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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
Loveable characters:
No
Oof. I was excited to read more from Sleator, the author of my childhood fave Into the Dream. This seems to be his most popular book but it did not work for me at all. I loved the concept, but instead of the clever, puzzle-solving, tricksy staircases book I was expecting (remember that Nancy Drew with the weird staircases and moving walls or w/e?? now that was good times), this is nothing but a bunch of kids bickering and bullying each other. Constantly, the entire 160 pages until the epilogue. I should have just DNFed but I thought, surely this can't be the whole book?? but it was. And don't call me Shirley.
Yes there was a point to it all, sort of, but it wasn't nearly enough to make all those mean-spirited pages worth reading. I probably should have known since I don't like dystopian stories, but I thought if anyone could make it work for me it's this author. And if that wasn't enough, this book hit on a third trope I can't stand which is fat-shaming. Did you know fat people like to eat?? If you didn't, this book will keep reminding you! Yeah unfortunately, I didn't like anything about this. If none of those things I mentioned are tropes that bother you, you might react differently. I'm still totally down to read more of Sleator's work. His writing isn't bad, this just happened to hit on a bunch of things I don't like!
(The Nancy Drew book is The Crooked Bannister, which I highly recommend!)
Yes there was a point to it all, sort of, but it wasn't nearly enough to make all those mean-spirited pages worth reading. I probably should have known since I don't like dystopian stories, but I thought if anyone could make it work for me it's this author. And if that wasn't enough, this book hit on a third trope I can't stand which is fat-shaming. Did you know fat people like to eat?? If you didn't, this book will keep reminding you! Yeah unfortunately, I didn't like anything about this. If none of those things I mentioned are tropes that bother you, you might react differently. I'm still totally down to read more of Sleator's work. His writing isn't bad, this just happened to hit on a bunch of things I don't like!
(The Nancy Drew book is The Crooked Bannister, which I highly recommend!)
I read this book in 2 days! House of Stairs is like The Lord of the Flies meets The Hunger Games meets A Clockwork Orange!
Five teenagers find themselves blindfolded and suddenly wake up in a giant room with no walls, ceiling or floor, just endless amounts of stairs and a machine that will randomly give them food... for a price!
It's hard to believe that this book was written in 1974! I've read one of Sleator's recent books and it was nowhere near as awesome as this masterpiece! check it out!
Five teenagers find themselves blindfolded and suddenly wake up in a giant room with no walls, ceiling or floor, just endless amounts of stairs and a machine that will randomly give them food... for a price!
It's hard to believe that this book was written in 1974! I've read one of Sleator's recent books and it was nowhere near as awesome as this masterpiece! check it out!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A very creepy read for anyone interested in a good book from the dystopian/sci fi genre.
Like a mix between The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies. It's not terrible, but it's not amazing either.
Wow that was kind of a head thumper. Weird but cool. This is basically an early seventies dystopia not that out of place when compared to all those psychology experiments that you read about but no one would ever let anyone do anymore. By halfway through the book I was just plain annoyed. But in the they pull it out and make you think. But it is always somewhat handicapped by the time it was written. It'd make a cool but odd play.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement
Moderate: Ableism
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Disturbing and hard to forget, which is probably what the author was aiming for.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
A totally bizarre little book that starts with five 16-year-old orphans being dropped off in a place that consists of nothing but stairs and landings. If James Dashner (author of The Maze Runner) wasn't influenced by this book, though he certainly took the concept in his own very original direction, I'll eat my hat. Anyway, this one is from the 70s, and anyone who has had a psychology class or two can see what's going on pretty quickly, though they may not be able to guess how it ends up. Interesting and creepy.