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rjdenney's review against another edition
5.0
check out my review here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DevvourBookReviews
misspippireads's review against another edition
3.0
There is a mysterious old house on Linden Street. A family of out-of-towners come and buy the amazing house, with all of the previous owners possessions still inside. The father and mother are mathematicians with a creative daughter named Olive. Olive loves to explore all the treasures of the old house. She especially loves to wear the old jewelry and gloves. One day when she puts on a pair of spectacles, she discovers that the pictures all over the house are alive!
Jacqueline West created a new fantasy series about a girl who could enter paintings. It felt like a mix between Neil Gaiman's Coraline and Marianne Malone's The Sixty-Eight Rooms. Yet not as dark as Coraline and not as lighthearted as the Sixty-Eight Rooms. (At least for me, your reading experience can differ greatly from my own.) It was quite a clever story about art and magic together. The familiars in the book add lighthearted silliness to the book. Overall it was a pretty solid story. The acceptance at the end toward the animals staying was a bit cheesy, but I can over look it. The familiars are necessary for the house and how else would they stay except for pure acceptance.
I would recommend this title to older elementary students and middlers. I wouldn't recommend it as a family listen on a car trip because younger listeners might not like the darkness of the book.
Lexy Fridell was the narrator for The Shadows. It took me a whole disc to become accustomed to her voice, but she shares a very good narration. (The familiars have some excellent and outrageous accents!) Her voice reminded me a lot of Kristin Chenoweth.
Reviewed from a library copy.
Jacqueline West created a new fantasy series about a girl who could enter paintings. It felt like a mix between Neil Gaiman's Coraline and Marianne Malone's The Sixty-Eight Rooms. Yet not as dark as Coraline and not as lighthearted as the Sixty-Eight Rooms. (At least for me, your reading experience can differ greatly from my own.) It was quite a clever story about art and magic together. The familiars in the book add lighthearted silliness to the book. Overall it was a pretty solid story. The acceptance at the end toward the animals staying was a bit cheesy, but I can over look it. The familiars are necessary for the house and how else would they stay except for pure acceptance.
I would recommend this title to older elementary students and middlers. I wouldn't recommend it as a family listen on a car trip because younger listeners might not like the darkness of the book.
Lexy Fridell was the narrator for The Shadows. It took me a whole disc to become accustomed to her voice, but she shares a very good narration. (The familiars have some excellent and outrageous accents!) Her voice reminded me a lot of Kristin Chenoweth.
Reviewed from a library copy.
_lovebug_'s review against another edition
5.0
!! so good !! recommend to those who love coraline, cats, and creepy old houses.
blingokitty's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
the_enobee's review against another edition
4.0
The Shadows was a well-told mystery with some effective thrills and chills thrown in for good measure. The unexpected scariness was a nice boon for me personally, and makes this an edgier choice for pre-teens. This is an excellent start to a series and definitely leaves me wanting to read the rest. Highly recommended.
deedoo's review against another edition
5.0
The descriptions, analogies, and metaphors the author uses is wonderful. It is great to see such colorful and imaginative writing for children. The story gets a bit dark and, due to the great descriptions, scared my daughter. She would make me stop reading. Two minutes later she would ask me to read it some more.