun breaks!
  • You never know who the murderer is – you literally suspect everyone and are left on the tip of your toes like Hazel and Daisy, watching everyone and trying to detect their secrets.
  • Reading a Wells & Wong book is more fun and more addictive than watching Scooby Doo while drinking tea (arsenic-free), eating chocolate and reading a good book.  Which is one of the most addictive scenarios I've ever encountered.  Which means this book is seriously hardcore.
  • It's set in the '30s!  This leads to all kinds of awesome words, (occasionally) wonderful manners, Lords, Ladies, butlers and lots of other awesomeness that's enough to make a girl want to invent a time machine, hop inside, and pop back in time.  Trust me, if you read it, you'll want the exact same thing!
  • Now, who here didn't want to be Sherlock Holmes as a kid?  Exactly!  Everyone wanted to be Sherlock!  Well, this book lets you live your dream and have so much fun doing it!
  • If you don't read the Wells & Wong series, you'll be a dreadfully bad sport – and you wouldn't want that.  If you read it, however, you shall be a brick!
  • Reading Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic For Tea is the most fun you'll have in any murder mystery!  Just clear an afternoon before starting – you won't want to put it down.  I stayed up 'til the wee hours to finish – and didn't care one bit, because it was just so marvellous!
  • Because... just because!  I've been rambling for this long!  Because I read both books in one sitting!  They are too freaking addictive!  They are so much fun!  They are amazing!  Because I've just used a billion exclamation marks in a row – something that means this is deadly serious!  Just trust me and read them now!  Like, right now.  I'll be waiting!

And that's my list.  I hope I've convinced you!  I can't recommend Wells & Wong enough and have already pushed the book onto my family and friends.  I can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of the books! 

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5




Read this book if you liked:
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan
Nancy Drew by Kathryn Keene
Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane


Happy Reading

Megan

Saturday, 14 March 2015

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

 Publisher: Picadilly Press
Format: Paperback
Published: 1st January 2015
Number of Pages: 352
Book: For Review
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Murder Mystery, Historical, Suspense, Thriller, Action-Adventure, Middle Grade, YA, YA-Child Crossover
Recommended Age: 10+
Contains: Death, Mild Swearing and Alcohol References
Author's Site: Julie Berry

At Prickwillow Place, Disgraceful Mary Jane, Smooth Kitty and their fellow students are keeping a deadly secret. 
When the headmistress of Saint Etheldreda’s School for Young Ladies drops dead at Sunday dinner, her seven pupils agree on a clever scheme: to bury their teacher in the vegetable garden, dress up Stout Alice to pose in her place, and educate themselves.
This is tricky enough in a small Victorian community, but when the girls deduce that their teacher was poisoned – it was the veal! – they realise there is also a murderer on the prowl…

An outrageous plot of villainy, farce and friendship starring seven brilliant young girls.
What’s Inside?  Cyanide. Manners. Danger!

