THE WINTERHOUSE MYSTERIES
Author: Ben Guterson
Ages: 11-14
It’s Elizabeth’s third month at Winterhouse, the world’s greatest hotel, and she can’t wait to see her best friend, Freddy, again. But there’s a strange rumbling over the nearby abandoned mine and she keeps seeing a strange red mist. Her sort-of-friend Elana, a twelve-year-old trapped in the body of a ninety-year-old, is probably dying. And now she’s hearing worryingly tempting whispers in her dreams in the voice of her worst nightmare – her dead great aunt.
My first thought when I started this book was: again? I might have to break the no-spoilers rule really hard to explain, but it’s pretty obvious from the fifth sentence. I don’t know how we’re supposed to accept an ending if it every other ending so far turns out to have been a failure by the characters.
Again, this book shows that it is possible to forgive the baddies (this was not the case with book 1). Elana, a partially forgiven and redeemed enemy from book 2, isn’t ever show as being even a bit untrustworthy or ‘bad’.
I also thought that it was a bit rude of Elizabeth to set Freddy’s future for him. Elana and her, yes, they don’t have much of a choice, but Freddy’s got a family and many career opportunities.
I think the second book was more exiting. This book did have interesting puzzles and word games, but the third magical item is so obvious from the start. It did have a well-tied-up plot and an unexpected ending.
7.6/10
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