Ben Guterson

This book started off great. I was immediately intrigued by the hotel and Elizabeth is spunky and likeable. I can't say I really liked any of the other characters though.

Freddy gets mad at Elizabeth because he thinks she's too bossy, and that just rubbed me the wrong way. If it were a male main character you know he would be described as 'headstrong' or some such nonsense.

Also, Norbridge tells Elizabeth something along the lines of "If someone has 9 out 10 bad things about them, focus on the one good thing." WOW. That is the worst advice I have ever heard. Like, just focus on the fact that Hitler liked dogs & children. Forget about that pesky genocide.

Overall, I was disappointed more than anything because I really thought this was going to be at least a 4 star book when I started it.… (more)

***ARC provided by the publishers for review.

This was a pretty enjoyable (and easy) book to read, but I think the author was trying to do a bit too much for it to be properly successful. The story is ostensibly about the protagonist (eleven-year old Zack) learning to cope with his grief, but there are a few too many surrounding narratives to distract the reader. Zack and his family have recently moved to Vista Point for a fresh start, after his youngest sister died in a car accident, and are spending their summer fixing up an old mansion to establish a bed and breakfast to reinvigorate the rural neighourhood. The setting of the story is very intriguing, since we have a mysterious ancient-seeming rest stop, a forest for Zack and his sibling to explore, and lots of house renovations to complete before the summer ends, and the author does a decent job of building up the motley crew of Zack’s family into well-cast characters, but where things go a bit off the deep end is the introduction of a supernatural storyline. I’m usually all for stories that seamlessly blend fantasy elements into the real world, but I honestly think that the story would have been stronger if the secondary protagonist (Zack’s new friend Ann) didn’t turn out to be a ghost. I guess that was the whole point of the story, but it just didn’t quite work for me.… (more)

Middle grade fantasy about an orphan named Elizabeth who is mysteriously sent to a hotel and feels compelled to solve its magical mysteries. The book felt derivative, but more importantly, I Guterson champions ideas with which I disagree (poverty makes you mean and is something about which one should feel shame whereas wealth is desirable, for example). He also uses the crazy woman in the attic (although in this book it's a cabin) idea. I was surprised at how nonchalantly the adult characters mentioned the craziness and off-the-railness of another character. I don't think middle grade readers need to be introduced to disparaging ideas about mental illness. Beyond these issues, the book was boring. I would not recommend it.… (more)

Orphan Elizabeth Somers has lived with her poor and unpleasant aunt and uncle since her mother and father died when she was four years old. Suddenly, Elizabeth's aunt and uncle tell her that they are going on a vacation and she must take a lengthy train and bus trip to a hotel called Winterhouse. Elizabeth would rather stay at home alone, but her aunt and uncle lock her out of the house, leaving a few items of clothing in a bag on the front porch. Reluctantly, Elizabeth makes her way to the hotel, hoping the living conditions there will not be any worse than the house in which she now lives, but what she finds when she arrives at Winterhouse is a luxurious hotel in a winter wonderland with quirky guests, unique employees, and a gregarious owner. It isn't long though before mysterious happenings show Elizabeth that there may be more going on in Winterhouse than she originally thought.

Winterhouse is a wonderful first book in what promises to be an interesting mystery series. Elizabeth is fully developed as a character. We see her strengths as well as her weaknesses and how she copes with those around her. Other characters in the story are not as well developed but still inhabit their roles in the story. Winterhouse is a magical place that is described in detail throughout the book, making it almost another character. During the story, many multimedia aspects allow the reader to interact more with the story and the illustrations add another layer of enjoyment to this book. Overall, Winterhouse is an extremely enjoyable mystery, well worth the read. 4 1/2 stars… (more)