For an adult, this is just OK. It's fun but I had to force myself to finish it.

For a kid, I think it would be awesome! There is more action in this book than in a summer blockbuster movie! Pirates, giants, skeletons, mid evil soldiers, witches and warlocks...I'm sure I'm leaving some things out. ( )

Loved the action, adventure, and fast-moving pace of this book. However, the characters were rather stereotypical and the plot cliched. Still, I'd read book two to see where the reader is transported next :) ( )

This is the first book in the House of Secrets series. The best thing about this book were the illustrations and the quality of the book; it is a beautifully constructed book with deckled pages and thick high quality paper.

The story itself was pretty shallow and empty; there is a lot of action and things move quickly but somehow it just wasn’t engaging. There just didn’t seem to be much of a bigger picture with this story. The family of kids are just running frantically from one event to the next.

Given the above, despite all the action, things ended up feeling repetitive. By the end, although it wasn’t written awfully or anything, I just wanted to be done with this book and move on to something else.

I was a bit surprised at how vicious the story was at points. This is a middle grade story yet the kids were beaten, tortured, and very violent at times. The level of violence seemed a bit over the top for a middle grade read.

Overall this was an okay fantasy adventure story. Younger kids, who are less critical than me, might enjoy the fast-pace...however the level of violence might be too much for them. This is one of those books where I struggle to see what audience the authors were aiming for. The story is too shallow for the YA/adult reader but a bit too vicious for kids. I don’t plan on continuing the series. ( )

I picked this book off the shelf at the library, and then decided to bring it home when I read the thumbs up from JK Rowling.

The first few chapters were fun. The plot took off at lightning speed though and it never ever slowed down.

Chris Columbus is a director. He's used to working with screen plays. This book read more like a script than a book in some parts.

He may have been able to see very clearly what was going on in his head. He wasn't too great at describing it. His characters felt very flat. He told us how they felt. We never really got to experience it. It needed an actor to fill in his descriptions of their emotions.

Some kids might really enjoy this though. I might recommend it to intermediate aged kids. We'll
see. ( )

This title was full of excitement, adventure, and unexpected twists. I had a blast reading it and I'm looking forward to the next book in this series. ( )