katkinslee's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Really easy to get into, I would have liked to have known more about what the defectives actually were but it was a solid story about love and death.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
jessica_h's review against another edition
4.0
The new mass market paperback cover of this is shockingly cheesy, and is making it seem like some beachy summer romance book. This book is brilliant! And nothing like that at all. I really don't get why some covers are decided on when they completely mislead the audience. The contents has a completely different mood than what this misjudged cover is portraying. Just wanted to share my high opinion of this book, and that you shouldn't judge this one by it's new cover. Ok, rant over :).
kba76's review against another edition
4.0
Toby is part of a group of children who have tested 'Defective'. They are isolated on a remote island and live in what is known as the Death House. The children who live there are constantly monitored, and taken to the sanatorium if sickness is suspected. Nobody ever returns.
We are never told the exact nature of this illness, how it came about or why it is such a threat (which did rankle somewhat-sometimes answers are a good thing). Pinborough focuses instead on exploring the relationships between the characters and their beliefs.
All the characters cope with their enforced isolation and imminent deaths in different ways. When new arrival Clara comes to the Death House Toby realises he has more in common with her than he thought.
While the lack of background detail infuriated me, I felt the shifting relationships between the characters was so well-depicted. I didn't even feel the romance between two of the characters was out of place, as it allowed us to gain more of a sense of who they were.
The novel doesn't shy away from some complex ideas, and the sinister setting really contrasted well with the joyful outlook that Clara brings to the novel. The ending was not what I wanted at all, but it was poignant and will certainly encourage readers to question what's important to them.
We are never told the exact nature of this illness, how it came about or why it is such a threat (which did rankle somewhat-sometimes answers are a good thing). Pinborough focuses instead on exploring the relationships between the characters and their beliefs.
All the characters cope with their enforced isolation and imminent deaths in different ways. When new arrival Clara comes to the Death House Toby realises he has more in common with her than he thought.
While the lack of background detail infuriated me, I felt the shifting relationships between the characters was so well-depicted. I didn't even feel the romance between two of the characters was out of place, as it allowed us to gain more of a sense of who they were.
The novel doesn't shy away from some complex ideas, and the sinister setting really contrasted well with the joyful outlook that Clara brings to the novel. The ending was not what I wanted at all, but it was poignant and will certainly encourage readers to question what's important to them.
forever_fictional's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting and different read! I can't help but feel a bit unsatisfied by the ending but, overall, a great book!
The Death House was a very mysterious and intriguing world to jump into. It gave me a Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children vibe from the very beginning. There was a whole mystery to unravel throughout this book and, while I didn't feel completely satisfied by the end, it was a great read.
It's secretive, captivating and worth the read if you're into creepy and dark reads.
Full review: https://forever-fictional.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-death-house-sarah-pinborough-book.html
The Death House was a very mysterious and intriguing world to jump into. It gave me a Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children vibe from the very beginning. There was a whole mystery to unravel throughout this book and, while I didn't feel completely satisfied by the end, it was a great read.
It's secretive, captivating and worth the read if you're into creepy and dark reads.
Full review: https://forever-fictional.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-death-house-sarah-pinborough-book.html
zluke's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It's very well written, with beautiful descriptions. Many of the characters have great depth and some difficult emotions like grief and anger are explored well.
However there wasn't enough background and context for me. I wanted to discover more detail about what being 'defective' meant, what would happen to them after they got sick.
It's good if you're looking for a romance with a mysterious/ominous vibe. However I don't think the dysopian aspect is very strong and I prefer it when mysteries are actually revealed.
However there wasn't enough background and context for me. I wanted to discover more detail about what being 'defective' meant, what would happen to them after they got sick.
It's good if you're looking for a romance with a mysterious/ominous vibe. However I don't think the dysopian aspect is very strong and I prefer it when mysteries are actually revealed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood and Violence
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
nuevecuervos's review against another edition
4.0
My rating was more of a 3.68, but I'm a mathematician and that's a number that rounds up.
