House of Secrets

I wanted to love this book. It's amazing advertisement on TV, endorsements by Rowling and a great idea for a story I thought it was worth a shot.

That is not to say I didn't have my reservations before beginning. Written by the man responsible for producing the first Harry Potter movie I imagine access to the ear of Rowling was not too hard, and just because you can turn someone else's vision into a great film does not mean you can create your own great story.

This book just felt disjointed from the off. It seemed to bounce around like a kid on a sugar rush. The three main characters barely had their back stories laid out before we were off into a strange land. There they seem to encounter all kinds of strange goings on only to have it last 2 pages then stop, then something else comes along and then stops. All of it seemingly leading precisely nowhere.

It talks in riddles about things which may or might have happened, there is no clarity or substance or resolution in the story.

I have to admit to giving up half way through this one because I just didn't care enough about the lead characters to keep going. I felt each time I opened it I was having to endure it rather than enjoy it and life is full of so many other good books waiting to be read that I just wanted to move on. Disappointed.

3.5 stars
My feelings about this book are pretty controversial. It was a great plot and all but the writing wasn't exactly good. The strongest point about this book is that, even though it has 2 authors, there was no difference at all in the writing style, as if it was written by only one person. However, I did not find it a book suitable for children or middle grade kids at all. The book had so many cruel points.
I know, I know, kids should know about these stuff but heck, I don't even know about them :P
On the whole, it was a bit entertaining although it felt quite random and the description wasn't clear. I had a trouble envisioning a lot of things but that might have been my fault, English not being my first language and all.

I don't regret reading this but I don't exactly recommend.

I didn't read this because of J.K.Rowling. I don't care about those “this is the best book I've ever read” crap. Might be real, but it's still another person's opinion, and... well... it doesn't say anything about how much I will like this book.

I did like it. It reminded me a lot of Zathura.
I like the serial nature of it. I will be reading the next books as well.

Also, people are talking about Chris Columbus being the director of Harry Potter, and I am just fangirling about the fact that he wrote Goonies and Gremlins :-D

This was an enjoyable, fast-moving read in a very “Chris Columbus” style.