Reviews

The House at the End of the Sea by Victoria M. Adams

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hi_saac's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Stay uncomfortable 🌷

all_books_great_and_small's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

4.0

chucks_library's review

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4.0

Saffi is grieving her mother when she is moved to the B&B by the sea that her grandparents own. This house is not like any other, something is very different here. Saffi and her little brother must work out what is going on and who are those strange guests that have arrived.

This reads like a classic fairytale brought to the modern age. We get danger, mystery and the world draws you in. The author writes fantastically and this book will be great to challenge readers perceptions and vocabulary.

Stay Uncomfortable.

Thanks to @kaleidoscopictours and @andersenpress for my copy of The House at the End of the Sea.

bookishsamsch's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I really enjoyed this - and a nice quick read at just over 240 pages - an eerie tale about ghost like apparitions, unusual guests and a journey into the realms of fairytale.

Saffi is a cool protagonist - not sure how old she is, but I reckon about 11? - who takes care of her brother in the aftermath of their mother's death, he's cute but trouble little boy. Her Dad is useless, and her grandparents appear troubled but, at heart, kind people.

Saffi's journey as she tries to find the underlying cause of what is happening at the house is compelling and I found myself completely drawn in. A great read and a perfect book for tweens getting into this genre of fiction. There are some spooky moments, but it isn't too harrowing.

acascadeofbooks's review

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adventurous hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

herials's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Really enjoyed this. Plot really pulled me through and had me wanting to keep reading. I think the language use puts it at the right level of challenging for kids looking to push their reading forward. Characters were slightly flat for me, which is pretty much the only reason it isn’t a 5

piperkitty's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Thanks to @kaleidoscopictours and @andersenpress for my copy of The House at the End of the Sea.

I finished reading this book in one sitting and really enjoyed it. The story follows Staffi and her family as they move into their grandparents' B&B after their mother passes away. Staffi, Milo, and their dad have moved from London to this seaside town. We follow Staffi as she meets Birdy and some mysterious guests in the B&B who aren't of this world. Saffi takes us with her on a discovery of what lurks within her family's history. We see through her eyes the different ways that grief can affect people and how desires can become twisted things that leave us with more regret than joy. She finds that the B&B has loads of mysteries and secrets. I really enjoyed reading this book, especially the cosy mystery element and the discoveries that were made.

skylarkblue1's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

Representations: https://trello.com/c/eaeLp1FJ/106-the-house-at-the-end-of-the-sea-by-victoria-m-adams

This was quite a quick read, I think my only criticism is the length of the book wasn't quite enough to tackle all the topics it tried to. A lot seems to happen off-screen, reveals and twists have to be resolved very fast, and I'm honestly not sure over how many days this takes place but it feels like only a couple despite everything happening really quickly.

I loved the characters, they did feel mostly flat but I liked especially the kids anyway. The adults, really felt like there was way too many of them and most of them served to only progress the plot a little or fit into a single scene and that was it. There was quite a lot of character development, but again it felt pretty rushed.

The story I did really quite enjoy though and the magical world as well. It didn't feel overly unique, but it was pretty tense and intriguing! The magical creatures as well I felt where pretty neat characters and I'll be honest, some of them felt more rounded out than the main characters!

I think if you want a nice, simple, coast-side magical tale that's a quick read you'll like this. If you're wanting something deeper and something that explores the proposed themes more, you might want something else.

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