Reviews

House of Many Ways is based in High Norland and revolves around Charmain, a sheltered girl with zero self-preservation skills. Her life is turned upside down when she's forced to look after her Great Uncle William's magical household.

The initial few chapters are dull and annoying, what with Charmain being extremely clueless and messing things up. Then comes along Peter and it gets even more irritable with these two kids trying to butt their heads into some kind of nonsense.

Only when Charmain goes to the Royal Mansion to help with the Library that things get interesting. Now that's because our dear Wizard has decided to grace us with his presence. Being his dramatic self, he appears as a lovely child named Twinkle. He's at the Palace along with Sophie, Calcifer and Morgan to help solve the wealth crisis of this country.

We encounter magical creatures, spells, monsters and what not. But the climax is pretty dull and concludes the plot in a very decidedly expected way. I loved that this time Howl and Sophie were in the picture much earlier and that they were active participants in the story. But this reduced Charmain and Peter to simply exist and watch Howl deal with the monsters. These two characters didn't really add any value to the book. Again, if you go into this book hoping for a true sequel to Howl's, you are bound to be disappointed.

aenne's review against another edition

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3.0

http://www.marilynmuniz.com/2011/04/house-of-many-ways-book-review/

Summary
Charmain is volunteered to take care of her Great-Uncle William's cottage when he becomes ill and needs to leave with the elves for treatment. With little knowledge in magic, Charmain is alone to experience the cottage and its many paths which lead from the bedrooms to the caves under the mountain. Soon Charmain learns her uncle, who is the Royal Wizard Norland, is searching for the Elfgift with the king and his daughter. Will Charmain be able to help them to save the kingdom before it is too late?

Review
Structure of the Book
While the story starts off fast, it slows down soon after. The characters always receive the information at the right moment. Great-Uncle William's home can travel to the past but it is only used for one scene. The limited way it is used doesn't expand the story at all. And as the other books in the series, everything is resolved and the bad guys are gone.

Characters
Charmain is a young girl who never had to do anything because her mother always did it for her. While she learns how to cope on her own, she never grows as a character. Her personality stays the same throughout the entire novel and she gets what she wants at the end. Peter is there to fulfill the story for one aspect mainly. He doesn't grow as a character either.

Final Thoughts
While I enjoyed this novel more than Castle in the Air, it does not compare to Howl's Moving Castle. I wish Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer were the main characters. I wanted to know more about Howl and the others instead of Charmain. If you finished the first two books in the series, I recommend you read this book to see how the series ended.