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A review by mariahistryingtoread
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson
1.0
Winterhouse became more and more frustrating as it progressed. It was an interesting, whimsical tale I could really get behind the first few chapters. Too bad, it couldn’t stay that way.
Elizabeth is an orphan whose parents died in mysterious circumstances. She lives with her aunt and uncle who are emotionally abusive. Out of the blue, she randomly receives an invitation to vacation at Winterhouse, an amazing resort, for her winter break. While suspicious, she’s forced to accept as her aunt and uncle have also been gifted their own trip away from her.
Initially, Elizabeth is a very sympathetic character. She’s reserved and bookish which is typically endearing to me as a person who was equally so as a child. Her obviously awful home life also earns her some sympathy points.
As time went on she lost almost all of my consideration for her well being. This is for a couple reasons mostly related to the execution of the story.
The slow pace means that simple revelations take forever to properly unfold. I knew what was going on very quickly, but still had to sit through endless pages of Elizabeth piecing things together. Being able to figure out the plot isn’t always a bad thing. I’m a big believer in the use of foreshadowing and laying the groundwork for future plot developments. In this case, however, the issue is that Gunterson gives the reader too much information. Not only that most of the book is Elizabeth and her new friend Freddy not actually doing anything. Oh sure, they ski and swim and do all sorts of fun resort activities. They just don’t do anything relevant. So, I had all of these obvious clues rattling around in my head and was given a ton of time to think, so of course I was able to figure it out.
This isn’t helped by the fact that there really isn’t much to work out in the first place. There is a central mystery except the central mystery hinges primarily on one specific puzzle that doesn’t require any effort on Elizabeth’s part. She only has to wait it out. There is a spooky, mysterious couple except they don’t do anything other than periodically ask Elizabeth the same ominous question. She always lies, they never escalate. Thereby leaving no benefit to this little song and dance on either side narratively. There’s no intrigue or machinations. The couple simply bides their time until the grand finale.
And since there isn’t much to work out this negatively affected Elizabeth’s character in regards to Freddy. Elizabeth is so sure that something is going on at Winterhouse. As the reader I know she’s correct, but in-text nothing of consequence is happening. Therefore, it comes off as her merely being paranoid. She doesn’t actively pursue anything. She just keeps talking in circles regurgitating the same information about how something is going on.
This results in the ruination of both main characters.
Freddy has frequented Winterhouse for years. This means he’s more hesitant to assume nefarious shenanigans. Elizabeth then proceeds to endlessly badger him about the subject in an attempt to convince him, lie to him about a particular item that brings him great anxiety, purposely deceive him about her goings on outside of him and boss him around in order to investigate further. He finally snaps at her about being such a selfish friend- which was a nice moment because Elizabeth actually reflected on how she’s been forcing this relationship to operate almost exclusively on her terms - only for her to almost immediately continue the same behavior. Freddy then doesn’t even bother pointing out how she hasn’t changed. Why have him call her out if you’re not going to follow up with meaningful change and/or still want Elizabeth to act in a particular fashion to drive the story forward? It just makes Elizabeth look bad.
Despite my defense of Freddy, I didn't actually like him - my arguments for him are entirely based on principle alone. Freddy is a total wet blanket. He and Elizabeth connect over their love for word puzzles, mostly word ladders and anagrams. His defining trait other than words is his desire to be a great inventor. All of this was fine at first as he had a decent enough amount of personality. Unfortunately, after a time, his utter apathy for the events of the book was so pronounced I don’t understand why he was even included.
Typically, a book will have a person of disparate personality introduced in order to balance out the main character; Freddy is the voice of reason to Elizabeth’s aforementioned recklessness. The problem is that Freddy was on the extreme side of the spectrum. Why he was hesitant to get involved made sense. His parents are neglectful. They dump him off at Winterhouse every winter break to jet set. Thus, he views Norbridge - the owner of Winterhouse - as a kind of surrogate uncle. Obviously, no kid wants to believe a trusted, beloved adult is really a villain.
