A review by anneaconda
House of Secrets by Ned Vizzini, Chris Columbus

4.0

Glad I got my hands on this ARC! This book is definitely a wild ride! Kind of like The Wizard of OZ on steroids. Lots and lots of adventure and mystery, not to mention pirates, giants, a WWI pilot, witches, wild Viking/medieval-ish warriors, magic and mayhem. It's a crazy mish-mash, but somehow it all works together pretty well. I thought the Walker kids' personalities and relationships with each other were fun and young readers should be able to relate to them in many ways. However, it is fairly violent and graphic at times, so depending on the reader, it might be a better choice for the older end of the "tween" set. I'm also curious if "product placement" exists in books the way it does in movies...there were so many specific references to products, people and pop culture that it was kind of distracting. I could almost see the strategic placement of soda cans and candy wrappers in the foreground. :p But over all, a really fun book...short, quick chapters with crazy twists, turns and cliff-hangers should keep kids engaged!