Review Detail

Reader reviewed by MP

Book Review
By: Maddie Pertuis
Book: The House of Dies Drear, Virginia Hamilton

Summary
Thomas and his family of five leave their old house in North Carolina and move into another in Ohio. But this is not just another house, it is the house of Dies Drear. A hundred years ago, Dies Drear was murdered along with two of the three slaves that he had saved. Thomas recognizes weird things about the house- mysterious things like the black chair, the triangles, and the passages. These strange occurrences lead them to the history of the house.
Review/Opinion
I think this book is strange and mysterious, but can easily lose the readers focus with long conversations off the point and can be drab and boring. This is a chink in the writers armor. In my opinion, chapter 16 and chapters 1-3 are chapters that have too much dialogue and may lose the reader. The parts when Thomas found the button and when there were triangles in the doors are two of the more interesting parts of the book.

Recommendation
I would recommend this book for dedicated readers that are ready to take on a challenge. I also believe that anyone under lets say, 11, is not ready for this sort of vocabulary and probably will get lost and confused in certain places.