That being said I grew tired of his wariness. Elizabeth was seeing connections that weren’t really there for a sizable chunk of the book so I can see why it would not be so easy to cajole him into joining her cause. On the other hand, despite not much really happening from my perspective the book is framed in such a way that Guterson clearly intends for the reader to feel like a bunch of things that don’t add up are happening leaving me irritated to have Freddy be so resistant at every turn. It’s not limited to being unreceptive to Elizabeth’s theories. He is cut entirely out of major plot points because his prickliness around the subject is so palpable Elizabeth doesn’t even try to broach the subject to loop him in.
It was such a strange feeling to be upset at Elizabeth for pushing him and also annoyed at Freddy for refusing to be pushed.
The magic wasn’t very well fleshed out. It was often hinted at here and there which originally was fine, but considering what the mystery turned out to be I feel like it should have been a bigger facet of the story. Though, this easily folds into the overall problem of Elizabeth not being a strong enough presence in her own story. For magic to be crucial to the outcome Elizabeth would have needed to put in some work to make it so.
Also this book does that kids’ book thing where parents are expected to be given the benefit of the doubt for anything short of physical abuse. To be fair, Elizabeth is rightfully allowed the space to be upset at her circumstances. It’s Freddy who gets the short end of the stick.
Freddy does not believe his parents love him because of their own demonstrable lack of regard for him. Elizabeth low-key guilt trips him since she arguably has it worse. Northridge outright says it’s not true because they want to spend his next break with him at Winterhouse - nevermind the fact that Winterhouse is a super popular, highly recommended resort that his parents might just want to visit because it aligns with their extravagant sightseeing.
I’m pretty sure it’s done to show that kids can sometimes catastrophize normal situations and to say ‘hey maybe it’s not that bad!’. I just think it’s all too often written as dismissive of the kids’ feelings. Yes, Freddy certainly could be overreacting, but i think it’s gross to imply that without a lick of real evidence to the contrary in-text.
Also it’s so common that I’m tired of seeing it in general. Authors, publishers, whoever, I’m begging you to let kids hate their parents.
Anyways, I wouldn’t recommend this book though I wouldn’t say it was outright terrible. I wish it was more of the peculiar, magical adventure novel it was billed as. I was disappointed as the beginning crafted a solid foundation to build off of. It's a shame it never realized its full potential.
Elizabeth is an orphan whose parents died in mysterious circumstances. She lives with her aunt and uncle who are emotionally abusive. Out of the blue, she randomly receives an invitation to vacation at Winterhouse, an amazing resort, for her winter break. While suspicious, she’s forced to accept as her aunt and uncle have also been gifted their own trip away from her.
Initially, Elizabeth is a very sympathetic character. She’s reserved and bookish which is typically endearing to me as a person who was equally so as a child. Her obviously awful home life also earns her some sympathy points.
As time went on she lost almost all of my consideration for her well being. This is for a couple reasons mostly related to the execution of the story.
The slow pace means that simple revelations take forever to properly unfold. I knew what was going on very quickly, but still had to sit through endless pages of Elizabeth piecing things together. Being able to figure out the plot isn’t always a bad thing. I’m a big believer in the use of foreshadowing and laying the groundwork for future plot developments. In this case, however, the issue is that Gunterson gives the reader too much information. Not only that most of the book is Elizabeth and her new friend Freddy not actually doing anything. Oh sure, they ski and swim and do all sorts of fun resort activities. They just don’t do anything relevant. So, I had all of these obvious clues rattling around in my head and was given a ton of time to think, so of course I was able to figure it out.
This isn’t helped by the fact that there really isn’t much to work out in the first place. There is a central mystery except the central mystery hinges primarily on one specific puzzle that doesn’t require any effort on Elizabeth’s part. She only has to wait it out. There is a spooky, mysterious couple except they don’t do anything other than periodically ask Elizabeth the same ominous question. She always lies, they never escalate. Thereby leaving no benefit to this little song and dance on either side narratively. There’s no intrigue or machinations. The couple simply bides their time until the grand finale.
And since there isn’t much to work out this negatively affected Elizabeth’s character in regards to Freddy. Elizabeth is so sure that something is going on at Winterhouse. As the reader I know she’s correct, but in-text nothing of consequence is happening. Therefore, it comes off as her merely being paranoid. She doesn’t actively pursue anything. She just keeps talking in circles regurgitating the same information about how something is going on.
