Reviewed by Helena Birbower
Rating: High Five
Who I'd Recommend to: I would recommend this book to readers who liked the A Wrinkle in Time series, and the Percy Jackson series.
Synopsis (from Amazon): For as long as the Vickery twins can remember, Lee and his mother have served Memory, while Felix and his father assist Death. This is the Agreement. But one Halloween, Gretchen Whipple smashes her way into their lives. Her bargain is simple: If the twins help her solve the murder of local girl Essie Hasting, she'll help them break the Agreement. The more the three investigate, however, the more they realize that something's gone terribly wrong in their town. Death is on the loose, and if history repeats itself, Essie's might not be the last murder in Poplar Wood. Simultaneously heartwarming and delightfully spooky, The House in Poplar Wood is a story about a boy's desire to be free, a girl's desire to make a difference, and a family's desire to be together again.
Rating: High Five
Who I'd Recommend to: I would recommend this book to readers who liked the A Wrinkle in Time series, and the Percy Jackson series.
Synopsis (from Amazon): For as long as the Vickery twins can remember, Lee and his mother have served Memory, while Felix and his father assist Death. This is the Agreement. But one Halloween, Gretchen Whipple smashes her way into their lives. Her bargain is simple: If the twins help her solve the murder of local girl Essie Hasting, she'll help them break the Agreement. The more the three investigate, however, the more they realize that something's gone terribly wrong in their town. Death is on the loose, and if history repeats itself, Essie's might not be the last murder in Poplar Wood. Simultaneously heartwarming and delightfully spooky, The House in Poplar Wood is a story about a boy's desire to be free, a girl's desire to make a difference, and a family's desire to be together again.
Thoughts: I LOVED this book. It has a really interesting and very clever plot line. Ormsbee personifies acts of Death, Memory, and Passion into creatures called Shades. These Shades have servants called apprentices who do their bidding. The main characters are the sons of apprentices, who are held captive to an unjust Agreement against their family. Because of the tragedy that these boys are held to, you really learn to love them and pity them. The other main character is a girl, and she is endearing only because she’s really annoying. The characters are relatable, even though the story takes place in a magical world.
I enjoyed how the book equally incorporated all of the characters points of view, and how the author added multiple layers to the story that all came into focus at the end to solve the mystery. Some things I did not enjoy too much were that the story took a long time to build up, leaving me bored at the beginning, and that middle school wasn’t portrayed as realistically as I would have wished (all through the school was such a small part of the story why am I complaining?).
Although the story started kind of dull, I continued to read it, and eventually, it grabbed my attention so much that I couldn’t put it down. The story has a really nice theme, that anything is possible, and even a kid can save the people they care about. When I finished this book, I started screaming, because I didn’t want it to be over. That’s how much I loved this book.
I enjoyed how the book equally incorporated all of the characters points of view, and how the author added multiple layers to the story that all came into focus at the end to solve the mystery. Some things I did not enjoy too much were that the story took a long time to build up, leaving me bored at the beginning, and that middle school wasn’t portrayed as realistically as I would have wished (all through the school was such a small part of the story why am I complaining?).
Although the story started kind of dull, I continued to read it, and eventually, it grabbed my attention so much that I couldn’t put it down. The story has a really nice theme, that anything is possible, and even a kid can save the people they care about. When I finished this book, I started screaming, because I didn’t want it to be over. That’s how much I loved this book.
