REVIEW: NEVERSUCH HOUSE

Neversuch House

Author: Elliot Skell

UK Publisher: Simon and Schuster Childrens Books

UK Release date: February 2011

Genre: MG

Summary: Built hundreds of years ago after the very first Captain of the House arrived in the small town of Pettifog, Neversuch House is a warren of rambling buildings and home to the rather unusual Halibut family.

When the current Captain of the House dies and Omnia discovers that someone has been leaving the grounds, she becomes involved in a dangerous mystery that is bigger than the House and the Hailbuts.

Review: I honestly couldn’t wait to read this book - I love the magic, excitement and mystery that you get with children’s books. But I still don’t know what to make of the start of the story, which was filled with wonderful back-story but little action. Chapter seven is titled ‘The First Extraordinary Event (or Two)’, and it isn’t until this chapter that the plot really gets going.

I do however love the setting and the House with its maze of gardens, walkways and buildings, and hundreds of hidden rooms that have been undiscovered for decades. You just know that mystery lies behind every door.

Twelve year old Omnia, is stubborn, curious and very different to the rest of the Halibut family. Whilst every other Halibut is focused on their own strange hobby, like Everfine D Halibut who measures shadows, Omnia is off trying to find out who is behind the mysterious accidents and falling from towers.

The narration of Neversuch House reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events, with the mysterious and quirky narrator embellishing the story with little off the point ramblings. The style is friendly and inviting and you really feel like you’re listening to the story being told to you.

A great read for children – cloaked figures, mysterious accidents, hidden rooms, tall towers and one curious Halibut!

Rating: 4*

TEASER TUESDAY #1

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can join in, all you have to do is the following:

• Grab your current read 
• Open to a random page 
• Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

This is my first ever teaser!

"Omnia's brother, Eversmooth T Halibut,

was seventeen years old and already the strange tendencies

of the Halibut adults was starting to take hold of him.

In the last year, Eversmooth had developed a startling interest in hair wax."

- p.50, Neversuch House by Elliot Skell


What are you reading?

IN MY MAILBOX #3

In My Mailbox was started by the lovely Kristi (over at Story Siren) - check out her blog for more information. 
IMM today, I have some (UK) YA Debut Authors for 2011, which will be part of this year’s challenge hosted by The Story Siren, and which I have got incredibly behind on. I think most people besides me will have read Divergent by now, but hopefully you will find one of these of interest:

A Beautiful Lie, Irfan Master
January 2011
Bloomsbury
An extraordinarily rich debut novel, set in India in 1947 at the time of Partition. Although the backdrop is this key event in Indian history, the novel is even more far-reaching, touching on the importance of tolerance, love and family. The main character is Bilal, a boy determined to protect his dying father from the news of Partition - news that he knows will break his father's heart. With great spirit and determination, and with the help of his good friends, Bilal persuades others to collude with him in this deception, even printing false pages of the local newspaper to hide the ravages of unrest from his father. All that Bilal wants is for his father to die in peace. But that means Bilal has a very complicated relationship with the truth...

Neversuch House (#1), Elliot Skell
March 2011
Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Neversuch House is home to the very unusual Halibut family. Spanning generations, the Halibuts all live together totally isolated from the outside world, never needing - or wanting - to step outside the walls of Neversuch, with every whim being catered for by a mass of servants. But when twelve-year-old Omnia Halibut sees a hooded figure emerging from the woods by the Wall, she can't help but wonder who the man is and why he is skulking around the House. And as Omnia sets out to discover the truth she triggers a chain of events that threatens to destroy Neversuch House forever. For the House is steeped in secrets, secrets that some people want to remain hidden, and, as Omnia tries to unravel the mysteries of Neversuch House, someone is watching her, and they will do anything to stop her from revealing the truth...

Divergent (#1), Veronica Roth
March 2011
Harpercollins Children's
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.