Helpful Score: 3
House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo is a twisting tale of adventure and terror when the King family move into a new house, a house with a terrifying secret.
Meet Xander, 15yo male who is a budding movie maker who suddenly gets uprooted from his home town and forced to move to Pinedale, a tiny town with no prospects of fun.
From first encounter with the house Xander gets a strange feeling of unease, things sound different and he thinks he sees a shadow figure. Against his hope for something different, his family move into this strange house that has seen better days and things start happening right away.
Foot prints on the dusty floor boards is the first sign they receive, telling them they might not be alone in the house.
Xander, his Dad and his younger brother David search the house for the owner of these foot prints and find nothing strange, yet.
It is David that finds the closet, a closet that when closed transports them to their new school, where they emerge from a locker, and find they can also return home the same way.
On their first night in the strange house, they once again see a shadow figure and follow it only to find out how different their home is.
This is an engrossing tale that keeps the reader constantly guessing until the last page.
Meet Xander, 15yo male who is a budding movie maker who suddenly gets uprooted from his home town and forced to move to Pinedale, a tiny town with no prospects of fun.
From first encounter with the house Xander gets a strange feeling of unease, things sound different and he thinks he sees a shadow figure. Against his hope for something different, his family move into this strange house that has seen better days and things start happening right away.
Foot prints on the dusty floor boards is the first sign they receive, telling them they might not be alone in the house.
Xander, his Dad and his younger brother David search the house for the owner of these foot prints and find nothing strange, yet.
It is David that finds the closet, a closet that when closed transports them to their new school, where they emerge from a locker, and find they can also return home the same way.
On their first night in the strange house, they once again see a shadow figure and follow it only to find out how different their home is.
This is an engrossing tale that keeps the reader constantly guessing until the last page.
Monica G. (24girl) reviewed House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings, Bk 1) on + 42 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Fifteen year old Xander King is miserable. His family is moving from Pasadena to the small town of Pinedale. "Still in California, but barely." When the family arrives they find what his parents consider a dream house but Xander just considers creepy.
Full of mysterious sounds, creepy shadows and unexplained footprints, the house just seems too sinister for Xander to feel comfortable. As Xander and his twelve year old brother begin to explore the house they find things are even weirder than they could have ever imagined.
For a young adult book I was surprised at how well the storyline and suspense are written. Usually with YA writing the storytelling is a little too cheesy or predictable but this book breaks out of that mold and I was as creeped out as any Dean Koontz or Steven King book makes me feel when reading late at night.
House of Dark Shadows is Book 1 in the Dream House Kings series and after reading it you'll want to immediately pick up Book 2, Watcher in the Woods as the ending clearly warns that it's "Not The End." You're left with some answers and a HUGE cliffhanger. I enjoyed this quick read and recommend it for both YA and adult suspense readers.
Full of mysterious sounds, creepy shadows and unexplained footprints, the house just seems too sinister for Xander to feel comfortable. As Xander and his twelve year old brother begin to explore the house they find things are even weirder than they could have ever imagined.
For a young adult book I was surprised at how well the storyline and suspense are written. Usually with YA writing the storytelling is a little too cheesy or predictable but this book breaks out of that mold and I was as creeped out as any Dean Koontz or Steven King book makes me feel when reading late at night.
House of Dark Shadows is Book 1 in the Dream House Kings series and after reading it you'll want to immediately pick up Book 2, Watcher in the Woods as the ending clearly warns that it's "Not The End." You're left with some answers and a HUGE cliffhanger. I enjoyed this quick read and recommend it for both YA and adult suspense readers.
Helpful Score: 1
I really wanted to love this book and although it was pretty good it wasn't mind blowingly scary to me. Don't get me wrong there were some pretty creepy parts but some things I found just a tad predictable. Still a good read if your a young person who likes scarier, creepier type books. I think the rating of 3.6 is pretty accurate.
