4.04k reviews for:

The Westing Game

Ellen Raskin

3.99 AVERAGE

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It's officially confirmed. I will always love this book. Read it for the first time when I was ten and now, at 31, it still holds up. Great book!

I love this book. Great for kids 5th grade and up!

- I think I was expecting something different from this book, thought it would be like a combination of And Then There Were None and Ready Player One, but instead I got garbage
- The clues were LAAAAAAAME and unreasonably vague, plus soooo many red herrings that the whole thing was annoying
- I won't lie though I was lame in the beginning part and actually spooked myself when they were meeting in the Westing House
- Why did major plot reveals in this story never get explained???? WHAT were the bomber's motives????? Excuse me??
- I understand that this was a children's book. But it was still exceptionally bad thank u goodbye
adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

Ellen Raskin is one-of-a-kind. I revisited this book after years of reminiscing on it from my initial read in middle school. It is even more delightful than I remembered; careful enough to still be mysterious for the adult reader (but not too complex for a young reader), hilarious, tender, I devoured it in one day and could hardly choose a better book to start the year. 
Raskin’s playful prose is at times interrupted by moments of sharp clarity and tenderness for people and the things they want and search for in this world. Her voice is refreshing and so much fun to read.

I first read this in 4th grade, and I remember being absolutely obsessed with it. Re-reading it was interesting to see what did and didn’t hold up to time and age.
adventurous mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No