Scan barcode
novelbloglover's review
3.0
Book review
Title: The Watcher in the Woods
Author: Robert Liparulo
Genre: thriller/family/paranormal
Rating: ***
Review: Watcher in the Woods picks up the eerie, engrossing story begun in House of Dark Shadows, which saw the King family move from Pasadena to the small town of Pinedale when their father Edward accepts the position of principal at the high school, and into a house with a dark history. From the first page of this Christian-published young adult novel we are plunged once again into the high intensity, rapid fire setting of the first. Liparulo cuts to the chase, providing a bare minimum of exposition in the first chapters to remind readers of where the story left us at the end of book one.
This series is one that builds upon itself, adding question upon question, layer upon layer of mystery and uncertainly to the storyline, while revealing few answers. These titles do not stand-alone; each is an integral part of the story. Each book needs to be read in sequence in order to follow along.
David and Xander, the King brothers, throw themselves fool-hardily into the search for their missing mother. Frustrated by their father’s lack of action they take matters into their own hands despite their father’s cautious prohibitions and warnings. This rebellion against their father marks the initiating of the downward spiral of the King family into the darkness that becomes more palpable throughout this title.
The King family struggles to maintain a somewhat normal façade (with little success) when dealing with the townsfolk of Pinedale. Edward King starts his new job and the King siblings enter the school year in unfamiliar surroundings. Together the family embarks on a plan of deception, and outright lies to mask the disappearance of their mother. I was so dismayed to see this plan being carried out with little concern for the word of God. This is only book two of the series, but as the characters involved are professing Christians I hope to see God dealing with this blatant sin in their lives before the series comes to an end.
Watcher in the Woods is not as cohesive a tale as the first book. Liparulo includes a lengthy scene which appears unconnected from any other events in the series to date. This odd scene seems only to serve as a respite from the relentless action. I am surmising that he will further explain the meaning of this incident in future books and is only starting to weave this thread through the story.
New characters, mysteries and challenges arise but few are solved. The King family learns some rudimentary operations of the portals in their new home, but so much remains to be discovered. I feel that we are barely at the beginning of learning how and why the house and portals work, but this installment hints at a fuller explanation in the near future.
While the ending of the first novel left us hanging with the disappearance of the King’s mother, it pales in comparison with the monstrous cliffhanger Liparulo works up to this time. Anyone who has taken a creative writing course can tell you that the climax ought to occur approximately 80 – 90% of the way through a story, leaving the author time to wrap up loose ends and come to a conclusion. You can’t expect that sort of formulaic tale telling with this series.
A frenzy of action builds up to the climax, and Liparulo leaves us there with no conclusion. Three dramatic, time-sensitive events occur simultaneously at the end of the novel, bringing stress levels to a crescendo before cuting us off abruptly with the words “NOT THE END”. Whew, what a ride.
Title: The Watcher in the Woods
Author: Robert Liparulo
Genre: thriller/family/paranormal
Rating: ***
Review: Watcher in the Woods picks up the eerie, engrossing story begun in House of Dark Shadows, which saw the King family move from Pasadena to the small town of Pinedale when their father Edward accepts the position of principal at the high school, and into a house with a dark history. From the first page of this Christian-published young adult novel we are plunged once again into the high intensity, rapid fire setting of the first. Liparulo cuts to the chase, providing a bare minimum of exposition in the first chapters to remind readers of where the story left us at the end of book one.
This series is one that builds upon itself, adding question upon question, layer upon layer of mystery and uncertainly to the storyline, while revealing few answers. These titles do not stand-alone; each is an integral part of the story. Each book needs to be read in sequence in order to follow along.
David and Xander, the King brothers, throw themselves fool-hardily into the search for their missing mother. Frustrated by their father’s lack of action they take matters into their own hands despite their father’s cautious prohibitions and warnings. This rebellion against their father marks the initiating of the downward spiral of the King family into the darkness that becomes more palpable throughout this title.
The King family struggles to maintain a somewhat normal façade (with little success) when dealing with the townsfolk of Pinedale. Edward King starts his new job and the King siblings enter the school year in unfamiliar surroundings. Together the family embarks on a plan of deception, and outright lies to mask the disappearance of their mother. I was so dismayed to see this plan being carried out with little concern for the word of God. This is only book two of the series, but as the characters involved are professing Christians I hope to see God dealing with this blatant sin in their lives before the series comes to an end.
Watcher in the Woods is not as cohesive a tale as the first book. Liparulo includes a lengthy scene which appears unconnected from any other events in the series to date. This odd scene seems only to serve as a respite from the relentless action. I am surmising that he will further explain the meaning of this incident in future books and is only starting to weave this thread through the story.
New characters, mysteries and challenges arise but few are solved. The King family learns some rudimentary operations of the portals in their new home, but so much remains to be discovered. I feel that we are barely at the beginning of learning how and why the house and portals work, but this installment hints at a fuller explanation in the near future.
While the ending of the first novel left us hanging with the disappearance of the King’s mother, it pales in comparison with the monstrous cliffhanger Liparulo works up to this time. Anyone who has taken a creative writing course can tell you that the climax ought to occur approximately 80 – 90% of the way through a story, leaving the author time to wrap up loose ends and come to a conclusion. You can’t expect that sort of formulaic tale telling with this series.
