Helpful Score: 1
I was surprised by how suspenseful this was - it was full of creepiness, like leave the lights on, look over your shoulder eerie. I thought the story was pretty good, and the code the protagonist, Jessica, had to decipher was a nice touch, but the climax felt a little too easy, and the last couple chapters following it seemed unnecessary. The epilogue felt a bit tacked on, like the author had some new idea and just had to add it in whether it made sense or not. The same riddles and clues were repeated in nearly every chapter, and that got quite tedious. It's written in a pseudo-diary style, but I think it would have worked better if that had been dropped, because it didn't seem diary-like at all, really - it tried to be, but it came off inconsistent, and when you really think about it, the way the entries are formatted didn't make much sense if you take into consideration that she would be writing them at the most inopportune moments - she finds out she must desperately search for someone with no time to lose, but wait, let's write an entry about it first; she meets the Big Baddie, does something wrong, but still has time to write an entry before possible Impending Doom five seconds later. Overall, I know I'm pointing out all the flaws I found there to be, but I actually did really enjoy it and found it hard to put down - the suspense really is good, and it seemed well-thought out for the most part, it's just not perfect, especially if you look closely.
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com
When she gets into some trouble at school, Jess's parents think they have the perfect solution: they'll move to Lume, an island in the middle of nowhere. She thinks there is absolutely nothing interesting about Lume--until she discovers a derelict old cottage. There's something creepy about the cottage--some sort of presence that Jess can't describe. It turns even weirder and scarier when that same presence shows up in her instant message conversations--with no record of it on her computer.
This ghostly being, whatever he is, is soon revealed to be the owner of the cottage. He calls himself Epsilon, and he is leading Jess on a dark sort of treasure hunt--where the treasure, if she solves his riddles properly, will be saving her mother.
The eerie quest mirrors that of Sebastian Wren, a boy who lived in the same house, and faced the same dangers, a hundred years ago. Can Jess succeed where Sebastian did not?
This supernatural mystery/fantasy is certainly a suspenseful page-turner, but, in the end, it is quite forgettable. It's a nice way to pass an afternoon. The best part of the story is the heart-pounding suspense! It's great for that, and it'll have you checking nervously over your shoulder at times. It's even good enough for me to want to look for more by Christine Morton-Shaw, but I might check it out of the library first rather than buying it.
When she gets into some trouble at school, Jess's parents think they have the perfect solution: they'll move to Lume, an island in the middle of nowhere. She thinks there is absolutely nothing interesting about Lume--until she discovers a derelict old cottage. There's something creepy about the cottage--some sort of presence that Jess can't describe. It turns even weirder and scarier when that same presence shows up in her instant message conversations--with no record of it on her computer.
This ghostly being, whatever he is, is soon revealed to be the owner of the cottage. He calls himself Epsilon, and he is leading Jess on a dark sort of treasure hunt--where the treasure, if she solves his riddles properly, will be saving her mother.
The eerie quest mirrors that of Sebastian Wren, a boy who lived in the same house, and faced the same dangers, a hundred years ago. Can Jess succeed where Sebastian did not?
This supernatural mystery/fantasy is certainly a suspenseful page-turner, but, in the end, it is quite forgettable. It's a nice way to pass an afternoon. The best part of the story is the heart-pounding suspense! It's great for that, and it'll have you checking nervously over your shoulder at times. It's even good enough for me to want to look for more by Christine Morton-Shaw, but I might check it out of the library first rather than buying it.
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this book - it's an easy read but still gets you thinking with the mystery and cryptic aspects.
