A review by poorsapadvocate
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson

adventurous mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was immediately charmed by this book. This is the kind of book you find in your school library and you read it all during winter break and it sticks with you the rest of your life even though you never find the book again and nobody ever talks about it. With a notebook full of lists and five books to her name, Elizabeth isn't just a weird kid, she's the weird kid you wanted to be as a kid. Her journey from her mundane world to the wonderful and whimsical Winterhouse is immediately evocative and hooking, as are the secrets she begins to uncover during her stay. Who invited Elizabeth to Winterhouse? What happened with the Norbridge family? What is in the crate the Heims take with them and why are they so secretive about it? Why was "A Guide for Children" hiding in the reference section of the library? Why do kids love the taste of Flurschen? 
But for as well as the story is set-up, it's the execution that loses me. I think part of that might have been in my own reading experience. I jumped into this book almost entirely blind, only knowing that it was about mysteries at a hotel. I wasn't even sure it took place during winter. I was just as ready to entertain mundane explanations as well as magical ones, and with the book's emphasis on logic puzzles and riddles, I was ready to expect the latter. But not only do all of the mysteries unfold through magic, they almost all rely on wild leaps of logic and gut-feelings that leave the logical reader left out. It was the final puzzle that really bothered me.
The idea of a code being magically given to Elizabeth one letter at a time is exciting, especially when the code gets interrupted before it can finish. But if the code had just jumped right to the point and started to spell out the right one word instead of wrapping it up in another riddle, we could have saved ourselves a lot of time and a lot of wild conclusions. I could even see why it would need to be a second riddle if Elizabeth ever tried to brute force the cipher it with the wrong hint, "AR" instead of "FA", but she never tries, so what was the point?
Despite how strongly they are set up, the characters start to feel very flat towards the end. I think somewhere in this book is a good lesson for kids that they shouldn't violate friends' boundaries (especially when they tell you to stop screaming for ghosts in a library), as well as standing up for your friends even when you think it will get you in trouble (from the ghost you just called for in the library), that could have been easily explored considering Elizabeth's and Freddy's largely friendless background. As it is, Elizabeth ends up coming across as very pushy and mean towards Freddy.
And I know there is another explanation for her actions given towards the end, but that almost makes it worse. Now I have no idea how much agency our main character had during almost the entire book.
The other guests at the hotel do not fare much better. I could think of four characters outside of the main cast who receive almost no time and no character beyond basic traits, which is a shame because the hotel feels like the perfect excuse to have as many wild characters (and red herrings) as possible. 
I did like the book for what it was. I would recommend it for kids around 8-12; old enough to know their interests and just old enough to be along for the experience without wanting to solve the mysteries themselves. If you're a hardboiled mystery reader looking for an easy solve, you might want to sit this one out. I am intrigued enough in this world to keep reading, but I think it will be a while before I check back in to Winterhouse.
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