                                                                   Review:
"Killed?" she squeaked.  "Did you say killed?"
"Killed," Dour Elinor said.  "Murdered."  She savoured the R's in her pronunciation: murrrrderrrred.
"Oh.  Oh my…"
The seven girls of Saint Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies have been sent to the school for various reasons, mainly for the strict traditional teachings of its headmistress Mrs Plackett.  Who mysteriously dropped dead, along with her brother, at Sunday dinner.  Poisoned, the girls deduce, by the veal.
Faced with the possibility of getting sent home to their families, and away from the sisterhood the seven have formed, Smooth Kitty declares that there's a way they can stay at Saint Etheldreda's: if they pretend that their headmistress is still alive, bury the bodies in the garden and dress Stout Alice up as Mrs Plackett.  All the while, of course, teaching their own lessons and trying to find out who murdered their headmistress.
There's a murder loose in their village and the seven will need to keep their wits about them to catch the killer before they strike again!
The Scandalous Sisterhood had a tough act to follow when I picked it up: I recently read Murder Most Unladylike, which I loved to pieces.  And so, despite the amazing things I've heard about The Scandalous Sisterhood, I was worried for it.  But as soon as I opened the book, saw the portraits of the seven and began reading, I realised I'd been worrying in vain: The Scandalous Sisterhood is brilliant!  I adore the Victorian era and loved the quirkiness and mischeviousness of the seven girls – and the fun, interesting plotline too!
None of the girls were stereotypical of the Victorian era – or any era, really.  Since there were seven main characters, it was only natural to prefer some and to find the others a bit flat, but I must say that I liked all of the girls.  I found keeping track of them easy, thanks a lot to the cute, beautiful illustrations of the girls at the beginning and the little characters' relations summaries.  I found this just too cute and very helpful! 
I think my favourite character was probably Pocked Louise: she was very clever, determined and rather unique for the era as she was a girl obsessed with science.  The strangest character was the odd and spookily funny Dour Elinor: her obsession with death was disturbing, but the character's little one-liners were very amusing!  Smooth Kitty and Disgraceful Mary Jane were, I think, the two ring-leaders of the sisterhood.  Kitty was clever and funny, if a little bold at time.  And Mary Jane was scandalous and hilarious – even if a little painful!  Stout Alice was brilliant – poor thing, though, dressing up like a dead old woman!  She was funny and clever though.  And I loved Dear Roberta and Dull Martha: bless them, they were so sweet!  
Whilst all of the characters were pre-or-early-ish-teens, a fair few felt older than they would feel these days.  After all, girls were expected to grow up fast in the Victorian era!  I think some people might get put off by the fact that there's an adjective in front of each of the girls' names, but I thought it was cute and funny – it also helped in the beginning to keep track of the girls' personalities!
Berry's writing was absolutely perfect for the time period – and utterly addictive!  It was a little confusing, admittedly, because the perspective switched between the girls quite a bit, but it was exciting and hooking nonetheless.  It was also witty, funny, suspenseful and at times painful – those girls really got themselves into some dreadful scrapes!  Which was so funny!
I love a good murder mystery, as I may have mentioned once or twice in previous reviews, and I'm generally pretty good at solving the murder.  Call it too much CSI or psychicness (the answer is obviously psychicness – is that even a word, though?), but I'm not half bad at finding killers.  And yet, for most of The Scandalous Sisterhood, I was just completely in the dark.  I saw a few things coming a mile off, but the killer... I did not suspect that one!  I loved all the twists – the plot turned out to be way more complex than one would originally think and it was awesome!  Oh, and I liked the romance-aspects of the book: it was really subtle and used brilliantly to move the plot along.
The Scandalous Sisterhood was a brilliant book and such great fun!  I read it in one sitting and was left desperate for more scandalous adventures!  I loved the ending, how everything finished perfectly, but that it also left lots of scope for more adventures for our sisterhood of seven!  I really hope there's another book!

Star Rating:
4 Out of 5




Read this book if you liked:
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Wells & Wong by Robin Stevens
Nancy Drew by Kathryn Keene
Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane


Happy Reading
Megan
* This book was received from Picadilly Press in exchange for an honest review

Friday, 27 February 2015

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

Alternate Title: Murder Is Bad Manners
Series: Wells and Wong, Book One
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Format: Paperback
Published5th June 2014
Number of Pages: 352
Book: Paperback
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Murder Mystery, Historical, Suspense, Thriller, Action-Adventure, Middle Grade, YA, YA-Child Crossover
Recommended Age: 9+
Contains: Death, Mild Swearing and Alcohol References
Author's Site: Robin Stevens

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just go to the police?” I asked.
“Don’t be stupid,” said Daisy severely.  “We don’t have any evidence yet.  We don’t even have a body.  They’d simply laugh at us.  No, we’re on our own.  And anyway, this is our murder case.”

