House of Dark Shadows - by Robert Liparulo
When I first signed up to review House of Dark Shadows I didn’t notice that it was listed as juvenile fiction. I thought the description sounded interesting and I wanted to read it. When I received it in the mail and noticed it on the back cover the first thing that came to mind was that if I enjoyed it I could share it with my 12 year old son. I am so glad I picked this one.
You are immediately drawn into the action and pulled into the lives of the King family. More accurately you are drawn into the adventures of Xander the fifteen year old of the family and David his twelve year old brother as they try to adjust to being uprooted and moved to a small hick town. What they don’t realize is stepping through one secret passage in the house could change their lives forever.
There was only one real complaint I had with The House of Dark Shadows. Okay actually it was two. The first was the way it ended. It left you hanging and wanting more. The second was I didn’t have the second book to dive right into. I definitely recommend The House of Dark Shadows and not just to teenagers. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and cannot wait to get the second book The Watcher in the Woods. I am also looking forward to sharing it with my son.
Here is an exert from the back cover it definitely hooked me:
When the Kings move from L.A. to a secluded small town, fifteen-year-old Xander is beyond disappointed. He and his friends loved to create amateur films . . . but the tiny town of Pinedale is the last place a movie buff and future filmmaker wants to land.
But he, David, and Toria are captivated by the many rooms in the old Victorian fixer-upper they moved into–as well as the heavy woods surrounding the house.
They soon discover there’s something odd about the house. Sounds come from the wrong directions. Prints of giant, bare feet appear in the dust. And when David tries to hide in the linen closet, he winds up in locker 119 at his new school.
Then the really weird stuff kicks in: they find a hidden hallway with portals leading off to far-off places–in long-ago times. Xander is starting to wonder if this kind of travel is a teen’s dream come true . . . or his worst nightmare.
December 4th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I loved this book! I received it along with The Watcher in the Woods as review copies, so I got to read both back to back. Now I can’t wait for The Gatekeepers, which is supposed to be released sometime this month.
Great review!
December 4th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
[...] There is also another review up at Two Brooms up. Another book review, House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo. Go Check it out [...]