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Feb 24, 2011

Sarah rated it:

I honestly had not planned on reading this book. I have a phone with an android operating system, which allowed me to download the amazon.com Kindle app for free. I was surfing around on the amazon site on my phone and stumbled across this book, listed for $0.00......of course I could not pass it up if it was free! So I downloaded it and started reading, not really knowing what to expect.

It didn't take me long to get sucked into the story! This book is almost non-stop action after i More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 21, 2008

Ken rated it:

Liparulo's adult books, "Comes a Horseman" and "Germ" are among the best thrillers I have ever read, so I had very high expectations for his young readers series. Book one disapointed me. I'll at least give book 2 a chance and see if it improves, since I know the man can write a great book.

The King family moves to a new and remote little town and moves into a spooky old house. That pretty much sums up the first half of the book. In the second half, things act More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Mar 17, 2009

Jena rated it:

Hi everyone, I am doing a book review on House of Dark Shadows, by Robert Liparulo. I signed up with Thomas Nelson publishing to get free books in exchange for a book review on my blog and Amazon.

I have to admit, at first I was worried that this book would have too many religious things in it, which for me is a turn off when I am reading a fictional book, but it didn’t. That said, House of Dark Shadows amazed me! I had a really hard time putting it down.

It follows a famil More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2009

Jill rated it:

Review by Jill Williamson

Fifteen-year-old Xander King is not happy to be moving away from Pasadena, California to live in the tiny town of Pinedale. Everything he’s always wanted was in Pasadena: his friends, his girlfriend, Hollywood. An amateur filmmaker, Xander wants to make movies someday, and living in Pinedale isn’t going to help.

When the Kings finally find a house, it’s nothing like Xander would have imagined living in, and everything he’d expect to see on the sil More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 04, 2008

Becky rated it:

I knew just from reading the premise of this one that I would find much to love in House Of Dark Shadows. (Though the same could be true of reading the premise of 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson.) In this case, however, I was proven correct. I only have one bad thing to say about House of Dark Shadows---and that is that it is the first of a series. And the ending...well...it leaves you wanting more. But even that bad news has a silver lining, the sequel Watcher in the Woods is already availab More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2012

Eva rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Oct 16, 2011

Caroline rated it:

I gave up at 40% and deleted it off my Kindle. Just unbearable rubbish - a good idea absolutely squandered by a terrible writer. Completely unbelievable teenagers, parents who are nothing more than pathetic deus ex machina to give the kids a reason to be in the creepy house. No sense of style whatsoever, no reason to go on. No edge, no dilemmas, no coming-of-age/finding yourself interest. Even the meant-to-be-scary prologue was hard going. Written as though the writer was wishing it was a screen More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Xander King is unhappy because his family is being transplanted from Pasadena to a small town in northern California. The only thing that might make this all turn out okay is their strange, creepy house, which adds excitement into their move.

The entire house's atmosphere really creeped me out. I loved the crazy things Xander noticed about the place, such as the way sound behaved, or how people seemed to appear where they shouldn't be, so I was looking forward to settling in for a truly More...

0 comments like

Apr 03, 2011

Leanne rated it:

I heard great things about this book, but for me, it was just "eh." I honestly skimmed through the middle of it. It's probably good for 7th/8th graders, but to be honest, I've read much better geared to that age group.

It just didn't "wow" me. The characters didn't make me love them. I wasn't even really interested in them. Will I read the rest of the series? Not any time soon.

Oh- and one thing that bugged me wicked bad is on pg. 55.

He More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2011

Jackie rated it:

When I downloaded the book, I had the wrong impression of it. I thought it was a just horror story. I hate horror movies, but I love horror novels. I thought I’d give it a go since haven’t read one in ages. But, I was wrong about House of Dark Shadows; it’s far from being just a horror story. It’s quite the page turner filled with time travel, adventure, spookiness, and suspense— the kind of suspense that made me subconsciously start reading faster.

When Xander and David found More...

0 comments like

Aug 09, 2010

Bluerose's rated it:

This book really creeped me out! I did read most of it while my husband was gone and my little boy was asleep. It was storming pretty bad, and me and puppy dog are terrified of storms! So that setting may have contributed to the creepy factor.
The ending is a major cliffhanger, so I strongly recommend having the next one lined up. I don't, so now I have to wait. I will read the next one outside in the daytime. I don't think I'll be so creeped out that way. (I do want to make note that I re More...

0 comments like

Jun 21, 2010

Bruce rated it:

This is my first foray into the young adult thriller genre, and I entered with guarded expectations. Modern young adult readers have been conditioned to supernatural worlds largely without boundaries through the imaginations of writers such as JK Rowling and Lemony Snicket. Therefore, the Christian writer nudging this genre must marry other-worldly story lines into a Christian world view gingerly, as there exists the danger of contorting one or the other beyond reason in the attempt to achieve a More...

0 comments like

Apr 06, 2010

Erin (Bookish in a Box) rated it:

The Dreamhouse Kings series is an engaging read, centering mostly on brothers Xander and David King, as well as the rest of the King family. When they move to a new home, they discover it has secrets as dark as its past, and they must save themselves from the evils inside.

The premise might sound like a bad B-movie, but don't be fooled: House of Dark Shadows is great entertainment. Personally, I tend to avoid books with male protagonists, but Mr. Liparulo tells the story so skillfully More...

0 comments like

May 13, 2009

Kleiner rated it:

We all know the story. An urban family relocates to a rural town. The teenage protagonist is too cool for Hicksville. They move into a dark, secluded Victorian house that has been empty for decades and was last occupied by a family that disappeared under mysterious circumstances. They see and hear strange things, as the house seems to be alive.