When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up a secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they can’t find a truly exciting mystery to investigate.  (Unless you count The Case of Lavinia’s Missing Tie.  Which they don’t.)
Then Hazel discovers the body of the Science Mistress, Miss Bell – but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared.  Now the girls have to solve a murder, and prove a murder happened in the first place, before the killer strikes again (and before the police get there first, naturally).
But will they succeed? 
And can their friendship stand the test?

                                                                   Review:
I've been hooked to murder mysteries for as long as I can remember and I've read and watched so, so many – all different sorts, in all shapes and forms.  But in all my murder-mystery-ing, I've never read anything like Murder Most Unladylike.  It was fun and light, but also addictive and suspenseful.  Young and old crime fiction fans like me will adore it – it's just impossible to resist!
“We're still the only people who can solve the crimes."
I had to admit that Daisy's logic made sense.  Under the circumstances, in fact, the Detective Society had never seemed so important.'  
The year: 1934.  The location: Deepdean School For Girls.  The Mystery: The murder and disappearance of Miss Bell.  The Detectives: Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells of the Wells & Wong Detective Society.
When Daisy Wells decides that she and her best friend, Hazel Wong, will set up a Detective Society at Deepdean School For Girls, she hopes for exciting cases.  But she gets none.
And then Hazel stumbles across a body in the gym – literally.  She runs to find Daisy, but by the time they return, the body has vanished.  Without the body, they have no evidence – and no chance of proving a murder has taken place.
So Daisy decides that she and Hazel will serve the murder, much to Hazel's horror.
And so they begin finding clues, following suspects and making secret inquiries, with Hazel writing down everything they find.
Soon, the stakes rise and the girls find that proving the murder happened might be even harder than stopping the killer striking again – and remaining friends throughout the investigation...
Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t read this book, even though I'd heard so many good things.  I don’t know why I hadn’t read it – Murder Most Unladylike is so my kind of book!  I mean, Nancy Drew-Sherlock types in a boarding school in the 1930s trying to find a killer?  C'mon, tell me that doesn’t sound totally awesome?!  So when I got the chance to review the book, I said: YES PLEASE!  And man, Murder Most Unladylike exceeded my expectations.  It was so much fun – and so utterly addictive!  I started reading, just planning on reading a few pages, and then before I knew it I was halfway through and utterly hooked, unable to stop reading.  Always a good sign in a mystery!
Hazel was brilliant – level-headed, sweet, a little nervous, but understandably so!  She was far more sensible than Daisy, more likable too, since her ego was nowhere near as big and she was much more sympathetic and in touch with her emotions.  Daisy, however, intrigued me more.  She looked like the perfect little British girl, but she was really this logical, rational, genius, sceptical want-to-be detective with a brilliant mind and intuition.  She was a bit like Sherlock: at times it was hard to know why you liked her, but she was so intriguing it was hard not to, even when she did these strange things and showed her shockingly large ego.  
The relationship the two of them had was rather intriguing – and by the end the perfect tortoise-and-rabbit example of murder mystery solving (read MMU and you'll get it).  I loved how close the girls were, and yes, they still had little spats – but they made up.  I liked watching Daisy evolve into a better person and Hazel evolve into someone a little more daring.  They were so good for one another and really grew in the short space of the novel.
The other characters were varied and brilliant: each was original and real, unlike many younger murder mysteries, where there are cardboard-cut-out characters.  I won’t say any more on the characters: don’t want to give you any suspect-spoilers!
I will talk about the writing, ‘cause it was simply smashing: it felt totally perfect for the era!  I adored it – it felt as if I'd been transported back in time!  Hazel's voice was brilliant and addictive – her compassion and humanity really came across – and I simply loved the casebook style of writing.  There was lots of suspense in Murder Most Unladylike, but humour too.  Some bits (mainly involving Daisy's brilliantly barmy plans) made me laugh out loud.  And all the while, the suspense grew!
A murder in a boarding school, two girls determined to find the killer...  C'mon, how can't you want to find out more?  There was a real Nancy Drew feel to Murder Most Unladylike – only I adored MMU way more than I ever liked Nancy Drew.  As with all good murder mysteries, there were twists, false turns and red herrings – along with numerous suspects.  I was quite proud of myself by the end: I'd had a suspicion for quite a while that turned out to be true – of course, I had two or three similar suspicions that were completely terrible...  But still!  I've always enjoyed murder mysteries and Murder Most Unladylike totally appealed to my life-long love of the genre, making me even more excited than a Diagnosis Murder marathon!
As for the setting: loved it!  I've always found the archetypal British boarding school to be a fascinating place for a story.  Put said story back in the 1930s and you get a deliriously happy book addicted girl!  I mean, I loved the boarding school setting so much I just wanted to go back in time and go to Deepdean – be in the Detective Society with Daisy and Hazel, sneak around solving a murder, have bun breaks and just do everything!  Someone invent a time machine ASAP!
I also adored all the Sherlockian nods in Murder Most Unladylike: as a Sherlocked gal, I found this addictive!  And seeing the diversity in the book was awesome too: canoodling between men and women and two women, a Chinese Watson, the younger girls “pashing” on Daisy...   Oh, and the map and character list at the front and 'Daisy's Guide To Deepdean' at the back were just awesome!  I loved both – especially Daisy's guide: her voice was brilliant and so Daisy!
I've not had so much fun reading a book for ages as I did reading Murder Most Unladylike.  Utterly compelling, captivating, fun and addictive, I easily read it in one sitting and was left feeling desperate for more.  
Oh, I just can't recommend this one enough!  I absolutely adored it and cannot wait to get my greedy little hands on the next Wells and Wong book!  With enough thrills to keep a crime junkie like me happy and more than enough light hearted silliness to entertain all, Murder Most Unladylike will appeal to everyone – and everyone should read it, ASAP!

