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A review by jasnahmother123
House of Secrets by Chris Columbus, Ned Vizzini
1.0
House of Secrets? More like House of Boredom. Yeah, I know, not funny, just like this book.
I like middle grade. I believe reading from a child's perspective can be quite interesting. Pity I can't say the same for this character.
The story follows three siblings who are thrown into a world of pirates and witches and I'm too lazy to continue. Anyway, I love books about siblings. Seeing their relationship and their dynamics are fun and enjoyable. But House of Secrets made me hate each and every character.
Eleanor. Possibly the best out of them, but still shit. She is supposed to be 7/8 years(I don't even remember anymore) and doesn't act like her age. I don't have much to say about her. She just felt annoying. It was meh.
Cordelia. She is the oldest of them (15 years) Well, the thing that bothered me the most about her was her sexist bullshit. Don't get me wrong, I strongly support feminism. The thing that bothered me was her relationship with a character which, honestly I will not name, not because of spoilers but because I can't stand him and writing his name means that I remember him. The thing is, this character is sexist and Cordelia is always reproaching him about the sexist stuff he says, but then she falls in love! Are you kiddin! Plus, she is a victim of the so terryfing instalove. Girl, wake up! He is not worth it!!!
Brendan. I'm trying to contain myself writing about him. One of the most annoying/childish/boring characters I have ever read. Seriously, this kid is the personfication of the things I hate. Every now and then he would attempt to say something funny, which I guess should make me laugh, but instead would make me roll my eyes.
But the reason I felt so disconnected to the characters is that there are scarce thoughts. Let me explain. In my opinion, one of the reasons a book is better than a movie is the possibility of exploring the character's mind and thus, connecting in a deeper way to the character. In the case of House of Secrets, it's just events. Like a movie. That's the problem. It doesn't work as a book. Maybe it could work as a movie, and seeing that one of the authors is the director of the first three Harry Potter movies, I was expecting much more.
Now, let's talk about magic system and world building. There's none of that. That's all. Just magic scattered all over the place. No effort.
And lastly, the plot. I mean, It wasn't bad? But I was so done with the book after reading page 250 (More or less) that my mind automatically forgot most of it after finishing it. I would have DNFed it but I want to finish my Goodreads Challenge and I was 200 pages in, and I do not believe that DNFing a book around 50/60% should count as ended. Maybe 75%. Don't know. Anyhow, a quick shout out to my sister for lending it (In her defense, she had read it when she was a kid and didn't remember much when she recommended it to me)
I like middle grade. I believe reading from a child's perspective can be quite interesting. Pity I can't say the same for this character.
The story follows three siblings who are thrown into a world of pirates and witches and I'm too lazy to continue. Anyway, I love books about siblings. Seeing their relationship and their dynamics are fun and enjoyable. But House of Secrets made me hate each and every character.
Eleanor. Possibly the best out of them, but still shit. She is supposed to be 7/8 years(I don't even remember anymore) and doesn't act like her age. I don't have much to say about her. She just felt annoying. It was meh.
Cordelia. She is the oldest of them (15 years) Well, the thing that bothered me the most about her was her sexist bullshit. Don't get me wrong, I strongly support feminism. The thing that bothered me was her relationship with a character which, honestly I will not name, not because of spoilers but because I can't stand him and writing his name means that I remember him. The thing is, this character is sexist and Cordelia is always reproaching him about the sexist stuff he says, but then she falls in love! Are you kiddin! Plus, she is a victim of the so terryfing instalove. Girl, wake up! He is not worth it!!!
Brendan. I'm trying to contain myself writing about him. One of the most annoying/childish/boring characters I have ever read. Seriously, this kid is the personfication of the things I hate. Every now and then he would attempt to say something funny, which I guess should make me laugh, but instead would make me roll my eyes.
But the reason I felt so disconnected to the characters is that there are scarce thoughts. Let me explain. In my opinion, one of the reasons a book is better than a movie is the possibility of exploring the character's mind and thus, connecting in a deeper way to the character. In the case of House of Secrets, it's just events. Like a movie. That's the problem. It doesn't work as a book. Maybe it could work as a movie, and seeing that one of the authors is the director of the first three Harry Potter movies, I was expecting much more.
Now, let's talk about magic system and world building. There's none of that. That's all. Just magic scattered all over the place. No effort.
And lastly, the plot. I mean, It wasn't bad? But I was so done with the book after reading page 250 (More or less) that my mind automatically forgot most of it after finishing it. I would have DNFed it but I want to finish my Goodreads Challenge and I was 200 pages in, and I do not believe that DNFing a book around 50/60% should count as ended. Maybe 75%. Don't know. Anyhow, a quick shout out to my sister for lending it (In her defense, she had read it when she was a kid and didn't remember much when she recommended it to me)