A frenzy of action builds up to the climax, and Liparulo leaves us there with no conclusion. Three dramatic, time-sensitive events occur simultaneously at the end of the novel, bringing stress levels to a crescendo before cuting us off abruptly with the words “NOT THE END”. Whew, what a ride.
annastarlight's review
2.0
Giving up on this series. To be completely honest, these books just aren't fun.
In Watcher in the Woods the King family is still looking for the abducted Mrs King. She is pulled through one of the portals in their attic, transporting her to somewhere in human history.
Mr Liparulo just doesn't give these teenagers a break. The two main characters are like twelve and fifteen (or something), yet they have to survive insane hardship. They are thrown in arenas, battle with tigers, see the horrors of world wars. They see death every day, they get hurt. They lie and go behind their father's back, time and time again.
And to what point? All the hurt and darkness, what does it lead to?
A cliffhanger. A friggin cliffhanger.
No resolution, nothing to make you slightly feel better. So I am giving up on this series. I have absolutely no drive to continue reading, to get yet another cliffhanger.
I wouldn't recommend these books for your child. There are more than enough young-adult books that have the same amount of action, yet do not drive you around aimlessly.
In Watcher in the Woods the King family is still looking for the abducted Mrs King. She is pulled through one of the portals in their attic, transporting her to somewhere in human history.
Mr Liparulo just doesn't give these teenagers a break. The two main characters are like twelve and fifteen (or something), yet they have to survive insane hardship. They are thrown in arenas, battle with tigers, see the horrors of world wars. They see death every day, they get hurt. They lie and go behind their father's back, time and time again.
And to what point? All the hurt and darkness, what does it lead to?
A cliffhanger. A friggin cliffhanger.
No resolution, nothing to make you slightly feel better. So I am giving up on this series. I have absolutely no drive to continue reading, to get yet another cliffhanger.
I wouldn't recommend these books for your child. There are more than enough young-adult books that have the same amount of action, yet do not drive you around aimlessly.
iceangel9's review against another edition
3.0
The second fantasy installment in the Dreamhouse Kings series. Xander and David desperately want to find their mother, who has been kidnapped by a mysterious man and taken through one of numerous portals in their new home that lead to other times and places. Xander does not feel his dad is doing enough to find his mother, but David feels his father just wants them to search for her safely. While tensions increase within the family, a mysterious man attempts to drive the Kings from their home which will prevent them from continuing to their search.
mccartershanon's review against another edition
3.0
Okay so here’s the thing; this book did do a better job of hooking me in to the story……. So why did my rating go down half a star? Well, the read was still rather dry and, honestly, so little happens that I almost jut think that it didn’t need to be its own book. House of Dark Shadows was intriguing because we didn’t know what was up, but Watcher in the Woods was just tedious and repetitive which is truly unfortunate because I still find myself wanting to know what is going to happen next.
The story is still told in third person limited, but this time it’s told from David’s perspective. I wasn’t sure about it at first but as the story unfolded I began to see why the author did this; Xander was left pretty messed up after seeing his mom get kidnapped and didn’t always have the best judgment. David, however, managed to keep a level head and allowed us to see an unbiased view of the events. Watcher in the Woods picks up about an hour after the mother is taken and the whole book only takes place in the span of a few days. Here lies my problem; a lot happens and nothing happens in a short amount of time. It’s played out like all this crazy stuff went down, but once you cut out everything that was repeated and take out all the fluff that doesn’t have anything to do with the overall plot, you’re not left with much. I was also kind of disappointed in the ending but I will talk more about that in my spoiler video (the link is on my blog).
Overall, this book was kind of under whelming; it wasn’t bad but it didn’t do all that much for me. I’m still on the fence about whether or not I want to continue with this series………. but if nothing else is available at the library, I probably will.
(This review can also be found on my blog! The link is in my profile)
The story is still told in third person limited, but this time it’s told from David’s perspective. I wasn’t sure about it at first but as the story unfolded I began to see why the author did this; Xander was left pretty messed up after seeing his mom get kidnapped and didn’t always have the best judgment. David, however, managed to keep a level head and allowed us to see an unbiased view of the events. Watcher in the Woods picks up about an hour after the mother is taken and the whole book only takes place in the span of a few days. Here lies my problem; a lot happens and nothing happens in a short amount of time. It’s played out like all this crazy stuff went down, but once you cut out everything that was repeated and take out all the fluff that doesn’t have anything to do with the overall plot, you’re not left with much. I was also kind of disappointed in the ending but I will talk more about that in my spoiler video (the link is on my blog).
Overall, this book was kind of under whelming; it wasn’t bad but it didn’t do all that much for me. I’m still on the fence about whether or not I want to continue with this series………. but if nothing else is available at the library, I probably will.
(This review can also be found on my blog! The link is in my profile)
libraryofalexandra's review against another edition
1.0
This is so slow. I had to scan the last hundred pages to make it through the book. But, I hate not finishing a series, so I have to finish this one. The good part came and left within a chapter. I was tempted to throw this across the room. This plot was destined for greatness. To bad that greatness didn't come. It had so much potential! Most of the story was easily predicted. Ugh, I hate that I hate these books. I'm not the only one though. My friends at school thought it was bad. I can only hope that this series gets better.Am I the only one who doesn't like this series on Goodreads?
[b:House of Dark Shadows|2330877|House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings, #1)|Robert Liparulo|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255783494s/2330877.jpg|2337441]
[b:House of Dark Shadows|2330877|House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings, #1)|Robert Liparulo|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255783494s/2330877.jpg|2337441]
More...