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5




Read this book if you liked:
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene
Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry
Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan


Happy Reading
Megan
* This book was received from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review

Friday, 19 July 2013

House of Secrets by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini

Series: House of Secrets, Book One
Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks
Format: ARC
Published: 25th April 2013
Number of Pages: 560
Book: For Review*
Genre: Fantasy, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Paranormal, Thriller, Suspense, MG, YA-Child Crossover
Recommended Age: 10+
Contains: Violence, Gory Stuff, Death
No Alcohol, Drug References
Author's Blog: Ned Vizzini


From the Back of My Proof Copy:
Set to be the biggest debut launch of 2013
A secret history
A mysterious legacy
Dark magic of untold power
And three kids who will risk everything to bring their family back together…

Synopsis From Goodreads:
When Brendan, Cordelia and Nell move to Kristoff House they have no idea that they are about to unleash the dark magic locked within.
Now the Walker kids must battle against deadly pirates, bloodthirsty warriors and a bone-crunching giant. If they fail they will never see their parents again and a crazed witch will take over the world.
No pressure then...
House of Secrets is the first book in a major new series.
It's going to be epic.


                                                                    Review
 ‘Suddenly a face appeared.  Inches from Brendan's own, hissing, its voice like a swarm of wasps leaving hell. 
"You don't belong here..."’ 
The Walkers kids used to have everything.  A normal life, full of books for Cordelia, games for Brendan and pony dreams for Eleanor.
That was before The Incident.
The Incident that made them leave their home and find a new place to live.
The Incident that led them to Kristoff House.
The kids know instantly something is up with the house.  First, there's a shadowy figure watching them, then darting away.  All they can find is a stone statue.  A statue that disappears, leaving a bald woman in its place, telling Bren to leave – now.  And then there's the price – the house is beautiful, old, full of antiques.  And yet it's cheaper than a flat.
So what's going on?
Well, the children soon find out, as they are thrown into the middle of a tangle of dark secrets – and darker magic.
Trapped in a whole other world...
Without their parents...
And completely, utterly alone...
When I saw House of Secrets was written by Chris Columbus, I knew I had to read it.  I mean, he's a movie legend.  And Ned Zizzini?  He's the writer of Teen Wolf – a show I absolutely adore.  So it's safe to say that I had ridiculously high expectations of House of Secrets.  And I must say, it lived up to them.  It had all the action, adventure, suspense, fantasy, humour and family feel that I'd expect from these two authors.  But by far the best quality was the fantastical world – oh, and the wonderfully odd sense of humour too.  And my God, kids will love this!  I just know they will.  It's so exciting and accessible and enjoyable and is just a really fun, pretty easy read.
The siblings were all so brilliant.  They kinda reminded me of the Baudelaire siblings from the Series of Unfortunate Events – in a good way.  They were all so wonderfully unique and smart.  And I love the relationship the three of them had – it was so real and funny.  Their bickering was just hilarious – this one scene in particular just had me totally cracking up!  Out of the three, I think Cordelia was my favourite – she was the one I connected with instantly, what with her being intelligent, amazingly logical and a total book-lover-slash-geek.  So, obviously, I could relate to her the most.  And even though she was level headed, mature and calm, she was, hehe, named after Cordy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I liked Brendan too – he was a total gaming addict (I’ve been there, guys: my brothers are addicted to that kinda thing too), but he was brave too.  He was constantly trying to prove himself, and some of his ideas were brilliant.  Others?  Yeah, not so much.  For example: his shouting match with the pirates...  Though that was hilarious!