I've no idea how this book landed on my radar. Maybe the Stephen King recommendation? Because as much as he and I occasionally disagree about how to end a book, he's generally a smart guy with good taste in creepy? Anyway, it landed on my paperbackswap list, it landed on my doorstep, I put it on my shelf thinking cool cool, I'll get to that one day. I picked it up last night thinking I needed an impromptu mouse pad on the sofa (don't judge me, it has a nice, solid surface). I picked it up this morning and flipped through it.
Three hours later, I am just now getting my coffee and writing about how I've finished this book. To be fair, I played fetch with my dog a little in between, but that's about all I've done other than be attached to this book at the face. It's extremely capably written, and the kids and teens in it are deeply believable. The situation is horrifying, but held at somewhat of a remove; at some point, Toby points out that the kids have all sort of adapted far too quickly to the house as a defense mechanism, and their status as Defective is readily accepted as Super Not OK. I enjoyed the bits and pieces of story breadcrumbs left behind-- it's in the future, something terrible happened with the Defectives, and climate change has fucked England, but we're still making schoolkids read Lord of the Flies, so apparently people are still people. Did the Matron? Do we need to know? Not really. In the end, a teenage boy who is angry and withdrawn over his terminal diagnosis is reminded that he should at least enjoy what life he's got left by a teenage girl with an equally terminal diagnosis, who arrives and is strangely willing to finally enjoy just existing after her less-than-stellar childhood. Definitely enjoyable, if a little predictable-- whether it's demons or werewolves or zombies, this is a woman-saves-man-from-himself story, but told deftly with a creepy edge of dread that makes it far more enjoyable than your standard cancer porn, and I love the subversion of tropes just as a matter of course.
That side plot with Will and Louis, though. I mean damn.
Certainly, it would have been nice to see our protagonists Become Giant and eat the Matron or something, but that's not the book Pinborough wrote and that's totally ok.
I've no idea how this book landed on my radar. Maybe the Stephen King recommendation? Because as much as he and I occasionally disagree about how to end a book, he's generally a smart guy with good taste in creepy? Anyway, it landed on my paperbackswap list, it landed on my doorstep, I put it on my shelf thinking cool cool, I'll get to that one day. I picked it up last night thinking I needed an impromptu mouse pad on the sofa (don't judge me, it has a nice, solid surface). I picked it up this morning and flipped through it.
Three hours later, I am just now getting my coffee and writing about how I've finished this book. To be fair, I played fetch with my dog a little in between, but that's about all I've done other than be attached to this book at the face. It's extremely capably written, and the kids and teens in it are deeply believable. The situation is horrifying, but held at somewhat of a remove; at some point, Toby points out that the kids have all sort of adapted far too quickly to the house as a defense mechanism, and their status as Defective is readily accepted as Super Not OK. I enjoyed the bits and pieces of story breadcrumbs left behind-- it's in the future, something terrible happened with the Defectives, and climate change has fucked England, but we're still making schoolkids read Lord of the Flies, so apparently people are still people. Did the Matron
Spoiler
kill the nurse? I mean, probably, but maybe she didn't because the situation is in fact pretty screwed up, but the program would lose credibility if they were suddenly shown to have made errors, so either way makes total sense.That side plot with Will and Louis, though. I mean damn.
Certainly, it would have been nice to see our protagonists Become Giant and eat the Matron or something
Spoiler
rather than succumb to the end that's waiting for all kids *identified* as Defectivestasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘No one ever leaves the house, and no one ever comes back from the sanatorium.’
Toby was living a normal life, until the blood test revealed he was a ‘defective’. Then, taken from his family, Toby is moved into the Death House. Here Toby and the other ‘defectives’ live, together with Matron and a team of nurses. Each inhabitant is carefully watched and monitored. The nurses are looking for signs of sickness, a sign that results in a one way trip to the sanatorium.
