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jeanettesonya's review against another edition
4.0
Olive can climb into the paintings in the old, creepy house her parents just bought and moved her into. What a fun concept!
I love Olive as a a character. She’s curious and creative and brave and capable and so so smart. She made this book something I would definitely recommend to kids grade 3-ish and up.
Pacing was a little slow with a rush at the end. Still. Great middle grade novel and maybe I’ll even read the second.
I love Olive as a a character. She’s curious and creative and brave and capable and so so smart. She made this book something I would definitely recommend to kids grade 3-ish and up.
Pacing was a little slow with a rush at the end. Still. Great middle grade novel and maybe I’ll even read the second.
book_nut's review against another edition
4.0
Much better than I thought it would be. I should remember that Cybils award winners usually are.
glanecia's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this book was like being transfixed by a kaleidoscope of mystery, adventure, and enchantment. All the little pieces of the story danced around in my head, allowing me to be puzzled right along with Olive. Plot points were sometimes predictable, but I still felt the excitement of discovery as the pieces fell together into a beautiful picturesque story. The writing style was wonderfully descriptive and had just enough similes to make the setting come alive. I absolutely adore this book!
krismarley's review against another edition
3.0
Kids will eat this up. Warning though: very scary and creepy!!! A fresh take on an old archetype- haunted house. Flipped through a lot of catalogs tonight. Noticed that a LOT of covers resemble this one (or the reverse)
jlynnelseauthor's review against another edition
5.0
A delightful middle-grade novel with an original concept and fun characters. It’s quirky, spooky, and has an unpredictable mystery to unravel.
Our MC, Olive, is a girl who doesn’t know where she fits in. Her parents are math geniuses, and she is most definitely not. She’s moved around a lot and doesn’t have much experience having friends. This is very relatable to many middle graders who are still trying to figure themselves out. My daughter also loved the MC’s name, Olive, since hers is Olivia.
West’s prose is poetic and observational. She draws clear pictures to mind and brilliantly lets readers into Olive’s imaginative thought process. The pace of the story is great with many surprises to discover. I loved the cats, the magic system, and Olive’s growth throughout the story--what a great heroine for young girls!
Magic, mischief, and mayhem abound in this extremely enjoyable tale. I look forward to more and highly recommend.
Our MC, Olive, is a girl who doesn’t know where she fits in. Her parents are math geniuses, and she is most definitely not. She’s moved around a lot and doesn’t have much experience having friends. This is very relatable to many middle graders who are still trying to figure themselves out. My daughter also loved the MC’s name, Olive, since hers is Olivia.
West’s prose is poetic and observational. She draws clear pictures to mind and brilliantly lets readers into Olive’s imaginative thought process. The pace of the story is great with many surprises to discover. I loved the cats, the magic system, and Olive’s growth throughout the story--what a great heroine for young girls!
Magic, mischief, and mayhem abound in this extremely enjoyable tale. I look forward to more and highly recommend.
acidsunshinee's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy Olive as a character. Lately a lot of middle grade books I've read have the kids acting way over their age, but Olive is not only 12, but a believable 12! She's klutzy, silly, and loves to read. I've kept going in the series thus far - binge read! ;)
jnmfly's review against another edition
4.0
It was a slow start for me, but super exciting in the end! I really enjoyed this book. A big thank you to John for sharing it with me!
tcbueti's review against another edition
4.0
This one grabbed me pretty much right away, with the description of Olive's mathematically loopy and smitten parents, and the character of a lonely girl who has moved too many times and never really fit in.The growing sense of lurking danger in their big old (new-to-them) house got me next. I found this really creative, with the magic glasses enabling Olive to enter the paintings, and the talking, snarky cats--are they good, or evil? What starts off sort of charming--lonely girl, mysterious house, intriguing cats --becomes truly creepy, with a powerful, truly ruthless and murderous creature and his equally literally cold-hearted granddaughter's spirit.
This reminded me initially of some of my favorite books, Jane Langton's Diamond in the Window and Swing in the Summerhouse, because of the in and out, there and back, episodic nature of her adventures. [b:The Diamond in the Window|144258|The Diamond in the Window|Jane Langton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172162697s/144258.jpg|139180][b:The Swing in the Summerhouse|671039|The Swing in the Summerhouse (Hall Family Chronicles # 2)|Jane Langton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298616198s/671039.jpg|1772315]
But I have to say that the spirit of Old Man McMartin was really frightening, and the description of that last night, when Olive's parent were out, was unrelenting, putting this ultimately more on a parr with Gaiman's The Graveyard Book or Coraline, or parts of A Tale Dark and Grimm.[b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1303859949s/2213661.jpg|2219449][b:Coraline|17061|Coraline|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255716870s/17061.jpg|2834844][b:A Tale Dark and Grimm|7825557|A Tale Dark and Grimm|Adam Gidwitz|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280470893s/7825557.jpg|10874302]
I really like Olive's plucky spirit, sense of humor, and especially her refusal to abandon little Morton. Curious to see what the next book holds.[b:Spellbound|9261978|Spellbound (The Books of Elsewhere, #2)|Jacqueline West|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VDCrJk9DL._SL75_.jpg|14142719]Due out on Monday 7/11.[b:Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians|623976|Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1283439193s/623976.jpg|2591148]
This reminded me initially of some of my favorite books, Jane Langton's Diamond in the Window and Swing in the Summerhouse, because of the in and out, there and back, episodic nature of her adventures. [b:The Diamond in the Window|144258|The Diamond in the Window|Jane Langton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172162697s/144258.jpg|139180][b:The Swing in the Summerhouse|671039|The Swing in the Summerhouse (Hall Family Chronicles # 2)|Jane Langton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298616198s/671039.jpg|1772315]
But I have to say that the spirit of Old Man McMartin was really frightening, and the description of that last night, when Olive's parent were out, was unrelenting, putting this ultimately more on a parr with Gaiman's The Graveyard Book or Coraline, or parts of A Tale Dark and Grimm.[b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1303859949s/2213661.jpg|2219449][b:Coraline|17061|Coraline|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255716870s/17061.jpg|2834844][b:A Tale Dark and Grimm|7825557|A Tale Dark and Grimm|Adam Gidwitz|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280470893s/7825557.jpg|10874302]
I really like Olive's plucky spirit, sense of humor, and especially her refusal to abandon little Morton. Curious to see what the next book holds.[b:Spellbound|9261978|Spellbound (The Books of Elsewhere, #2)|Jacqueline West|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VDCrJk9DL._SL75_.jpg|14142719]Due out on Monday 7/11.[b:Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians|623976|Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1283439193s/623976.jpg|2591148]
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
I would've loved this book as a kid - a spooky old house, pictures that you can crawl through into a shadow world, a down-to-earth heroine who tries to stay out of trouble, and the kind of fantasy where the real and the magical mix in unexpected ways. It bills itself as book one in the Books of Elsewhere, but things are pretty wrapped up at the end, so I'm curious to see where West goes next.
quietjenn's review against another edition
3.0
cute, slight fantasy of the we-moved-to-this-new-old-house-and-i-think-there's-something-strange-about-it variety. in part, my experience was ruined by printing errors (entire pages missing/of an entirely different book) in the last half of the book, which is totally not the fault of the author, BUT STILL. that sort of thing sucks, man.