House of Secrets (House of Secrets, 1)
Hailed as “a breakneck, jam-packed roller coaster of an adventure” by J. K. Rowling, this New York Times bestseller is the first installment in the explosive tween fantasy series by famed Hollywood director Chris Columbus (of Harry Potter fame) and bestselling author Ned Vizzini (It’s Kind of a Funny Story).
Siblings Brendan, Eleanor, and Cordelia Walker once had everything they could ever want. But everything changed when Dr. Walker lost his job. Now the family must relocate to an old Victorian house, formerly the home of occult novelist Denver Kristoff—a house that simultaneously feels creepy and too good to be true. By the time the Walkers realize that one of their neighbors has sinister plans for them, they’re banished to a primeval forest way off the grid.
Bloodthirsty medieval warriors patrol the woods around them, supernatural pirates roam the neighboring seas, and a power-hungry queen rules the land. To survive, the siblings will have to be braver than they ever thought possible—and to fight against their darkest impulses. The key may lie in their own connection to the secret Kristoff legacy. But as they unravel that legacy, they’ll discover that it’s not just their family that’s in danger . . . it’s the entire world.
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Community Reviews
The premise is interesting. The concept has potential. It's like Inkheart, literally bringing books to life, with its own originality. But it has a darker undertone. A very dark undertone. I was crept out by some of the antagonists, so much so that I actually wondered if this was suitable for children to read at all. There is a pirate who likes doing experiments on people, as in really killing them and cutting them up. At one point, the littlest child at eight years old almost got her finger cut off by an adult. What in the world? Everything bad that happened is so violent that it turned me off from it eventually.
Even the plot got lost somewhere. The three siblings know how to get back, but they refuse to do it because it would mean that the Wind Witch wins. Then... So... What. Were the siblings planning to stay in this fantasy world forever? Because they sure didn't even try finding other ways to get themselves out of there.
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