‘If you thought about it hard enough, you could be scared of everything.’
Toby lives in the past. By sleeping during the day, he can avoid interacting with the other children. By not taking his ‘vitamins’ at night, he can be watchful. There’s a hierarchy in the Death House, each of the dormitories competes with the others. Being on top is about survival. Being on top means trying to avoid having dormitory members taken to the sanatorium. There’s a form of power in numbers.
One day, a girl called Clara is brought to the Death House. Clara’s arrival changes Toby’s life forever.
Set in the near future, located on an island isolated from the British mainland, it’s never clear what has happened that has resulted in some children being ‘defective’. In this sense, the reader has no more information available to them than the children do. The fact of being ‘defective’ is accepted, even if the consequences are not. The children have different ways of trying to deal with this, and many of the characters are unexpectedly complex. How do children manage their world in such circumstances? They are loosely supervised, they are waiting to die. Toby and Clara form an alliance, a partnership. They dare to dream of a different future. And the ending? It’s not what I wanted, but it’s fitting.
‘We can’t all be unimportant and forgotten. We just can’t.’
Ms Pinborough fits a lot into this slender novel: some well-developed characters, some difficult choices, as well as both tragedy and triumph.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Toby was living a normal life, until the blood test revealed he was a ‘defective’. Then, taken from his family, Toby is moved into the Death House. Here Toby and the other ‘defectives’ live, together with Matron and a team of nurses. Each inhabitant is carefully watched and monitored. The nurses are looking for signs of sickness, a sign that results in a one way trip to the sanatorium.
‘If you thought about it hard enough, you could be scared of everything.’
Toby lives in the past. By sleeping during the day, he can avoid interacting with the other children. By not taking his ‘vitamins’ at night, he can be watchful. There’s a hierarchy in the Death House, each of the dormitories competes with the others. Being on top is about survival. Being on top means trying to avoid having dormitory members taken to the sanatorium. There’s a form of power in numbers.
One day, a girl called Clara is brought to the Death House. Clara’s arrival changes Toby’s life forever.
Set in the near future, located on an island isolated from the British mainland, it’s never clear what has happened that has resulted in some children being ‘defective’. In this sense, the reader has no more information available to them than the children do. The fact of being ‘defective’ is accepted, even if the consequences are not. The children have different ways of trying to deal with this, and many of the characters are unexpectedly complex. How do children manage their world in such circumstances? They are loosely supervised, they are waiting to die. Toby and Clara form an alliance, a partnership. They dare to dream of a different future. And the ending? It’s not what I wanted, but it’s fitting.
‘We can’t all be unimportant and forgotten. We just can’t.’
Ms Pinborough fits a lot into this slender novel: some well-developed characters, some difficult choices, as well as both tragedy and triumph.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
alexandranoelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
fearnleyfiction's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first Sarah Pinbrough book I have read, I will certainly be looking into more of her books.
This book was brilliant, highly addictive and a very easy read, which means you cannot put down. You just say, oh I’ll just see what happens next.I managed to read this book over 2 days, for me that is unusual so she must have been doing something right.
Toby is sent to the Death House, all those who are there have a defective gene and because of this they know that they will die. No one knows what happens when this gene finally activates, all they know is they get taken to the sanatorium and no one knows what happens there. He liked to spend time on his own, especially when no one else is awake. When Clara arrives and things change for Toby, a friendship develops they end up trying to figure out more about the Death House. They get to know each other and because of this dynamics change within the Death House.
Toby finds out more than he is expecting which leads to secrets.
Clara has secrets too.
I loved the ending, it made me ‘awwww’ keeping in mind they are 16 years old I though it was very sweet.
I think this book has potential to be huge, especially with young adults as well as those who are looking for a light read. I think this would make a great holiday read actually, you could dive into and have it read by the end of the day.
Perfect. I couldn’t put it down.
5 stars