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sher221bb's review against another edition
5.0
Es una história fascinante llena de misterios
Donde el pequeño lewis descubre un mundo totalmente nuevo, la magia.
La película realizada a pesar de las cosas que omite sigue siendo una historia increíble que se disfruta mucho
Una historia dirigido a un público infantil y adolescente llena de misterios y hechos sobrenaturales....
Donde el pequeño lewis descubre un mundo totalmente nuevo, la magia.
La película realizada a pesar de las cosas que omite sigue siendo una historia increíble que se disfruta mucho
Una historia dirigido a un público infantil y adolescente llena de misterios y hechos sobrenaturales....
jessethereader's review against another edition
This was such a surprisingly fun read! It's honestly one of those adventurous stories that warms your heart. It's full of magic and mystery and it's an all around good time. I'm really curious to see how this translates on the big screen.
twowheelsaway's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book as a kid, and enjoyed it again this time around (reading it for a presentation). It definitely comes from an earlier era of YA, and can read a little clunky, but at the same time is a really good story with well-applied Gothic tropes falling out of its ears.
My other favorite thing about it that surprised me was the genuinely supportive adults in the story. While Lewis' grief over his parents is weirdly muted, Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman are both so lovely and kind to him, and patient. It's honestly the book's main break with Gothic traditions, and its such a sweet one.
My other favorite thing about it that surprised me was the genuinely supportive adults in the story. While Lewis' grief over his parents is weirdly muted, Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman are both so lovely and kind to him, and patient. It's honestly the book's main break with Gothic traditions, and its such a sweet one.
adventuresofabookbat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mlejmeyer's review against another edition
Reread with Noah & Amelia for nightly readaloud. Childhood favorite.
bluestjuice's review against another edition
3.0
This was cute. I never read it as a child, but it was highly recommended to me and I approached it with an open mind. It delivered. In particular, I appreciated the way Lewis was written as a very realistic, nerdy kid. He's overweight, not athletic, and is bullied significantly by his peers, but is not incompetent and interacts reasonably with the adults in his life. I did feel that the emotional impact of losing his parents in a car accident not long before the novel begins was somewhat ignored, but the emotional impact of the various things that happen in the course of the story were treated with appropriate weight, and I'm willing to write that off as background that was meant to install him in a particular place in the plot, not to drive his emotional life. Early on I spent some time trying to work out what the intentions of the author were in terms of realism: was this the sort of novel where the magic is mostly the magic of childhood and imagination, or the sort where there is real actual magic? It turns out there is actual magic, which caught me a bit by surprise as there is otherwise so much realism in the approach, but magical realism worked well here. The clock itself, when it appeared, was a bit of a let-down if only because the conceit of a clock hidden throughout the walls of an old Victorian house is such a fascinating one, it was almost impossible to live up to. Also, I was struck and bemused by how very much time young Lewis spends up at ridiculous hours for a kid his age. But yes, I would definitely recommend this.
waclements7's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
vorpalblad's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 ⭐
I had heard The House with a Clock in Its Walls recommended as a middle-school scary read but other than that, I went in with no expectations. Never seen the movie, nothing. But I found myself within the first few chapters muttering to myself "I bet this was written in the '70s. This has to have been written in the '70s." Just before writing this review I checked, and sure enough: 1973. This falls firmly in that era where middle school fiction like this was weirdly detached. I was a big fan of The Three Investigators and honestly, I am loathe to go back and have my happy memories destroyed.
As for this, the first in a series with 12! entries: the scary bits were lacking any tension and the most we know about Lewis is that he's the chubby kid that isn't good at sports. His parents have died and he is sent to live with his bachelor uncle in New Zebedee, Michigan. He seems to be perfectly fine with his parents' deaths. He has a good cry only once, and we never hear about him trying to adjust. He wants a new friend, and is upset when it doesn't work out, but it's all described through a mesh-screen of adulthood, like an inside nudge and a wink of "oh, we all know how this goes."
For an elementary-school audience, this is probably acceptable. Not too scary, but scary enough, and there's certainly plenty of kids who will identify with Lewis, but it's just not up to the standards of youth fiction today which doesn't play down to kids and is probably one of the reasons adults continue to enjoy books written for younger audiences over the last twenty years. It's also some of Gorey's weakest art, like he could barely be bothered. I understand completely.
I had heard The House with a Clock in Its Walls recommended as a middle-school scary read but other than that, I went in with no expectations. Never seen the movie, nothing. But I found myself within the first few chapters muttering to myself "I bet this was written in the '70s. This has to have been written in the '70s." Just before writing this review I checked, and sure enough: 1973. This falls firmly in that era where middle school fiction like this was weirdly detached. I was a big fan of The Three Investigators and honestly, I am loathe to go back and have my happy memories destroyed.
As for this, the first in a series with 12! entries: the scary bits were lacking any tension and the most we know about Lewis is that he's the chubby kid that isn't good at sports. His parents have died and he is sent to live with his bachelor uncle in New Zebedee, Michigan. He seems to be perfectly fine with his parents' deaths. He has a good cry only once, and we never hear about him trying to adjust. He wants a new friend, and is upset when it doesn't work out, but it's all described through a mesh-screen of adulthood, like an inside nudge and a wink of "oh, we all know how this goes."
For an elementary-school audience, this is probably acceptable. Not too scary, but scary enough, and there's certainly plenty of kids who will identify with Lewis, but it's just not up to the standards of youth fiction today which doesn't play down to kids and is probably one of the reasons adults continue to enjoy books written for younger audiences over the last twenty years. It's also some of Gorey's weakest art, like he could barely be bothered. I understand completely.
kristenremenar's review against another edition
3.0
I'm embarrassed that, as a children's librarian, it took me this long to finally read a Bellairs mystery. It wasn't the story that pulled me along so much as Bellairs descriptions full of yummy sensory detail:
"Lewis opened the book and flipped through the slick glossy pages. He held the book up to his nose. It smelled like Old Spice talcum powder. Books that smelled that way were usually fun to read. He threw the book onto his bed and went to his suitcase. After rummaging about for a while, he came up with a long, narrow box of chocolate-covered mints. He loved to eat candy while he read, and lots of his favorite books at home had brown smudges on the corners of the pages. A few minutes later Lewis was sitting up in bed with his pillows propped behind him."
Nice to use as examples for writing class to include five senses to draw the reader in.
"Lewis opened the book and flipped through the slick glossy pages. He held the book up to his nose. It smelled like Old Spice talcum powder. Books that smelled that way were usually fun to read. He threw the book onto his bed and went to his suitcase. After rummaging about for a while, he came up with a long, narrow box of chocolate-covered mints. He loved to eat candy while he read, and lots of his favorite books at home had brown smudges on the corners of the pages. A few minutes later Lewis was sitting up in bed with his pillows propped behind him."
Nice to use as examples for writing class to include five senses to draw the reader in.