Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Praise for HOUSE OF SECRETS: “The story is an engrossing page-turner with a parade of near-escapes, hilarious mishaps, and courageous face-offs with terrifying villains. The nonstop action will keep readers on the edge of their seats
ALA Booklist
Praise for HOUSE OF SECRETS: “A swift-paced . . . clever page-turner for any reader who has wanted to take part in literary adventures. . . . This story is compelling, great fun, and sure to be popular.
J. K. Rowling
Praise for HOUSE OF SECRETS: “A breakneck, jam-packed rollercoaster of an adventure about the secret power of books, HOUSE OF SECRETS comes complete with three resourceful sibling heroes, a seriously creepy villainess, and barrel loads of fantasy and fear.
Booklist
[An] imaginative, fast-paced adventure that is sure to please fans.
J.K. Rowling
Praise for HOUSE OF SECRETS: “A breakneck, jam-packed rollercoaster of an adventure about the secret power of books, HOUSE OF SECRETS comes complete with three resourceful sibling heroes, a seriously creepy villainess, and barrel loads of fantasy and fear.
Kirkus Reviews
2014-02-26
House of Secrets' (2013) happy ending gives way to new problems for the Walker children, both in reality and in writer-wizard Denver Kristoff's pulpy genre-book worlds. While the Walkers appear to be living large with the $10,000,000 wished for by Eleanor at the end of their last adventure, their new life is neither happy nor stable. Brendan struggles to fit in at his new elite private school. Cordelia fits in fine—thrives even—but experiences strange symptoms (she always feels very cold, for instance), hinting at a threat left over from their first adventure. Eleanor misses the camaraderie and closeness among the siblings when they had to work together. Worst, their father's strange actions and decisions put their whole family at risk. But as the Wind Witch was banished and not eliminated, soon she returns and casts the children back into book worlds, still in pursuit of the magic book—but this time getting out will be harder. They end up tangling with gladiators, Nazis, cyborgs and more in a storyline that, despite its high levels of action, takes care to highlight the characters' inner turmoil. What does it mean to fit in? Is the book world preferable to their crumbling reality? The prose is occasionally jumpy and chaotic, but the content always entertains. This collaboration with Columbus is Vizzini's (1981-2013) final book; the future of the projected trilogy is unclear. A dark action-adventure-fantasy with surprising heart. (Fantasy. 10-14)