Well, this is just the beginning for the King family in House of Dark Shadows. Liparulo builds a fast-paced adventure on this age-old premise More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2011

TC rated it:

Ok, I think I'm starting to dislike trilogies and series of books. It seems as though that is all I am reading these days, can't one of these books just end at the last page? *sigh*

my thoughts:

1. The prologue is amazing and it sucked me right in.

2. house sounds like a great layout and fun mystery

3. This book takes way too long to get moving

4. Author writes really well and makes you like the characters, if it wasn't for his good writing, More...

3 comments like

Jan 20, 2011

Jillian -always aspiring- rated it:

(Actual rating: 2.5 stars)

This book had caught my eye a few times in the bookstore, but I had never really picked it up to read the back cover blurb. The decision was made for me, though, when I found out the Kindle edition was free for a limited time. I didn't think much about it: I snagged it and downloaded it.

Now, I have always loved the idea of something insignificant turning out to be something much more, hiding something mystical and mysterious behind a normal facade More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2010

Krystl rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like

Jun 01, 2011

Sesana rated it:

Is it just me, or does it seem like Robert Liparulo had read House of Leaves very shortly before writing House of Dark Shadows? I kept getting reminded of House of Leaves throughout. Not necessarily a bad thing, of course. There's a lot of great inspiration you could take from House of Leaves. Sadly, this one just doesn't quite seem to measure up, to me.

The first thing that bothered me was how unrealistic the reactions of pretty much everybody were. The whole reason that the King fami More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 08, 2008

Carol(ina) rated it:

Dream house . . . or bad dream?

When the Kings move from L.A. to a secluded small town, fifteen-year-old Xander is beyond disappointed. He and his friends loved to create amateur films . . . but the tiny town of Pinedale is the last place a movie buff and future filmmaker wants to land.

But he, David, and Toria are captivated by the many rooms in the old Victorian fixer-upper they moved into--as well as the heavy woods surrounding the house.

They soon discover th More...

0 comments like

Jul 13, 2010

Jessica rated it:

Alright, wow. This book was totally awesome. This book takes a lot of my favorite things, and jumbles it all into one. There is a lot of mystery, suspense, background information, and action. The only thing I felt that it was missing, was a bit of romance. (You guys know what a big romance buff I am. I could spot true love in my sock drawer if I had to.)

Let's start off with the prologue. It rocked my socks off. I was immediately drawn in, and I even made my boyfriend read it just More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 22, 2011

Heather rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jul 08, 2011

Starr added it

House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo
Dreamhouse Kings Series, Book 1
Thomas Nelson May 6, 2008
www.robertliparulo.com
Facebook: yes
Rating: Loved IT!
Recommend?: I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the young adult genre, to anyone who likes adventure, mystery and writing that will transport you into a very exciting story.
The Kings leave their home in Pasadena, CA for a new home in Pinedale, a small that promises to hold absolute More...

0 comments like

Dec 31, 2008

Monie rated it:

Fifteen year old Xander King is miserable. His family is moving from Pasadena to the small town of Pinedale. “Still in California, but barely.” When the family arrives they find what his parents consider a dream house but Xander just considers creepy.

Full of mysterious sounds, creepy shadows and unexplained footprints, the house just seems too sinister for Xander to feel comfortable. As Xander and his twelve year old brother begin to explore the house they find things are even weir More...

0 comments like

Jun 21, 2011

Leslie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jan 28, 2011

Marsha rated it:

I stumbled across this ebook by accident and decided to give it a try, it had some decent reviews.

Siblings Xander, David, Toria, and their parents move to a remote, small town for the father's new job. The house they end up moving into turns out not to be haunted, but 'occupied' by something frightening. When they move into the house, Xander learns that his father may have a secret reason for hauling the entire family to this remote area, but he doesn't elaborate. At first, the More...

0 comments like

Sep 27, 2009

Dakota rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

May 20, 2008

Bobbie rated it:

I actually have the first two Dreamhouse Kings books in one edition and it was a really quick read for me. I could not put the book down! A great mystery with a twist of fantasy! I loved these stories so much that when I got to the end and realized I had to wait until January of 2009 for the next part of the story, I wanted to cry!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 29, 2010

Aaron Vincent rated it:

Also posted here.

I bought this from Fullybooked thinking that the first two books of the Dreamhouse Kings series combined in one volume and sold for the price of one book is a sweet deal. I was wrong. After reading the first book, House of Dark Shadows, I realized that it should really be sold that way because House of Dark Shadows is nothing but just a 280+ pages long prologue.

Xander King is a fifteen-year old boy who ~~swallowed the whole movie listing~~ is an aspirant movi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 30, 2011

Quentin rated it:

I really liked this book because it is the story of a regular family that moves and that find a house. but guess what the house is alive! Xander(which is the main character) discover something odd about the house they settled in. it kind of plays some tricks on it's owners. it make the sounds like they come from all different ways at a time, seems to increase the owners ability( physical ability), to teleport one person to another place, and even has rooms that can make you go back in time. but More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 18, 2009

Kathy rated it:

Would you move into a house where the previous tenants all disappeared, there are very fresh, very large human footptins in the thick dust covering the floor, and it feels as if someone is watching you? Well, of course, Zander and his family move right in (wouldn't be much of a book if they didn't). Zander and his brother later find rooms in the attic that can send them to other places, dangerous places. Zander walks through one door only to find himself in Ancient Rome where he is forced to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)