Eleanor reminded me of myself aged eight – horse obsessed!  She was sweet and enthusiastic and funny, as well as being tough and brave and proving an eight-year-old could totally hold her own!  I loved her!
The other characters were amazing – they all had real personalities, all these quirks that made them, them.  Other than the siblings, some of my favourite characters were the pirates.  I mean, sure, they weren't exactly good or whatever, but man were they funny!  I also had a bit of a soft spot for Will, who was a bit sexist (he was a WWI pilot, though…) but was brave and loyal and when all’s said and done, isn’t that all that matters? Plus the villain...(ess?) was awesome – so scary and such a brilliant, strong baddie: you could really hate her but could also understand her too, if that makes sense.
The writing was good – quite basic, but that's expected from a MG book.  Nonetheless, everything was wonderfully described and I loved the wit and humour in the dialogue.  Though sometimes it felt a little... I dunno, stiff, maybe.  But if I'm entirely honest, I think I only think that because I'm fussy.  Either way, it didn't really detract from what I really loved about the book – i.e., the plot, the kids and, even though I also hate her, the villainess.  And the plot, as expected from Columbus and Vizzini, was fast paced and action packed.  I loved that about it – how it was never dull.  It was the kinda plot you could just see inside your head, playing out like a movie.  It was really rather addictive.  It was just so suspenseful and full of action.  Plus, I never knew what was going to happen next.  I didn't even know who was going to die – I was shocked many times!
As I mentioned before, the best part of this book for me was the world.  It was so amazing – so inventive and 3D.   It was so awesome and cool and new.  But I was a little shaky about the whole magic thing – like, how much magic is there in the real world – is there magic or is it just ‘The Book’?  But again: me being picky.  I only started caring once I'd finished the book and knew how it all ended.  It's really just afterthought pickiness.
House of Secrets was an action packed book full of action, suspense, dark magic, witty siblings and, you guessed it, a house full of secrets.  I was pulled right into the story and literally raced through, totally hooked and desperate to know what would happen next, how the plot would end (well but with a nice twisty cliff-hanger that's left me desperate for more).  I really enjoyed it and I've been left desperate for it to be made into a movie – directed by Columbus, of course.  It would just kick butt.  But really, what else do you expect from Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini?
House of Secrets didn't exactly blow me away in the way I thought it would, but it did blow me away in ways I wasn't expecting.  I really did enjoy the story and definitely recommend it – especially to younger readers and us older ones who just want a good old fashioned fantasy adventure romp!


Star Rating:
4 Out of 5




Read this book if you liked:
Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy



Challenges It's Taking Part In:
Happy Reading
Megan

* This book was received from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
** Quotes used are from a proof copy and may have been changed in the finished book