Jaime Reviews ~ The House by Christina Lauren
By Christina Lauren
Published on October 6, 2015
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: Edelweiss
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: Edelweiss
Gavin tells Delilah he’s hers—completely—but whatever lives inside that house with him disagrees.
After seven years tucked away at an East coast boarding school, Delilah Blue returns to her small Kansas hometown to find that not much has changed. Her parents are still uptight and disinterested, her bedroom is exactly the way she left it, and the outcast Gavin Timothy still looks like he’s crawled out of one of her dark, twisted drawings.
Delilah is instantly smitten.
Gavin has always lived in the strange house: an odd building isolated in a stand of trees where the town gives in to mild wilderness. The house is an irresistible lure for Delilah, but the tall fence surrounding it exists for good reason, and Gavin urges Delilah to be careful. Whatever lives with him there isn’t human, and isn’t afraid of hurting her to keep her away.
The House...
The House was intriguing concept that I liked, but also fell flat. The start was a little slow and rocky, but the pacing evened out, and I started looking forward to what would happen next. What House would do next!
Delilah is back in her hometown, back in the public high school, after years of being at a girls only boarding school. She still has one friend, and it doesn't take long for her to realize that her childhood crush is alive and well. Gavin is exactly as she remembered. Dark and brooding, tall and lanky, but with a sweet heart and killer smile. And he is surrounded in mystery. As Delilah and Gavin grow closer, that mystery is brought to life. And it is more than Delilah could ever have imagined. At first, she is intrigued by House, delighted. But she soon realizes that the House isn't as benign as it seems. Now she has to prove that to Gavin, and get them away from House.... before they both end up dead.
House... House was the best character in this story. Every element of house was alive. Everything had it's own name. The House cared for Gavin, raised him from a young boy. It fed him, made sure he had money. Took care of him when he was sick. Fireplace lit p for him when he came home. Piano taught him to play, and how to dance. House loved him. But House was darker and more sinister than Gavin ever knew. It watched him, everywhere he went. It could attach itself to any inanimate object that had been inside Gate, and use it to spy on his every move. And House hated Delilah. It hurt her, scared her, as much as it loved Gavin. House was a pretty cool character, and the best part of the story.
Delilah was an okay character, as was Gavin, but neither seemed all that well-developed. It felt like House was where the attention was, where all of the detail and development were, and the other characters were more of an after-thought. The most I really got about Delilah was that she was sort of a Goth. She drew daggers and bloody stuff. She liked horror movies and ghosts. And Gavin had House and loved to draw. The biggest problem was, this was never really shown. Just stated, and that made it almost pointless, and harder to relate to, or care about, either of them. The first half of the book was getting to know Delilah and Gavin and setting up their relationship. I had a really hard time staying involved in the story. There were multiple times I wanted to just put it down. House showed up at the right time!
This wasn't a bad book by any means, even though it might seem like it. Christina Lauren definitely has a good imagination, and I think she has what it takes to write a truly great, spooky story. Unfortunately, there was just too much lacking in The House for me.
