A review by chuskeyreads
Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valour by Ally Carter

3.0

After reading The Inheritance Games, I was looking for another rags to riches mystery. This one has been on my TBR for a little while, so I thought I'd take a crack at it. I probably should've read several more books between the two because I think this one pales in comparison to JLB's Inheritance. But, I still like the premise and most of the characters.

I know it's middle grade, but I kind of enjoyed this one. Some of the writing was a little repetitive, but again, it's middle grade. I would've liked the characters to have been a little more developed. I wanted to know more about the key, how April got it, who her mother is, and her relationship to the Winterbornes. The parts about the Sentinel seemed a little random and not as developed as I was expecting, considering the ending. Not to mention, there are several plot holes that I just couldn't get past. Parts of the story were a little awkward and confusing at times that I had to reread sections to figure out who was speaking. (Aw, man! Now I'm doing the thing with the awkward sentences.) I was also a little confused that there are only five children at the orphanage - Colin and Sadie were there first before April, Violet, and Tim show up.

Spoiler

Tim is an afterthought at the beginning of the story, as Ms. Nelson asks him to come to Winterborne House because Violet was clearly attached to him. Then towards the end, Gabriel reveals Tim's dad tried to kill him. So it wasn't just an afterthought for Tim to tag along?

That being said, the last half of the book grabbed my attention, and I loved the twist at the end.