This results in the ruination of both main characters.
Freddy has frequented Winterhouse for years. This means he’s more hesitant to assume nefarious shenanigans. Elizabeth then proceeds to endlessly badger him about the subject in an attempt to convince him, lie to him about a particular item that brings him great anxiety, purposely deceive him about her goings on outside of him and boss him around in order to investigate further. He finally snaps at her about being such a selfish friend- which was a nice moment because Elizabeth actually reflected on how she’s been forcing this relationship to operate almost exclusively on her terms - only for her to almost immediately continue the same behavior. Freddy then doesn’t even bother pointing out how she hasn’t changed. Why have him call her out if you’re not going to follow up with meaningful change and/or still want Elizabeth to act in a particular fashion to drive the story forward? It just makes Elizabeth look bad.
Despite my defense of Freddy, I didn't actually like him - my arguments for him are entirely based on principle alone. Freddy is a total wet blanket. He and Elizabeth connect over their love for word puzzles, mostly word ladders and anagrams. His defining trait other than words is his desire to be a great inventor. All of this was fine at first as he had a decent enough amount of personality. Unfortunately, after a time, his utter apathy for the events of the book was so pronounced I don’t understand why he was even included.
Typically, a book will have a person of disparate personality introduced in order to balance out the main character; Freddy is the voice of reason to Elizabeth’s aforementioned recklessness. The problem is that Freddy was on the extreme side of the spectrum. Why he was hesitant to get involved made sense. His parents are neglectful. They dump him off at Winterhouse every winter break to jet set. Thus, he views Norbridge - the owner of Winterhouse - as a kind of surrogate uncle. Obviously, no kid wants to believe a trusted, beloved adult is really a villain.
That being said I grew tired of his wariness. Elizabeth was seeing connections that weren’t really there for a sizable chunk of the book so I can see why it would not be so easy to cajole him into joining her cause. On the other hand, despite not much really happening from my perspective the book is framed in such a way that Guterson clearly intends for the reader to feel like a bunch of things that don’t add up are happening leaving me irritated to have Freddy be so resistant at every turn. It’s not limited to being unreceptive to Elizabeth’s theories. He is cut entirely out of major plot points because his prickliness around the subject is so palpable Elizabeth doesn’t even try to broach the subject to loop him in.
It was such a strange feeling to be upset at Elizabeth for pushing him and also annoyed at Freddy for refusing to be pushed.
The magic wasn’t very well fleshed out. It was often hinted at here and there which originally was fine, but considering what the mystery turned out to be I feel like it should have been a bigger facet of the story. Though, this easily folds into the overall problem of Elizabeth not being a strong enough presence in her own story. For magic to be crucial to the outcome Elizabeth would have needed to put in some work to make it so.
Also this book does that kids’ book thing where parents are expected to be given the benefit of the doubt for anything short of physical abuse. To be fair, Elizabeth is rightfully allowed the space to be upset at her circumstances. It’s Freddy who gets the short end of the stick.
Freddy does not believe his parents love him because of their own demonstrable lack of regard for him. Elizabeth low-key guilt trips him since she arguably has it worse. Northridge outright says it’s not true because they want to spend his next break with him at Winterhouse - nevermind the fact that Winterhouse is a super popular, highly recommended resort that his parents might just want to visit because it aligns with their extravagant sightseeing.
I’m pretty sure it’s done to show that kids can sometimes catastrophize normal situations and to say ‘hey maybe it’s not that bad!’. I just think it’s all too often written as dismissive of the kids’ feelings. Yes, Freddy certainly could be overreacting, but i think it’s gross to imply that without a lick of real evidence to the contrary in-text.
Also it’s so common that I’m tired of seeing it in general. Authors, publishers, whoever, I’m begging you to let kids hate their parents.
Anyways, I wouldn’t recommend this book though I wouldn’t say it was outright terrible. I wish it was more of the peculiar, magical adventure novel it was billed as. I was disappointed as the beginning crafted a solid foundation to build off of. It's a shame it never realized its full potential.