Description
Jack Erikson doesn't have great expectations when his mother moves them to an old decrepit inn in a town just as musty, but he's unprepared for the oddities that start springing out of the rotten woodwork. New friends introduce him to legends and rumors that have swirled around the inn since time-immemorial, and he finds plenty of proof to believe them as strange noises and twisted shadows stalk the halls. Worst of all, his estranged grandfather has invited himself to join them at the inn. Creepy doesn't begin to describe that black-cloaked gentleman with the pale skin and weird, ever-constant glasses. Old secrets, mysterious sealed-up rooms and creeping shadows abound as Jack tries to manage his new life at Hawthorn Inn.
Review
It is really hard for me not to finish a book, and I had to push myself to finish it. The plot seems amazing. It really does. I think that's what initially drew me in. And I think the book has potential, but it seems to me that the author added a lot of filler so that this could turn into a book series. I think that with the right editing, the author could have made this book amazing.
I absolutely hated that the book drug on and on and never did you find out what the grandfather was. I think in order to actually hook people in, it would have been best to say what they were at the end of the book. But to leave it unanswered was not cool. I know I will not buy any of the other books in this series, and it bothers me that I will have to leave that unanswered.
Another thing that I really didn't like was the style of writing. It read more like a really long role-play post than a novel. I don't know if most people would understand what I mean by role-play post, but I really don't know any other way to describe it.
Another thing I really didn't like was the characters. I wasn't able to connect with any of them. I can't even remember their names - except Jack's but that's probably because I read it on the excerpt just now. I just remember that the main character, Jack, was really sullen, annoying and rude. His friend, the other boy, he started off as funny but later on turned just as annoying as Jack. And it seemed to me that Jack and his mom thought of him as a piece of gum stuck to a shoe.
And what was up with the mom? Okay, so she wasn't absent like many parents in YA books, but she might as well have been. Jack is supposed to have been home-schooled but you don't see any of that in the book - yet she's completely okay with Jack doing his "friend's" homework.
The only interesting character, I found, was the grandfather and it was mostly because he was mysterious.
Things I liked
The Grandfather
The overall plot
The setting
Things I didn't like
The style of writing
All the filler
The characters
Finals Thoughts
I honestly wish this book was better. It has a really good potential, but I didn't like it. I wouldn't recomend this book to anyone, and I sure am not going to buy the rest of the series.
Rating
1/5 - Didn't like it.