Review: House of Secrets

Life had seemingly ground to a halt after their father lost his job due to an 'incident' at work. Now the Walker family were living in a tiny apartment, with no sure way on how and when they were going to move forward.
Until their parents found a new start in a beautiful Victorian house, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francsico Bay. The family is now set on moving into Kristoff House; a place which they'd discovered was built by writer and Occultist, Denver Kristoff, and it was just in their price range. It was absolutely perfect. Too perfect.
All too soon, the three Walker Children are thrust into a world that is born from the dead writer's twisted imagination. They had to quickly learn that when something is too good to be true, it usually is; now they must cross a plethora of nefarious fictional characters and alien landscapes, in order to obtain a deadly book that might save their parents. And themselves.

When I found out about this book, I was overly excited; although I know very little about YA writer Ned Vizzni, his co-writer made me a little weak in the knees.
With the first two Harry Potter films, The Goonies, Mrs Doubtfire, and Home Alone under his belt; film maker Chris Columbus needs absolutely no introduction. All you need to know is that he certainly has the Midas touch when it comes to children's entertainment.
My expectations just went through the roof, I just knew I would be immersed in a beautifully picturesque world and I absolutely could not wait! The anticipation was certainly worth it.

This was a fantastic read. It was like reading a copy of Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, and at the same time being chased by Death-Eaters through the The Forbidden Forest, while you're blindfolded on your Nimbus 2000. It's overflowing with adventure and suspense, and rapidly took me into new directions all the time. At first I started to get annoyed with the pacing, too much seemed to be happening at once but once I'd let go of how I felt it should be, I found myself enjoying it an awful lot more.
I really enjoyed the characters, the Walker siblings managed to be quintessentially family orientated with just the right amount of argumentative behaviour. It seemed like a true representation of what family life is like, I always feel a bit on edge when siblings in fiction get along perfectly.

The book read just like a screenplay, the images were so vivid and it was described so perfectly, I had absolutely no trouble imagining this as a film. I suspect a lot of this has to do with Columbus's writing style and although it would make an incredible movie, I felt like this was his chance to really go wild with a story without a budget looming over his head.
I'm really excited to see how they continue with this series. If the first book is anything to go by, I know the ride isn't quite over yet.

Rating: ★★★★☆