Excellent book! My 8 year old, myself and my husband all enjoyed it thoroughly! Second and third books are awesome as well!
I have had this book (it's actually my son's book) to read for awhile. This was a creative, creepy, and well done middle grade mystery/fantasy. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
The whole book has a very dark and creepy tone to it. The premise is familiarly middle grade in tone (a kid moves into a creepy old house with a sorted history and has to solve a mystery there) but also very creative (I love the idea that Olive can travel through the paintings).
There is a main mystery/problem that is dealt with in this book but there are still many more mysteries to unravel in this mansion. Some parts are a bit gory and scary but it never gets too intense.
My son hasn't read it yet, but it is definitely one I think he would like. In fact I think any kids who loves cats (I mean talking cats! Who doesn't love that!) and enjoys a slightly spooky read will love this.
My only complaint is that Olive's parents are fairly absent (both in mind and presence throughout the story). They are mathematicians and dismissed as too clueless and caught up in their own lives to be part of Olive's. While I enjoy Olive's parents' quirky mathematician background, I dislike it when middle grade stories distance the kids from their parents and portray adults as unhelpful and too universally stupid to actively be part of the story.
Overall I enjoyed the book. I liked the writing style, the gloomy atmosphere, and the creative idea of traveling through paintings. I didn't really like the relationship (or lack thereof) that Olive had with her parents, but aside from that I thought this was a good book. It is a lower middle grade reading level, so the story was a bit simple for me. However, I will probably read the next book in the series anyway.
The whole book has a very dark and creepy tone to it. The premise is familiarly middle grade in tone (a kid moves into a creepy old house with a sorted history and has to solve a mystery there) but also very creative (I love the idea that Olive can travel through the paintings).
There is a main mystery/problem that is dealt with in this book but there are still many more mysteries to unravel in this mansion. Some parts are a bit gory and scary but it never gets too intense.
My son hasn't read it yet, but it is definitely one I think he would like. In fact I think any kids who loves cats (I mean talking cats! Who doesn't love that!) and enjoys a slightly spooky read will love this.
My only complaint is that Olive's parents are fairly absent (both in mind and presence throughout the story). They are mathematicians and dismissed as too clueless and caught up in their own lives to be part of Olive's. While I enjoy Olive's parents' quirky mathematician background, I dislike it when middle grade stories distance the kids from their parents and portray adults as unhelpful and too universally stupid to actively be part of the story.
Overall I enjoyed the book. I liked the writing style, the gloomy atmosphere, and the creative idea of traveling through paintings. I didn't really like the relationship (or lack thereof) that Olive had with her parents, but aside from that I thought this was a good book. It is a lower middle grade reading level, so the story was a bit simple for me. However, I will probably read the next book in the series anyway.
